Time Heals Everything

by Linda Swain

  Ted smiled gently and pointed unobtrusively towards Mary Jo, who sat at the piano, idly plunking out a tune. Kat frowned, but a moment later, her eyes lit with understanding and she hugged Ted tightly. “Oh, Ted, that’s just great!” Beaming up at him and then at Mary Jo, her smile warmed the room. “I hope you two are very happy!”

  It was only after congratulating the new couple that she noticed how quiet the club was. Ted, Madeline, Freddy – all the staff’s here, but the crowd’s so thin. Wait, I don’t see Tim. This place is so quiet… And where’s … “Where is everyone?”

  Silently, Ted moved toward the stage, carefully placing the packages around the decorated tree that dominated the stage. “The boss gave Tim the day off with the crowd so thin and Nick is . . .”

  “Nick is,” hissed a harsh voice from the shadow of the stairs, “sleeping off the drunk he tied on last night.”

  Turning, Kat watched a brunette slink down the stairs to the main floor, recognizing her as one of Nick’s recent hires. A silk wrapper was cinched tightly over her thin shoulders as she slithered across the floor.

  “I see,” Kat replied quietly as the woman moved in her direction. Before Ted could step in, Kat reached out, a faint smile on her face as she smoothed down the collar of the wrapper, her fingers light and sure. . “Well, Carol – it is Carol, isn’t it? Nick never likes to see his woman looking sloppy, even if she’s had a . . . interesting night. He’s picky about that.”

  “Remember that, do ya?”

  Slowly, Nick appeared at the top of the stairs, swaying on the top step before weaving his way down. Cinching his belt, he paused, his blue eyes reddened but still icy cold as he looked pointedly at Kat’s abdomen. Brazenly, he grinned. “Carol and I were getting an early start on Christmas. Ya know how crazy it gets once the holiday crowd starts coming in.”

  “Yes, I remember,” Kat, whispered softly, ignoring the strange ache in her heart as she watched the couple in a loose embrace. “The club, Nick. Always the club.”

  Blindly, she stepped back, aware of Ted’s gentle hand on her elbow. “I’m fine,” she assured him softly, her head brushing up against his comforting shoulder. “I’ve a driver outside, and I shouldn’t want to keep him waiting. I only came to deliver everyone’s gift and …”

  She fairly fled the club, moving as fast as her pregnancy would allow, never catching sight of either the slick of wet, frosted leaves on the sidewalk or of Nick as he desperately snatched for his coat in time to reach her. Focused on getting to the relative safety of the waiting car, her feet slid out from under her as she hit the patch of leaves. As her arms flew out wildly from her sides, she went down, striking the unyielding cement with enough force to leave stars dancing behind her eyes, robbing her lungs of all the air they had possessed.

  For a moment, there was nothing but the struggle to breathe, and then came the stabbing pain. Later, she wouldn’t clearly remember the pain, but she would always remember Nick holding her as she began to whimper. “Nick, there – there’s something wrong . . . Nick, please, the hospital!”

  Cradling her in his arms, Nick pressed his lips to her hair, murmuring assurances, before turning his head and roaring for Ted to phone ahead to the hospital. He lifted Kat carefully into the car and slid in beside her. “Step on it, buddy! The hospital – now!”

  Turning back to Kat, he threaded his fingers through the brilliant curls of her hair even as she tucked herself into a protective ball around the rise of her abdomen. I hope it was safe to move her. What if I hurt her or the kid when I moved her? But it had to be better than leaving her lying there in the snow, right? He shifted her gently in his arms, murmuring nonsense words into the bright wealth of her hair, striving to keep her calm even as she sobbed and twisted in his embrace.

  “Nick, it hurts! It hurts …,” she panted. “Something’s wrong with the baby, Nick – it shouldn’t hurt, and it does!”

  “It’ll be all right, kid,” he reassured her, desperately trying to keep the fear out of his voice. “Don’t you worry. The Green Hornet’s got nothing on your man up there in the front seat – we’ll get you fixed up in no time.” I gotta keep her calm. I don’t know what’s going on here, but I gotta keep her calm. Buddy, you’d better move it, he thought towards the driver, willing the car to move faster. He glanced down at Kat’s pinched, pale features and felt his heart constrict at the pain he saw there, but let nothing of that show in his cobalt gaze. This is a nightmare, he thought. This is a bad dream, and I’m gonna wake up with one hell of a hangover any time now.

  But if the ride to the hospital had been a nightmare, their arrival was worse than any horror his sleeping mind could create. Thankfully, Ted had been able to get a clear line through to the hospital, so nurses and attendants stood waiting by the entrance door, but that seemed to be the last of Kat’s good luck.

  Helplessly, Nick watched as they whisked her away, the cry of his name floating back from her throat as he was pushed aside. Doctor after doctor rushed down the well-scrubbed corridor, into the cubicle where Kat had been taken, but no one came for him.

  Running a hand through his thick hair, he realised that, for once, the club was the last thing on his mind. No, something – someone – else had finally taken its place, and that someone was not Kat, but her husband. I gotta call him. He probably doesn’t know a thing, and he’s got to get down here. I’m the last person in the world he’s gonna want to hear this from, but I have to do it. No one else will, and she doesn’t deserve to be alone when … if … Turning on his heel, fleeing from his thoughts, he frantically searched his pockets for change as he headed towards a bank of payphones.

  “’Allo, Montserrat residence.” Megan’s cool, calm voice came over the line after the second ring.

  “Megan, it’s Nick. Where’s Ash?” His breath came out in frantic gasps as he relayed what had taken place. “She’s at Queen of Angels’ hospital. I suggest that he gets down here now, and I wouldn’t spare the horses if I were him.”

  Not waiting to see if she understood the entire message, Nick dropped the receiver as a woman in dark green scrubs caught his attention. Her Gray hair stuck out in stiff curls, while sad, dark eyes that had seen too much sorrow gestured him to her side as though she were a drill sergeant commanding his attention.

  “Mr. Montserrat? Sir? Are you this woman’s husband?”

  Startled by the grim look on that woman’s face, Nick numbly shook his head. “No . . . her husband is probably already on his way.” Desperately, he grabbed the doctor’s hand. “She just fell . . . that’s all. She’ll be all right, won’t she?”

  “Just a fall?” There was a note of disbelief in her voice as she led Nick to a small waiting room. “For a woman this late in her term, there is no such thing as a simple fall. Even as we speak, she’s being prepped for surgery. She’s gone into full labor, and the only way to save her and her child is a Cesarean. Now, I must get back, but I wanted to let someone know.” Turning on her heel, the doctor walked away, hating that she was unable to erase the look of anguish on the man’s face.

  A … surgery? She’s having the kid now? She can’t have the kid now! She’s only … what, six months along? Seven? If she got pregnant in June … Nine months … When should she have been due? Not yet – it’s too early … right? Struggling to count back on his fingers, Nick dropped into one of the uncomfortable wooden chairs. Oh, my God, she’s not supposed to have this kid until February, and she’s having it now? And … a Cesarean … They’re gonna cut her open! They’re gonna slice into her to save that kid! Oh, God … Kid … Kat … He buried his face in his hands. No tears came; it would take more than the horrors he had seen so far to bring Nick O’Connor to weeping, especially in a place as public as this, but anyone who passed him could see the extent of his pain and sorrow as clearly as they could see their own hands.

  It seemed to Nick that hours crept by before Ash found his way to the hospital wing, his long coat flaring to reveal gray trousers and an open-necked bl
ack shirt. Wherever he had been, Nick thought, he had been caught as unaware by the news as Nick himself had. His eyes flared as he spied Nick, the anger and fear he had been holding in check exploding forth in a barrage of French. Look at him – that slob was seen with my wife! His blazing eyes took in Nick’s faded sweater beneath his unbuttoned coat and tousled hair. I will never be rid of him, will I? So long as I live she will always, run to him, even when he looks like this … and if she hadn’t gone there today … Oh, the bastard …

  Nick had little time for his outburst. “Why in the hell don’t you shut up and ask about your wife or about the kid she’s having, rather than swearing at me?”

  “Having?” Stunned into silence, Ash waited as Nick slowly lifted a cigarette to his lips.

  The match flared briefly, but it took Nick some time and effort to control his shaking hands enough to put the lit match against the tip of the cigarette. When he had finally managed to light it, he took a long, deep drag that did nothing to calm his frayed nerves. “Yeah, having. They had to operate. Kat is in surgery now, and we’re left just to sit here and wait.”

  Sinking into a nearby chair, the usual animosity Ash felt towards Nick forgotten when reality set in, telling him that he could be losing both his beloved wife and their child. “How . . . how could this happen? She was bringing holiday gifts . . .” His eyes lifted to Nick’s as, again, his rage began to resurface. “It was you! This is your fault! She was taking things to that damned club of yours because she didn’t want anyone forgotten. If she had stayed home, safe with me, she wouldn’t be . . .”

  His words were halted by the entrance of the doctor. Ignoring Nick’s attempt at introductions, Ash barely held himself together as he listened, his anger evaporating into fear.

  “Your wife,” the doctor began, exhaustion in every word, “made it through surgery, although for a while, it was touch and go. She’s going to be in recovery for a while. It will be some time before you can see her, but while you’re waiting, would you like to see your son?” Glancing at Nick, she lifted a brow and something odd flickered through the older woman’s eyes. “You won’t be able to see much,” she continued, “but I will say, he’s got a healthy head of blonde hair for a pre-term baby.”

  “Blonde?” Puzzled, Ash shook his head, biting his tongue against the words that threatened to burst forth. C’est impossible . . . it cannot be. My son cannot be . . . An image came to him of Katherine laughing and thrusting back her radiant auburn curls from her creamy complexion. Considering Katherine’s coloring . . . no, Philippe looks like his mother – he could have his grandparents’ coloring, for all we know. And what does it matter, as long as all is well?

  Spinning on his heels, Ash’s odd green eyes focused on Nick even as he turned his winning smile, the one that had so enchanted Kat, on the doctor. Unclenching his fists, Ash took the doctor’s hand in his. “Please – my wife – she will not want to be alone when she wakes. I can see Philippe later, when he is stronger. Please, I beg you, take me to my wife.”

  It’s better to keep those two apart, the doctor thought as she nodded her head. “Normally we wait until the patient is fully awake, but under the circumstances, I can bend the rules.” Casting a quick glance at Nick, she slowly took Ash aside. “But understand,” she said carefully, “that she will still be under the effects of heavy medication, so please don’t take whatever she may say as anything more than the ramblings from the anesthesia.”

  With a glance at Nick, Ash uttered a low, growling warning. “Stay away – from my wife and our son. If I find you here again, I cannot guarantee what I might do.”

  My child, Nick thought as he watched the pair of retreating backs. My son, you inbred French bastard, and I’ll be damned if you or anyone else is going to keep me from making certain that both Kat and the baby are all right.

  He paced the floor restlessly, waiting for the doctor to return. As time slowly passed, he worried if the doctor would return. Maybe she won’t. I don’t know anyone here. What if she got stuck doing another surgery? What if she just went home? I don’t know who to ask … He had no idea who to ask, or if anyone would tell him. When at last he saw the doctor heading down the hall, he hailed her and moved quickly to her side, grasping her hand as a wave of relief washed over him.

  Bright with desperation, for once, his eyes displayed none of his cool veneer. “I need to see the kid,” he said desperately

  “That is against policy,” came a tired reply, “and I did hear what the father said. You’re not a family member, and as it is the baby is barely hanging on.”

  “Look,” he snarled, ready to snap, “I don’t give a damn about rules – that kid is mine. I’m his father and if I have to sign papers stating that, then I will. I want to see my son, now!”

  For a moment, there was the terrible quiet that followed such an outburst, the doctor eyeing Nick carefully. Not that he cared; his focus never wavered from the doctor’s piercing gaze. Finally, with a silent nod, she took him down one long corridor, down hushed halls where the silence was only broken by the occasional sound of the staff.

  Finally tapping on a heavily glassed window, the doctor pointed to a row of what seemed to be no more than thick, well-lit boxes where warmly bundled, achingly tiny forms slept or fussed, their tiny hands waving in frustration.

  A nurse in the room nodded at the indicated incubator, bringing it as close to the window as possible. From what Nick could see, the doctor’s first impression had been correct; the infant was exquisitely tiny, the shock of thick, blonde hair seeming to weigh down the small head. From through the thick glass, Nick thought that he could see a resemblance. It wasn’t just the hair, though; it was something he couldn’t define – or even find the words to explain. As he looked at his son, Nick knew that his life would never be the same.

  “What are his chances?” Despite the feelings battling inside, his voice was cool, while his gaze never left the window.

  “Not good,” was the soft answer. “His lungs aren’t developed enough - but every hour that he makes it through improves his chances.” Her sharp eyes caught Nick’s attention. “I hope that her husband realizes that this will be, in most likelihood, her only child. The damage from the fall and the rush to surgery complicated things. Add in the factor of her size, and it all puts too much stress on her body. If she were ever lucky enough to conceive again, the chances are, she’d never carry even this far into term.”

  Placing his hand on the glass, Nick willed every ounce of strength that he possessed towards his tiny son. Come on, he thought desperately, you’re gonna have to be as tough as your old man . . . you can do it. You have to do it!”

  * * * *

  As the days passed, Nick’s presence in the hospital became as familiar as Ash’s. The tension that each buried at the sight of the other finally came to a head early one morning when the two men arrived at the waiting room at the same time. Pausing in the doorway, Nick wondered if he looked as haggard as Ashton.

  The man’s complexion was sickly white, a color underscored by the bruises that darkened the spaces under his eyes. But the fire in those eyes flared to life as at the sight of Nick. Shrugging off his coat, he dove at Nick, shoving him against a wall and aiming his fist for Nick’s face. Instinct warned him what to expect; the long years in the streets had well taught him how to protect himself. Swiftly twisting his head to the side, Nick brought up his right hand and neatly blocked the blow flying towards his face.

  “You,” Ash spat, rocking back on his heels in brief surprise at Nick’s swift block. “What in the hell are you doing here? You have no place here! Katherine is my wife, and that is my child. There is nothing here for you. Why don’t you go back to that damned club of yours and drink yourself to death? The world would be a much better place without you in it!”

  Grimly, Nick returned Ash’s gaze. “As a matter of fact, I have every right to be here. I don’t know how things are done in your country – where in my opinion, you should have stayed,
– but here, people come and go as they damned well please. Furthermore, Kat is not only my business partner, but someone I have invested a great deal of money into and I’m determined to see there’s no screw ups in regards to her health.”

  The unspoken fury boiled in the air between the two men for several minutes, but for once, Ash was at a loss for words, his hands clenched uselessly into the folds of Nick’s collar. When a nurse entered the room a moment later, alerted to the sounds of their argument, Ash took a deep breath, releasing his hold on Nick with a super-human effort. “I do not,” he said slowly and clearly as he stepped away, “wish to see you in this hospital again. If I do, I swear to you that I will arrange it so that you will not be able to come within fifty feet of my family. Do not think that I am without resources, Nicholas, for I have not come this far in life without assistance.”

  A brow lifted as amusement filled Nick’s blue eyes. “Try it,” he murmured menacingly, the two words carrying no further than Ash’s ears. “Let me tell you something, Comte. You’re not the only one who has … connections. I know people, too – and they’re the type you wouldn’t want to know. You try any crap with me, and I’ll chase your ass all the way back to France, in a wooden box if necessary. You called me a mongrel once, and maybe you’re right. But remember one thing, we mutts fight, and we fight dirty. Right now, Kat and that kid are the only things on my mind . . . and I just wonder why in the hell they aren’t on yours.” Turning on his heel, he stalked out, moving directly towards the hall that held Kat’s room.

  An uneasy truce fell between Nick and Ash after that, and as if by some unspoken agreement, neither man appeared at the hospital at the same time. Nick came to see Katherine in the early hours of the morning, just after the club had closed, and Ashton came in and out during the later hours of the day.