Once I closed my eyes, I was out and pretty much unawares of what was happening around me until a security guard woke me up around eleven that night. He explained the hospital policy and I explained right back to him that I wasn’t leaving until my wife and daughter-in-law in ICU had been moved into a regular hospital room and if he wanted to call the New Haven Police that was fine with me-I’d sue the hell out of the hospital. That seemed to satisfy him and he left me alone. Problem was, I couldn’t get back to sleep. I skimmed every magazine in the vicinity, and then I saw someone sitting one chair over from me. It was Barbara, my deceased wife.
“Max, I will take care of her,” she said.
I didn’t wait to ask the spirit of my deceased wife who she was talking about. “Sunny,” I screamed at the top of my lungs so that she could hear me in the ICU. It was quicker to exit the front doors and run around the side of the building to the ER Entrance than to navigate the corridors and elevators of the building’s interior. To say I ran was an exaggeration. I couldn’t run with my old legs and knees, but I walked as fast as I could, all the while pleading with Sunny not to leave Katie and me.
I burst through the opening door like a madman and immediately caught the attention of a security guard. It was good thing he was unarmed because one of us would have surely been hurt if he tried to stop me. I walked past him, the admission’s desk, and then to the doors leading to the ER. He was a young man and evidently wise enough to understand I was a man on a mission that would not be denied even if I was old. When he caught up to me and grabbed my arm, my look must have scared him.
“Let go of me,” I said and he did.
He followed me into the ICU ward and the nurse’s station.
“What’s happening to my wife, Sunny Howard?”
The nurse recognized me and checked her computer monitor for all the gismos they had Sunny hooked up to.
“She’s fine, Mr. Howard, she sleeping right now.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
“What about Ariana Martin?” I asked just as a digital warning sound went off.
The nurse checked on Ariana. I could see the look of concern on her face.
“What?” I demanded.
“She’s okay,” she said. She picked up her phone, hit a button and announced, “Code Blue. ICU. Code Blue.”
The guard touched me with his hand and motioned for me to move out of the way. Within a few seconds a doctor rushed through the doors from the ER and walked quickly to the nurse’s station.
“Patient’s name is Ariana Martin. I need you to check the fetus. And, you need to suit up,” she said to him.
I could see the look of annoyance on his face at having been reminded of protocols. He was full of flu germs from the Emergency Room. The nurse handed him an electronic tablet for Ariana and he walked to the ICU entrance.
The guard and I walked over to the ICU viewing window and watched as a nurse helped the doctor suit up with a gown and mask.
“I’ve got to get back. You gonna be okay?” the guard said as the doctor slipped on his gloves.
“Yeah, thanks.”
“Good luck,” he said and walked away.
I heard the monitoring signal go silent and wondered for a brief second if the nurse had turned it off. In my heart, though, I knew she hadn’t. The baby had died. She was a girl according to what Barbara had said. Ariana hadn’t wanted to know what gender her baby was. I saw the doctor place a stethoscope on Ariana’s stomach. He evidently didn’t trust the hospital’s technology. He shook his head to one of the two nurses and noted the time on the wall clock.
I stood there for what felt like an eternity and let the tears flow. I didn’t care if anyone saw me. In my mind, I thanked Barbara for looking after the baby girl. The doctor came up to me after he left the ICU and paused.
“It was heart failure. Given the severity of the infection in the mother there would have undoubtedly been complications for the baby if she were born. I’m sorry,” he said and went back to the ER.
I walked over to the nurse on duty. She was on the phone and held up her finger for me to wait and not interrupt her. When she was finished and had hung up, she looked at me with so much empathy that it brought tears to my eyes again. It made me wonder if she had suffered the loss of a child. “I’m sorry, Mr. Howard. Doctor Reininger will be in for six and will check on the patient.”
“What’s going to happen next?” I asked knowing that Ariana would have a difficult time ahead of her.
“Let’s see what the doctor says.”
“Does she know?”
“Doctor Reininger will explain everything to her.”
I nodded my head in acceptance. Bev Reininger and I were now square.
“You should try and get some rest, Mr. Howard. I’m sure they will move your wife to a recovery room in the morning.”
“That’s good news. I appreciate your thoughtfulness,” I said and stared at her name tag. I wanted to remember her name and send her flowers the next day for her kindness, but the truth was I couldn’t look her in the eyes. I had seen the flicker of pain and I didn’t want to say something stupid to remind her of it.
An hour later, I was sitting in the truck feeling about as useless as a man could feel and way too angry for my own good. I was powerless to protect my family from something as simple as the common flu. I lived on an isolated ranch and you’d think they would have been safe. I should have never given Ariana Sunny’s old car. She and Sunny had been running around too much during the flu season and exposing themselves. I was as much to blame for my grandchild’s death as they were. And, I should have never bought Sunny that new car. And, I should have put a padlock on the front gate.
I could feel my anger begin to rise at Kevin too. This was his fault as much as mine. The guilt and blame went on for about an hour before I got ahold of it. I knew I needed to call Mrs. Alvarado, but I just couldn’t bring myself to do it. She had enough burdens and I didn’t want to be the one to add another. I looked in my wallet for the business card Bishop McCrory had given me. He had written his cell phone number on the back. I called it.
I don’t know why I expected a Bishop to answer his cell phone at nearly one o’clock in the morning. I left him a message that Ariana was in the hospital and that I needed to talk to her brother. I didn’t know how to contact Father Alvarado and asked the Bishop to contact him for me and ask Father Alvarado to call me. I left Sunny’s number for the Bishop since I was using her phone now. Using and handling her phone made me feel closer to her for some strange reason.
I was asleep in my truck when Sunny’s phone rang. The number was blocked. I hit the answer icon.
“Mom?” he said in a whisper.
I recognized the voice immediately and wanted to vent my anger just as quickly.
“No, this is Max, Kevin. You mother is in ICU with flu. So is Ariana. She lost the baby.”
“Oh, fuck. No, this can’t be happening. Let me speak to Ariana?”
“She doesn’t have her phone. When she moves to recovery, I’ll see her and give it to her. I’m sure she’ll call you then.”
“How did it happen? I mean…. like the flu is no big deal. Half our unit has it.”
“You should have been here, boy, to take care of your wife and baby. I gotta go before I say anything more,” I said and closed the call.
After I hung up, I decided to go home and shower. I also needed a shave and some fresh clothes. When I was dressed and had a better disposition it was almost 3:00 AM. I packed a change of clothes for Sunny and Ariana, located Ariana’s cell phone, and headed back to the hospital. I was walking the ranch gate open when Sunny’s phone rang. I didn’t recognize the number so I answered it on the chance it was Ariana’s brother. The dash clock said it was 3:42 AM.
“This is Max.”
“Ed Alvarado, Mr. Howard. What’s happened? Is Ariana okay?”
“Yes, I think so. I checked her into the hospital yesterday because of the
flu and she’s in the ICU now. I’m sorry, but she lost the baby last night.”
“Oh, Heavenly Mother!”
“I called you because your mother is coming in to see her at the hospital in the morning and she doesn’t know about the baby. I’m not even sure Ariana knows at this point. Would you call you mother and explain the situation to her? I think it would be better coming from you.”
“Yes, of course. I’ll leave immediately for New Haven.”
“You should know, she’s still in ICU and can’t have visitors. They may move her to a recovery room later this morning. I’ll call you as soon as I hear anything.”
“How are you holding up, Mr. Howard? Are you there at the hospital?”
“It’s been a very long day. I’m headed back to the hospital now. I came home to change clothes and freshen up.”
“Thank you for the kindness you have shown my little sister. It means a lot to me that you have helped her so much. I don’t know how much you know, but her choices were not well received in our family, especially by my father. He is set in his ways and he gets worse every year.”
“I’ve never met him, but I’m sympathetic to his short-comings. I’ve raised too many kids, not to be and I have a few faults myself. I’ll talk to you when I see you, Father Alvarado.”
“Call me, Ed, please. We’re family now.”
Chapter 24
Three days after Sunny and Ariana came home from the hospital, Ariana was at the kitchen table in her bathrobe and hunched over a mug of my coffee and staring into it. She wore no makeup, having just rolled out of bed, and she looked like she hadn’t been fed in a week. I knew she was still in mourning but my instincts were to nudge her out of the sadness that she found some comfort in. When I brought two slices of toast to the table, I paused beside her and smooth the hair on her head.
“You feel like riding out to the Butterfly Pasture with me this morning? I’m meeting some people interested in buying the ranch later on around noon.”
“What time?” she said as if it made a difference in her busy schedule.
I could tell she didn’t want to go, but she also didn’t want to tell me no. And that was okay; I didn’t really expect her to embrace the idea of getting up and about just yet. “We can go after breakfast. The fresh air will do you good,” I said and went to butter the toast for Sunny that had just popped up.
Sunny was still asleep and had not recovered from the flu as quickly as Ariana had. I was willing to give her some slack for the age difference, yet I kinda suspected she was enjoying her recovery for all she could. She liked being waited on by Katie and me and that was fine by the both of us. We liked indulging her.
“Wake up, Sunshine,” I said as I walked into our bedroom.
I set the tray down on the dresser and walked to the window to raise the shades. Once the room was lit with sunlight, I went over to the bed and gave Sunny some exaggerated and noisy smooches to wake her up. Once she moaned that she was awake I let my hand explore her body just to tell her how much I loved her even when she was grumpy.
“I’ve got to go out to the Pape Ranch today. After I get back, I thought we could go over to the garden and let you get your hands dirty.”
“Is Katie up?”
“As soon as you join the living, I’m going in and wake her,” I said.
Sunny had me watching Katie like a hawk for symptoms of the flu. I fluffed up the two pillows on the bed while Sunny went into the bathroom. I set the tray down on the bed and went in to wake-up Katie.
“Hey, Sleepyhead, time to rise and shine,” I said and went to her bed. I wrapped her in my arms and encased her in her sheet and blanket. I pretended to squeeze her as hard as I could.
“I’m awake,” she protested.
“I don’t think so,” I said and tried to steal some sugar from her neck.
“Yuck, you have coffee breath. Let me up.”
“Your wish is my command,” I said and breathed heavily on her. “Get dressed. Breakfast is on the table.”
Life had almost returned to normal except for the fact that Kevin had not come home to comfort Ariana in her loss. He had told Ariana and his mother that he couldn’t get leave to come home, but I knew the boy had lied to them; he could have gotten Emergency Leave for the death of his unborn child. The Marines weren’t that cold hearted. If I thought about it too much beyond my anger at him, I knew that I would never accept him back on the ranch with open arms. The implication of that kind of thinking would be catastrophic and my common sense told me so; Sunny would choose her son over me in a heartbeat. Still, my disappointment in Kevin was a hard pill to swallow and I couldn’t and didn’t want to deal with it for the time being.
It was my modus operandi to ignore those problems in my life that did not require my immediate attention so I put Kevin out of my mind and focused on Ariana. It was my concern for her and her estrangement from her family that had prompted me into a conspiracy to help her parents. If and when I sold the ranch, I would set up a fund to provide an occasional relief worker for Mrs. Alvarado when she needed one. The only thing I wanted from the arrangement was to hide my involvement and Father Ed had agreed to do that for me. He seemed like a nice kid and I envied his faith.
. . .
James Lee was already on the ground when I arrived at the Pape Ranch at nine-thirty with Katie. Ariana wasn’t ready for an outing she had pleaded, so she had stayed at home with Sunny. James Lee and George were talking with Shane when we pulled up to the ranch house. Another helicopter was circling the ranch off in the distance.
“Do you remember what I said about the jade mask, Sweetpea?”
“Yes. I’m not a little child. I understand,” she answered back.
As soon as I stopped and parked, she unbuckled her seatbelt, jumped out of the truck and ran over to George where he made a big deal out of seeing her. I could tell Katie was enamored with her new half-brother. James Lee was a bit more reserved with her and certainly wouldn’t swing her around in a hug like George was doing.
“Where’s Hannah?” I said after greeting everyone.
“She’s inside the house working on rebuilding the Mask,” Shane said.
I knew from my previous conversation with James Lee that André de Lionne and several of his investors wanted to see the ranch from the air. As soon as they landed from their inspection of the ranch and sat through Hannah’s presentation and the lunch Clete had prepared, we would drive out to the cistern site for a up-close ground inspection. I had decided to be less than open on what we knew about the cistern. I didn’t feel like the prospective buyer needed to know about the map on the destroyed capstone or that we’d found the jade Death Mask. I had decided the jade Death Mask would be returned to the Mayan People and the Guatemalan Government as soon as Hannah was done with it. Hannah had arranged an exhibit inside the ranch house of our original photographs of the cistern and the imagery from the inside the cavern. She left out of the exhibit the photographs she’d taken of the bottom of the capstone.
Clete had a smoker going in the back of his pickup. He had catered the side dishes from Bob’s Ribs in New Haven, but had wanted to cook his own brisket and ribs. Before we went inside to wait on the other guests, I walked over to Clete’s truck. He’d left the smoker in the truck bed so he could follow the shade of oak trees in front of the ranch house.
“Are you ready to destroy some French taste buds?” he asked.
“More like spoiling them for life. French cooking will never taste the same for those boys. Sure smells good, Clete.”
“We’re almost set up in back. We’ll be ready for noon.”
The inside of the ranch house smelled like smoke brisket, being that we were downwind from Clete. I was ready to eat right then. I walked to a back bedroom which Hannah had converted into an area to clean the jade pieces and assemble them. She and Katie were talking, while George watched.
I heard the helicopter circle the house and land not far from James Lee’s chopper. Shane had r
ented a big Chevy Suburban for a couple of days to shuttle everyone around in. He was out the door and got in and then drove out to pick up the prospective buyers and transport them to the house. I followed James Lee out the door.
Hannah, Katie, and George came outside to join us. James Lee handled the introductions and then we went inside for Hannah’s presentation.
André de Lionne was a tall man in his early fifties and straight as a half-inch rebar. There was an air of confidence about him. I assumed it came from being wealthy at a young age and freeing him to pursue whatever was important to him. He didn’t look like a dilettante so I figured he had used his time wisely. For some reason I had thought he would me my age as he was a good friend of Tankut Güler, or so James Lee had said.
While Hannah explained the exhibit and handed out an English translation of the Journal, James Lee motioned with his eyes for me to step outside with him. While everyone was occupied with Hannah, he and I walked outside to the small patio-garden in front of the house. I needed to remind Hannah not to wear those shorts for the presentation with Bishop McCrory. Those Frenchmen probably hadn’t heard a word she said.
“What’s up?”
“They want to close today.”
“You told them about the other offers, right.”
“I didn’t know you had more than one. The Catholic Church can’t match their offer. I did some research and their budget for the project is five million for land acquisition.”
“That’s too bad. Will the Frenchmen match the eleven-million-dollar offer from Alfredo Soares?”
“You didn’t tell me about that one, I don’t know. André has a cashier’s check for seven-five.”
“Damn, son, that’s still a helluva lot of money. Makes you kind of wonder, though, doesn’t it? Like what are we leaving on the table?”
“Look, I’ve got to level with you. I have a small stake‒five percent‒in a joint venture between Crédit Lionne S.A. and our friend Tankut Güler.”
The Turbulence of Butterflies (Max Howard Series Book 6) Page 32