LITMIR.BIZ

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nodded, even though deep down she knew she’d have to tell him. Because Miguel deserved to know. Besides at some point Tommy was going to ask about his father. She refused to lie to her son.

      The spear in her heart twisted painfully and tears pricked her eyes. As difficult as it was to be a single mother, she couldn’t bear the thought of sending Tommy off to be with his father in a far-away country. Although she knew she could come with Tommy, no matter how difficult it would be to see Miguel again.

      If Miguel was truly planning to join Doctors Without Borders, maybe all of this worry would be for nothing. She and Tommy would go back home and continue living their lives.

      Tommy tripped and fell, and she leaped off the park bench and rushed over, picking him up and lavishing him with kisses before he could wail too loudly. “There, now, you’re okay, big guy.”

      “Hurts,” he sniffed, rubbing his hands over his eyes and smearing dirt all over his face.

      “I know, but Mommy will kiss it all better.” Holding her son close, nuzzling his neck, she desperately hoped Miguel would be honorable enough to do what was best for Tommy.

      Kat returned to the hotel room to change her clothes and freshen up a bit before going back to the hospital to see Juliet and Miguel. She’d left Diana and Tommy at the local drugstore, picking out a few necessities for Diana to hold her over until her luggage arrived. They’d also picked up two prepaid disposable phones, so they could keep in touch with each other. After fifteen minutes, and with the help of one shopkeeper who did speak a bit of English, they had the phones activated and working.

      The metro was far more crowded towards the end of the workday, forcing her to stand, clinging to the overhead pole.

      At her stop, she got off the cramped carriage and walked the short distance to the hospital. The temperature had to be pushing eighty and by the time she arrived, she was hot and sweaty again.

      So much for her attempt to look nice for Miguel.

      Ridiculous to care one way or the other how she looked. Men weren’t exactly knocking down her door, especially once they realized she had a son. Not that she was interested in dating.

      She hadn’t been with anyone since spending the night with Miguel. At first because she’d been pregnant and then because being a single mother was all-consuming. But she didn’t regret a single minute of having Tommy.

      In the hospital, she went up to the I.C.U. and paused outside Juliet’s doorway, relieved to discover Miguel wasn’t there, waiting for her. Her sister had been turned so that she was lying on her right side facing the doorway, but otherwise her condition appeared unchanged.

      She crossed over and took Juliet’s hand in hers. “Hi, Jules, I’m back. Can you hear me? Squeeze my hand if you can hear me.”

      Juliet’s hand didn’t move within hers.

      “Wiggle your toes. Can you wiggle your toes for me?”

      Juliet’s non-broken leg moved, but Kat couldn’t figure out if the movement had been made on purpose or not. When she asked a second time, the leg didn’t move, so she assumed the latter.

      She pulled up a chair and sat down beside her sister, glancing curiously at the chart hanging off the end of the bed. She didn’t bother trying to read it, as it would all be in Spanish, but she wished she could read the medical information for herself, to see how Juliet was progressing.

      She kept up her one-sided conversation with her sister for the next fifteen minutes or so. Until she ran out of things to say.

      “Katerina?”

      The way Miguel said her name brought back a fresh wave of erotic memories of their night together and she tried hard to paste a friendly smile on her face, before rising to her feet and facing him. “Hello, Miguel. How did your surgery go this morning?”

      “Very well, thanks. Would you mind going across the street to the restaurant to talk?” he asked. “I’ve missed lunch.”

      She instinctively wanted to say no, but that seemed foolish and petty so she nodded. She glanced back at her sister, leaning over the side rail to talk to her. “I love you, sis. See you soon,” she said, before moving away to meet Miguel in the doorway.

      As they walked down the stairs to the main level of the hospital, he handed her a stack of papers. “I spent some time translating bits of Juliet’s chart for you, so that you can get a sense as to how she’s doing.”

      Her jaw dropped in surprise and for a moment she couldn’t speak, deeply touched by his kind consideration. “Thank you,” she finally murmured, taking the paperwork he offered. Miguel had often been thoughtful of others and she was glad he hadn’t changed during the time they’s spent apart. She couldn’t imagine where he’d found the time to translate her sister’s chart for her between seeing patients and doing surgery, but she was extremely grateful for his efforts.

      He put his hand on the small of her back, guiding her towards the restaurant across the street from the hospital. The warmth of his hand seemed to burn through her thin cotton blouse, branding her skin. She was keenly aware of him, his scent wreaking havoc with her concentration, as they made their way across the street. There was outdoor seating beneath cheerful red and white umbrellas and she gratefully sat in the shade, putting the table between them.

      The waiter came over and the two men conversed in rapid-fire Spanish. She caught maybe one familiar word out of a dozen.

      “What would you like to drink, Katerina?” Miguel asked. “Beer? Wine? Soft drink?”

      “You ordered a soft drink, didn’t you?” she asked.

      He flashed a bright smile and nodded. “You remember some Spanish, no?” he asked with clear approval.

      “Yes, muy poco, very little,” she agreed. “I’ll have the same, please.”

      Miguel ordered several tapas, the Spanish form of appetizers, along with their soft drinks. When the food arrived, she had no idea what she was eating, but whatever it was it tasted delicious.

      “Do you want to review Juliet’s chart now?” he asked. “I can wait and answer your questions.”

      “I’ll read it later, just tell me what you know.” She wanted to hear from him first. Besides, there was no way she’d be able to concentrate on her sister’s chart with him sitting directly across from her.

      He took his time, sipping his drink, before answering. “Juliet has begun moving around more, which is a good sign. She will likely start to intermittently follow commands soon. We have done a CT scan of her brain earlier this morning and the area of bleeding appears to be resolving slowly.”

      She nodded, eating another of the delicious tapas on the plate between them. There were olives too, and she wondered if they were from Miguel’s family farm. “I’m glad. I guess all we can do right now is wait and see.”

      “True,” he agreed. He helped himself to more food as well. “Katerina, how is your mother doing? Wasn’t she scheduled to have surgery right before I left the States?”

      She nodded, her appetite fading. “Yes. The result of her surgery showed stage-four pancreatic cancer. She died a couple months later.” Despite the fear of being a single mother, at the time of her mother’s passing, her pregnancy had been one of the few bright spots in her life. Things had been difficult until Juliet had gone off to college. Thankfully, her friend Diana had been there for her, even offering to be her labor coach.

      “I’m sorry,” he murmured, reaching across the table to capture her hand in his. “We both lost our parents about the same time, didn’t we?”

      “Yes. We did.” His fingers were warm and strong around hers, but she gently tugged her hand away and reached for her glass. She tried to think of a way to ask him if he was married or seeing someone, without sounding too interested.

      “I have thought of you

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