in New York City a year ago. I begged her to stay with us for a while, but like a soldier she went right back to her work as a tour guide. It’s an exhausting business. To be on her own yesterday means she must have taken the day off for a change. Her way of dealing with her grief I suppose.”
Remi understood that need well enough.
“She’s been trying to function ever since. For this to happen now…” His voice broke.
After hearing of her loss, Remi knew Jillian Gray would want her brother at her side no matter what. “How soon can you get here? I’ll pick you up and bring you to the hospital.”
“That’s the problem. My wife is expecting our third baby in a month, but the pregnancy hasn’t gone well. She has toxemia. If it gets any worse the doctor will have to deliver the baby early. I’m afraid to leave her in case something goes wrong in the delivery room, but I don’t want Jilly to know the reason why. My sister thinks everything’s fine.”
A vein throbbed in Remi’s temple. “I understand.”
“We’ve kept my wife’s condition a secret so Jilly wouldn’t worry. She’d hoped to get pregnant herself, but there wasn’t enough time before Kyle died. If she thought my wife was in trouble…I don’t know what to do. She can’t hear about it, not at a time like this. It would be too much for her. Has she called for me?”
He cleared his throat. “Not yet.”
“I know Jilly needs me, but she’ll hide it because that’s the way she’s made.”
Remi had witnessed her bravery. When he’d asked her if she had family here, she’d said no and didn’t expand on it. Both brother and sister were determined to shield each other from the worst.
What a situation! In frustration his fingers made furrows through his hair. “I plan to see your sister through this. I won’t leave her side.”
“I can’t ask you to do that—”
“I’m offering. The accident was partially my fault.” Without preamble Remi explained exactly what had happened.
“It wasn’t your fault,” the other man confessed. “I wouldn’t have stopped for an animal either. At that speed it’s too dangerous. I’m just thankful you weren’t hurt, too. What would she have done without your help?”
“Someone else would have come along.”
“No one like you. Thank you, Mr. Goyo. Will you do me one more favor and let me know the second she’s out of surgery? I don’t care what time it is. When she’s awake I want to speak to her. In the meantime I’m going to talk to my wife and the doctor. Depending on his advice, it’s possible I could fly over for a quick trip.”
“Don’t worry about that right now. You take care of your wife, and I’ll take care of your sister.”
“I don’t know how to repay you for this, but I’ll think of something. Let me have your phone number.”
After giving it to him he said, “You’d do the same for me, verdad?”
“Yes.”
The man sounded so sincere Remi believed him. “Then say no more. We’ll speak later.”
Too restless to sit, Remi put the phone in his pocket and walked down the hall toward the nursing station. Maybe they knew something.
Before he reached it he saw Dr. Filartigua coming out of the double doors of the surgery.
Remi walked over to him. “How bad was her injury?”
He pulled his mask down. “Bad.”
The one-syllable answer hit him like a blow to the gut. “Bad enough to take away her vision?”
“Only time will tell. The glass splinter penetrated to the inner part of the globe. I removed it, but there’d been some internal bleeding. Surgically speaking, everything went well. The rest is up to nature. She appears to be in excellent health otherwise.”
Remi was grateful for that much good news. “How soon can she leave the hospital?”
“She’s in the recovery room now. If all goes well, they’ll move her to a private room within the hour. Pending no other problems, I could release her by tomorrow afternoon. However, I suggest she stay an extra day to recover from the trauma of being in the accident. Have you been able to contact her family yet?”
“Yes, but her brother lives in New York and there’s a problem.”
The doctor listened. “Under the circumstances it’s a good thing you’re here to lend support. I’ll want to see her in a week at my office. Then we’ll know more about her ability to see. The nursing staff will send her home with instructions. She has to put drops in her eye three times a day for the first three days.”
“Is she going to be in a lot of pain?”
“No, but within twenty-four hours she’ll complain of it irritating her, and she’ll want to rub it. Right now she has a small, cuplike patch taped over her eye to protect it day and night. Each time she needs the drops, she’ll have to unfasten it. Otherwise, she can do normal activity, even read or watch television.”
“What if she wants to go back to work?”
“Not for a month. The one thing I warn is that she doesn’t bend over so her head is lower than her heart. When she’s awake, you can tell her the operation was a success.”
Their eyes met in silent understanding of what he didn’t say.
“You have my number. If there’s an emergency, my service will get in touch with me.”
“Thank you, Doctor.”
The second he left, Remi went back to the reception area to phone David Bowen. He wasn’t going to like what Remi had to tell him.
* * *
Jillian heard voices before she came fully awake. She knew she was in a hospital. During the night a nurse had told her the operation was over and everything was fine. They were taking her to a private room. She’d had no idea what time that was.
When she finally opened her eyes, sunlight filtered in the room through the blinds. She couldn’t see out of her right eye. Raising her hand to feel it, her fingers met with something plastic that had been firmly taped down.
A man’s calloused hand caught hold of hers in a gentle grip. “Don’t touch it, Jillian.”
That deep voice—
She remembered his thickly accented English. He was the man at the accident scene.
Slowly turning her head she took in the tall, powerful-looking Spanish male standing at her side. Her hand was swallowed in his strong, warm grip. Until now she’d never realized how white her skin must look to a man whose natural olive complexion had been burnished by years in the sun.
Vibrant black hair was swept back from a widow’s peak, highlighting hard,
