His Brother's Son

by Jennifer Taylor

  ‘No, of course not,’ she began, then sighed when she saw the look he gave her. ‘Well, yes, I suppose it has. Felipe told me that he would like to spend more time with Josh,’ she explained, skating over the facts to make them more palatable. ‘It was his idea that we should move to Mallorca and I just thought it would be good for all of us.’

  ‘He could fly over here and see him,’ Simon said bluntly. ‘It only takes three hours so it’s not as though he would need to travel from one side of the globe to the other. It takes me longer when I go up to Scotland to visit my family.’

  ‘I know,’ she agreed, wishing that she’d given a bit more thought to what she intended to tell everyone. ‘But it wouldn’t be the same as seeing Josh on a daily basis, would it? You know how fast children grow up and—’

  ‘And I’ve never heard such a cock-and-bull story in my life!’

  Simon’s face was almost as red as his hair as he leant across the table and gripped her hand. ‘This guy, Valdez, is putting pressure on you, isn’t he, Becky? What’s he threatening to do, try and get custody of Josh? He sounds very possessive.’

  Becky shivered. She couldn’t help wondering if Simon was right. Did Felipe feel possessive about Josh? The fact that the baby was his nephew was bound to create a tie between them, but might he feel that it was his duty to take over the role Antonio would have played in the little boy’s life? Did Felipe see himself as a substitute father perhaps?

  The thought was deeply disquieting because it made her see just how tenuous her position was. If Felipe ever found out that she wasn’t Josh’s real mother, he could order her out of the child’s life. The thought of the little boy growing up without her was more than she could bear and tears filled her eyes.

  ‘Oh, hell! I didn’t mean to scare you, Becky. Take no notice of me. There isn’t a court in the world who would take a child away from its mother and hand him over to a total stranger.’

  Simon grimaced as he gave her fingers a reassuring squeeze. ‘I’m just letting my imagination run away with me because it was such a shock to hear that you’ll be leaving. I’m really going to miss you, you know?’

  ‘And I’m going to miss you, too, Simon, really I am.’ She dashed the tears from her eyes and summoned a smile. The urge to tell him the whole sorry story was very strong, but she knew in her heart that she couldn’t burden him with it. Simon was a good friend, but it wouldn’t be fair to expect him to solve her problems.

  ‘Who’s going to make sure I get my daily ration of chocolate biscuits?’ she teased, with an attempt at levity.

  ‘Cupboard love! So that’s it. Here I was thinking that you found me irresistible and all you’re really after is the bickies I keep bringing you.’ He rolled his eyes comically, but she wasn’t blind to the disappointment they held. ‘It’s the story of my life!’

  ‘I can’t help it if I have a sweet tooth.’

  Becky swallowed a sigh because she couldn’t help wishing that her life was less complicated. If it had been, there would be nothing to stop her going out with Simon. He had asked her often enough, but she had always found some excuse to turn him down. She was fond of him but not really attracted to him. She had always been more attracted to dark-haired men like Antonio…

  She bit her lip as an image sprang to mind, because it wasn’t Antonio’s face she had conjured up but Felipe’s. It was as though Felipe had suddenly supplanted Antonio in her thoughts. The idea made her tremble and she saw Simon look at her in alarm.

  ‘Are you OK?’

  ‘Fine. Just a bit worn out with everything that’s been happening recently.’

  ‘It can’t have been an easy decision to make, Becky. I don’t think I’d fancy just upping and leaving as you’re planning on doing, but, then, I don’t have a child to consider.’ He gave her a quick smile. ‘You’re doing this for Josh, aren’t you?’

  ‘Yes.’ She took a steadying breath. It would serve no purpose to worry about why she had thought of Felipe instead of Antonio when there were more important matters to consider.

  ‘I believe this is the right thing for Josh,’ she said firmly, trying to inject a degree of certainty into her voice. It obviously worked because Simon nodded in agreement.

  ‘Then I hope it works out for you, Becky, really I do.’

  ‘Thank you,’ she said, touched by his obvious sincerity.

  They changed the subject after that, but it had helped her put everything into perspective. Even though she didn’t like the idea of moving to Mallorca and being forced to live in such close to proximity to Felipe, it would mean that Josh would be safe. Tara wouldn’t be able to find them there and she would no longer have to worry about her threats.

  Simon had to leave shortly afterwards so Becky finished her lunch and went out onto the terrace for a few minutes before she returned to the ward. It was a particularly clear day and the view over the city was superb. She could see Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament, and the silvery curve of the London Eye shimmering in the sunshine.

  She had lived in London for most of her adult life and was used to the sights, but that day she saw them with a fresh eye. Soon there would be new sights to see, a new way of life to get used to. It would be a big change when she moved to Mallorca but she would cope. She really would. For Josh’s sake she would make the adjustment.

  Maybe Felipe believed that he had forced her hand but it no longer felt that way. The decision was hers, not his, and as long as she stopped him finding out the truth about Josh, she could continue making decisions about the child’s future. Felipe Valdez was the baby’s uncle, not his father. As long as he understood what his role was, they should get along fine.

  The view suddenly swam before her eyes. Should, not would, because there weren’t any guarantees.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  FELIPE was feeling decidedly out of sorts by the time lunchtime arrived. He phoned room service and ordered a plate of sandwiches and a pot of coffee because he knew that he should eat something. He’d spent a sleepless night going over everything that had happened, examining each and every word Rebecca had said, but he still couldn’t rid himself of the nagging feeling that he was missing something.

  He went to the window, resting his head tiredly against the glass as he looked out. His room overlooked one of the parks and he could see dozens of people taking advantage of the fine weather. The triple glazing meant that there was no sound coming into the room from outside and it added a sense of unreality to the scene to be able to watch people talking and not hear what they were saying.

  He turned away from the view, suddenly impatient with himself. He should be thinking about what Rebecca intended to do instead of worrying about the conversations of a bunch of strangers. Would she agree to his demands to move to Mallorca, or would she refuse?

  It would be marvellous to think that he had the power to make her do what he wanted, but the truth was that he didn’t. It was the uncertainty that was causing him such anguish, the fear that he might not be able to do anything for Antonio’s son after all. He didn’t think he could bear it if he failed in this, as he had failed to look after his brother.

  The phone suddenly rang and he hurried towards it then cursed when at the same moment there was a knock on the door. Snatching the receiver from its rest, he rapped out, ‘Un momento, por favor!’ Then went to let in the waiter who had brought his lunch.

  Felipe tipped the man, and probably too generously from the expression of delight on his face, as he hurriedly left. But money was the least of his concerns even though it could be the deciding factor for Rebecca. If her need for money was great enough, surely she would do as he wanted?

  His mouth thinned as he picked up the receiver again. She had used Antonio’s child as a commercial venture and it sickened him to know that she was capable of such a thing. It was little wonder that he felt his stomach churn when he recognised her voice on the other end of the line, he told himself. It certainly couldn’t be pleasure that had caused it to react lik
e that.

  ‘It’s Rebecca. I wonder if I could have a word with you tonight after work?’

  ‘Of course,’ he agreed, deliberately removing any trace of emotion from his voice because he didn’t want her to guess there was anything wrong. He couldn’t explain it, but he felt that it would give her an advantage to know that she possessed this power to upset him. ‘What time would be convenient for you?’

  ‘Straight after I leave work would be best. I should finish around six so maybe I could meet you in that bar you mentioned yesterday.’

  He heard her take a quick breath and had a sudden, vivid image of her at the other end of the phone line. There would be a tiny frown on her face as she waited to hear what he would say, a hint of uncertainty in her huge grey eyes as she stood there, wondering if he would agree…

  He drove the image from his mind, but it unnerved him just how quickly he had managed to conjure up a picture of her. ‘That will be fine. Six o’clock it is.’

  ‘Thank you. I…I promise that I won’t keep you very long.’

  She put down the phone without saying anything else, and after a moment Felipe hung up as well. He went and poured himself a cup of coffee, but all the time he was doing so he kept hearing her voice inside his head, and the hairs on his arms pricked as he recalled its sweetness. All of a sudden, he knew that he couldn’t wait for the allotted time to arrive when he would see her again, and the thought scared him because he couldn’t afford to feel like this where she was concerned.

  Rebecca Williams was a scheming, mercenary gold-digger. He made himself repeat the litany, but it seemed to have lost its power for some reason. They were just words now, words that didn’t seem to mean very much.

  ‘Let’s drop the head of the bed and see if we can get her pressure back up.’

  Becky glanced round, immediately taking note of the panic on Debbie Rothwell’s face. It was obvious that the trainee wasn’t coping well with this latest emergency so she decided that it would be best if she got her out of the way.

  ‘Debbie, go to the office and ask the switchboard to page James Watts. I don’t like the look of what’s happening and I think we need him here stat.’

  Debbie made no attempt to hide her relief as she hurried away. Becky sighed as she turned back to the patient. It was becoming increasingly obvious that Debbie didn’t have what it took to work in the IC unit. It wasn’t always easy to maintain one’s composure, but it was vital when faced with an emergency such as the one they had to deal with at the moment.

  The patient, an eight-year-old girl called Rosie Stokes, had been transferred to the unit from a hospital in their catchment area a short time before. Rosie had been involved in a car crash on her way to school that morning and had suffered a serious head injury. She’d needed an operation to relieve the pressure on her brain but, according to the notes that accompanied her, everything had gone according to plan.

  Now, however, she was showing signs of shock and acute kidney failure, and Becky couldn’t understand what had gone wrong. The child should have been closely monitored from the time she’d left Theatre to prevent something like this happening.

  There had been no bed available in the IC unit that morning, which was why Rosie had been kept at the other hospital until one had become free that afternoon. But even without IC care, there were basic procedures that should have been carried out.

  ‘How many mils of urine has she passed since she was admitted?’ she asked, glancing at Karen.

  Karen checked the plastic bag at the end of the child’s bed and shook her head. ‘Zero. The bag’s empty.’

  ‘This can’t just have happened!’ Becky exclaimed, checking the monitor readings. Rosie’s blood pressure was still falling so she quickly adjusted the drip. ‘Even with acute kidney failure there are warning signs, so why weren’t they picked up before? How long has she been here now?’

  Karen checked the admission notes. ‘Less than an hour. She was logged in at ten minutes past four. She had been catheterised prior to her op. I checked her bag and assumed they must have changed it before they transferred her to us. It’s only a ten-minute drive from St Ada’s after all. But now I’m wondering if that really was the case.’

  ‘From the look of things I’d say that there’s been no urine output for some time,’ Becky observed worriedly. ‘I’ll order a blood test to check her levels of urea and creatinine. That will tell us if her kidneys have completely shut down. Heaven knows what’s caused it to happen because everything was going smoothly, according to her notes.’

  ‘Could it be internal bleeding?’ Karen suggested. ‘Something they didn’t pick up on earlier.’

  ‘It could, but they should have given her a full examination when she was admitted,’ she said bluntly.

  ‘I’ve heard rumours about St Ada’s,’ Karen said darkly. ‘The word is that the standards there have dropped dramatically of late.’

  ‘It used to be a marvellous hospital, too.’ Becky sighed as she set about drawing off the small sample of blood. It saddened her to think that the child’s life might have been put at risk because of inadequate nursing care. She couldn’t help wondering how she would feel if it were Josh lying in the bed. She would want him to have the very best treatment possible, and resolved to do all she could to help poor Rosie through this crisis.

  She quickly sealed the vial and labelled it with the patient’s details, checking the child’s notes to make sure that she had her date of birth correct. Her eye was caught by a note on the top of the page stating that Rosie’s blood group was A-positive and her heart sank in dismay.

  ‘Here, grab hold of this.’ She thrust the vial into Karen’s hands and hurried around the bed to check the unit of blood that was being drip-fed into the girl’s arm. It was clearly labelled as B-positive, not A.

  ‘She’s been given the wrong blood,’ she said, quickly closing the valve in the line. ‘That’s why her kidneys have failed and she’s in shock.’

  ‘Hell’s teeth!’ Karen exclaimed. ‘How on earth did a thing like that happen?’

  ‘Heaven knows,’ Becky replied, rapidly detaching the bag from the cannula in the child’s arm. She glanced round when she heard footsteps and grimaced when she saw that James Watts had arrived. ‘But somehow I don’t think that answer is going to satisfy the boss when he finds out. He’s going to be furious.’

  ‘Furious and determined to get to the bottom of this.’ Karen sighed as she looked at the clock. ‘And to think I was hoping that we might get away on time tonight for once. Fat chance of that happening now!’

  Neither of them said anything else because James Watts had reached them by then. As Becky drew the consultant aside and explained what had happened, she couldn’t help wondering what Felipe would think when she didn’t turn up for their meeting. One thing was certain: it wouldn’t be anything favourable. So far as Felipe was concerned there was absolutely nothing about her that met with his approval.

  It was odd how much that thought hurt.

  Felipe checked his watch again. He’d arrived a good ten minutes before the time they had arranged to meet, but it was now almost seven and there was still no sign of Rebecca. He had just made up his mind to leave if she didn’t show up in the next five minutes when she came rushing through the door.

  ‘I’m so sorry!’ she apologised, hurrying to his table. ‘We had an emergency and Mr Watts wanted to hear all the ins and outs, and he can be so pedantic at times! I must have told him a hundred times that it had nothing whatsoever to do with us and that it was the staff at St Ada’s he needed to speak to, but he’s the sort of person who needs everything written out in triplicate…’

  She suddenly stopped and he was intrigued to see a wash of colour flow up her face. ‘You really don’t want to hear all this, do you? I’m sorry that you had to wait, but it was unavoidable, I’m afraid.’

  Felipe smiled, wondering why he felt a need to reassure her. Just for a moment Rebecca had forgotten that he was her enemy and had spo
ken to him without her usual reserve. It had been an intriguing insight into her as a person and he had to admit that his curiosity had been piqued.

  ‘There is nothing to apologise for. I know only too well the pitfalls involved with the career we have chosen.’

  He shrugged, watching the rapid play of emotions that crossed her face. She was obviously trying to decide if she could take what he’d said at face value, and he realised how much he wanted her to believe him. He didn’t want her to think of him purely as her enemy, funnily enough.

  The thought slid into his mind too quickly to stop it so he chose to ignore it instead. Standing, he politely drew out a chair for her to sit down and frowned when she shook her head.

  ‘Look, I’m sorry to be a nuisance but I really can’t stay,’ she explained. ‘I have to collect Josh because he’ll be wondering where I am.’ She half turned to leave then paused, and he saw her take a quick breath. He knew that she was steeling herself to say something else and the muscles in his stomach clenched in anticipation.

  ‘Would you like to come with me? I know I suggested that we meet here and it would have been easier if we’d been able to talk on our own, but…’

  ‘Yes.’

  He pushed back his chair, seeing her start of surprise at his easy acquiescence. Frankly, he was rather surprised himself because it wasn’t like him to change his plans.

  He suddenly found himself thinking that he must try to be a little more flexible in the future. He had to learn how to adapt to this situation, although perhaps that wasn’t the most reassuring of thoughts in relation to Rebecca Williams. Exactly how adaptable did he intend to be?

  ‘Of course I would like to come with you,’ he said politely, refusing to think too hard about such a facile question.

  ‘Oh, well, good. That solves that problem, then,’ she said brightly, but he could see that the flush in her cheeks had deepened.