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He was charming and had everyone fooled. Just like she’d been.
“The patient we’re seeing is one of the pro bono cases sent over from Little Heliconia. The patient is an eight-year-old boy with cystic fibrosis. The family only speaks Spanish. Do you speak Spanish?”
“No, well, only a bit, not enough to keep up.”
Alejandro frowned. “Well, before we go in I’ll fill you in on his condition and what I’ll be explaining to the parents. That way I don’t have to keep stopping to interpret for you.” The way he said it made it sound like her presence was an inconvenience but she didn’t care. He wasn’t scaring her away and she knew that was his current tactic.
Kiri nodded. “Okay.”
“José Agadore has end-stage liver failure. Intrahepatic bile obstruction led to the deterioration of the liver tissue. By the time County sent him to Buena Vista there was nothing to be done to help the liver and I placed him on UNOS. Today I’m going to be updating the family on his condition.”
“There’s no liver match yet, then?” Kiri asked, making notes. Snyder wanted notes on all current pro bono cases in her department. Each head of each department of the hospital was doing the same.
Alejandro shook his head. “And the boy is not doing well. His last panel of blood showed ascites and a bilirubin count of three point one.”
Kiri flipped open the chart to see the labs and sighed. It didn’t look very promising. The more a body took a pounding while waiting for a liver, the less chance the patient had to pull through the surgery. “Has he passed cardiovascular and respiratory tests?”
Alejandro nodded. “He’s just waiting. Like so many are.”
Kiri nodded and followed Alejandro into the patient’s room. The little boy was jaundiced and was sleeping, a nasal cannula helping the poor mite to breathe. Kiri’s heart went out to the family. A mother and father huddled on the room’s couch, dark circles under their eyes. They immediately stood when Alejandro stepped up to the bedside, hope in their eyes, but they didn’t even glance in her direction.
“Buenos días, Señor y Señora Agadore, cómo está haciendo José esta mañana?” Alejandro asked.
“Tan bueno como se puede esperar,” Mr. Agadore said, then his glance fell on Kiri. She gave them a friendly smile, but it was clear they didn’t trust her. Not that she blamed them. They were scared, tired and there was a language barrier separating them.
“As good as could be expected,” the father had said. Kiri had understood that. She’d heard that same phrase in several languages from countless parents whose children had been fighting for their lives, the same haunted expression in their eyes.
Alejandro turned and nodded at her. “Permitame presente Dr. Bhardwaj. Ella es el jefe de cirugía pediátrica.”
The Agadores smiled politely and nodded. “Hola.”
Kiri half listened, catching a few words here and there as Alejandro spoke to the frightened parents about what was happening with their son and how they had to continue to wait until a match for their son was found.
When Alejandro reached across and shook the Agadores’ hands, they turned to her and she shook their hands as well. Alejandro opened the door and they walked out into the hall. She followed him as he returned José’s chart to the nurses’ station.
The charming, easygoing smile was gone, replaced by a man who was subdued because, like her, he knew that José didn’t have much longer to live.
“How much time does he have left?” Kiri asked.
“Days,” Alejandro said. “I keep my phone on, just waiting for the call from UNOS.”
“Well, I hope the call comes soon. Thank you for letting me in on your consult. We’ll speak again soon.” She tried to leave but Alejandro stopped her.
“You can’t cut my program.”
“Pardon?” She asked stunned.
“I know that you’ve made cuts. I’ve heard the rumors,” Alejandro whispered. “You can’t cut the transplant program, any part of the transplant program.”
She crossed her arms. “This is not the time or place to speak about this, Dr. Valentino.”
He grabbed her by the arm and led her outside, into an alleyway. Thunder rolled in the distance and she glanced up at the sky to see dark clouds, but the heat was still oppressive. It was a bit eerie.
“What is the meaning of this?” she demanded.
“You can’t make cuts,” he repeated.
“I’m the head of the department. If cuts need to be made, I’ll decide,” she snapped.
“If you make cuts there will be hell to pay,” he said through clenched teeth. His eyes were as dark and wild as the storm rolling in.
“Are you threatening me?” she asked.
“No, I’m just telling you that you can’t make cuts to this program.”
“I have no intention of making cuts to the program, Dr. Valentino.” Then she sighed. “I’m making cuts to the pro bono program. That young boy, he’s the last pro bono case that you can take.”
“What?” Alejandro was stunned. “You can’t.”
“The board is cutting pro bono funding. They still want a world-class hospital, they’ll fund research programs and equipment. They’ll even fund staff, but pro bono cases must be referred to County.”
“Cases like José’s can’t be referred to County. County doesn’t have the equipment to handle children like him. Sending them to County is a death sentence. County sends cases like José’s to us for a reason. We’re the best.”
“My hands are tied. Only those who can afford to pay for the services at Buena Vista will be treated.” Then added, before she could stop herself, “You know all about what it’s like to cater to the wealthy, don’t you?”
His eyes were like thunder as they narrowed dangerously. “You do remember me, then.”
“And you remember me. Given your age and your standing here, you must’ve been, what, a resident when we met?”
Alejandro cursed under his breath. “Yes.”
“And does the board know what their precious Dr. Valentino did before becoming an attending at a prestigious hospital?”
“Are you threatening me?” Alejandro asked, angry.
“No.” Even though five years ago when she’d miscarried and had had no one to help her, no one to hold her hand, she would’ve gladly threatened Alejandro then. She’d wanted him to hurt, to know the pain she’d been feeling.
“I danced to pay off student loans. That’s all. Once I’d earned enough money, I quit.”
“I don’t care,” Kiri said. “What I care about is protecting the reputation of the hospital. What if word gets out that a surgeon was an exotic dancer?”
“I haven’t danced in five years. My last show was in Vegas.”
Kiri’s cheeks heated and he took her right back to that night so long ago. “Why did you pretend not to know me?”
“Why did you?” he countered.
“I was surprised to see a stripper as a surgeon.” And she regretted the hateful words the moment they’d slipped past her lips.
“I’m not a stripper. I’m a surgeon. That’s all I am. Of course, it’s hard to practice as a surgeon when your program is being slashed.”
“Your program is not being slashed. Only the pro bono fund. You can practice on patients who can pay.”
Alejandro opened his mouth, but then a thin, long wail sounded from behind a Dumpster. It was weak, frightened.
“Was that a baby?” Kiri asked.
“Yes.” Alejandro turned and they listened, trying to drown out the sounds of traffic and thunder. Then they heard the small wail again.
Weaker this time.
Alejandro dashed over to the Dumpster and behind it saw a grease-stained box filled with newspapers. Kiri knelt down beside him and gasped as Alejandro peeled back the papers to uncover a small, blue-gray baby. Very small and obviously newly born, because the cord was still fresh and hastily cut off.
“Oh, my God,” Kiri whispered. “It’s a baby.”
A tiny infant that had been abandoned in an alleyway of a hospital. Alone and afraid.
“Fools,” Alejandro cursed. “Who would do such a thing?”
And Kiri couldn’t help but agree. Someone hadn’t wanted this poor mite, but to abandon the baby in the heat next to a Dumpster? That was dreadful.
It was times like this that the loss hurt even more. It reminded Kiri again that life was cruel and dirty.
Life was unfair.
Alejandro whipped off his jacket and gently lifted the infant, wrapping the boy up. “Let’s get him inside. It’s sweltering out here and, with the storm coming, that’s the last thing he needs.”
Kiri nodded as Alejandro gingerly picked up the baby. She opened the door and they ran inside. All she could do was keep up with Alejandro’s long strides as he called out for nurses, residents and equipment. They laid the baby down on a bed; he looked so small on the large gurney.
Alejandro moved quickly, giving him oxygen, holding the mask over his nose while they waited for an incubator.
“Who would do such a thing?” Kiri wondered out loud as she stared down at the small baby, new in this world and all alone.
Alejandro shook his head. “I don’t know, but it’s a good thing we found him. He wouldn’t have lasted long out there. Look, his stats are very low—I’m surprised he’s lasted this long.”
The incubator was brought in and a resident took over respirating the baby while they ran an umbilical line to get fluids into him. Kiri reached down and stroked his tiny hand between her finger and thumb. The hand was so small it made her heart skip a beat. It made her yearn for what she’d lost.
And what she’d probably never have since her obstetrician had said she’d probably never again conceive or carry a pregnancy to term. Motherhood was not meant to be for her.
“How old do you think he is?” Alejandro asked, invading her thoughts.
“I think probably about thirty weeks. Maybe. More like twenty-eight,” she whispered as they intubated the baby and transferred him over to the incubator to take him up to the nursery. She’d lost her son at twenty-three weeks. He had only been slightly smaller than this boy.
Alejandro nodded. “We probably just missed the mother. I’ll let the ER doctors know to be on the lookout for her.”
Kiri nodded as the resident team wheeled the incubator and the baby up to the nursery. “Good call. I’ll take the little one up to the nursery and arrange for his transfer to County.”
“County?” Alejandro asked, stunned.
“Yes,” Kiri said. “I told you, the hospital has cut the pro bono cases.”
Alejandro frowned and crossed his arms. “He won’t survive the trip to County and County doesn’t have the facilities of a level-one NICU.”
“Then Seaside,” she offered. “He can’t stay here.”
He shook his head. “We have the foremost neonatal intensive care unit here at Buena Vista. He needs to stay here.”
Kiri didn’t want to send the baby to County either, but her hands were tied.
“And who will pay for his medical expenses? He doesn’t have a family. He’s an abandoned baby.”
A strange expression crossed Alejandro’s face. “I will pay for his medical expenses. I’ll take responsibility for him. I’ll act as his family.”
CHAPTER TWO (#u993cb895-11b7-5b39-aed1-e5ec97af8612)
“PARDON?” KIRI SAID, because she wasn’t quite sure she’d heard Alejandro correctly. “What did you say?”
“I said I would pay for the child’s medical expenses,” Alejandro snapped. “You’re not sending him to County.”
Before she could say anything else to him he stormed out of the room. Kiri stood there stunned for a moment, taking in the ramifications of what he’d said.
He was going to pay for him?
She wasn’t sure what she was feeling at the moment because she thought about the moment she’d planned to tell Alejandro about their baby five years ago. She’d expected him to be horrified and angry, what she’d thought would be a typical reaction in a man who was finding out he was going to be a father after a one-night stand.
Maybe her assumption of him had been wrong, because he was offering to take this sick infant as his own.
She ran after him. “You’re planning to adopt this boy?”
Alejandro froze in his tracks and spun around. “What’re you talking about?”
“You just said you’re going to be the boy’s guardian.”
“No, I said I was going to pay his medical bills. I didn’t say anything about adopting him.”
“Well, usually when someone offers to become financially responsible for a child like this they intend to invest in their health care and adopt.”
Alejandro frowned. “I have no interest in adopting him, but I’ll give him his best shot at a family. People who actually want children.”
It was like a splash of cold water.
People who actually want children.
So it was clear he didn’t want children. Just like she’d first thought when she’d found out she was pregnant. It still hurt, though. She’d been hoping for better from him.
His rejection of having a family, of children, was a rejection of their baby as far as she was concerned.
“You’d better get a lawyer involved,” Kiri snarled.
