Nobody's Baby

by Jane Toombs

  For a moment the sunken eyes flashed fire. “I have no sons!”

  As calmly as he could, Zed said, “Danny’s blood is an exact match with yours. You both carry some oddball component that the does tell me is very rare.”

  “As you do.”

  Zed nodded. Thinking he knew what was fomenting in Talal’s mind, he said, “I never met Erin Henderson and I never will, because she died bearing Danny. Her cousin, Karen, tracked me down on the basis of a photo of you and Erin aboard the Maddamti. Because we look alike, the private detective Karen hired mistook me for you. Since then, Karen and I have been searching for you by trying to trace the Maddamti.”

  Talal closed his eyes, remaining silent. Exhausted or shutting him out? Zed wondered.

  “Danny?” Talal asked without opening his eyes. “The blood you donated?”

  “Karen and I were in an accident driving to Monterey in the storm that put you and the Maddamti on the rocks. We weren’t hurt, but Danny was. I donated blood in case he had to have surgery. Luckily he didn’t. You did, so they were able to use the blood for you.”

  “We match, you and I and Danny. He looks like us?”

  “He resembles my sister, Jade, more than me.”

  Talal’s eyes flew open and his hand shot out to grip the handrail. “A sister named Jaida?”

  “Jade.”

  “I don’t want to lose you, but I must rest before I can process a son and a sister,” Talal said. “You will return.”

  Though it was more an order than a question, Zed nodded. “I’ll be back. You still owe me an explanation.”

  He left ICU, his mind whirling with questions. Talal had called him his friend and his brother. Merely an Arab phrase or the truth? Zed shook his head. He was no Arab. He’d never been in Kholi—or any other Middle Eastern country, for that matter.

  How could Talal Zohir possibly be his brother?

  Chapter Ten

  At the hospital, Karen, concentrating on Danny, vaguely noted that Zed seemed distracted but, since he’d gotten up far earlier than she had, she put it down to lack of sleep and forgot about it.

  Sometime during the morning he disappeared to check on the wrecked car. When he returned to the hospital he carried Danny’s bedraggled blue horse. She expected the boy to drop the octopus and hug his beloved favorite to him, but to her surprise he transferred the octopus to his right hand and grasped the horse with his left.

  “Atta boy,” Zed told him. “When offered a choice, you can’t go wrong by taking both.”

  Danny promptly dropped both the stuffed toys and picked up a bright red plastic cylinder that rattled and chimed when he shook it.

  “Georgia gave it to him,” Karen said. “She’s his nurse. I think they’ve begun a mutual admiration society.”

  “A guy can’t begin too young,” Zed observed.

  “What about my car?” she asked. “I suppose it was totaled.”

  Zed nodded. “Your insurance company won’t argue about that. I rented a car for us to get around in and brought our belongings to Snug Haven.”

  Dr. Nelson stepped into the room, nodding to them as he crossed to Danny’s crib. The boy stopped playing with the chiming toy and gazed solemnly up at the doctor.

  “Hello, snicklefritz,” Dr. Nelson said as he let down the crib rail. “That’s some shiner you’ve got there.” With slow and gentle movements he proceeded to peer into Danny’s eyes. Other than casting anxious looks at Karen, the boy submitted without either fighting or crying.

  “What about his black eye?” Karen asked.

  “Like the blood clot inside the skull, the external bruising will resorb,” the doctor assured her. “I can’t guarantee it, but I doubt he’ll have any permanent damage. We tested him early this morning and the clot is definitely shrinking. If all goes well he may be ready to leave the hospital by tomorrow.”

  “That’s good news,” Zed said.

  Dr. Nelson finished his examination of Danny and put up the crib side. “I’ll send a summary of Danny’s injuries along with you to give to his doctor in San Diego,” he continued. “Danny will need a few follow-up visits there.”

  “I’ll see to that,” Karen declared. “His recovery seems like a miracle. I’m so grateful to you.”

  All I did was stand by and allow nature to begin the healing,” Dr. Nelson said. “Danny’s doing the rest.”

  Karen smiled at the doctor’s modesty. Nature might be healing Danny, but Dr. Nelson’s years of training had given him the expertise to know when his intervention wasn’t necessary.

  “Which reminds me,” the doctor added, turning his attention to Zed.

  At that moment Danny began fussing, so Karen lifted him into her arms. Attempting to soothe him, she missed part of what Dr. Nelson was saying to Zed.

  ”…your blood made the difference,” the doctor finished. “The orthopedic surgeon tells me he’s doing very well.” He nodded to Karen. “I’ll see you tomorrow morning.

  “What was that all about?” she asked after the doctor left the room.

  “Da,” Danny said, reaching toward Zed.

  She relinquished her hold, watching with pleasure as Danny eased into Zed’s arms and reached up to pat his cheek. It still amazed her how patient he was with the baby.

  “Since Danny didn’t need the blood I donated,” he said, “they asked my permission to give it to an injured man heading for emergency surgery. I agreed.”

  Karen started to compliment him on being generous. Then the words died on her lips as a thought struck her. “But you’ve got special blood, haven’t you? You and Danny.”

  He nodded. “That’s why they needed my blood. The man was—is—Danny’s father. Talal Zohir. Apparently our blood matches his. I kept meaning to tell you but, well, the time just never came.”

  She stared at him, astounded at the news and a bit hurt that he hadn’t told her earlier. “Are you saying Talal Zo-hir is a patient in this hospital?”

  “During the storm the Maddamti piled up on some rocks at the bay entrance. Dr. Nelson said Talal shattered his ankle, broke a leg bone and lost quite a bit of blood in the accident.”

  About to ask him if he’d seen or talked to Talal, she held. Obviously he hadn’t. How could he, if Talal had been so badly injured as to need emergency surgery? Shaking her head, she said, “I’m having trouble grasping that Talal Zohir is actually within reach. I wonder if he’ll be recovered enough by tomorrow for us to visit him.”

  “I imagine he will.” Zed’s tone sounded grim, making her curious why.

  “Now that we’ve found him, he has to be told about Danny,” she declared. “He has to face up to his responsibilities.” She scowled. “I need to know why he deserted Erin.”

  “Maybe he didn’t. It’s entirely possible Talal never knew about the pregnancy.”

  Karen blinked. “You sound as though you’re on his side.”

  “You told me yourself that Erin was irresponsible. She may never have contacted him.”

  Much as she hated to admit it, Zed did have a point, one she didn’t like to acknowledge because it seemed traitorous. Poor Erin was dead because of Talal Zohir—how could Zed possibly imagine she’d give him the benefit of the doubt?

  “I certainly expect him to act responsibly now, she said, conceding nothing.

  Zed remained silent.’Disturbed at his lack of response, she prodded him. “Don’t you agree?”

  He walked to the window with Danny and stood there staring out. “Wait,” he said without turning to face her.

  Wait? Did he mean for his answer? Or was he advising her to wait until she confronted Talal? She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Zed had a point. After all, Talal was an injured man, lucky to have survived his accident. She had to remember to take that into consideration when they met.

  She was about to join Zed at the window when a sound at the door made her pause. She looked around and saw a male attendant pushing a man in a wheelchair into the room, a bearded man with his le
g extended in a cast. The attendant left him there and exited. She drew in her breath, rocked back on her heels at what she saw before her. A photo was one thing, the man in the flesh another. Involuntarily she glanced toward Zed, who was turning from the window. If that man had a beard—!

  “Twins?” she blurted.

  “The lady is more perceptive than you, Zeid,” Talal observed.

  Zed, carrying Danny, walked toward Talal. Ignoring both her exclamation and Talal’s remark, he said, “This is your son. Erin’s child.”

  Danny gazed suspiciously at Talal, then held out his arms to Karen. Zed handed him over. Clinging to her, Danny regarded Talal uneasily.

  “Is the boy all right?” Talal asked her.

  Speechless, she nodded.

  “We can’t be twins,” Zed told Talal. “It’s impossible.”

  “I can’t offer you proof, but in my heart I know the truth. We are one, split in two by Allah’s will.” Talal spoke with such complete finality that Karen found herself on the verge of believing him.

  “I’ve never been in Kholi,” Zed said. “I was born in California. My birth certificate says so.”

  “I don’t yet know how it is possible, but I will find out Is not your name Zeid?”

  “Zed.”

  Talal shrugged. “An Americanization of Zeid.” He shifted his gaze to Karen. “You are Erin’s cousin?”

  Again she nodded, not trusting herself to speak.

  “Erin and I lost touch,” Talal said. “She didn’t inform me she was pregnant.” He reached up from the wheelchair as though to touch Danny but didn’t complete the motion, letting his hand fall back onto the arm of the chair. “The blood match suggests he could be my son. We shall see.”

  Something about his manner put Karen off. Imperious was the word that came to her. A man who expected others to obey him. “Danny is your son,” she insisted, determined not to let him cow her.

  “Perhaps. It will be investigated.” He switched his attention back to Zed. “My brother, I can’t explain how it is that you were born in California and I in Kholi but I intend to get to the bottom of this matter.” He turned toward the partly open door. “Nurse!” he called. “I’m ready to go.”

  The young man appeared in the doorway and, without a word of farewell, Talal allowed himself to be wheeled away.

  Karen looked at Zed, expecting him to share her bemusement, and found him scowling. “That damn red ball,” he muttered, confusing her.

  “You and Talal do look enough alike to be twins,” she said. “Could he be the half brother you suspected might exist?”

  “I’ve considered that. I just don’t know.”

  “You’ll have to question him. Ask him what his father’s name was and whether he was an Arab. He didn’t have to be. Oil brought a lot of American men to the Middle East a few years back.”

  Zed shook his head. “Since I don’t know my father’s name, that might not help. But I intend to get to the bottom of this.”

  For a moment he sounded so much like Talal she was startled by the similarity. There might be no proof, but she felt in her bones that the two men were related. The nurse came in with Danny’s lunch, distracting her. Only later, after he was fed and napping, did it occur to her that the meeting between Zed and Talal hadn’t been quite right, though she wasn’t able to put her finger on the reason.

  Zed offered to stay with Danny while she returned to Snug Haven to change into clean clothes, and as she walked the two blocks she mulled it over. What had been wrong in that meeting?

  Though she couldn’t cite a single incident that led to her conviction, she grew more and more positive that this hadn’t been their first contact. If this was true, why had Zed concealed it from her? Was his offer to remain at the hospital made because he meant to talk to Talal again without her present? Could it have anything to do with Danny?

  Unease hastened her steps. She reached their room, showered and changed clothes, slipping into a denim skirt and knit shirt before heading back to the hospital. She half expected to find Zed wasn’t in Danny’s room, but she found him slumped in the rocker asleep. Looking down at him, helpless and unaware for the moment, she felt her heart ache with tenderness. How could she have doubted him?

  Yet a tendril of suspicion remained coiled in her mind.

  After leaving the hospital in the evening, they drove to a seafood café recommended by one of the nurses and, once they finished eating, returned to Snug Haven.

  Since she’d agreed up front to share the room with Zed, Karen hadn’t expected her sudden attack of shyness and uncertainty. As she changed into her admittedly sheer and frivolous short nightgown in the bathroom, she tentatively reached for her terry robe, then shook her head. If she wore it he’d know she was having second thoughts. Or sort of, anyway. When she hesitantly emerged, his frankly admiring gaze lifted her heart but at the same time increased her shyness.

  She watched him disappear into the bathroom, then glanced around the room, seeking she wasn’t sure what. The unopened jar of peanut butter caught her eye. She loved the stuff, but decided she was too tense to swallow even water, much less sticky peanut butter.

  Climbing into bed might be misconstrued as seeming too eager. Was she? Yes and no. On tenterhooks, she finally retreated to the window and looked out at the star-studded night sky. The moon hadn’t risen, always supposing the moon meant to show itself tonight. She’d lost track of its waxing and waning.

  That wasn’t all she’d lost track of. Her entire life had been totally disrupted since she’d met Zed. She’d never be the same. She had so many things to worry about—Danny’s future, Talal’s reception of her accusation—yet, at the moment, everything except Zed lacked importance. He occupied her mind to the exclusion of all else.

  “An inspiring sight.” Zed spoke from behind her and she started.

  “I didn’t hear you,” she accused, turning.

  “I like to creep up on pretty ladies,” he said, grinning. “Especially scantily clad ones named Karen.”

  Surreptitiously she examined him. Gone were the old gray sweats. Instead he wore what looked to be a new pair of deep red pajamas—just the pants—of course hanging dangerously low on his hips rather than fitting snugly at his waist. She wished she was brave enough to tell him how beautiful his body was, but the words wouldn’t come.

  “Zed,” she confessed, “I’m scared.”

  His eyebrows rose. “Scared? Of me?”

  “Well, maybe nervous is a better word.”

  He took her hands in his and raised them to his lips, sending a delightful frisson running along her spine. Then he released her hands and offered her one of his. She clasped his hand in both of hers and, without pausing to think about what she meant to do, caressed his fingers one by one, marveling at the calluses on his palm, a working man’s hand. Though she didn’t understand why, touching his hand so intimately seemed to connect her to him in a way she’d never felt with any other man.

  He led her to the big brass bed, then lifted her onto it. Seating himself at her feet, he ran his fingers over her toes, then began massaging her soles and insteps. As he did so, she felt herself relaxing under his expert touch. After a time she said, “Now, you.”

  As she massaged his feet, she did her best to offer him the pleasure he’d given her and felt rewarded when he sighed.

  Next he had her lie on her stomach and, easing his hands under her short gown, gave her a back rub, using long, lazy strokes from her nape down over her buttocks and thighs, his massage both relaxing and erotic. Though he confined himself to her back, she felt his stroking all over her body.

  By the time she straddled him to rub his back, she’d lost all self-consciousness, aware only of the wonderful feel of his skin under her hands, warm and soft over the hard muscles just beneath.

  When he turned over unexpectedly, toppling her onto her side, she was more than ready—she was eager to be enfolded in his arms. Pulling her close, he kissed her lightly, tender kisses that
nibbled delicately at her lips, adding fuel to the slow inner heat his back rub had ignited.

  “Mmm,” she murmured, snuggling closer as she used the tip of her tongue to taste him, running it along his lips until they parted and then venturing inside. She could taste faint traces of the mint the restaurant had served with the bill, but underneath she savored his special flavor, belonging to him alone.

  He deepened the kiss, entangling her tongue with his until she was breathless with desire and burning with wanting. His hand cupped her breast, his thumb caressing her turgid nipple through the thin material of her gown. She gasped with pleasure when he slid his hand underneath the gown and touched her bare breast.

  In a flurry of need, pajama pants, gown and bikini panties were flung aside and they lay skin-to-skin, flesh-to-flesh. His crinkly chest hair teased her nipples until he crushed her to him, his arousal hot and throbbing against her thigh, turning her insides to liquid.

  His hands slid over her, his touch arousing her until she moaned with the sweet intensity of her desire. “Zed,” she entreated. “Please, Zed.”

  “Tell me what you want,” he murmured.

  She wanted more, she wanted everything. “You,” she gasped.

  His fingers found her molten center, sending indescribable thrills through her. Moments later he rose above her, easing between her legs. She opened to him and when he entered her she cried out, feeling a passion so fierce she was unable to contain herself. Gripping him close, she unconsciously matched the rhythm of his thrusts as they traveled higher and higher together until they reached the summit.

  Afterward he held her, gently brushing back strands of hair that had fallen across her face. “Karen,” he murmured, “My beautiful Karen.”

  His Karen. He’d said those words once before, and then, as now, they made her heart sing. For this space of time, at least, she was his in the same way that he was hers. No man had ever evoked such passion in her. Perhaps because she felt more than physical desire for him. The word love trembled on the edge of her thoughts, sending a shock wave through her.