As she lay in bed thinking about the facts she realised how silly she was being. Fact one, she told herself, you are a single mother of twins so your life is already full. Fact two, you are a month away from being an illegal overstay in the US so you need to get back to the UK as soon as possible. Fact three, you don’t trust men and never will again. Fact four, you know very little about the handsome man who delivered your babies except that he doesn’t seem to want children and you have two of the most adorable children ever born. He was just checking you were all right when he visited last night, as any doctor would, she reminded herself. And he walked away. Said goodbye and good luck. That is as final and impersonal as it gets.
‘Besides, it’s ridiculous’, she mumbled out loud. ‘To even think you could miss someone you barely know.’
Her practical side forced her to push any thoughts of Patrick from her mind and blame the funny feeling in her stomach on her internal stitches or her reaction to the general anaesthetic. It had to be one or both making her stomach feel uneasy, she decided, as she pushed the nurse call button. She wanted to see Thomas and Luca as soon as possible. She wanted to hold them in her arms, if she was allowed. If not, she wanted to reach inside their humidicribs and stroke their soft warm skin and tell them that they were safe and she was there for them forever.
That they would never be apart. That she would protect them from life’s harms in any way she could.
Just the way Patrick had protected them all the day before.
Her eyes were suddenly drawn across the room to the flowers. The beautiful blooms did just as Patrick wanted in brightening the borderline drab hospital room and she felt her mouth curving a little. The walls of her room were a light beige colour and the blinds a deeper shade of the same with the floor a mottled light grey. The night before she had not paid too much attention to the flowers other than thinking there was a pretty pop of colour in the room. In the morning light she could see cheerful yellow and white gerberas, a white daisy spray and blue chrysanthemums in a lovely white-blue vase, with a checked blue and white ribbon giving a pretty finishing touch. And the two small brown bears with blue bow ties. It was so thoughtful of him to have them in her room when she arrived. But then it seemed that everything he did was so considerate.
But why? she wondered. What was motivating him to be so kind to a stranger? He had already done more than could have been expected of anyone. Blinking furiously, she looked away from the floral arrangement. She had to put Patrick out of her mind. She couldn’t allow herself to think of him that way. She had learnt her lesson the hard way not to trust anyone, not even herself.
The nurse, who introduced herself as Alli, arrived and unhooked the IV line. ‘I’ll leave the cannula in, but I’ll tape it down,’ Alli told her as she thoroughly flushed the tube and placed strong clear tape across Claudia’s wrist where the small cannula had been placed. She was one of the youngest nurses on the ward and, Claudia would quickly come to learn, one of the cheekiest. ‘Just in case you want IV pain relief during the day or tonight. Believe me, if they offer drugs, take them.’
Slowly, Alli helped her out of bed and assisted her to take small steps into the bathroom. Keeping the dressings dry, the nurse bathed Claudia while she sat on the shower chair.
‘Do you have a clean nightdress?’ she asked as she towel-dried her patient.
Claudia shook her head. She had no one to collect anything from her apartment and she only had oversized T-shirts, nothing really suitable for hospital. She had packed a suitcase for her trip home and only left out a pair of comfortable leggings, sweater and coat with flat boots for the flight. The other small boxes of her belongings would have been collected and already be on their way with the shipping company back to London. She had planned on shopping for pretty nightdresses for her hospital stay when she returned to London.
While she had made a few acquaintances in Los Angeles, after she’d found out the truth about her relationship with Stone and then about her pregnancy, the obvious questions that would raise had made her keep everyone at arm’s length. She didn’t want to make friends and then have to hide the truth from them, so she’d chosen to be alone.
‘Looks like you’ll be in a stylish hospital gown again today,’ Alli replied as she left to retrieve another gown. Moments later, she reappeared and helped Claudia to dress. ‘At least it will be clean.’
‘Thank you.’
‘Since they have that revealing back opening, I’m going to give you a second one to wear the other way. Like a coat to complement your stunning runway ensemble.’
Claudia smiled. Although normally she did care how she was dressed and paid particular attention to her grooming, that morning she wouldn’t have cared if the nurse had dressed her in a giant brown paper bag. She just wanted to get downstairs to the neonatal nursery.
‘Not before you eat, Miss Monticello,’ Vanda said, walking into her room and spying Claudia in the wheelchair, ready to go downstairs. ‘You’ll be no good to your sons without both rest and nutrition.’
‘But I want to know they’re all right,’ Claudia argued as she sat upright. The anticipation was building and she wanted nothing more than to be with her little boys.
Vanda picked up the breakfast tray and put it on the bed near her impatient patient, handing Claudia a small plate with some buttered wholemeal toast. Standing directly in front of Claudia and not taking her eyes from her, she said firmly, ‘Thomas and Luca are doing very well. I had a call from the resident paediatrician in the neo-natal ICU about an hour ago. They’re expecting you but I won’t let you visit unless you’ve had some toast and juice. I’m quite serious, Claudia. Your body suffered a huge shock yesterday and you need to take things slowly and not forget to eat and rest, just as your little boys are doing. I’m Italian and, by the sound of your surname, so are you, so you’ll know that Italians take their food very seriously. You will not get away with skipping meals with one of your countrywomen on duty. Food first, before you head anywhere.’
Just then there was a knock at the door and another young nurse brought in a delivery box with the insignia of an exclusive store on Rodeo Drive; it was about a foot long and just as wide and tall. Vanda reached out and took the box.
‘Well, what’s this then? It’s addressed to you. Have you been shopping online overnight, Miss Monticello?’
As Claudia took a bite of her toast, she shook her head. ‘Are you sure it’s for me? I couldn’t afford to shop there in a mad fit.’
‘Well, it definitely has your name on it, so someone’s been shopping for you. I’ll pop it on the bed and you can check it later.’
‘P’raps it’s a present from a handsome stranger because you were on TV last night,’ Alli added before she left the room to continue her rounds.
‘Oh, gosh, I hope not,’ Claudia said as she put down the toast, as her already fragile appetite completely disappeared. ‘I’m hoping no one knows my name or Thomas and Luca’s.’
‘With the proximity of the apartment complex and the fuss made on the evening news, viewers would probably assume you’d be here but neither your name nor your sons’ were released and we’ve told the main admissions desk to refuse any media requests. It’s our usual protocol,’ Vanda replied. Then, spying the still uneaten toast on Claudia’s plate, she continued, ‘Would you like me to help you open the box and put you out of your misery?’
Claudia nodded as she tentatively sipped her orange juice.
‘All right, here’s the deal. I’ll get some scissors from the nurses’ station while you finish your breakfast but I won’t open the box until you’ve had both pieces of toast and either your juice or a cup of tea.’
Claudia nodded begrudgingly.
Vanda stayed true to her word and when she returned with the oversized scissors she waited until Claudia had eaten and finished her juice before cutting through the packaging ta
pe on the box. She opened it and handed it to Claudia.
Claudia lifted the tissue carefully. ‘Oh, goodness, they’re beautiful,’ she exclaimed as she pulled the stunning jade-green silk pyjamas from the box.
‘Very nice. Whoever arranged for those to be sent has great taste. Hold on a minute; now it makes sense...’ Vanda paused for a moment, a strange look on her face.
‘What is it? Do you know who sent this to me?’
‘No idea, actually, but I had a conversation in handover this morning about a call one of the young nurses took from that store after I finished my shift last night. Apparently they had a phone order and wanted to check if they could deliver to a patient in our ward. They didn’t say who and of course we would not have given your details even if they had asked.’
‘How curious,’ Claudia replied as she reached inside to find there was more. A short nightdress and a long one in varied tones of apricot and a matching floral wrap that picked up the colour palette of all of the other items and added some black trim for dramatic effect. There were also some jade satin slippers wrapped in more tissue at the bottom of the box, along with a toiletries bag. She unzipped the bag and it was filled with everything she would need.
‘Was there a card?’ Claudia asked, peering inside the box and then closing the lid and carefully checking the packaging. She couldn’t see any sender other than the store—it had been a telephone order.
‘No, it appears to be anonymous. As you said, very curious indeed,’ Vanda replied.
Claudia put everything back into the box. ‘I can’t accept an anonymous gift.’
‘I would—they look like silk and they’re a whole lot better than your current outfit,’ Alli argued as she stepped back into the room to collect the breakfast tray with a huge smile. ‘I’ll be back in ten minutes to take you to Neonatal Intensive Care so it gives you time to slip into one of those stunning pieces if you like.’
Claudia looked down at the shapeless white gown and came close to agreeing for a split second but then bit her lip and shook her head. ‘No. I can’t.’
Vanda took the box and put it on the bed again. ‘You don’t have to accept it; however, you are in need of everything that’s in that box, so—’ she paused to put her words together ‘—what if you accept the gift on the condition that you will repay your generous benefactor when you’ve been discharged from the hospital? I’m sure you can track them down through the store.’
‘I don’t feel comfortable with the idea and I’m not sure I could afford to anyway.’
‘Do you feel comfortable with the idea of staying in your present outfit for a few days? You’ll get a fresh one each day, of course, but still the same white number with the lovely back opening! Do you have anyone who could go shopping for you?’
Claudia nodded. ‘No, there’s no one I can call.’
‘I thought as much. You’ll be in the nursery a lot over the coming days and the pyjamas and gown would be most helpful. I did manage to find you some toothpaste and a toothbrush and a few other bits and pieces but they are pretty basic and I’m sure whatever has been sent to you would be a whole lot nicer.’
Claudia once again bit her lip as she tried to put everything into perspective. ‘I know I need them, particularly the toiletries, but do you really think I will be able to find out who sent the gift and repay them?’
‘All I can say is that we’ll do our best.’
‘I will find them and I will send them a cheque for the entire amount as soon as I can. I mean it.’
Vanda left the room and Claudia slowly and carefully changed without contorting too much. The softness of the pyjama fabric felt glorious on her skin. Feather-light and cool to wear. Her body felt as if it had done battle the day before and this was a little bit of pampering.
Claudia sat down again to rest. She wanted so much to see her sons. She couldn’t wait to hold them and tell them how much she loved them. Alli had not arrived so she decided to call Harriet and give her the good news about Thomas and Luca. Her sister had no idea of what had transpired over the last twenty-four hours or that she was now the aunt of two wonderful little boys. It was eight o’clock in the morning and, knowing that Argentina was five hours ahead of LA, Claudia felt confident she wouldn’t wake her sister.
Harriet answered the phone after only two rings.
‘Hi, sis, how are you? I miss you so much and I have soooo much to tell you.’ Her voice then dropped to a loud whisper. ‘Oh, I’m so confused. My boring, predictable as mud life has turned completely topsy-turvy. I met this man, as close to Adonis as you would find, well, the Argentinian version of the Greek God anyway...I don’t know if there is an Argentinian version, to be honest, but he is so ridiculously handsome as well as intelligent and we, well, sort of had a thing, just one night, actually, back in the UK, and I never thought I’d see him again. But now I’m here in his country. He looks even better under the Buenos Aires sun than he did in London—and he was already an eleven out of ten...’
Claudia was surprised to hear Harriet sound so nervous and clearly smitten by this man but, ecstatic as she was to hear that her sister had a love interest, she was aware that Alli would return to take her to the nursery so she blurted out her news. ‘I had the babies, Harriet. You’re an aunty!’
‘What?’
‘I had my babies.’
‘So early, Clau? Are you and the babies okay?’ She stopped in her tracks.
‘Yes, I’m fine and Thomas and Luca are so handsome.’
‘Thomas and Luca! You named them after both grandfathers?’
‘I hope you don’t mind that I took both names in one fell swoop. I didn’t leave you a grandfather for when you have children.’
Harriet laughed. ‘Phuh—me? No, I don’t think I’ll be having children anytime soon. I’m happy you used Nonno’s and Papa’s names. I still can’t believe you had twins! So tell me about my nephews—are they happy and healthy little boys considering they were early?’
‘They’re doing well, particularly since they were born in a lift.’
‘In a lift?’
‘Yes, a lift, or maybe I should say an elevator since I’m here in LA.’
‘LA? I’m confused. I thought you were heading back to London to have the babies?’
‘I was but my water broke in the elevator and Patrick helped me to give birth. Actually, Patrick saved my life because I haemorrhaged and passed out and then paramedics rescued us all and I had an emergency hysterectomy.’
‘How can you tell me you’re okay with all of that going on? I need to get there now.’ Harriet began pacing nervously.
‘No, Harriet.’ Claudia’s voice was firm. As much as she wanted more than anything to have her sister with her, she refused to pull her away from the first adventure of her life. She was proud that her twin was finally jumping into something with both feet. Maybe they weren’t so different after all, or maybe they were switching roles. For a while, at least. ‘You can’t do anything. For once you need to stick with your plans and stop trying to rescue your big sister. I’m fine, the surgery went well and I have two adorable little boys. We’ll be heading home to London as soon as they’re strong enough and you can meet them.’
‘I need to hop on a plane and get to LA now.’
‘Harriet, please listen to me. The orphanage needs you more than me. I’m well taken care of. Everything’s fine here. I have a place to live until I leave for London.’ Claudia had to lie or she would risk her sister doing what she always did—stepping in to save the day. Claudia had no idea where she would live. Her apartment was gone, she assumed her suitcase would have been taken down to the concierge’s office, but she had barely any savings to her name and only a changeable ticket back to London. She would have to work things out quickly, but not at Harriet’s expense. Her sister had finally found her dream job and perhaps ev
en her dream man and Claudia was not taking either away from her.
‘Is the ex keeping his distance? Does he know about the birth?’
‘Yes, he’s keeping his distance and no, he doesn’t know I’ve had his sons. He wouldn’t care. His lawyer told me he didn’t want to be updated about the pregnancy. So I thought I would keep the news to myself. It would hardly have had him skipping with joy.’ Claudia paused. ‘His wife still has no idea that the boys or I even exist. Just as I had no idea she existed when I fell for his lines. It’s amazing how he hid his marriage so well. I must be the most stupid woman in the world.’
‘You’re not stupid in any way,’ Harriet countered softly. ‘Just way too trusting for your own good. But you’re better off without him, Clau.’
‘I know,’ she said then, thinking back to the tiny little boys waiting for her in the nursery, she smiled. ‘But I have the most wonderful sons so my regrets about my relationship with that man are tempered. He gave me the greatest gifts, Thomas and Luca...and permission to not have him in my life. The papers arrived from his lawyer last week. He doesn’t want his name on the birth certificates and waived any parental rights.’
‘That’s so cold!’
‘He offered me a trust fund for the boys but I told him to keep his money.’
‘Will you be all right without an income?’
‘I’ll be fine once I get back home in a few weeks. My life will be perfect...’
‘I worry about you being alone.’
‘I’m won’t ever be alone. I have Thomas and Luca, and I’ll always have you.’
‘That’s the truth,’ Harriet agreed.
There was also someone else who had momentarily stepped into her life. Claudia was determined that in the future, when he would be just a memory, she would tell her sons as they grew up about the man who’d brought them into the world and also saved their mother’s life. Even though they might never meet Patrick, they would always know about him. And how very special he was.
Twin Surprise for the Single Doc Page 6