Convenient Marriage, Surprise Twins

by Amy Ruttan

  “I suppose you’re right.”

  “I know that I am. And I know there are rumors that you only married Lana for a green card, but now, with the babies and your agreeing to surgery, I know those rumors are unfounded. Now, let’s get down to the CT scan before it’s flooded with patients from the emergency room and residents.”

  Andrew nodded but his stomach was knotted, guilt eating at him as he shut the lab skills door.

  Keaka was reaching out to him, willing to help him like a father, and Andrew was lying to him. And he was terrified about the outcome, but he had to try. There were thoughts replaying in his mind that this surgery wouldn’t work. That his arm would be worse off, but if he didn’t take this risk then he couldn’t take the biggest risk of all—trying to prove to Lana that he was a worthy man.

  That he would be a good father.

  Though he seriously doubted he would be. He didn’t deserve happiness. He was responsible for Meghan’s death. Still, he wanted to try with her, even if it didn’t work out in the end. He wanted to try.

  * * *

  When Lana woke up at six in the morning she was surprised to see that Andrew had left already. So she got ready and headed over to the hospital. When she walked into her office her secretary informed her that her father and Andrew were down at CT. Andrew was waiting for his CT and her father had booked an OR for Andrew for three in the afternoon; her father wanted her to bring in an overnight bag for her husband.

  “What?” Lana asked in confusion.

  “Just what I said. Dr. Haole wants you to bring an overnight bag for Andrew because he’s scheduled to have an arthroscopy late this afternoon.”

  “They’re in CT right now?” Lana asked.

  Kelley, her administrative assistant, nodded. “Right now.”

  “Thanks, Kelley.”

  Lana made her way down to CT and found what room they were in. She could see her father and the technician discussing images that were coming on the screen and when she glanced into the room she saw Andrew with an IV attached, his damaged arm raised above his head and lying on a bed as he passed through the CT.

  “Dad, what is going on?” Lana asked.

  Her father and the technician turned around at the same time.

  “Iolana, come see for yourself.” Her father stepped aside so that Lana could get a good look at the screen.

  And there she saw the details of Andrew’s shoulder injury. What should’ve been a simple dislocation and repair to remove whatever had impaled him had been cut away instead, causing adhesions which pinched the nerves and were probably responsible for all his symptoms.

  “I was worried that it might be a bit more complex and I would have to completely open up the shoulder, but I think a simple arthroscopy will take care of all his issues.” Her father was grinning and Lana was dumbfounded.

  “Did Andrew agree to this or did you coerce him?” she asked. Although she seriously doubted her father could coerce Andrew.

  “Iolana, I don’t coerce anyone.”

  Yeah, right.

  She rolled her eyes, but her father didn’t see that. “So, he’s actually going to go through with it?”

  “If it is minimally invasive, yes. Come on, let’s go tell him.” Her father headed into the room where Andrew was now out of the CT machine and sitting upright again, rolling his shoulder and a pained expression on his face.

  When he saw her he didn’t really make eye contact with her. And it stung. He was still mad at her.

  “Well?” Andrew asked her father instead. “What’s the verdict?”

  “Adhesions,” her father said. “A simple arthroscopy will take care of it.”

  Andrew nodded and then looked at her. “Will you be okay if I do this?”

  “Why would it affect me?” Lana asked, trying to be nonchalant instead of telling him I told you so.

  “Iolana!” her father said in shock.

  Andrew grinned. “No, she’s right. It’s my decision.”

  “Exactly,” Lana said. “It’s your decision, but I think you should let my father do the surgery. The adhesions are impinging on a nerve and the surgery will allow a release and improvement of the arm.”

  “After extensive physiotherapy to build up my strength again,” Andrew added, not breaking the connection with her.

  “Not so extensive, as an arthroscopy is minimally invasive,” her father interjected. “Well, if you’re giving approval, Andrew, I will get the operating room ready for this afternoon. We’ll get you into a room to wait until your procedure.”

  When her father left she turned back to Andrew. “Are you sure?”

  “Yes...no. Actually, I’m not sure this will work.” Andrew then shrugged. “What do I have to lose?”

  “I will help you any way that I can,” she said.

  “You don’t have to. You have enough to worry about; I don’t want to add any more stress to your plate. You don’t need that.”

  “What would’ve been more stressful is you not telling me that you were having surgery and I found out after the fact.” She sighed. “I’m sorry for pushing you.”

  Andrew chuckled and she knew she was forgiven. “You know that you can’t be in the operating room, right?”

  “Seriously, you’re letting me know this? Am I not a surgeon here? I know the protocols.”

  “Yeah, you are, but sometimes surgeons and doctors can overstep their bounds when it comes to...” He trailed off and Lana couldn’t help but wonder if he was going to say loved one or imply that they were family. Instead he rubbed the back of his neck. “They sometimes need a reminder.”

  “I understand,” she said quietly. They might be having babies together, but there was no love; they weren’t family. They were in a business arrangement.

  The orderlies came in with a gurney. “Dr. Tremblay, we’re here to take you to your room now.”

  “I can walk,” Andrew said.

  “Uh, what was that about doctors needing a reminder, Dr. Tremblay?” Lana teased. “Hospital policy. Get on that gurney and I’ll come by and see you before your surgery.”

  “Yes, Doctor.” Andrew winked and climbed onto the gurney while the orderlies got his IV bag. He waved as they wheeled him from the room.

  Lana couldn’t believe he was doing this. She was happy that he was doing it, but also a sense of terror hit her hard. The thought of Andrew in surgery, where something could happen to him, made her worry all of a sudden.

  Don’t think about it. He’s in good hands with Dad.

  Her father had done multiple arthroscopies for the same issue and they had all been successful. Next to her father, she was highly adept at them, but she couldn’t perform the surgery on Andrew since they were married.

  What she had to do today was bury herself in her work and not think about Andrew going under the knife. If she kept busy, the time would just fly by.

  After she left the CT floor she headed straight for her rounds, making sure that all her surgical patients on her floor were comfortable and were healing well. And when that was finished she grabbed a quick bite to eat and then did a skills lab on arthroscopy with the residents with her father, who was looking for a keen resident who was interested in orthopedics to assist him in Andrew’s surgery later today.

  It didn’t take long to pick the resident. Once that was decided she went back to her office to grab a few things before she headed up to the surgical floor. She might not be able to be in the operating room while Andrew was undergoing his surgery, but she was going to be in the gallery watching and she would be there when he woke up.

  And she told herself over and over she was doing this because people would expect this from her as his wife, but she wasn’t convinced, because it felt right to do that.

  When did she go from pretending to be a wife t
o feeling like a wife?

  You’re not a real wife. Don’t think like that.

  “Ah, well, if it isn’t the beautiful bride.”

  Lana groaned and turned around to see David standing behind her, smirking.

  “Dr. Preston,” she said through gritted teeth.

  “Oh, come now, you’re the blushing bride who is head over heels in love.” He snorted in derision. “You couldn’t marry me for a business arrangement, but you marry Dr. Tremblay for a green card.”

  “What’re you talking about?” she snapped, though inside the butterflies in her stomach were having a field day.

  “Oh, come on. You honestly expect me to believe it was love when I saw him chasing skirt around this hospital from day one.”

  Heat bloomed in her cheeks, but from rage. Not embarrassment. “No, you have the wrong person. That was you, David.”

  “He’s using you, Lana.”

  “What does it matter to you?” she asked.

  “I’m at least a surgeon still.”

  “I’m in love with Andrew, Dr. Preston.”

  He snorted and rolled his eyes. “Right.”

  “Andrew has never once cheated on me. Andrew is in love with me and if you’re not up to date on hospital gossip, then I’ll let you in on a little secret—Andrew and I are expecting twins.”

  David’s mouth dropped open. It was apparent he hadn’t heard and she was pleased for making his head spin. She had nothing left to say to him, so she turned on her heel and left him standing there, gawking.

  Even though the only thing true in that statement was the fact she was carrying Andrew’s babies, it felt good to give David a bit of a comeuppance. To stand up to him finally.

  She headed back to her office and as she rounded the corner she saw Kelley was not at her desk, because she’d put her sign up that she’d be back in ten minutes, but there was a woman standing there waiting. She had her back to Lana. She was well dressed in a business suit and heels, her grey hair tied back in a neat bun, and the first thing that popped into Lana’s mind was that she must be a drug rep and that she probably had a meeting she’d forgotten about.

  Yet there was something about this woman which tugged at the corners of her mind. A nagging sensation which was telling her that she should know this woman.

  “Can I help you?” Lana asked cautiously.

  The woman’s spine stiffened and she turned round slowly.

  The world began to spin for Lana as she stared into the familiar blue eyes of the woman she’d thought she would never see again.

  “Hello, Iolana.”

  “Hello, Mother.”

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  LANA’S PULSE WAS still thundering between her ears as she shut the door to her office. She had showed her mother in, because she really didn’t want to be discussing anything with her estranged mother with the door open to a hallway of the hospital, where anyone could be listening. She didn’t need any more rumors flying about.

  Her mother’s impromptu arrival today was the last thing that she needed.

  Didn’t she have enough to deal with? She didn’t need a woman who had checked out of her life, given up her children, forced Lana into early adulthood, to suddenly appear.

  And as she eyed up the woman who’d left her all the things she wanted to say to her remained locked away. There was so much she wanted to ask her, to tell her how she really felt about her abandonment.

  Why did you leave Jack and me? Are you inherently selfish? How could you break Dad’s heart?

  Why didn’t you love me?

  Why wasn’t I good enough?

  Only, like always, she lost her voice.

  “I suppose I should explain why I’m here.”

  “Does it matter?” Lana asked, crossing her arms; she found it hard to look her in the eyes. Jack had her eyes and it was eerie now to think about it.

  “You’re so like your father.”

  And that angered Lana. How would she know? She knew nothing about her.

  “Why did you come back?” Lana asked.

  “I wanted to talk to you.”

  “Then talk, because I really don’t have much time. I have patients to see.”

  “How long will you give me?” her mother asked.

  “Ten minutes.” And that was ten minutes too long.

  “I don’t think that’s an adequate amount of time to properly talk to you.”

  “Take it or leave it.”

  “Can we meet later for coffee perhaps?” her mother asked.

  Lana was tempted, only because some part of her wanted to know the answers to all those questions that had plagued her, her whole life. Those questions which had crippled her self-esteem and made her doubt herself far too many times, but that part of her was small. The other part of her didn’t want to get to know the woman who had abandoned her and Jack. The woman who’d broken her father’s heart.

  “No, I don’t think so.” Lana opened the door to her office.

  Her mother sighed and moved toward the door. “Okay. I see then.”

  Lana shut the door behind her mother, her hands shaking.

  Get a grip on yourself.

  And she glanced at the clock on her wall and realized that it was after three and that Andrew was being taken down to the operating room and she wasn’t there.

  She checked herself in the mirror and made sure that she’d calmed down. Lana was relieved when she opened the door to her office and saw that her mother was nowhere to be seen. She’d taken her advice.

  Lana made her way to the OR floor and took her place in a packed gallery. One of the residents offered to give up his seat in the front so she could sit in the front row, but Lana wouldn’t let him get up.

  “You need to watch this, Fergus. More than I do.”

  Lana preferred to stand anyways.

  Her heart was hammering as she saw Andrew under general anesthesia. Those beautiful blue eyes taped shut, a tube down his throat and her father making the incisions to drop the instruments into the shoulder.

  Oh, God.

  A rush of emotion washed over her and she closed her eyes to pray. She prayed this worked, because she was worried that if it didn’t he’d blame her and she didn’t want that.

  “Did you know that Dr. Tremblay applied to the ISC?” one resident said to another.

  “What is the ISC?”

  “The International Surfing Commonwealth. If he gets in there he’ll be leaving to go to California. It’s a high profile job and he’d be working with some of the best athletes in the country. That’s why he’s finally getting his shoulder fixed properly. He won’t get the job if he can’t do surgery. They want surgeons and the surgeon who invented the Tremblay method would be an asset.”

  Lana’s heart sank. She didn’t know why it surprised her.

  Of course Andrew would’ve applied to the International Surfing Commonwealth. He’d mentioned that as one of his goals, one of his reasons for staying in the United States and getting his green card. Only she hadn’t known that he’d actually gone and applied for the job. It was just the confirmation of the fact that their time together really was limited and that she would be alone with these babies.

  She would be all they had.

  And she would have to be enough.

  * * *

  When Andrew woke up from his surgery he was in some pain, but pain that he was used to, so it didn’t faze him too much. Then he recalled that he’d had surgery on his shoulder and his eyes popped open, but since he didn’t have his contacts in or his glasses on the room was fuzzy.

  “Here,” Lana said from the haze, slipping his glasses on. He was relieved to see her smiling face, which surprised him.

  “Thanks,” he whispered, his throat
bothering him from the general anesthesia tube.

  “No problem.”

  “How did it go?”

  “It went smoothly. Dad removed the adhesions and as soon as the nurses in the recovery room feel that you can go home I’ll take you there and make sure you’re comfortable.”

  “You don’t have to do that,” he said. “I can take care of myself.”

  “Of course I do. I can’t let you recover on your own.”

  “I should be taking care of you.”

  “Andrew, I’m only five weeks along. It’s okay. Let me do this for you. Later, when I’m as big as a house and probably very grumpy, you can make it up to me.”

  He sighed, because it hurt to laugh. He didn’t want her staying because he didn’t want to put her out, but he was relieved she was there. He was relieved that he didn’t have to do this alone.

  It took him a couple of hours to shake the effects of the anesthesia, but soon the world became clearer and Lana never left his side. Finally her father came in and he was smiling.

  “You did excellently. You need to rest that arm for at least ten days and then you can start to work it again—gently at first, though.”

  “Thank you, Dr. Haole,” he said.

  “I think you can take him home now, Lana.” He nodded and then squeezed Lana’s shoulder.

  “Well, let’s get the IV out of you and get you home where you can rest.”

  “That sounds good.” And it did. It had surprised him when she’d said home. He didn’t have a home, or hadn’t had a home in so long, that it felt weird when she referred to the place he was temporarily living as home, but he wasn’t going to argue that fact.

  He needed some rest.

  The nurse removed his IV and helped him get dressed. And then an orderly brought a wheelchair. He was going to argue about being wheeled out, but Lana fixed him with a gaze that brooked no argument. So Andrew let the orderly wheel him out to Lana’s car, which was waiting in the front loop outside the hospital.