by KaLyn Cooper
“Don’t say it,” Nita warned her team leader. “Daniel, just give me an estimate, how many in your camp are dead?”
He shrugged. “When I left, two hundred, maybe two fifty. That’s about twenty-five percent. More than half the camp was sick.”
Nita nodded. “So some are surviving?”
“Yeah, some of my men seemed to be getting better when we left.” Then he noted, “The children were only mildly affected, but several months ago they had gotten flu shots sent to us by the CDC.”
Nita wondered if the inoculations were a means of human testing outside the United States. Even though the Reston Ebola had first been discovered more than one hundred miles away, she was thankful that the children in Daniel’s camp had been given the shots.
“Was the baby given the shot?” She wasn’t even sure how old the child was. She racked her brain to try to remember at what ages children receive the standard shots.
Daniel’s lips drew into a thin line. “Bella wasn’t born yet, and her mother refused the shot fearing it would harm the child.”
“She should’ve gotten the shot. It may have saved her life and your daughter’s.” As soon as the words were out of Nita’s mouth she kicked her own ass. Damn. She needed a filter. Trying to cover for her mistake, she added, “Mothers pass antibodies on to their infants. It’s nature’s way of protecting innocent babies.”
“Is it wrong for me not to feel bad that their mother is dead?” Katlin asked nobody in particular.
“If that bitch wasn’t already dead, I’d go back and kill her myself, right now,” Daniel seethed.
Embarrassed to ask, but as the only doctor, she needed to know. “How’s the baby doing?”
Daniel’s jaw sawed back and forth before he spoke through gritted teeth. “Better, no thanks to you.”
“Kira is tending to her.” Katlin glared at her brother. “Her last rotation as a nurse practitioner was in pediatrics. She was really good at finding those tiny veins and getting liquids into my beautiful little niece. I checked on her just before coming down for breakfast. She seems to be doing much better today.”
“She thinks Bella’s fever finally broke a few hours ago,” Daniel announced. “Kira got the right combination of meds into her. At least she’s resting peacefully now.”
“Is Kira the one with spiky blonde hair or is she the brunette with big Bambi eyes?” Damn, Nita really did need to get to know the Ladies of Black Swan team two. But there hadn’t been time. They had stayed at the hotel rather than the Callahan compound so the little free time she’d had in the last few days, she hadn’t run into them, until she’d come down for breakfast this morning.
“She has the short blond hair.” Katlin smiled. “I don’t think it’s supposed to stick up in the air like it did the other night. I believe that was caused by her helmet.”
Well, that made sense. In Nita’s mind though, she would always be the spiky blonde. She looked longingly at her plate of food that was growing colder by the moment. “I need to eat and get back over to the lab.”
They all sat down to finish the meal. Nita noticed that Simon favored his left arm. From several chairs away, it looked slightly swollen and definitely black and blue. That could mean that he was coming down with Ebola—which she suspected was the true virus that had infected the guerrilla camp—or the boy was hiding even more injuries. She hadn’t forgotten about the multiple scars that would mar his back for life.
Throughout the meal, Nita hadn’t dared to look at Daniel. She knew what she’d see. Condemnation and despise. He had every right to feel that way. She hadn’t been able to help him or his child last night.
As soon as she was finished eating, Nita walked around to Simon’s seat and kneeled to be eye level with the child. “Hi there, Simon. I’m Nita.” She purposely held out her hand to shake his. He reached his right hand out, careful of his left arm tucked in at the waist. After a brief shake, she asked, “Does your arm hurt?”
His gaze rose to meet his father’s. Daniel chewed for a second, swallowed, then instructed, “Answer the doctor’s question.”
“You a doctor?” Simon’s eyes were so big she could see the white completely surrounding the beautiful light and dark blues.
Nita couldn’t help but smile at the child’s surprise. “Yes, I am. But I have to make a confession, I’m not very good with kids. I usually only work on adults.”
She felt Daniel’s eyes bore into her, but she didn’t dare look up.
With her gaze locked on Simon’s, Nita asked, “May I touch your arm?”
The boy twisted away from her, clamping his left arm tightly to his body.
“Simon, let Nita look at your arm,” his father commanded.
The child looked up at Daniel from under long blond lashes. “Mama thay no doctor. I no go to doctor. Not allowed.”
Daniel’s jaw worked side-to-side before he spoke. “You’re with me now, and we go to the doctor. Let Nita take a look at your arm.”
After a long moment, the boy swung his legs around the side of the chair giving Nita better access.
His left arm was considerably larger than the right. The swelling was made evident by the fact that he was a little on the skinny side. A glance up at Katlin was all she needed. Her friend headed to the medical bag the team carried. Within thirty seconds, she was back with what looked like a standard tablet. It wasn’t. She held one of the most high-tech x-ray machines on the planet next to the child’s bicep.
“Fuck.” The word escaped on a huffed breath.
Simon smiled at her. “Me see fuck?”
What the hell? “I’m sorry, Simon. What did you say?”
The child pointed to his bicep. “Fuck. You taked a picture of my fuck.” He pointed to the tablet. “Can I see picture of my fuck?”
Nita wanted to crawl in a hole and die. Where the hell was that filter? Another reason she didn’t like being around children, they heard and repeated everything like human parrots. As long as she was around Daniel’s children, she would have to be more aware of her language.
Santiago bent back in his chair so he could see her. Grinning from ear-to-ear, he goaded her. “Come on, Nita, show Simon his fuck.”
With the fingers hidden under the tablet, she raised the middle one toward the very good-looking, but hard-edged man. “Oh, I found the fuck for you, too, Santiago.”
“Enough. You’re teaching my nephew bad words,” Katlin chastised, unable to hide the smile. She bent down so her face was even with Simon’s. “Has anyone taught you about adult words?”
The child shook his head “No, Aunt Katlin.”
“There are certain words only adults can say,” she explained. “Fuck is one of those words.”
“Around this house, the poor kid is going to hear more adult words than kid words,” Tori noted.
“Wait till he meets Damnit.” Lei Lu reminded everyone of the hundred-pound puppy they shared. “He’ll get totally confused.”
“Nita, what did you see?” Daniel’s quiet voice cut through the adult banter.
She had actually taken an x-ray. To divert attention away from any more discussion of swearwords, Nita pointed as she explained, “Simon, this is your bicep and there is a bone that runs all the way from your shoulder to your elbow.”
“Is it hurt?” the boy asked.
“Not this time,” she blurted out.
Daniel’s glare shot spears at her.
Why the hell couldn’t she keep her big mouth shut and stick to the facts?
She pasted on a small smile. “See these bumps on your bone?” When the boy nodded she continued. “This is where your bone was broken before and has healed.”
Katlin, who had been leaning over Nita shoulder, sucked in an audible breath.
Undaunted, Nita pushed on. “The good news is I don’t see any new breaks. Can I take a picture of this part of your arm?”
He gasped when she tried to flatten out the forearm. She quickly held the tablet and snapped an x-ray from e
lbow to fingers. Studying the shot, she grimaced.
“I want to see,” Simon requested.
Nita glanced over her shoulder at Katlin then up to Daniel. Her friend had seen the problem, but Daniel hadn’t realized what he was looking at. She turned the tablet to give him a better view.
Jagged black lines cut through white bone images in the radial and ulna. “We call this a greenstick fracture because it travels not just across the bone, but up.” She looked into Simon’s pretty eyes, sparkling with tears. “Congratulations, you have a broken arm.” Then she looked at Daniel and over to Santiago. “I’ll bet you men had broken arms when you two were boys, didn’t you?”
Daniel jumped on the opening. “When I was five, I fell out of a tree and broke my arm. Did you fall and break yours, too?”
“No.” Simon’s answer was a single syllable just above a whisper.
Santiago picked up on the questioning. “I was eight when I broke mine. Hurt like a mother f—…hel—…really bad. I got hit with a flying baseball bat. The boy in front of me had just hit the ball, and he threw the bat behind him so he could run to first base. I was walking up to the warm-up box. I tried to hit it away with my arm, but it broke right here.” He pointed to a scar. “I had to go to the hospital and have an operation.”
Huge eyes looked at Nita. “Operation? At hothpital?” The negative jerks of his head and the jiggling of his jaw made Nita reach out and pull the boy to her.
“No, no,” she soothed. “No hospital or operation for you. I can fix it right here, but I might need a little help from your Aunt Katlin.” It wouldn’t be the first time Nita and Katlin had reset a bone a long way from the hospital. She started pulling out the necessary equipment.
Within half an hour, Simon’s left arm was in a cast and snugged up in the sling. He was also the center of attention of every woman in the house.
When Nita stepped into the hall powder room to wash off her hands, Daniel filled the doorway. “A greenstick fracture is usually caused from the arm being twisted.”
“That’s true.” She soaped her hands.
He hung his head. “Simon told me it happened last week, before his mother got sick. They were walking to the nearby village, and he couldn’t keep up with her so she twisted his arm and threatened him.” He drew in a ragged breath. “Christ, Nita, I had no idea what she was doing to him.” His jaw shifted back and forth before he clamped his teeth. In that moment, he looked so much like his son, so strong on the outside yet fiercely trying to control his emotions.
Instincts she didn’t know she had, forced her to wrap her arms around her friend. “You have a lifetime to make it up to your son.”
When his arms enveloped her, their closeness felt right. She’d been held by lots of other men, probably hundreds, but it had never felt like this. Maybe it was because they’d known each other for so long, and after hours of conversation the last time they’d been together, Daniel truly knew her. That changed their dynamic. She blanked her mind and concentrated on the way his body heat forced its way into her, warming her all the way to her soul.
“Thank you, Nita, for fixing my son’s broken arm.” Daniel gave her an extra squeeze. “I’m sorry for snapping at you earlier about Bella. Katlin tried to tell me last night that you don’t like kids. You don’t treat children. I didn’t believe her. I just couldn’t believe that you would walk away from any sick child, especially mine. I still don’t understand, but I accept the fact that you don’t like to treat children. That makes it all the more special that you worked on my son today.”
He leaned back slightly then lifted her chin until their eyes met. He stared at her face for the longest moment. “You’re lying to yourself, you know. You love children. I saw the fierce mama bear in you come out swinging, ready to take on anyone who would dare hurt a child. That wasn’t just Dr. Banks gently wrapping my son’s broken arm, that was a woman who cares deeply about kids. You can lie to everyone else, Nita, and you can even lie to yourself, but I see the woman you hide deep inside.”
His warm lips touched hers for the briefest of kisses.
When she opened her eyes, he was gone.
Chapter 9
Women are so fucking confusing. I just need to stay away from them. Daniel reconsidered his thoughts for a moment then readjusted. No. I like fucking women too much to stay away forever. He enjoyed the games of tease and retreat. It’s my foreplay. They are sizing me up just as much as I am considering every physical aspect of them. They’re making the decision whether to spend a few hours with me while I’m trying to decide how good they’d be in bed.
But it wasn’t like that with Nita. He slowly climbed the stairs to the second-floor suites. There were no games between them, although she was an expert at flirtation and a damn good judge of men. She’d played her scenes well when supposedly seducing him at the resort bar next door, allowing him to escape from the men in his Nicaraguan camp so he could sleep in his own bed in the Callahan compound.
But that one night, relaxed in the pillows of the couch in the house he considered his home, honesty had changed everything. He’d let his guard down with her. He hadn’t even considered taking her to bed. That night, he hadn’t needed sex to take the edge off the reality of his life. Like a master craftsman in a woodshop, using only her gritty subject matter, she had ground off his hard-pointed corners a micrometer at a time and left him smooth. Contented.
When they had both finally retreated to separate bedrooms, he’d found something he’d never discovered before…a female friend. One who truly cared for him. Nita didn’t need him to make her life better like the whores in camp, nor did she seem to be impressed by his monetary value. They had simply been two tired people who worked inside a dark world, enjoying each other’s company. He’d never had anything like that in his life with a woman.
After his parents had abandoned him to the care of his grandparents while they took his precious sister and moved to a different continent, Daniel had attended the local high school. At fourteen, though, all the adults in his life had agreed he should attend a military high school. He’d seen it as another way that his father had shirked his manly responsibilities onto someone else, in that case it was the headmaster and teachers at the residential school.
Surrounded by hundreds of other teenage boys, he never got the opportunity to become friends with a girl. Females were seen as objects of fantasy and for fucking. Adding to this distorted opinion, was the fact that Daniel didn’t really have a sister. Although genetically Katlin was his sibling, they had only lived in the same household for three years. Sure, his parents would fly him to Costa Rica during school holidays where, for a week or two, they would pretend to be one big happy family, but in the end, he’d find himself back on that single cot in the stark dormitory rather than a comfortable home with his family.
Katlin had been the universe to his parents. From the moment Daniel had understood his mother was pregnant, the baby had become the most important thing in everyone’s life.
At eight years old, he’d been afraid his mother was going to die when she’d been put on maternity bed rest. He feared the child inside her was going to kill her and he couldn’t imagine life without his loving mother. As an adult, he understood that his mom had miscarried several babies, and needed to remain immobile in order to carry his sister to term. At some point in between, that childhood terror had transformed into resentment for his sister.
When Katlin had been born, all the attention bestowed upon him as the only child and grandchild of his generation had been refocused on her. Sure, all of his needs had been met. He never missed a hearty meal, always had clean clothes that properly fit, his parents still read him bedtime stories, and they all attended mass on Saturday night or Sunday morning. But his life had changed when his sister had been born.
He would never forget the Sunday afternoon when his parents announced that they were leaving the United States and Daniel would be left behind to live with his grandparents. Nor would he eve
r forgive his father.
As he reached the top of the long staircase, Daniel glanced at the double doors at the end of the hall that opened to his suite where Kira was taking care of his beautiful baby Bella.
It should be Nita in there. She’s a doctor. He wanted the best care for his baby. He just didn’t understand Nita’s problem. Last night she’d said she couldn’t deal with kids and practically threw his sick daughter back into his arms. Six hours later, she’d gently wrapped his son’s broken arm and accused him of being a terrible father.
Simon’s battered and scarred back filled Daniel’s vision and forced him to stop halfway down the hall. Oh, fuck. He was a terrible father. He’d allowed that crazy bitch to harm his boy. He’d allowed himself to be so consumed by the job that he’d forgotten what was truly important in his life, his children.
He’d become his father.
Staring at the ornately carved Brazilian wood doors thirty feet away, Daniel vowed to become the father he never had. With determination, he strode into his rooms.
Last night they had moved furniture around in the living area to accommodate a crib, changing table and a rocker that Rosita had found for him. It wasn’t an ideal nursery, but it was comfortable and separate from his bedroom. The pretty blonde rocked his six-month-old baby while giving her a bottle of red tinged liquid. “Did you eat?” Her tone was soft, but her silver blue eyes were accusing.
When the Army lieutenant had arrived to check on the IV an hour ago, he’d been exhausted from interrupted sleep on the couch. He’d never had to take care of Bella all by himself before so every time she moved, whimpered, sighed, he’d instantly come awake and dashed to the crib. “I had a good breakfast. There’s still plenty down there.” He reached for the precious bundle in her arms. “Go grab some food. It’s mostly local fare, but the cook will whip you up an omelet or French toast if you’d like.”
“My mouth is already watering. We were on board the aircraft carrier for over two weeks eating cafeteria-style food. Trust me; a home-cooked meal sounds great.” Kira gracefully rose. “Sit. I’ll hand her to you. She’s not quite finished with this bottle.”