LITMIR.BIZ

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to go in the opposite direction from where they needed to wait for a taxi. Thank heavens the line was moving fast. Her son was as dark as she was blonde and if she had a nickel for every person who’d asked her if he was adopted, she’d be rich. Even here, she could feel curious eyes on them.

      “No, Tommy. This way. Look, a car! We’re going to go for a ride!”

      His attention diverted, Tommy readily climbed into the cab after Diana. They all squished into the back seat for the short ride to their hotel. “Hesperia Hotel, please,” she told the taxi driver.

      “Hesperia? No comprendo Hesperia.” Their cab driver shook his head as he pulled out into traffic, waving his hand rather impatiently. “No comprendo.”

      Kat refused to panic and quickly rummaged through her carry-on bag to pull out the hotel confirmation document. She handed it to him so he could read the name of the hotel for himself. He looked at the paper and made a sound of disgust. “Es-peer-ria,” he said, emphasizing the Spanish pronunciation. “Esperia Hotel.”

      Properly chastised, she belatedly remembered from her two years of high-school Spanish that the H was silent. Being in Spain brought back bittersweet memories of Tommy’s father, especially during their three-hour layover in Madrid. She’d briefly toyed with the thought of trying to find Miguel, but had then realized her idea was ludicrous. Madrid was a huge city and she had no idea where to even start, if he’d even be there, which she seriously doubted. He may have studied there but it was possible he’d moved on. “Sí. Hesperia Hotel, gracias.”

      The taxi driver mumbled something unintelligible and probably uncomplimentary in Spanish, under his breath. Kat ignored him.

      “Are you going to the hospital today?” Diana asked with a wide yawn. “I’m voting for a nap first.”

      “I doubt Tommy will sleep any time soon,” she reminded her friend. “And, yes, I’m going to head to the hospital as soon as we get the hotel room secured. I’m sorry, but you’ll have to watch Tommy for a while.”

      “I know,” Diana said quickly. “I don’t mind.” Kat knew Diana wouldn’t renege on her duties, seeing as Kat had been the one to pay for her friend’s airfare, along with footing the hotel bill. Kat hadn’t minded as she’d needed someone to help watch over her son. “Wow, Kat, take a look at the architecture of that building over there. Isn’t it amazing?”

      “Yeah, amazing.” Kat forced a smile, because Diana was right—the view was spectacular. Yet the thrill of being in Europe for the first time in her life couldn’t make her forget the reason they were there. The knot in her stomach tightened as she wondered what she’d discover when she went to the hospital. Susan Horton, the director of the study abroad program at Seville University, had called just thirty-six hours ago, to let her know that her younger half sister, Juliet, had a serious head injury and was too sick to be flown back to the U.S. for care.

      Kat had immediately made arrangements to fly over to Seville in order to be there for her sister.

      She and Juliet hadn’t been particularly close. And not just because of the seven-year age gap. They had different fathers and for some reason Juliet had always seemed to resent Kat. Their respective fathers had both abandoned their mother, which should have given them something in common. After their mother had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, Kat had promised her mother she’d look after Juliet.

      Juliet had gone a little wild after their mother’s death, but had settled down somewhat after she’d finished her second year of college. At the ripe old age of twenty-one, Juliet had insisted on studying abroad for the spring semester of her junior year. Kat had been forced to pick up a lot of call weekends in order to pay for the program, but she’d managed. To be fair, Juliet had come up with a good portion of the money herself.

      Kat felt guilty now about how she’d been secretly relieved to put her younger sister on a plane to Spain. But even if she’d tried to talk Juliet out of going, it wouldn’t have worked. Juliet would only have resented her even more.

      How had the accident happened? All she’d been told was that Juliet had run out into the street and had been hit by a car, but she didn’t know anything further.

      Getting to the hotel didn’t take long, although there was another hassle as she figured out the dollar to Euro exchange in order to pay the cranky cab driver. As soon as Diana and Tommy were settled in the hotel room, Kat asked the front-desk clerk for directions to the hospital. She managed to figure out how to get there on the metro, which wasn’t very different than using the subway back home.

      Seville’s teaching hospital was larger than she’d expected and that gave her hope that Juliet was getting good medical and nursing care. Kat found her sister in their I.C.U and walked in, only to stop abruptly when she saw Juliet was connected to a ventilator. Her stomach clenched even harder when she noted several dark bruises and small lacerations marring her sister’s pale skin.

      “Dear heaven,” she breathed, trailing her gaze from her sister up to the heart monitor. She’d done a yearlong stint in the I.C.U before going to the O.R. so she’d known what to expect, but had hoped that Juliet might have improved during the time it had taken her to make the travel arrangements and actually arrive in Seville.

      A nurse, dressed head to toe in white, complete with nurse’s cap on her dark hair, came into the room behind her. Kat blinked back tears and turned to the nurse. “How is she? Has her condition improved? What is the extent of her injury? Can I speak to the doctor?”

      The nurse stared at her blankly for a moment and then began talking in rapid Spanish, none of which Kat could understand.

      Kat wanted to cry. She desperately paged through the English/Spanish dictionary she held, trying to look up words in Spanish to explain what she wanted to know. “¿Donde esta el doctor? ¿Habla Ingles?” she finally asked. Where is the doctor? Speak English?

      The nurse spun around and left the room.

      Kat sank into a chair next to Juliet’s bed, gently clasping her half sister’s hand in hers. Maybe the age difference, and completely opposite personalities, had kept them from being close, but Juliet was still her sister. With their mother gone, they only had each other.

      She had to believe Juliet would pull through this. Her sister was young and strong, surely she’d be fine.

      Kat put her head down on the edge of Juliet’s bed, closing her eyes just for a moment, trying to combat the deep fatigue of jet lag and her fear regarding the seriousness of her sister’s injuries.

      She didn’t think she’d fallen asleep, but couldn’t be sure how much time had passed when she heard a deep male voice, thankfully speaking in English. She lifted her head and prised her heavy eyelids open.

      “I understand you have questions regarding the condition of Juliet Campbell?”

      “Yes, thank you.” She quickly rose to her feet and blinked the grit from her eyes as she turned to face the doctor.

      His familiar facial features made the room gyrate wildly, and she had to grasp the edge of her sister’s side rail for support. “Miguel?” she whispered in shock, wondering if she was dreaming. Had thoughts of Tommy’s father conjured up a mirage? Or was it just the doctor’s Hispanic features, dark hair falling rakishly over his forehead, deep brown eyes gazing into hers, that were so achingly familiar?

      “Katerina.” His eyes widened in surprise, and she couldn’t help feeling relieved to know she wasn’t the only one knocked off balance at this chance meeting. For several long seconds they simply stared at each other across the room. Slowly, he smiled, relieving part of the awkwardness. “What a pleasant surprise to see you again. How are you?”

      She tightened her grip on the bed rail behind her because her knees threatened to give away. “I’m fine, thanks.” She struggled to keep her tone friendly, even though for one beautiful night they’d been far more than just friends. Yet despite her fanciful thoughts during the Madrid layover, she hadn’t really expected to see Miguel

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