by Laura Iding
She wasn’t quite ready for transfer back home but would be soon.
Since he was early, he decided to check on his other patients. First he checked on DiCarlo, who remained in the I.C.U. The boy was still critical, but his vitals were stable. From there, he headed over to the temporary children’s ward to visit with Pedro.
“Hi, Dr. Vasquez,” Pedro greeted him. The boy looked a little better, although still a little too pale and drawn. He didn’t like seeing the dark circles beneath Pedro’s eyes.
“Pedro, how are you feeling?” He crossed the room and checked the nursing notes on the clipboard. “Why aren’t you taking pain medication?”
Pedro grimaced. “I don’t like the way they make me feel.”
“Maybe not, but I don’t think you’re getting enough rest. Sleep is very important. You will heal much faster if you take some pain medication at nighttime.”
The boy flashed a wan smile. “You sound like Miss Kat. That same thing she explained to me yesterday.”
Miguel nodded, sensing a bit of puppy love for Katerina in Pedro’s gaze. “Katerina is a very smart lady. You would do well to follow her advice.”
Pedro was quiet for a moment. “I thought she might come to visit me today.”
He saw the stab of disappointment in the boy’s eyes. “She is planning to come later, and I’m sure she will visit. I’ll need to talk to your mother about keeping you here another day, Pedro.”
“She won’t care. She is too busy at home with my brothers and sisters.”
Miguel wished there was something he could say to make the boy feel better. “That may be true, but you also help her, don’t you? I’m sure she misses you.”
“Of course.” Pedro winced as he shifted in the bed. He put a tentative hand over his incision. “But I don’t think carrying my brothers and sisters is a good idea right now.”
“No, that would not be good,” Miguel agreed. He lifted Pedro’s hospital gown and gently peeled back the gauze dressing to examine his wound. The skin around the incision was a little red and he gently palpated the area to make sure there was no pus beneath the skin. There wasn’t, but he decided to add yet another antibiotic just to be on the safe side. The risk of infection was high. “Looks good, but you have to take your pain medications. I need you to get up and walk the hallways. Staying in bed all day isn’t healthy.”
Pedro nodded. “Okay, I will do that.”
Miguel called for the nurse and waited until Pedro had taken the ordered pain medication before he moved on to the next patient. He took his time making rounds, wanting to be sure to have everything finished before he spent time with Katerina.
He returned to Juliet’s room at exactly eleven o’clock, frowning when he discovered Katerina hadn’t arrived yet. He went back out to the nurses’ station. “Has Juliet’s sister been here to visit?” he asked in Spanish.
“No, Dr. Vasquez, she has not been here yet.”
He gave a brief nod, hiding his impatience. He went back to DiCarlo’s room, reviewing the chart to make sure his orders had been carried out, secretly watching for Katerina to arrive.
At eleven-thirty his temper began to simmer. Was it possible his worst fears had been realized? That she’d actually taken an earlier flight home in an attempt to hide Tomas from him? He didn’t want to believe she would do such a thing, but as the minutes passed with agonizing slowness, he couldn’t help believing the worst.
At noon he muttered an oath and left the hospital, calling his driver to take him to Katerina’s hotel. He had to know she was still here in Seville. And if she was simply trying to avoid him, he would make certain she never did such a thing ever again.
His driver pulled up in front of the hotel and Fernando had barely put the car in park before Miguel shot out of the back seat, striding purposefully up to the front desk. “I need to speak with Katerina Richardson in room 212,” he said.
“I will ring the room,” the clerk said. After a few minutes he shrugged and hung up. “I’m afraid there is no answer.”
“But she’s still a guest here, right?” Miguel persisted. The time was almost twelve-thirty and most of the flights back to the U.S. left early in the morning, but there had been one early-afternoon flight.
“Sí, señor, she is still a guest. If you would like to wait, I suggest you have a seat in the lobby.”
Miguel was too keyed up to sit in the lobby so he went back outside to let Fernando know he’d be staying for a while. He paced back and forth for several minutes, before taking a seat in the outside café adjacent to the hotel. He ordered a soft drink, although he was in the mood for something far stronger.
Within minutes a familiar voice reached his ears. “Walk, Tommy, don’t run. Here, take my hand.”
He went still, hardly able to believe his ears. Tommy? Slowly he turned in his seat in time to see Katerina walking up the sidewalk toward the hotel, holding the hand of a young boy.
The same boy in the photograph she’d given him.
Their son!
CHAPTER NINE
MIGUEL slowly rose to his feet, his anger towards Katerina fading as he drank in the sight of his son. Seeing Tomas in person was so much better than a photograph. The boy was so animated, Miguel could barely breathe.
Katerina abruptly stopped in her tracks, going pale when her gaze locked on his. But then she took a deep breath and said something in a low voice to her companion, a woman with dark hair who looked vaguely familiar, as she resumed walking.
He wanted to rush over and sweep his son into his arms, but remembering what Katerina had said yesterday about how he was a stranger to Tomas, it gave him the strength to stay right where he was. It wasn’t until Katerina and Tomas came closer that he noticed the white gauze dressing on his son’s left forearm.
“Hi, Miguel,” she greeted him. “I’m sorry I missed you at the hospital. This is my son, Tommy, who had a small accident. And you remember my friend, Diana Baylor?”
He cleared his throat, striving to play along as if seeing his son in person hadn’t completely knocked him off balance. “Of course I remember. Diana, it’s good to see you again. And this is your son, Tommy?” He purposefully used Katerina’s dreadful nickname and crouched down so he was at eye level with the child and wouldn’t seem so intimidating. “Hi, Tommy, my name is Miguel Vasquez. I’m very happy to meet you.”
Tomas stared at him with his large brown eyes and shrank back toward his mother, as if suddenly shy. Miguel didn’t want to frighten the boy, but at the same time he couldn’t help being frustrated that his son didn’t know him.
He had to remind himself that the situation was his own fault. Not Katerina’s. And certainly not the child’s.
“It’s okay, Tommy,” Katerina said, brushing a hand over his dark hair. “Miguel is a good friend of mine. Show him where the dog bit you on the arm.”
Tomas held out his arm, the one covered in gauze. “Bad doggy bit me,” he said solemnly.
“Tommy, remember how you ran straight at the doggy? He only nipped at you because he was scared,” Katerina said, filling in the gaps of what had happened for Miguel. “And the emergency-room nurse gave you a lollipop, didn’t she?”
There was a hint of red staining the child’s fingers and teeth as he nodded vigorously. “I’m a good boy.”
“I’m sure you were a very good boy,” Miguel said with a smile, relieved to know that his son had received appropriate medical care for the dog bite. Obviously, this was the reason Katerina hadn’t met him in her sister’s room. A very good excuse, except that it didn’t at all explain why she’d let him believe Tomas was back in the U.S.
Although he’d assumed that, hadn’t he? Katerina hadn’t lied to him, but she had withheld the truth.
He would grant her a pass on this one, but now that she was here, with Tomas, he was determined to spend as much time with his son as possible.
And Katerina had better not try to stand in his way.
* * *
Kat
had been shocked to find Miguel waiting for her outside their hotel, but by the time she noticed him it was too late as he’d already recognized Tommy. At least now there were no more secrets. She could see Miguel wasn’t happy with her, but there wasn’t much she could do. This had already been a rough day, and it was barely one o’clock in the afternoon.
“Katerina, do you think the three of us could take a walk?” Miguel asked, as he rose to his feet. “No offense, Diana, but I’d like some time alone with Katerina and Tomas.”
Diana crossed her arms over her chest and shrugged, glancing over at her. “Kat? What would you like to do?”
Kat knew her friend would stand by her, if asked, but she’d known that Miguel would want to spend time with his son and there was no good reason to delay. “We’ll be fine, Diana. You deserve some down time anyway. Should we meet back here at the hotel in an hour or so? Tommy will be more than ready for his nap by then.”
“Sure thing.” Diana’s gaze was full of suspicion as she glanced over at Miguel. “Nice meeting you again, Dr. Vasquez,” she said politely, before turning to walk away.
“I’m getting the sense she doesn’t like me very much,” Miguel murmured after Diana was out of earshot.
“Diana has always been there for me when I needed her. She was my labor coach and has helped me out more times than I could count, especially on days when I needed child care when Tommy was sick.” Her temper flared. She was unwilling to allow him to put down her friend.
Miguel winced as her barb hit home. “In other words, she blames me for not being there with you.”
Kat glanced down at Tommy and decided this wasn’t the time or the place to argue about the past. “You wanted to take a walk, so let’s walk. There’s a park not far from here, down the block and across the street.”
Miguel nodded and fell into step beside her, keeping Tommy between them. “Yes, I played at that park often as a young boy. See that school there?” He gestured toward the white building across the street. “That’s where both my brother and I attended school.”
She remembered seeing the young kids all wearing their navy blue and white plaid uniforms running outside at recess. Today was Sunday, so there weren’t any children playing now, but she couldn’t help wondering if Miguel was insinuating that he wanted Tommy to attend the same school he had. She struggled to remain calm. “Yes, I saw the students playing outside in their uniforms the other day. I was struck by how similar the school was to ours back home.”
“Tommy, do you like school?” Miguel asked, turning his attention to their son.
“Yeah.” Tommy seemed to be slowly warming up to Miguel. “School is fun.”
“Do you play games at school?” Miguel persisted.
“Yep. I play with my friends.”
Kat couldn’t help smiling as Miguel tried to have a conversation with their son. Too bad that having a rational conversation with an almost four-year-old wasn’t easy. Miguel was lucky to get anything more than one-or two-word answers to his questions.
When they reached the park Tommy tugged on her hand so she let him go, allowing him to run over to the water fountain. He looked over the cement edge, peering into the water.
“I can’t believe you didn’t tell me he was here,” Miguel said in a low tone. “Do you realize I almost booked a flight to Cambridge this morning?”
“I’m sorry, Miguel. But Tommy was already asleep and I couldn’t risk you marching into the room and waking him up. Besides, I honestly planned on bringing him with me to see you today. Unfortunately Tommy’s dog bite prevented me from meeting you at the hospital, as we’d planned.”
He sensed the truth in her words and forced himself to relax.
“But why would you book a flight without discussing your plans with me?” she continued. “You can’t bulldoze your way into Tommy’s life, Miguel. What we want doesn’t matter here. The only thing that matters is what’s best for Tommy.” She turned to face him. “I told you about our son, first because you deserved to know, and second because Tommy deserves a father. I would like to think we could work something out together.”
“Joint custody?” Miguel’s nose wrinkled in distaste. “Impossible with both of us living in two different countries.”
“Not impossible,” she countered. “Tommy could visit you in the summer and maybe over the holiday.”
“While he lives the rest of the time with you?” Miguel asked. “I hardly think that arrangement is fair.”
“Fair? Do you think it was fair to leave me pregnant and alone? I tried to find you, Miguel, but you certainly didn’t try to find me. So don’t stand there and try to tell me what is or isn’t fair.”
There was a charged silence between them as Kat tried to rein in her temper. She’d long ago accepted that the night she’d spent with Miguel meant nothing to him. Yet deep down she had to admit there was still a small kernel of resentment.
“You’re right, Katerina. I must accept responsibility for my actions.”
Miguel’s acquiescence shocked her. So much that she didn’t have any idea how to respond.
“I can only ask that you give me some time now to get to know my son. And, of course, we will need to agree to some financial arrangements.”
“I don’t want your money, Miguel,” she protested. “We’re not rich, but we’re not poor either.”
“I insist,” he said. And she could tell by the edge to his tone that there was no point in arguing.
She let out her pent-up breath in a silent sigh. “Fine. We can discuss that more later.” She should be thrilled that he hadn’t put up much of a fight. But as Miguel left her side to cross over to where Tommy was digging in the dirt with a stick, she couldn’t help feeling a sharp stab of disappointment that apparently they wouldn’t be raising their son together.
As a family.
* * *
Miguel wanted to protest when Katerina insisted it was time to head back to the hotel, but even he could see that Tomas was getting cranky. He didn’t doubt her wisdom regarding the fact that their son needed a nap.
He cared for pediatric patients in the hospital, but obviously he didn’t know the first thing about raising a child. How was he to know that almost four-year-olds still took naps?
“Up, Mama, up,” Tomas whined.
“Is your arm hurting you?” she asked, swinging the boy into her arms and cuddling him close.
Miguel wanted, very badly, to be the one to carry his son, but suspected his offer of assistance wouldn’t be welcomed by Tomas. He’d started to make friends with his son, but the boy still clung to his mother for comfort.
“Yeah,” Tomas said, burying his face against her neck.
“I’ll give you something to make your pain go away when we get back to the hotel room, all right?”
“They gave you pain medication?” he asked in surprise.
“No, but I have children’s ibuprofen at the hotel, although I suspect he’ll practically be asleep by then, anyway.”
Katerina was correct. Tomas had closed his eyes and fully relaxed against his mother by the time they approached the hotel lobby.
“Wait for me here,” Katerina told him, as she stabbed the button to summon the elevator. “I’ll only be a few minutes.”
He stepped back, resisting the urge to follow her up to their room. He was surprised she’d asked him to wait, figuring she’d want nothing more than to put distance between them. Although it was possible she simply wanted updated information on Juliet.
True to her word, Katerina returned a few minutes later. “Thanks for waiting, Miguel. I’m planning to head over to the hospital, and figured we could ride the metro together.”
“I’m happy to ask Fernando to drive us there,” he offered.
A grimace flashed over her features, but then she nodded. “I can’t get used to the idea of having someone drive me around, but that’s fine.”
He called Fernando, and then gestured towards a small park bench sitting beneath the t
rees. “Have a seat. Fernando will be here in a few minutes.”
“Why haven’t you learned to drive?” she asked.
“I do know how to drive,” he said testily, even though, truthfully, it had been a long time since he’d sat behind the wheel. “Fernando is a former patient of mine. He has a wife and three children. He lost his job after his accident and subsequent surgery, so I hired him.”
She didn’t say anything until Fernando drove up in Miguel’s sleek black car. “That was very kind of you, Miguel.”
He shrugged and strode forward, opening the back passenger door for her. Once she was seated inside, he closed the door, went around to the other side and slid in.
“Take us to the hospital, please, Fernando,” he said in Spanish.
“Sí, señor,” Fernando said, his gaze resting curiously on Katerina.
“Juliet is doing better today,” he said, as Fernando pulled away from the curb. “Her electrolytes are all within normal range and she’s following instructions again. I left orders this morning to begin weaning her off the ventilator.”
Katerina smiled and relaxed against the seat. “I’m so happy to hear that. I feel bad I haven’t been in there to see her yet today. Sounds as if she’ll be ready to return home soon.”
Now that he knew Tomas was here in Seville, he wasn’t so anxious to pronounce Juliet stable enough for transport back to the U.S., but obviously he couldn’t keep Juliet, or Katerina for that matter, hostage here. Maybe he’d be booking that plane ticket to Cambridge after all. “Perhaps,” he responded slowly. “But I would like to make sure she’s off the ventilator first.”
She raised a brow, as if she was able to read his mind. But instead of pushing the issue, she changed the subject. “Tell me, how are DiCarlo and Pedro doing?”
“DiCarlo is still in the I.C.U., but his condition is stable,” he admitted. “Pedro is doing well, too. He asked about you this morning. I think he was hurt that you didn’t come to visit him.”
