by Amy Ruttan
Kainan wandered away to her bedroom. She had no doubt that he was going to check out the nursery she’d set up and tell her that it was unsuitable. And he wasn’t wrong. It was unsuitable.
What am I going to do?
She felt lost at the moment. Everything was overwhelming her.
Step one: call the locksmith, and then you can think about step two.
Reagan looked up a local number on her phone and dialed, hoping someone would be able to come out on short notice right before Christmas.
* * *
Kainan wandered around the bedroom. It was small, but it was cozy. It was Reagan’s room. Or it had been until a stranger had come in and violated her privacy.
Kainan clenched his fists, biting back the rage he was feeling thinking because someone had been in here. Someone who wanted information about him and Reagan.
This is all my fault.
If he hadn’t got involved with Reagan this would never have happened.
He picked up a drawer that had been pulled out and tossed on the bed, slid it back into the dresser, remembering...
“Hey, can I get a picture of you?” the stranger had asked.
Kainan had looked up. “What?”
“You’re a prince of Isla Hermosa, right?” There had been a blinding flash. “Come here.”
“Who are you?” his mother had screamed as she’d thrown herself in front of him. “Get off my property!”
“Easy, Your Majesty. The public just wants pictures.”
His mother had stood, her fists clenched. “Get off my property!”
The guards had soon been there, dragging the man away. When the photographer had been out of sight his mother had collapsed, trembling as she’d turned to him.
“He didn’t hurt you, did he, Kainan?”
“No, Mama...”
He needed to protect Reagan, he thought now. And he couldn’t protect her here.
He began to pluck clothing off the floor and fold the items, placing them back in the drawer. His gaze fell on the closed closet door. Kainan’s pulse quickened as he thought about Peter. And, though he knew he shouldn’t look in the closet, he did.
He opened the closet door and flicked on the light.
Reagan had been right. It was a large closet, but it was a closet nonetheless, and his throat tightened when he saw the crib, the bedding in a bag on the floor, and the teddy bear that was lying on its side on a change table.
She had made it homey and cozy for their son. She had done the best she could, but it wasn’t enough. Not for him.
He closed his eyes and guilt ate away at him for not being there. For not providing for them. She’d been all alone. This was not good enough for Reagan. She deserved more.
How? This will continue to happen. People will always pry into her life.
Even if Kainan didn’t survive his surgery Peter was his heir and the press would be curious about him.
His throat tightened and it was hard to breathe. He closed his eyes and tried not to think of the moment when he’d tried to speak and hadn’t been able to. When he hadn’t been able to breathe.
“Kainan?” Reagan called out, and then she appeared in the doorway of the room.
Kainan set the bear back down, sitting him upright, and stepped out of the closet, closing the door behind him.
“Checking up on my handiwork?” she asked.
He smiled. Perhaps.
“The locksmith is here and I’ve cleaned up the living room the best I can. Once the lock is changed and I’ve grabbed a few things I want to get back to the hospital.”
Of course. And I will have Andreas pack up the baby’s things.
“What’re you talking about?” she asked.
You can’t stay here. It’s not safe.
“Kainan, this is my home. This will be Peter’s home. Where else would we go?”
I will get you a new place. One that is more suitable.
“I don’t think so.”
I do think so, Kainan signed. Peter needs a larger room and you need to be moved somewhere safe. My security team will handle it.
“No, I’m not uprooting my life, Kainan. That’s too much to ask.”
You won’t marry me, and you won’t let me protect you. Let me do this. I can’t have you come back here and be pestered. Not when Peter needs to rest and heal.
Reagan bit her lip. She was clearly thinking about it, but she didn’t answer.
It will be days before he’s discharged, Kainan signed. More than enough time to get you a new place, close to the hospital, and move you. You won’t have to do anything. Let me do this, Reagan. Please.
“Fine,” she said. “But it has to be close to the hospital.”
I will find something.
He was relieved he could do something for them. That he could take care of them this way.
Kainan texted his team to let them know what he required. The new place would be large enough to house Reagan and Peter, and Kainan would be in a suite next to him, with his security detail.
Though Reagan didn’t need to know that bit of information yet.
The press knew that he was at the Royal York and were camped out there permanently, so moving to a new location with a secure entrance would be better. He would be closer to Peter and Reagan and maybe, just maybe, he would be able to convince Reagan to marry him. Then he could keep them safe behind the palace walls.
Really?
That was his father’s thinking, and he hated himself for it, but he felt powerless and didn’t know what to do.
He was broken.
But he wasn’t going to let Reagan or Peter out of his sight.
* * *
Kainan dropped Reagan at the hospital, where she wanted to be, and then went with Andreas to see a new place.
The condo was located two blocks south of the hospital and on the lakeshore. It had two suites, side by side, and one of them would comfortably house his security staff and himself. The smaller suite was larger than Reagan’s current home, and would be more than adequate for her and Peter.
The only downside was that it wasn’t on the subway route, but it was only a block to Union Station and the hospital was right across the street from that.
Reagan could walk or Andreas could drive her. If he was still here. If Kainan’s voice surgery was successful then Andreas would return to Isla Hermosa with him.
But you can come back.
He wasn’t sure about that. Would Reagan forgive him if he left?
He wasn’t sure.
“They’re just waiting for your signature, Your Majesty. I have made sure that they have signed confidentiality agreements and I have paid in cash,” Andreas said, interrupting his thoughts.
Thank you, Andreas. How soon can we move in?
“Today,” Andreas said. “I can have movers go to Dr. Cote’s apartment and pack it up, so we can get her into this new home by tomorrow morning.”
Do that.
Andreas nodded and opened the door to the condo complex. Kainan went through all the paperwork and signed everything that was needed.
Tonight he would tell Reagan about the plan over dinner. Even if he had to bring it into the hospital again. He wasn’t giving her a chance to say no this time. This was for their own protection. This was something he could do for them.
They would be in their new home in time for Christmas, and perhaps this way he could show Reagan he was in. That if he left he would still be there.
How can you be “in” as King?
And then there was his surgery coming up. With the amount of scar tissue in his throat it was risky. He might die, abandoning Reagan.
He shook that thought away as he took the keys from the realtor and followed Andreas to the top floor of the complex.
“The suites
are at the end of the hallway,” Andreas said as he led Kainan down. “Dr. Cote’s is twenty-nine B and you’re twenty-nine A.”
Kainan nodded and turned the key to Reagan’s new place. It was bright and large. There were windows which faced the icy grey waters of Lake Ontario. He could not see the CN Tower from this viewpoint, but that was okay. The view of the islands and the water was all he needed.
It reminded him of Isla Hermosa. Endless water and islands scattered all around the main island. The only difference was that Isla Hermosa was tropical and here there was snow. And the grey, ice-filled water was a bit unforgiving.
Kainan was not a fan of winter.
Still, this was a much better space than her current home. She was surrounded by tall buildings there. It was stifling, as if there was no room to breathe. Here at the top of this complex, with Lake Ontario stretching below him, he felt he could breathe.
“Do you like it, Your Majesty?” Andreas asked.
Kainan nodded. and then handed Andreas the key that Reagan had given him when the locksmith had changed her locks.
Please make sure that Reagan is moved in right away.
“And what of you, Your Majesty?”
Get some furnishings. My room can be packed up later. I want us to have a close-by option—especially since we don’t know how long Peter will still be in the hospital.
Andreas nodded. “Very well, Your Majesty.”
Thank you for all your assistance, Andreas. I don’t think I express it enough.
Andreas was a bit taken aback by that. “Thank you, Your Majesty.”
There was a buzz on Kainan’s phone and he looked down to see that it was Reagan texting him. There was news about Peter.
I have to go back to the hospital. Kainan slipped his phone in his pocket.
“I will take you back there right now.”
Kainan followed Andreas out of the apartment. He was glad things were moving forward with Reagan, because he was running out of time.
* * *
Reagan’s pulse was racing. They had just moved Peter from the pediatric critical care unit to the regular pediatric ward. He was doing so well on the ventricular assist device that they were going to bring him out of sedation.
She would be able to hold him. She hadn’t held him in so long. Her arms were aching to hold him, but she was terrified too.
Deep down she was scared of this whole thing. It was a way to extend his life, but there was a set time-frame. Peter needed a new heart. There was no other choice.
There was a new set of nurses on duty and she waited with bated breath as they moved about the room. Peter was moving, and there were more subtle movements as the sedation wore off.
She’d done a rotation on Pediatrics when she had been an intern, but she had forgotten how resilient kids were. How they bounced back.
She’d texted Kainan to come, because he’d wanted to know when they were going to wake Peter up.
She knew he was out property-hunting, but she seriously doubted that he would find anything on short notice. And, even though he didn’t want her going back to her apartment alone, she was going to head back there and get Peter’s nursery ready.
Kainan came into the room.
“Glad you could make it,” she said, and she was relieved that he was here.
How is he doing? Kainan signed.
“Good. He’s strong.”
Kainan nodded and picked up the chart to read the notes. A brief smile crossed his face as he shut the chart.
This is good!
“I’ll be back in a few minutes, Reagan,” the pediatric nurse said. “I have to check on my other patients.”
“Thanks, Maria,” Reagan said.
Maria nodded and left the room.
Reagan took a step forward and stared down at her baby, wrapped up in his crib. There was a cannula running from his chest to the machine that sat on the table next to the crib. The machine that was pumping blood instead of his heart now.
His poor, weak heart.
She reached out to touch him but then took her hand back because she wasn’t wearing gloves. She looked up at Kainan, unsure.
What’s wrong? he signed.
“I’m not wearing gloves—just a surgical gown.”
Did they tell you that you needed to be gowned and gloved?
“No, they didn’t. I just put this on out of habit.”
Kainan smiled gently at her. Go ahead.
Reagan reached out and touched Peter’s smooth, soft skin. Emotion overcame her as she ran her fingers over his tiny hand and then over the dark curls on his head.
“I’ve waited so long for this,” she whispered.
The tears were threatening to spill, but she cleared her throat—because this wasn’t the end of scares. This was just a way to keep him alive longer, until a heart became available.
She couldn’t let her guard down yet.
Peter stirred under her hand and she gasped. His head moved and he opened his eyes, blinking. And then those dark eyes that were so like Kainan’s looked toward her. His brow furrowed as he tried to make sense of what he could seen through a drug-induced fog.
“Peter...” she whispered, she knelt down to look at his little chubby face. “Mommy’s here.”
Her voice hitched in her throat and it took every ounce of her strength not to cry as she connected with her son in his crib.
Peter’s eyes closed, but he smiled. So many stages of his life she’d missed. Babies grew so fast and she was missing it.
There will be more stages that you will get to see, she told herself.
And for the first time in a long time she confidently believed that.
Then Kainan knelt down and stared at his son, his eyes glistening, and he beamed as Peter opened his eyes again and looked at Kainan.
“He has my eyes,” Kainan said, and Reagan could see the pride in his face.
“Did he open his eyes?” Maria asked as she returned.
“He did,” Reagan said, standing up.
“That’s wonderful. It will take a while for him to fully wake out of his sedation, but he’s doing very well,” Maria said.
“How long do you think it will be before he’s discharged?” Reagan asked, nervous about the answer, because here in the hospital he was safe.
“It’s hard to say. It depends how well he does and his pain management. But since you’re both surgeons Dr. McNeil will probably discharge him as early as Christmas Eve. And that will be an excellent Christmas gift!” Maria continued, checking Peter’s lines as Reagan stood there in shock.
“That soon?” Reagan murmured in disbelief. “I have a lot to do to get ready.”
Maria grinned. “I’m sure. Why don’t you go do that, Dr. Cote? He will likely be asleep for a while longer. Get some diapers and get his nursery ready.”
Reagan was about to argue when Michael entered Peter’s room. He looked a bit panicked.
“Reagan, I’m so glad I found you,” Michael said breathlessly, and then he saw Kainan. “Dr. Laskaris, I’m glad you’re here too.”
Dread crept down her spine. “What’s wrong, Michael?”
“A section of the roof has collapsed at the shopping center. A lot of people are injured and I’m short-staffed due to the snowstorm that just rolled in off the lake. It’s dumped three inches of snow since it started two and half hours ago.”
“What?”
Reagan opened the blinds in Peter’s room and couldn’t even see the courtyard of the hospital. Just a wall of white.
“They’re bringing them in on foot and our emergency room is packed,” Michael said. “I could use you both.”
Kainan signed, and she knew what he was thinking.
“Kainan wants to know how he can help even when he can’t communicate,” Reagan said.
Kainan nodded with determination and picked up his jacket.
“We’ll be right there, Michael,” Reagan said.
Michael left at a sprint.
“Don’t worry, Dr. Cote. Peter will be fine,” Maria said.
Reagan nodded, but she was unsure about leaving him. Still, she was needed. She was a surgeon and there were lives to be saved.
Kainan held open the door for her and they walked together to the staff change room, where all the on-call doctors who’d been able to get in were getting ready for the onslaught of patients.
There was also a team of doctors who would be working on clearing the operating theaters of nonessential surgeries and keeping the flow to X-Ray and the CT scanner free and clear. As well as finding bed space in an already cramped hospital.
Reagan changed quickly, stuffing her clothing into her locker. Kainan stood beside her, unbuttoning the dress shirt that he’d been wearing.
“No locker,” he said quickly as he stuffed his clothes into hers.
“Save your voice, Kainan,” she said as she shimmied out of her dress pants and pulled on her scrubs. “You’re going to need it.”
He smiled sadly and nodded as he grabbed a pair of men’s scrubs from the shelf behind him.
She thought about all those times in the tight quarters of the field hospital and how much carnage they had seen and worked together on.
This was going to be the same.
A section of the roof falling in a packed shopping center at Christmas... The thought made her sick to her stomach.
After they were dressed and ready to go, with disposable surgical gowns and gloves, they headed straight into the chaos of the emergency room.
Michael was in charge as he spoke to his surgeons and assigned stations, putting the residents outside to receive the patients as they came in from the ambulances.
Kainan went straight to work and began to set up other triage areas for the less critical. Reagan translated for him and helped him to divide a hallway that was rarely used into small pods for the less injured.
The waiting room was packed as well, with patients who had wandered in with things like colds, sprains and an assortment of other cases. They would have to be seen to. and Michael mobilized a group of residents to take care of them and prioritize.