by Kamy Chetty
Ash turned to the mother. “Would you like a cup of coffee? I think the ambulance is on their way.”
She looked from Kieran to Ash and shook her head. “You can’t send her to hospital. They will take her away from me.”
Ash cocked her head. “Kieran, is what she saying true?”
He rubbed his hands over his face. For the first time since the mother brought the child in he took a good look at her. She was scantily dressed, much like the exotic dancers that worked in the dance clubs that fronted for prostitution houses. “Show me your arms?”
Ash focused on Kieran. “Why the questions? Why are you asking to see her arms?”
The child grunted softly and Kieran stalled. If he answered, would he shatter Ash’s view of the world? His hand gently rubbed the child’s head as he sighed. His gaze lifted to the teenager.
If her sunken eyes were not a giveaway, then the edginess was a sure sign she had something to hide. “You knew she was sick. She’s had treatment for asthma.”
The mother rubbed her hands up and down her arms and paced a small path in front of the child. “Please doctor, you can’t take her away from me. I will do anything, I swear.”
Ash came forward and took her place between Kieran and the girl. “I don’t understand what’s happening here, but you’re not suggesting we separate these two?”
Kieran’s gaze focused on the child whose breathing was getting easier. The sound of sirens was getting closer. “What do you suggest we do? The ambulance is here. She needs to go to hospital. If we say we don’t know who this child is, they will treat her as abandoned. Either way, she goes into the system.”
“You won’t take this child away from her mother? Why would you do that?” Heat fell off her yet when his hand touched hers, it was ice.
Kieran dropped his chin when she pulled her hand away from his. “She’s a drug user. Chances are she sold her child’s medication for more drugs. I can’t be sure she is the best choice to take care of this little one.”
The teenage girl hid in the shadows as the ambulance screeched to a stop outside the clinic. Kieran went back to the girl. Her eyes opened and she looked up at him. As luck would have it, she had eyes as green as the moss outside his window. As green as the woman’s standing next to him, watching him with pleading eyes. “My hands are tied Ash. There is nothing I can do.”
She took the child’s limp hand in hers and looked at him. “Really Kieran? Nothing?”
*****
Ash had been in closets the size of this room, but none had stunk like sickness and clinical disinfectant. She went to the little window in the stuffy room and looked out. Why have a window that could never open? The monitor beside the bed beeped and her gaze went instantly to the child on the bed. Little Sara was sound asleep. She was lucky that she hadn’t made a fuss when she picked her up earlier and claimed her as her own.
“I didn’t think children was part of the deal?” Kieran surprised her as he entered the room.
She’d been waiting for this visit the entire day. When she’d claimed to be the mother at the clinic, he’d let her. The teenager who she later found out was Shelley was happy to let her pretend to be the mother, until Sara was better and came home.
“I’m sorry I put you through that. I couldn’t let them be separated.” She watched Sara sleep and wondered if he could understand that life was not always easy.
Kieran stood by the monitor and looked at the numbers go up and down in silence. “I don’t mind you helping her out. I worry that you’re not doing her any favours.”
A billionaire could never understand life from the other side. “You think it’s okay for family to be apart? The two of them are all they have. I would have thought you would understand that.”
She saw him flinch at her words. “Shelley is a drug user and an exotic dancer. Do you really think this child will be better off with her? She needs medical treatment. Did you ask her why Sara got to this stage?”
Ash placed her finger on her lips. “Ssh. I wouldn’t want to wake her. What are you talking about? Sara had an asthma attack. Do you have a magic ball that tells you this could be prevented?”
Kieran ran his fingers through his hair. He was frustrated with her. She was beginning to figure out his signs. His little tell tale signs. Did he have a magic ball? He looked down at his shoes and she followed his gaze.
“Shelley could have prevented this. At the very least she could have prevented this from getting to this point. I checked the clinic records. She was given medication to give Sara. Medication I suspect she sold for drugs.” Kieran lifted his chin.
A mother wouldn’t really harm her child like that. Would she?
Ash blew out a slow breath. “What is the alternative Kieran? I leave her to go to a group home?” The thought took her back to a time she’d stowed away into the dark recesses of her mind. The traumatic time that she didn’t often visit unless she wanted to remind herself of how harsh life could be.
His gaze swept along the room and landed on her. “It’s not as bad as you think. She might end up with a good family, someone who would love and take care of her.”
Somehow she doubted that. She clutched Sara’s hand. “Or she could end up with someone who wants to use her. Ten years from now you would see her in one of those exotic dance places her mother works in.”
The vein at Kieran’s temple was beating at a rapid rate. A rate that frightened her. There had to be a way to make him see reason. Make him see that this child’s fate lay in his hands.
She went to him and took his face in her hands so he could see she was serious. In his eyes she saw surprise more than anything else. “Kieran, please listen to me. I know what the future can hold for an innocent child like her. Don’t do this.”
His gaze narrowed and she had to drop her hands and look away. How could she explain her life to him? The last twenty years of what she had to endure was something she had never said to anyone.
He lifted her chin. His finger grazed her chin and she felt little beads of energy run across her skin. “Tell me.”
“I was six when my parents died in a car accident. I was in the car with them.” She hadn’t remembered much except it being dark. She remembered blood and her mother’s screams.
Kieran pulled her into his arms. “I’m so sorry Ash. Do you remember what happened?”
It was so easy to tell him things she wasn’t willing to say to anyone else. “Blood. A huge truck had hit us and both mama and papa were gone.”
“No one claimed me.” She sniffed. “Makes me sound like I belonged in baggage claims.” The laugh sounded false even to her. “We were on holiday at the time and it was harder for anyone to find out who to call so I had to go to a group home.”
She pulled away as she relayed the last part so she could look into his eyes. As the pieces fell into place he nodded. “You can’t fix this Ash. At some point she needs to be taken care of. If you had a bad experience in the group home it doesn’t mean she would go down the same path.”
She shook her head. “I was lucky. My aunt came for me. She took care of me. I got out. It could have been a different future for me if she hadn’t.”
Kieran could never understand what the other side lived with. He was a billionaire who could do what he wanted. People like her were forced to do things to survive. It was only when Kieran’s arms wrapped around her that she realised that her sobbing could be the sound that woke Sara.
“Sshh, Ash, you’ll wake her.” He held on tighter and she sobbed harder.
Did defeat have a taste? Her body went limp as she went boneless. This was meant to be simple. This farce engagement was meant to help Kieran and maybe find who she really was.
“Ash, it’s okay. We will make it work. We can find a rehab place for Shelley and find someone to take of Sara. There is always a solution.” His fingers felt good as they massaged her scalp.
And did he have to smell good too? For the last week, they spent so much time apart, that
now she craved him. A complication she could do without.
He was always sure of things. So sure of what the possibility could be. If only she could have the same faith about her life then maybe she’d feel better about the path she’d chosen.
Chapter Six
The pounding in his head was so bad, the room shook. The table toppled and the sound of crashing glass pierced his consciousness. With sluggish uneven movements that hurt, Kieran lifted his head. The darkened room had a sliver of light beaming out from the room and he turned to the source. Big mistake.
A sharp pain sliced through the back of his skull and before he could lift himself off the chair, he was pushed back down. He counted two people in the office with him.
“Stay where you are,” The clean British accent said.
The man that held him down smelt of cheap alcohol and tobacco and…olive oil. Why he caught the smell of olive oil, he wasn’t sure, but it was distinctive.
His gaze focused on the limited visibility he had in his office. He remembered the visit with Ash at the hospital and coming back here to do paperwork. He even remembered nodding off to sleep. His gaze squinted at the clock in the distance. The numbers blurred but it pointed to three. Was it three in the morning?
With nothing out of place it could only mean one thing. His cheap olive oil smelling friend, and his British accomplish had the keys and alarm code to the building. He hadn’t heard the alarm go off, or the sound of sirens that meant the police were close.
His jaw clammed down hard. What were these thugs after? “We don’t keep money here. You do know this is a free clinic,” his head was held down against the desk. The muscle in his neck hurt from the pressure but he didn’t make a sound. They weren’t planning on killing him. If he couldn’t identify them, they had to let him live. Right?
“If you send a diabetic to a candy store, do you think they’d go for the money?” The high-pitched laugh grated on his nerves.
Drug dealers. He knew it was a problem in Goa and he’d experienced it first hand with Shelley and her child. “We don’t carry much stock. It’s also kept locked and I don’t have the key code,” Kieran lied.
This time they both laughed on the inside joke. “We don’t need your code.”
The hairs at the back of his neck stood on end. Everything about this didn’t make sense. How did they get the key? Why would they have the code to the drug cupboard?
He couldn’t see what they were up to, but they looked at home in the office. This was where the drug cupboard was kept. Had always been kept for safety reasons. A brief moment of panic dropped in his gut. Was his father involved? Even as the thought entered his mind he knew it couldn’t be true. His father was against anything illegal.
The British man had on a bluish cotton suit. It reminded him of the reruns of Miami Vice. In fact if he squinted just right he could swear, the man even combed his hair back and folded his sleeves like the main character from the TV series.
“How did you get the code and keys for this place? This is my father’s clinic. I will bet my life on it that he wouldn’t have given the keys to you.” The pressure Mr Olive guy applied on his head increased. His father would never be involved with these thugs. Not the man who had given up everything to make sure he had the best education.
He heard tapping on the front door, then footsteps moving closer. The soft curse didn’t register in the unsympathetic room. His gut clenched as he heard Ash’s voice in the distance. “Kieran, are you here? I called the hotel and you weren’t answering. She’s stable. Sara is―” Ash was getting closer.
The pressure against his neck was painful. Mr Olive man didn’t like the idea of guests. Kieran tried to turn but couldn’t. “Why don’t you leave her out of this?”
The man in charge came closer and leaned over. He took a switchblade out of his back pocket and pressed the switch that made the blade shoot out with a loud clack. Hoping to intimidate he touched the tip with the point of his finger. “The boss wasn’t impressed with the delay in his delivery this month. I think we need something to sweeten the deal.”
At the mention of a delivery for the month, Kieran knew this was a lot more serious than he’d anticipated. He tried to think through his options, but Ash’s footsteps were getting closer. These men didn’t look like the type who would negotiate. “I can give you what you want. Leave now and take what you want.”
The man in charge gave him a mouthy grin showing off his gold fillings. When he flexed his muscle as he placed the tip of the knife on the desk, Kieran noticed a tattoo that resembled a scorpion. “That’s a tempting offer that I won’t refuse. I will leave. With the girl and I promise to be in touch.”
Kieran tried to turn and see more of his captors but all he remembered next was the thwack and darkness.
*****
The first thing he saw was the big clock. Four thirty. His fingers touched the sore part of his head and when he looked down at them, he saw sticky redness. He wasn’t sure what they hit him with, but the waves of pain and nausea were intermittent.
The office had signs of a struggle. Ash wouldn’t have gone quietly. His groan echoed in the empty room. Where would they have taken her and who would know? Who was in on this? Jessie? Latha? He knew his father wouldn’t be involved but he needed to make sure.
His heart raced, as the foundations of his world came apart. Ash had to be safe. He would never forgive himself if anything happened to her. They’d taken his cell phone and cut the wires on all the phones in the office. For crooks, they weren’t the smartest. He looked around for his car keys. Gone. They were trying to slow him down. It would have been a great tactic if he had known where to go.
His skill set was simple. He was trained as a doctor and when he failed at that he developed a patient management system, which doctors now used. Geeky stuff. Put him in an office with a computer and software programming, and he could kill things. In the real world, he was crippled.
With a chest full like titanium implants, it hurt to breathe. His hands twisted into fists so tight, he felt pain. He had to find her. Whatever it took, he would find her. His first two moves were communication and mobilisation. After he got a car and purchased a cell phone from a local store, his next stop was the hospital.
Even as he opened the door to his father’s room, he knew that however he asked the question, it would sound like he was accusing someone he cared about of being a drug dealer. It would result in pain. His parents were sound asleep. They had put an extra bed in his father’s room for his mother who had refused to leave her husband’s side.
His father’s breathing was deep and his heart rate was slowly settling. All good signs to a quick recovery.
His mother stirred and woke when she realised he was in the room. “Kieran, it’s early, what are you doing here?” Julie rubbed her eyes.
Anil stirred and then settled back to sleep. Kieran sighed wondering how he could ask the question on his mind. The question that could save Ash.
“Is that blood on your shirt?” Julie was at his side turning his head from side to side, to make sure he wasn’t hurt.
Too late. He had been hurt and worse than that. He was about to question his parents and most likely break their hearts.
“Ma, someone broke into the clinic this morning.” If he waited maybe she would tell him. Then he wouldn’t have to ask. The cowards way out but how could he ask his parents if they were drug dealers?
Her arms went around him and she squeezed so tight, he couldn’t breathe. “You’re okay. They let you go. You’re okay.” Tears streamed down her eyes while she continued to hold him.
He didn’t need to know more than that. Whatever was going on, they knew. The only question was, why were they not telling him?
He slowly pulled away and forced her to meet his gaze. “Ma, what’s happening? They took Ash. You need to tell me what’s going on.”
“Your Papa didn’t want you to work there. He didn’t want you involved. This is all wrong.” She sni
ffed and turned away from him.
Kieran watched his father and wondered what went wrong. “I don’t believe it. Not Papa. He wouldn’t.”
Julie placed her hand on his shoulder. “No it’s not your father. It’s Latha. She had some problems. After Johnny died, and then you left―it was hard for her to cope. I know it’s not an excuse to use drugs, but she felt lost. We tried to help, but it wasn’t enough. We sent her away for a while hoping to fix things. Those people are bad and they keep coming back.” She went to his father’s side and held his hand. “Your father was scared you would feel responsible.”
Did his father blame him? He certainly blamed himself. All of this was his fault. The problems with Latha, definitely his fault. He had promised Johnny he’d take care of her, and he didn’t. Couldn’t then, couldn’t now.
How could he fix this mess when he had no idea how to start? Short of collapsing in a heap and admitting defeat now, he had no beacon of hope.
“I’m sorry Ash got mixed up in this,” Julie said.
Now what? Report this to the police and hope for the best? He looked around the hospital room. If this were Ash, she wouldn’t sit around. She wouldn’t hand it to someone else and then sit back. She tracked him down, almost lost her job to hand him a wedding ring he didn’t need.
She didn’t sit in her room and sulk when she couldn’t tie a sari, something most Indian girls would’ve done. She went on the Internet and learnt how to do it. Yes, it was wrong, but she tried. Then when a jellyfish stung her, she screamed like hell, and instead of calling an ambulance, she put lemon juice on the welts.
Here he was a grown adult sitting with his mum, wondering what he should do when a drug dealer kidnapped his pretend fiancée. His fingers combed through his hair as his jaw clamped shut. When he touched the tender spot on his head that felt sticky with blood, he smothered a curse. Ash wouldn’t sit here and wait. Dammit, neither would I.
