Shaking Off the Dust (41 page)

Besides, I need to recheck your lab work today.” He looked at Takeshi. “You don’t mind if I steal her away for a while, do you?”

Takeshi started writing for a long time on his pad.
I’m counting on you to take care of her until I can.

The nurse handed me two plastic cups of apple juice. I drank them down as everyone watched. When I finished, I did feel better and I went to Takeshi, took the pad from his hands and wrote,
I can damn well take care of myself.

Takeshi nodded and smiled, taking the pad from my hands.
Better now?
he wrote.

“Wipe that know-it-all smile off your face, Shimodo, or I’ll have the orderly do your bath tonight,” I threatened.

Several people snorted, including the surgeon who’d gone quiet when Dwight came in the room. He went back to his exam of Takeshi then promised to take him off the respirator in stages over the next few hours if he maintained his oxygenation.

“So, you are saying I only have a few hours to browbeat him without verbal retaliation.” I gave Shimodo a raised eyebrow.

Takeshi was writing away on the pad. I realized he was left handed. How could I have not noticed that before?
Go with Dr. Santiago. We will talk in a few hours. Eat!

“We don’t have to talk about everything right away. There’s time to talk later, when you feel better.”

Tears filled my eyes.

He looked over to Dwight, then motioned him to take me and go.

“You’re awfully bossy,” I said. “That’s my personality, not yours. I liked it that way.” I bent down and kissed his cheek, then leaned into his ear. “I love you too.”

I was gone longer than I planned. We walked two blocks to a café for breakfast and Dwight liked long slow meals. He regaled me with news from America. I hadn’t been watching TV and so had no idea what was going on. The Madrid news had been nonstop on CNN and every other news agency.

We went to the lab for a blood test. After that he wanted me to meet a friend of his, who happened to be an obstetrician. She did the whole exam and repeated an ultrasound. As we walked from her offices, I complained about not having showered or worn real cloths for days. I rambled about getting a hotel room now that Takeshi was awake and seemingly indestructible.

Dr. Santiago took me to a store on the way and bought me a fresh set of jeans, tee shirt and a sweatshirt

to put over that. I threw in a bag of underwear. He stood guard at the doctors’ sleep room while I showered. He even handed me a bag with shampoo, toothbrush and paste, and other amenities. It was heaven in a small-enclosed space. Now that was a good friend.

I wiped the steam from the mirror with the towel and almost didn’t recognize the woman staring back at me. The bruise was still there, but had faded. My reflection was haggard, but at least I smelled okay. I hoped. I was a very unattractive woman today. Perhaps two days of sleep would help.

“Hannah?”

I twisted around and Tom was behind me, his back to me.

“What?” I snapped.

“You’ve been gone for hours. Takeshi’s worried you’re sick and they aren’t telling him.”

“Damn. Tell them to give him drugs. If I knew waking him up would make him worry about me, I’d have made them wait.”

“Liar,” Tom argued. “What’s the matter? Really?”

“I’m fine. I look like a hag. He deserves someone pretty, pert and more congenial.”

“Stop pouting that you’re not a model and go talk to him. You’re avoiding him now,” he snapped.

“Don’t make me box your ears.”

“Go tell him I took a shower, my first in four days, so I would not assail that sensitive nose. He’ll understand. Is he talking? Did they extubate him?”

But Tom was gone. I came out of the doctors’ lounge and bowed my head to Dwight.

“He’s waiting. Tom said he’s impatient, worried. I need to get to him.”

“Fine, I’ll send up food. You eat it or I’ll ban you from his room. He’ll take it badly, but he’ll enforce it, to make sure you stay healthy.”

“Thanks for the clothes and shower-guarding duty.” I got on my tiptoes and kissed his cheek. “Now you’re just being one more pain in my ass. I’m going up to his room.”

Takeshi sat up in bed, his eyes closed. I crept closer watching his face.

“You still smell like blackberries and honey.” His voice was hoarse, almost a croak.

“It’ll take days before my hormones get back to normal.” I started to pull up the chair, but he patted the bed and slowly moved over to make room.

“That had to hurt.” I smiled. “Not a chance. I’d be scared to death I’d damage you.”

“I want you next to me. Please come sit with me. I need someone beside me, someone that is you. Let me smell you and get the stink of this hospital room out of my nose.”

“You are always talking so sexy to me. How can I refuse?” I sat my fanny down, but I was afraid to get any closer. “I’ll hurt you,” I insisted.

He put his hand on my shoulder and used one finger to ease me back against the pillow. I was barely touching him, but close enough so that my head was right under his chin.

He turned until I was under his nose, then leaned in and inhaled deeply. “You still smell of blackberries and honey, even stronger than before. We need to get married as soon as possible.”

“You have more important things to worry about, like getting well.” I laughed.

“I’m serious. I won’t rest again until I know we are married.”

I started to sit up, but his touch stopped me.

“Wait, please hear me out. I love you. I have it on your word that you love me. If something were to happen, unexpectedly, I want you to have my name. It’s the only way I can protect you, no matter what happens.”

“I do love you. Not a doubt in my mind. But, and don’t start to argue, I want our wedding in the spring.

May, would be nice. Maybe Tom would stick around to be your best man. I’d like my family to know and love you. Your aunt will need time to try to talk you out of it. I require you to be recovered for our honeymoon, I’m a very demanding lover. I want you to be free of me then decide you want to marry me, not some rushed thing because you’re afraid. Marry me because you can’t imagine being without me.

There’s a big distinction there.”

“Do you trust me?” he croaked over my head.

“With my life.”

“Then trust that I marry you because I can’t live without you. Marry me now, here, tomorrow. We’ll have another big wedding in May.”

“I’m sleeping in tomorrow.” I took his left hand in mine.

“I would see this list of men to replace me. Without you tied to me in marriage, I would need to dispatch them all to hell. By which time you’ll have made a new list I’m sure.”

“Now, don’t be jealous. I said you could help pick them out.”

“I must see this list.”

“I’m too tired. Let’s take a nap now. We can work on the list later.” I got out of his bed. I made the chair into a bed and got in. “First one asleep gets to choose the top person on the list.” He was already pretending to be asleep.

I don’t know how long I slept, a few hours I guessed. I woke to Dr. Santiago shaking me, then putting juice and food in front of me. “Drink and eat. You should have eaten again before your nap. I warned you to be careful. Takeshi was halfway out of the bed before they stopped him. He got worried when you wouldn’t wake up to your name being croaked from two feet away. I got here as the nurses were pushing him back.”

I frowned at Takeshi, who was frustrated. “Drink the juice, Hannah.” His hoarse voice was barely audible.

“Okay, you both need to relax. I’m tired. Unlike that big lump over there.” I pointed to Takeshi. “I didn’t sleep for four days straight. I am tired, that’s all.”

“That will be remedied tonight.” Dwight approached Takeshi. “I plan to take Hannah home with me, for a real meal and bed.”

“That’s not necessary,” I declared. “I’ll stay here until he’s out of the ICU, then find a hotel or something. I’ll manage, though it’s very kind of you to offer.”

Dwight didn’t pay attention to me, but waited for Takeshi to respond. “You don’t mind do you?”

“I’ll answer that as soon as she and I discuss the contents of a list she has been working on,” he said in a whisper.

I was drinking the apple juice and spit part of it out when I burst into laughter. “Shimodo, if I wasn’t already crazy about you, well, I would be all over again.”

He smiled a little, lifting his eyebrow. “Yet this list continues to haunt me.”

Dwight was lost by our conversation. When I’d finished the juice, he pulled in a chair from another room, pushed the sandwich towards my face, mouthing the word “eat”.

“There’s something I need tell you both. Good news, I believe,” he began.

I looked from him to Takeshi. “He’s doing great, isn’t he?”

“He is doing beyond our wildest expectations. I am hoping for a speedy recovery, but speedy means many weeks, even months, and not days. So take it easy. No, my news is about you, Hannah.”

“What about me?”

“It’s still pretty early to say for sure, but Dr. Linden, the obstetrician who you saw today, believes you are still pregnant. Initially we talked about multiple births. Your quantitative beta’s are still off the charts, they dipped a little when your bleeding occurred, but they are back up again. Your cervix is closed. She suspects that you lost one of multiples. I don’t want to get your hopes up unduly, but there is still a chance that you can carry them to term if you eat right and get the rest you need.”

I stared at him, the sandwich untouched in my lap.

“You see, my nose is never wrong,” Takeshi whispered. “Dr. Santiago, I wish to arrange a marriage here in this hospital room as soon as possible.”

“Shimodo, hold your horses. Let’s recheck next week. I will be good, on my best healthy behaviors. It’s still early.”

“Hush and eat your sandwich, Hannah. You may divorce me the next day, but you will marry me, here, now, in a matter of days. I insist.” He coughed until he needed to sip on water.

“See, here you are, all tied down to the bed with IVs, chest tubes and suction. I’m thinking you couldn’t catch me if I decided to run away from this crazy talk of marriage. I don’t see any shotgun pointed at you to force you to marry the possibly still-pregnant lady.”

“Eat your food, Hannah, and let the crazy man talk,” Santiago said.

“It never fails that men will stick by each other even if they know they are completely wrong.” I unwrapped my sandwich and inspected the contents. It looked like turkey, even smelled like turkey, so I took a bite. “This from the hospital cafeteria?”

Dwight shook his head. I was facing Takeshi with my back to the door and turned around when I saw Takeshi smile at whoever had entered the room.

“So the great heroes of Spain have deigned to greet the little people,” I teased, standing and setting aside my sandwich to hug Mateo, Enrique and Hector.

Hector still looked beat to hell. His face swollen, bruised and stitched, but he looked good to me. They all did. I’d forgotten how much I missed them these last five days.

They smiled and hugged me, then went individually to Takeshi’s side and shook his hand, greeting him and apologizing for being away so long.

“Can you tell us what has been going on with everything?” I asked.

“You were instrumental in saving this country from a terrorist attack. I think we can make an exception.”

Enrique leaned against the window counter. “The bomb squad told us there were enough explosives at the airport to have destroyed it and any plane attached to it. They had them set on a timer to go off at nine in the morning, one of the busiest times of the day. The airport officials estimated that thousands might have perished if we had not discovered the threat.”

“You can thank Hector for that. He had Brodie come to me with that piece of information.” I nodded at him.

“I don’t recall that at all.” Hector looked at me as if I’d made it up.

“It’s the God’s honest truth, I swear. Brodie came to me and told me you were trying to reach Tom.

Honest.”

“I didn’t mean to imply that you lied,” Hector apologized.

“What about Sanchez and Vincent? You can lock up Vincent and throw the key away as far as I am concerned.”

“You need not concern yourself with him ever again. He was unpleasant enough in jail to be murdered. It

was, in fact, Dominic Sanchez who killed him. We had brought him in for questioning in regards to his father’s affairs. He saw Vincent and went crazy, thought he had set them all up. Dominic is a big man, snapped his neck.” Mateo shrugged. “It saved us from having to take Vincent to trial. With Sanchez’s father and older brother already admitting to selling to the terrorists, three of the four Sanchez crime family members are out of play. There were at least a half-dozen people who witnessed the murder.”

I guess I my expression showed more than I intended.

“I thought never to see the look of shock on your face,” Enrique said. “Mateo assumed that you would be glad he was dead after he was so…unpleasant to you. You are perhaps overwhelmed by your experiences here. That is enough of discussing these people.”

“He deserved to die. I had feared when I had him in my power that I might kill him myself. I thought never to say that about anyone, but when he crawled over my Hannah and began to brutalize her, it was a near thing.” Takeshi’s eyes revealed the anger he was feeling.

Mateo nodded. “He murdered the two Ramirez girls, children. He was a rabid animal. He was lucky his death came swiftly. Hannah, you and Takeshi have done so much for my country, for us all. I told you because I thought it would be a relief to know he could never hurt you again. I am truly sorry if I upset you.”

“Mateo, you could never upset me. You are my friend, and I will always hold you dear to my heart. It was unexpected. The terrorists, are you sure you found them all?”

Enrique shrugged. “We will never find them all, but we found a nest of them in our country through this investigation. It will certainly impair their ability to spread their evil for a while. Now, how may we be of service to you?”

“Just the people I need,” Takeshi claimed. “That is, if you can cut through government red tape.”