by Ginna Gray
Tess reached across the table and put her hand on her husband’s arm. “Do as Mike says, darling. And don’t worry. I’ll be there with him.”
“What? No, really, Tess. That’s not necessary.”
She gave him a level look, one he knew brooked no argument.
“Nevertheless, Michael, I will be there.”
Chapter Three
Friday morning, Leah entered her brother’s hospital room before daylight. They wouldn’t be taking him to surgery for another hour and a half, but she had spent a restless night, tossing and turning, too keyed up to sleep, and she hadn’t been able to bear waiting at home a moment longer.
Leah stood at Quinton’s side and gazed down at him through the plastic bubble that surrounded his bed. It hurt her to see him so isolated, but it was vital for his protection.
Over the past few days, in preparation for surgery, he had been given massive and aggressive immunosuppression therapy. The process would help to reduce the possibility of his body rejecting the donor tissue, but at the same time it left him vulnerable to every disease that came down the pike. The plastic bubble provided the sterile environment that would be necessary until the doctors were sure his body had accepted the new marrow and his immune system had begun functioning again.
A painful tightness squeezed Leah’s chest. Quinton looked terrible. Chemotherapy had robbed him of all his beautiful blond hair, and he was pitifully thin and pale. The dark circles under his eyes and his gaunt cheekbones made him look like a concentration camp victim.
He was sleeping soundly—so soundly Leah experienced a moment’s panic. She put her hand into the glove that was molded into the side of the plastic bubble and pressed her fingertips to his neck. She closed her eyes as relief washed over her. His pulse was weak, but it was there.
The plastic crackled as she withdrew her hand from the glove, and Quinton’s eyes fluttered open. The instant they focused on her, hope lit his face.
“Hi, Sis. Is it time?”
“No, it’ll be a while yet before they come for you. I got here early to keep you company.”
“Where are Mom and Dad?”
“When I left, they were drinking coffee and trying to focus their eyes. You know your mother. Julia considers ten o’clock the crack of dawn. But don’t worry, they’ll be here.”
“Yeah. I know. Is the guy here? The donor?”
The fear in his voice almost made her wince, but she forced a reassuring smile. “Yes. One of the nurses told me they put him in a room right down the hall last night.”
“Are you sure? What if he changed his mind?”
“He won’t. Don’t worry.”
“But what if he did?”
“Quinton—”
“Would you go see? Please. Just so I’ll know for sure.”
Leah sighed, but she inserted her hand into glove again and gave his arm a squeeze. “All right. It’s a waste of time, but if it’ll make you feel better I’ll go check.”
Mike McCall’s room was about fifty feet away at the end of the hall. As Leah hurried down the carpeted corridor she experienced a renewed stab of guilt. How strange and sad it was that two brothers who had never met—who were not even aware of each other’s existence—were here on the same floor, separated by only a few feet.
She had tried again only the night before to persuade Julia to tell Quinton and Mike the truth, but with no success. She’d had her father halfway convinced that it was the right thing to do, but as usual, Julia had reacted with anger. When that had not worked, she had resorted to pitiful weeping, and Peter had caved in like a sand castle at high tide.
Leah shook her head. In most ways her father was a strong man, but he dissolved into mush when Julia turned on the tears.
At that hour of the morning, Leah had not expected to find anyone, with the possible exception of a nurse, in Mike’s room. When she pushed open the door and stepped inside she pulled up short. Mike appeared to be asleep, but a woman stood beside his bed, holding his hand and bending solicitously over him.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t realize Dr. McCall had a visitor.”
The woman looked up and smiled, and Leah experienced a strange sensation in her chest—like a small kick in her heart
It took a moment for her to realize that the woman was older than she had at first thought—somewhere in her mid to late forties—but she had a kind of wholesome beauty that was ageless. She was slender and shapely, with red hair and whiskey-brown eyes, but she exuded gentle serenity that seemed at odds with her flamboyant coloring. Leah hadn’t thought that Mike McCall was the type to fall for an older woman, but it was easy to see why he had chosen this one.
Leah started to back away, but the woman stopped her.
“Oh, please don’t leave on my account.”
“No, really. I don’t want to intrude.”
“You’re not intruding. I’m just keeping Mike company while he waits to be taken to surgery.”
Mike’s eyelids fluttered open and his bleary gaze found Leah. He gave her a lopsided grin. “Well, well, look who’s here. Hiya, gorgeous.”
“Hello, Dr. McCall.”
“‘Mike.’ Told you. Call me ‘Mike.’” He lifted his hand and gestured weakly toward the other woman. “You met Tess yet? Tess, this...this is Dr. Leah Albright. Best-looking doctor in the whole damned hospital. Shoot, in the whole damned state.” He squinted and tried to focus, but his eyes refused to work and finally he gave up. “What’re you doing here, pretty lady?” He had a dopey look on his face and his speech was so slurred he sounded drunk.
Leah smiled. “I just came to see if you were prepped for surgery,” she replied, but Mike had drifted off to sleep again.
“He’s been given a sedative.” the redhead confided in a whisper.
She gave Leah a once-over. “The moment I saw you I was certain you were Dr. Albright. You look exactly as Mike described you.”
“I do?” Surprised fluttered through Leah. Why on earth had Mike described her to one of his women?
“Oh, my, yes. It’s very nice to meet you, at last. I’ve been looking forward to doing so for years.”
She had? Leah cleared her throat. “I see. And you are?”
“Oh, my, how silly of me.” Smiling, the redhead came around the end of the bed with her hand outstretched. “I’m Tess McCall—Mike’s stepmother.”
His stepmother? This beautiful woman was Mike’s stepmother? It didn’t seem possible. At first Leah experienced an odd sense of relief, but the feeling was instantly replaced by panic.
“Oh, I...I see.” She was barely aware of shaking hands with Tess McCall as her mind raced frantically for a way to deal with this unwelcome complication.
Why on earth hadn’t it occurred to her that Mike’s parents might be there for the surgery? Especially given what a close-knit family his was purported to be. She had been so wrapped up in her own problems that she had forgotten that Mike, too, had loved ones and family who would be as concerned about him as she was about Quinton.
Dear heaven, if Mike’s father ran into Julia, this whole thing could blow up in their faces.
“I’m pleased to meet you, Mrs. McCall. Is, uh, is your husband here?” she asked, darting a look around.
“No, Ryan had to go out of town on business. Actually, Mike claimed it wasn’t necessary for me to be here, either, but we wouldn’t hear of him undergoing this procedure alone, no matter how risk free he claims it is.”
“Yes, of course. I understand.” Leah felt almost weak with relief. Thank heaven.
For the first time since she’d entered the room, a genuine smile curved her lips. “Mrs. McCall, I can’t tell you how grateful my parents and I are for what Mike is doing for my brother.”
Turning back to the bed, Tess gazed down at Mike with a tender smile and smoothed his dark hair off his forehead. “I’m sure he’s quite happy to do what he can. That’s the kind of man Mike is.”
“Yes, I had heard that about him.” Leah shifted
from one foot to the other. “Well, I, uh, I’d better be getting back to my brother. It was nice meeting you, Mrs. McCall.”
She slipped out the door before Tess could reply and hurried back down the corridor, her mind still racing madly. How was she going to keep Julia and Tess McCall from meeting? With a groan, Leah realized that probably wasn’t going to be possible—not unless Tess remained in Mike’s hospital room all day, which seemed highly unlikely.
Leah chewed on her bottom lip. This could develop into a sticky situation. Julia’s last name was different now, and she was here as Quinton’s mother. Leah didn’t think that Tess would put two and two together and realize that Julia was Mike’s mother, as well. However, it wasn’t Tess’s reaction that concerned her. It was Julia’s.
No doubt, Tess knew all about Julia from her husband and Mike, but Leah’s stepmother knew nothing of Tess. Julia had no inkling that Ryan had remarried. She had often said that she had broken his heart. Leah had gotten the impression that Julia preferred to think that Ryan McCall was pining away for her. She doubted that her stepmother would be pleased to discover that for years her ex-husband had been happily married to someone else.
Dr. Sweeney and Dr. Brennan, the anesthetist, were talking to Quinton when Leah entered his room. The sight of them instantly wiped every other concern right out of her mind.
For the next several minutes, she listened as the doctors went over the procedure and the hoped-for results and possible complications with Quinton one last time. All the while the two doctors subtly performed a pre-op exam of their patient, checking his eyes, ears and throat, gently probing other areas of his body and asking questions.
Dr. Sweeney had no sooner finished and pronounced Quinton fit for the transplant than Julia and Peter arrived.
Julia swept into the room all misty eyed and fluttery. Leah had the cynical thought that the dramatic show was mostly to impress the doctors.
To Leah’s relief, Julia had only a few minutes to play the role of distraught mother before a pair of orderlies whisked Quinton away.
Then the interminable waiting began.
In the lounge set aside for family members, Leah at first tried to keep an upbeat attitude and engage her parents in conversation, but that proved to be a wasted effort. After a while, she fell silent, but no one seemed to notice.
Leah wondered why she had bothered. She had never been close to her father. As for Julia, even in the best of situations, she had never been able to carry on any sort of meaningful conversation with her for long. They were too different. Other than Leah’s father and Quinton, they simply had nothing in common.
Time crept by. Peter drank one cup of coffee after another and stared at the floor, while Julia leafed through a fashion magazine. Leah was too wired to sit still. She paced back and forth the length of the room, glancing at the clock or her watch every minute or so.
They’d had the lounge to themselves for over an hour when Mike’s stepmother suddenly walked in. Leah’s heart gave a leap, and she barely suppressed a gasp. She had forgotten all about Tess McCall.
Tess paused just inside the doorway and cast a sympathetic glance her way. Then her gaze slid to Julia and Peter. “I do hope I’m not intruding, Dr. Albright, but I thought you’d like to know that Mike is back in his room and resting comfortably.”
Leah looked nervously at Julia. At the mention of Mike her head came up like an animal who had caught a scent. She tossed the fashion magazine aside and studied Tess.
“Oh, good. I’m glad.”
“Apparently, everything went well. He’s still groggy, but he insisted that there was no reason for me to stay. Since he’s sleeping mostly, I agreed, but I wanted to come by and tell you and your family that I’ll be praying for all of you.”
“Thank you. That’s very kind. We appreciate it.”
Leah was touched by her concern, but at the same time she wanted her to leave before Julia got even more curious. It was a futile hope.
Her heart sank as her stepmother stood and came over to join them. “I couldn’t help but overhear. Do I understand correctly? Are you talking about Mike McCall? The man who is donating bone marrow to Quinton?”
“Yes, I am. And you must be Quinton’s mother.”
“That’s right. And you are...?”
“I’m Mike’s mother.”
“His mother?”
“Well, his stepmother, actually, but I think of him as my son. His father and I have been married for sixteen years now, and I love Mike as much as I do my own children.”
Julia looked as though she’d been slapped. Leah held her breath. Julia eyed Tess from head to toe with eyes as cold as a glacier. At the very least, Leah expected an insult, perhaps even a full-blown tantrum, but her stepmother surprised her.
“I see.”
Tess blinked. She obviously sensed the antagonism in Julia’s tone but was mystified by it. She glanced at Leah, then at Julia again, before taking a half step back. “Well, I, uh, I guess I’d better be going. Good luck.”
“Thank you, Mrs. McCall.”
The minute Tess was out of sight Julia turned on Leah. “You knew! You knew that Ryan had remarried, didn’t you?”
“Yes, but I found out only last week.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
Because I didn’t want to initiate a scene like this one, Leah thought, but she knew saying that would only exacerbate the situation. “It...it didn’t occur to me that you would be interested.”
“Not interested? I was married to Ryan!”
“That was twenty-five years ago, Julia. Since then you’ve remarried twice and had another child. So has he. What’s the difference?”
“But I left him!” she wailed like a petulant child.
“Ah, I see.”
Julia stiffened. Though she was shorter than Leah by two inches, she drew herself up to her full height and managed to look down her nose at her stepdaughter. “And just what do you mean by that? I don’t think I like your tone, young lady.”
“Now, now, dearest. Don’t upset yourself. I’m sure Leah didn’t mean any disrespect. Besides,” Peter added gently, “it’s not as though you still care for the man, now is it?”
“No. No, of course I don’t. You know that I love only you, my darling. It’s just that it bums me up for that woman to come in here and call herself Mike’s mother. No matter what has happened, I am Mike’s mother. I’m the one who carried him, the one who suffered through that hideous labor to give birth to him.”
“Of course you are, dearest. I understand completely. You’re on edge and worried about Quinton. Your nerves are raw, and that woman’s sudden appearance was more than you could take at the moment. That’s the real reason you’re so upset.”
Julia raised a fluttery hand to her forehead and sighed. “You’re right, of course, my darling. You know me so well. I’m just so overwrought is all.”
“Of course you are. Why don’t you come over here and sit down, and I’ll get you a cup of coffee.”
Leah wanted to say that there was more to being a mother than giving birth, but she knew it would only lead to another irate outburst. Julia was a master at overlooking her own shortcomings and mistakes and blaming everything on others.
Gritting her teeth, Leah gazed out the window and said nothing as her father soothed Julia’s ruffled feathers.
A part of Leah wished that her father and stepmother had not bothered to return from Europe to be with Quinton for the surgery. She understood that he needed their support, but having them in her home was wearing. Julia’s ceaseless laments about the parties and social events they were missing with their friends in Europe, her complaints about Leah’s career and what she considered the inadequacies of Leah’s home, of her lifestyle and social life—rather her lack of social life—were becoming unbearable.
That morning when they had struggled out of bed, Julia had immediately began to moan and complain about the early hour, and Leah’s father hadn’t been much better. It
had been almost more than Leah’s stretched nerves could take.
She had wanted to scream at them “For pity’s sake! Your son is dying of cancer and is about to undergo a serious operation that is his last hope. Can’t you stop thinking of yourselves for one day?”
Instead, as always, she bit back the angry words, announced that she had early-morning rounds to make and rushed out. And, as usual, she wanted to kick herself for taking the coward’s way out.
But what choice did she have? In the past, whenever she had crossed Julia, her stepmother had countered with veiled threats to remove Quinton from Leah’s care.
Leah didn’t really believe she would do it. Julia was well pleased with their arrangement. Knowing that Leah could be counted on to look after Quinton in every situation eased her conscience and left her free to gallivant wherever she pleased when she pleased. Certainly, Julia wasn’t about to stay home and look after her son.
In all honesty, Leah had to admit that the arrangement suited her, as well. From the moment Quinton was born, she had always been more of a mother to him than Julia.
If Julia had been upset to find herself pregnant in her midthirties, Leah had been overjoyed at the prospect of having a brother or sister.
Losing her mother at fifteen had been a crushing blow. Leah had barely known her father, and her loneliness and feelings of abandonment and loss had only increased when she had moved in with him and his bride. She’d felt like an outsider, and she’d felt unwanted. The birth of a baby brother had been like a gift from heaven for the lost, grieving teenager she had been, giving her someone to love and a sense of purpose.
Her devotion to her baby brother had also helped cement her relationship with her father and Julia. They had been delighted that she was so attached to the baby, and they had felt confident about leaving their son in Leah’s capable hands. Within months of Quinton’s birth, they had resumed their carefree lifestyle.
In the early years Leah had had the help of a full-time nanny and Cleo, but they all knew that the real responsibility had been hers. When she had moved to Houston and taken Quinton with her, Julia and Peter had accepted the change in living arrangements without a word of protest. If anything, they had seemed to take it for granted that Quinton would reside with his sister, wherever that happened to be.
