style="font-size:15px;"> The heavy tightness in his chest loosened at the way she said his name. At the way her smile, weak as it was, lit her tired eyes. He quickly stepped around the bed to grasp her hand. “Hi, Mother. Your hair looks nice. I’m surprised, though, that you’re not wearing lipstick.”
Her smile widened into a slightly wheezy chuckle. “Had one tucked under my pillow, but I think the nurse took it when they changed the sheets.” The squeeze she gave his hand was weak but stronger than he’d expected, and he began to relax.
“Isn’t this a rather drastic way to get me to come home?”
“You make me do drastic things. You’ve been like that since you were a little boy, and you’re apparently never going to change, even if it kills me.”
“And apparently you aren’t going to change either, scolding me while flat on your back in a hospital bed.” Her acerbic tone was that of the queen and mother he knew well, but her eyes held a new vulnerability that made him feel guilty as hell for all the things he’d done wrong in his life that had caused her anxiety and stress. He leaned over to kiss her cheek. “I checked all your test and lab results. Has your cardiologist been in to talk to you about it?”
“Yes. But I’d like to hear what you think.”
She wanted to hear what he thought? Since when? “You have some mild blockage in your right coronary artery. They’re going to do angioplasty to cross through the area that’s narrowed by cholesterol plaque, and put in a stent to bridge that narrowing. The procedure has been done for years now, and results are usually good. So, assuming it goes well, you should be your old, bossy self soon.”
“I’m never bossy. I’m simply assertive and direct.”
“Rafael!”
He turned at the sound of his father’s booming voice to see him striding into the room. Unlike Rafael’s mother, he looked exactly like he always did, posture erect and the picture of health with his skin tanned from golfing and his silver hair thick and wavy. But his eyes held a worry Rafael had never seen before.
His father’s arms enfolded him in a hard hug. “What do you think about your mother? Is she going to be all right? Is what they want to do a good idea? I’ve talked to the doctors here, but I trust you to know what’s really going on.”
Rafael stared at him in shock. Again, this was entirely new. He couldn’t remember the last time they’d trusted him about anything, let alone his doctoring skills.
“I was just explaining the test results to Mother.” He repeated what he’d told her, and as he stood there, beyond surprised at the intent interest on both his parents’ faces as he spoke, Gabriella’s words came back to him. Saying that he should talk to them, should share how he felt about their opinion of him. He’d told himself for years he didn’t care if they respected him or not. But the peculiar mix of emotions filling his chest as he stood there looking at them told him loud and clear he’d been lying to himself.
Maybe Gabriella was right, and it was time to see if the air could be cleared between them, at least a little. “But I have to be honest. I’m surprised you’re asking my opinion. You’ve expressed nothing but disappointment that I decided to become a doctor.”
“I admit we wanted you to stay here and help your brother with various royal duties, but when you became a doctor? That wasn’t a disappointment, Rafael.” His father grasped his shoulder in a strong grip. “We were proud of you.”
“Always, Rafael. And I’m sorry we never really told you that,” his mother said. Her eyes held some look he couldn’t be sure of—guilt, maybe? Contrition? “As I’ve been lying here, I’ve thought about you. Realized that perhaps we’ve been wrong to object to you living your life the way you want to.”
“I’m sorry, too,” his father said. “In case you don’t know, your mother regularly brags about your work. When she’s not apologizing for the stupid things you do sometimes, that is.” His father’s grin took any sting out of his words, and he squeezed Rafael’s shoulder before releasing it to hold his mother’s hand tight. And when his parents’ eyes met both were filled with softness, an obvious connection that he’d never seen between them before.
That rocked him back on his heels as much as what they’d just said. They were proud of him? Even bragged about him? He found it nearly impossible to believe, but it was becoming clear he’d been wrong about a lot of things, so maybe it was really true.
His mind filled with a vision of Gabriella and her insight about his family that he hadn’t truly thought was a real possibility. Insight that had been pretty incredible, since she hadn’t even met his parents. She’d figured out something in just a few minutes of conversation with him that he hadn’t seen in thirty-one years.
She was one special woman, no doubt about that. Someone who understood human nature in a way he was obviously still trying to figure out, which was just one reason she was an amazing midwife.
Just one reason why he’d been so attracted to her that very first day they’d met.
A need to talk to her that moment, to call her and tell her he’d taken her advice, had him opening his mouth to tell his parents he’d be back in a short time when a nurse came into the room.
“Time to check your vital signs, Your Majesty,” she said, before coming to a dead stop to stare at Rafael.
A good excuse to make his exit. “Then I’ll leave you for the moment, Mother. I’ll be back in a little while.”
He scooted past the nurse, who still hadn’t moved, on down the long hallway to an exit door so he’d be sure to get a good signal on his phone. Just the thought of hearing Gabriella’s voice made his chest feel lighter than it had since the second his brother had called him in Vail.
* * *
Gabby wandered restlessly out of her kitchen with a cup of tea in her hand and plopped onto her sofa. The sofa where she’d made amazing love with Rafael, and thinking of it made her breath short and her heart heavy. If she was going to feel this way every time she sat on it, she might have to sell it and buy a new one. Something a completely different style and color. Maybe rearrange the whole room while she was at it.
Then again, her memories of being in Vail with him—their hot-air balloon ride, their intimate conversation beneath the stars, their lovemaking there too were all etched in her mind forever. And since being hundreds of miles away from Colorado didn’t seem to be doing much to dim those memories, rearranging her living room probably wouldn’t help much either.
She grabbed the TV remote and skimmed through some channels, not finding much that grabbed her attention. Why hadn’t she taken on a third shift instead of just a double to keep her mind occupied? To keep her mind off Rafael and his mother and wondering how she was and if he was upset and if he’d ever come back to Los Angeles.
Wondering if she’d ever hear from him again.
If she did, she’d try to act normal. Cool. Like the kind of woman he usually dated, who didn’t expect anything more than a quick fling. Not that she did expect more than that, or even wanted more than that, and had to somehow make sure he knew that, but still.
Lord, she was a confused mess. She sighed at the same time her phone rang and her heart nearly flipped over in a loop-the-loop when she saw it was him on the line.
“Is
