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CHAPTER TWO
“NURSE?”
“Yes, Mrs. Rawlins?”
“Could you call me Diana, please?”
“Of course. If you’ll call me Jane.”
“All right. Jane? I overheard Dr. Fair say my baby is four days old. I don’t understand why I’m not sore and bleeding after my delivery. Why hasn’t my milk come in yet?”
“That’s something to ask the doctor when be makes his rounds this evening. Don’t worry. The baby is being well taken care of in the nursery.”
“How soon can I see him?”
“He needs to stay under the lights until tomorrow, at least.”
“Then will you help me to go to the nursery so I can sit with him?”
“That’s against doctor’s orders, Diana. We’ve just settled you in your room. He left strict instructions for you to have rest and stay quiet. You want to get better, don’t you?
“Your husband has gone home to bring you some of your things. When he returns, you can talk to him about it. But if you can wait until this evening, Dr. Harkness will make his rounds. Perhaps he’ll allow you and your husband to go to the nursery for a peek. Everything depends on how you and the baby are feeling by then.”
“You don’t understand, Jane. I don’t remember him being my husband- All I want is my baby!”
“I know. But you want him to get better, too, don’t . you?”
“Of course.”
“Then try to be patient. I know it’s hard. After that nasty fall, you need to give yourself a chance to heal. I’d also like to see that temperature go down. Tell you what I’ll look in on you again in a little while.”
“Don’t go!”
The nurse walked over to the side of the bed. “What’s frightening you the most?”
Diana hid her face in her hands. “I don’t know. Everything.”
“Of course it is. If I couldn’t remember anything of my past life, I’d be frightened, too. But this is a temporary situation. You remember having the baby with you when you fell. That means your memory is returning. Just give it a little more time.”
She lifted her tear-drenched face. “That’s true, isn’t it? I remembered his name was Tyler.”
“That’s right. And you’ll start remembering more and more.”
“But that’s just it! I don’t remember anything else. Mr. Rawlins acts so hurt around me, I can hardly bear it.”
“Naturally he has been affected by your fall. He says everything was wonderful between you when you left for work this morning, and then he gets a call saying that you’re in the hospital and can’t remember what happened.”
“My work?” she blurted, scarcely listening to anything else. What kind of work?
This was another revelation she couldn’t fathom because she had no memory of it. Why would she be going to work when she’d just had a baby?
“That’s what I understand,” Jane informed her, “but I’ll leave that to your husband to explain. He should be back soon. I must say he loves you very much. It’s obvious to the staff that he would do anything for you.”
“I don’t want his solicitation.”
“Maybe not, but if you could put yourself in his place for a moment, you would understand-that he is as frightened as you are.”
“What does he have to be frightened about? He knows me.”
“That’s true, but he’s married to a woman who doesn’t know him. You’re treating him like you would anyone off the street because you can’t do anything else. How do you suppose you would feel if your positions were reversed and he wanted nothing to do with you?”
Diana bit her lip and turned her head toward the wall. The movement hurt the spot on the back of her head where they’d bandaged it. She didn’t like Jane reminding her that Cal Rawlins was in pain.
“If you want company, I’ll send one of the volunteers down to read to you or whatever you’d like.”
“No. I think I want to be alone now.”
“I’ll check on another couple of patients, then come back.”
“Thank you.” She fought more tears. “I’m sorry I’m behaving so abominably.”
“The fact that you can apologize for something that is beyond your control tells me that at heart you’re a very kind, sensitive woman who wouldn’t purposely hurt anyone.”
But am I? How does Jane know that?
When the door was shut, Diana reached under the bedsheet to feel her stomach. It was flat and smooth as silk. There were no pads covering a sore incision, which meant she hadn’t had a Cesarean section.
While she lay there, it came to her that she hadn’t given birth to her baby. She couldn’t have, or there would be all the normal signs!
Had she adopted it?
Nobody had said a word about anything.
Dear God. What was really going on?
For the first time since coming into the hospital, she was anxious to talk to Mr. Rawlins. He appeared to be the only person who could give her the answers she needed.
But would he be honest with her? How could she trust a perfect stranger?
Cal had barely entered his house to pack a bag for Diana when his cellular phone rang. He reached in his pocket and put it to his ear.
“Roman? I saw your name on the Caller ID.”
“I told you I’d touch base when I had something. You and I were right on.”
He gripped the phone tighter. “Go ahead. I’m listening.”
“I found a note tucked in the pocket of Diana’s dress, the one folded in the hospital bag. The paper has been ripped from a steno pad. The typed message reads,
“Dear Diana,
My boyfriend and I talked it over and decided we had to give up the baby because we can’t take care of it. A friend told me about you and how much you’ve been wanting one, so I brought him to your work. She says that you and your husband are the nicest people in the world, and that you would make the perfect parents. She also said you have a nursery all ready for a baby boy, and I want my boy to have the best of everything, so I’m giving him to you and nobody else. I’ve asked God if I’m doing the right thing and I feel really good inside about this. Please take care of him and love him. I wish we could, but we can’t. I’ll ask one more favor. Please take him to church so he can learn about God. I always liked church and I know that if you do that for him, the three of you will have a perfect life. Thank you very much. And one more favor. When he gets older, tell him we loved him too much to try and keep him.”
The simplicity, the poignancy, of the young mother’s words caused tears to prick Cal’s eyes. She loved her baby. It took amazing faith and courage to do what she did. What a hell of a situation. That note must have wrung Diana’s heart.
“Lord, Roman. This is incredible.”
“You can say that again. No doubt Diana’s compassionate instincts took right over. One look at the sick baby and she rushed him to the emergency room for treatment.”
Cal’s mind was leaping ahead. “If Diana were to read that note, it might help bring her memory back faster.”
“I agree. Before I can give it to you, I have to contact the police and let them know what we’ve learned. That note exonerates Diana from any wrongdoing and will be used as evidence.”
Roman had been reading Cal’s mind. Neither man had wanted to say anything earlier, but both knew the circumstances of Diana suddenly claiming a newborn as her own would look suspicious in the eyes of the law, regardless of her head injury.
Filled with relief that at least this much of the mystery was solved, Cal could concentrate fully on Diana. “I’m going back to the hospital in a few minutes and I’ll let them know what we’ve learned.”
“Good. In the meantime I’ll get started tracking down this young mother. She’s given us plenty of information, but I’m not so sure her boyfriend had anything to do with her decision. I wouldn’t be surprised if he disappeared on her a long time ago and she’s trying to save face. Nevertheless she’s friendly with someone who has a connection with the agency, otherwise she couldn’t have known about Diana and her desire for a baby.
“The girl is probably in her midteens. She may not have gone to a hospital for her delivery, but on the chance that she did, I’ll run a check on all the babies delivered within the last week. I’d like to find her. There are programs to help unwed mothers keep their babies.”
“What if she doesn’t turn up?”
“Then the baby will become a ward of the court and placed in foster care until it’s adopted.”
Adopted.
“What if—”
“I’m way ahead of you Cal. That’s why I want to conduct a thorough search for the baby’s mother. Some mothers regret their decision and come back for their babies, or cause trouble later on down the road.
“In this case the mother knows exactly where to come. The last thing an adoptive couple would want or need is to have the birth mother show up after the legal proceedings were concluded. But we’re getting way ahead of ourselves here, and I can’t guarantee anything.”
“I realize that. But if anyone can do the impossible, it’s you. Roman?” Cal’s voice was gruff with emotion. “I can’t thank you enough for being there.”
“Save it. Get back to your wife. We’ll stay in touch.”
“Right.”
A few minutes later Cal drove to the hospital with some clothes and personal articles for Diana, including their wedding photo album and another scrapbook. Hoping to jog her memory, he also brought the novel she’d been reading. When he saw that the mail had been delivered, he took that along, too, bills and all. The latest issue of Detective Inc, had come. She always went for that magazine first because she wanted to keep up to date and be the best assistant possible to Roman.
Enroute to the hospital Cal made another call to his private secretary, Mrs. West. After updating her on Diana’s condition, he informed her that he would be out of the office for several days. If something came up she couldn’t handle, she could reach him on his cellular.
With that taken care of, he pulled into the car park and dashed inside the hospital, praying that Diana had started to remember something else besides the baby. That she remembered him.
His first instinct was to open the door to her room and go in unannounced. But the doctor had cautioned him to treat her like a sister, so he knocked.
“Yes?”
“Diana? It’s Cal. Is it all right if I come in?”
“Give me a minute, please.”
The old Diana wouldn’t have needed a knock. She would never have kept him waiting. His Diana of six hours ago would have welcomed him with open arms, no matter her condition.
His jaw hardened because he realized the miracle he’d been waiting for hadn’t happened yet.
“Of course. Take all the time you need.”
It seemed an eternity before she said, “You can come in now.”
Cal entered her room and closed the door behind him. He felt like an intruder.
Dear God. She was his wife. How was he going to handle being around her and not touching her, holding her?
He still couldn’t fathom that any of this had happened—that she was sitting primly in the hospital bed, the covers up to her chin, looking fragile and so damn nervous of him he felt like someone had just slugged him in the midsection.
“I brought you several changes of clothes and a few things to read.”
Her meek little thank-you sparked another surge of adrenaline. When she didn’t extend her hands, he left the things he’d brought on her bedside table.
Needing to channel his negative energy, he hung up a couple of items in the closet, then put the rest of her clothes away in the drawers.
“How are you feeling now?” he asked, pulling up a chair to the side of her bed.
“I still don’t remember anything, if that’s what you’re asking.” She said this with her head lowered. He had the idea she couldn’t stand to look at him. “I’m sorry if that brings you pain.”
Her blunt speaking took his breath. Diana had always been an honest person, but normally she was more gentle in her approach. The doctor had told him to treat her like a family member, but he’d never had a sister or brother and couldn’t pretend something he didn’t feel. He had a premonition that under these precarious circumstances, finding common ground would prove virtually impossible. There were no guidelines. He would have to feel his way.
“I could lie and say I was only inquiring about the physical pain to the back of your head. The truth is, I’m shattered by what has happened to you, to me. To us. Any way you look at it, this is a hellish situation. If we’re not totally honest with each other, then I don’t see how we’ll be able to work our way out of this nightmare. I realize you’re terrified of me.”
That brought her head up. She stared at him. Again, he could see his presence didn’t register with her except to upset her.
“I am, but not because you’re a terrifying person. I’m sure you’re probably a wonderful person,” she admitted in a quiet voice. “But I don’t know you. I have no feeling for you. That’s what is terrifying.”
Oh, Lord.
“I’m beginning to realize that. Just give me some time to deal with it.”
“Of course.” He heard a troubled sigh escape. “The only thing real to me is the baby. Obviously I didn’t give birth to him.”
He blinked in surprise. “Who told you that?”
“Why would I have to be told something that is vastly apparent? I overheard the doctor say that the baby is only four days old, and I show no signs of ever having been pregnant. Which means we adopted him. Couldn’t I have children, or was it a physical problem on your part?”
Give your wife information on a need-to-know basis.
Unable to remain seated, he got up and wandered over to the window which looked out on the foothills of the city. Was this one of those moments?
