Shaking Off the Dust Page 33
I don’t know how long I slept, a few hours I guessed. I woke to Dr. Santiago shaking me, then putting juice and food in front of me. “Drink and eat. You should have eaten again before your nap. I warned you to be careful. Takeshi was halfway out of the bed before they stopped him. He got worried when you wouldn’t wake up to your name being croaked from two feet away. I got here as the nurses were pushing him back.”
I frowned at Takeshi, who was frustrated. “Drink the juice, Hannah.” His hoarse voice was barely audible.
“Okay, you both need to relax. I’m tired. Unlike that big lump over there.” I pointed to Takeshi. “I didn’t sleep for four days straight. I am tired, that’s all.”
“That will be remedied tonight.” Dwight approached Takeshi. “I plan to take Hannah home with me, for a real meal and bed.”
“That’s not necessary,” I declared. “I’ll stay here until he’s out of the ICU, then find a hotel or something. I’ll manage, though it’s very kind of you to offer.”
Dwight didn’t pay attention to me, but waited for Takeshi to respond. “You don’t mind do you?”
“I’ll answer that as soon as she and I discuss the contents of a list she has been working on,” he said in a whisper.
I was drinking the apple juice and spit part of it out when I burst into laughter. “Shimodo, if I wasn’t already crazy about you, well, I would be all over again.”
He smiled a little, lifting his eyebrow. “Yet this list continues to haunt me.”
Dwight was lost by our conversation. When I’d finished the juice, he pulled in a chair from another room, pushed the sandwich towards my face, mouthing the word “eat”.
“There’s something I need tell you both. Good news, I believe,” he began.
I looked from him to Takeshi. “He’s doing great, isn’t he?”
“He is doing beyond our wildest expectations. I am hoping for a speedy recovery, but speedy means many weeks, even months, and not days. So take it easy. No, my news is about you, Hannah.”
“What about me?”
“It’s still pretty early to say for sure, but Dr. Linden, the obstetrician who you saw today, believes you are still pregnant. Initially we talked about multiple births. Your quantitative beta’s are still off the charts, they dipped a little when your bleeding occurred, but they are back up again. Your cervix is closed. She suspects that you lost one of multiples. I don’t want to get your hopes up unduly, but there is still a chance that you can carry them to term if you eat right and get the rest you need.”
I stared at him, the sandwich untouched in my lap.
“You see, my nose is never wrong,” Takeshi whispered. “Dr. Santiago, I wish to arrange a marriage here in this hospital room as soon as possible.”
“Shimodo, hold your horses. Let’s recheck next week. I will be good, on my best healthy behaviors. It’s still early.”
“Hush and eat your sandwich, Hannah. You may divorce me the next day, but you will marry me, here, now, in a matter of days. I insist.” He coughed until he needed to sip on water.
“See, here you are, all tied down to the bed with IVs, chest tubes and suction. I’m thinking you couldn’t catch me if I decided to run away from this crazy talk of marriage. I don’t see any shotgun pointed at you to force you to marry the possibly still-pregnant lady.”
“Eat your food, Hannah, and let the crazy man talk,” Santiago said.
“It never fails that men will stick by each other even if they know they are completely wrong.” I unwrapped my sandwich and inspected the contents. It looked like turkey, even smelled like turkey, so I took a bite. “This from the hospital cafeteria?”
Dwight shook his head. I was facing Takeshi with my back to the door and turned around when I saw Takeshi smile at whoever had entered the room.
“So the great heroes of Spain have deigned to greet the little people,” I teased, standing and setting aside my sandwich to hug Mateo, Enrique and Hector.
Hector still looked beat to hell. His face swollen, bruised and stitched, but he looked good to me. They all did. I’d forgotten how much I missed them these last five days.
They smiled and hugged me, then went individually to Takeshi’s side and shook his hand, greeting him and apologizing for being away so long.
“Can you tell us what has been going on with everything?” I asked.
“You were instrumental in saving this country from a terrorist attack. I think we can make an exception.” Enrique leaned against the window counter. “The bomb squad told us there were enough explosives at the airport to have destroyed it and any plane attached to it. They had them set on a timer to go off at nine in the morning, one of the busiest times of the day. The airport officials estimated that thousands might have perished if we had not discovered the threat.”
“You can thank Hector for that. He had Brodie come to me with that piece of information.” I nodded at him.
“I don’t recall that at all.” Hector looked at me as if I’d made it up.
“It’s the God’s honest truth, I swear. Brodie came to me and told me you were trying to reach Tom. Honest.”
“I didn’t mean to imply that you lied,” Hector apologized.
“What about Sanchez and Vincent? You can lock up Vincent and throw the key away as far as I am concerned.”
“You need not concern yourself with him ever again. He was unpleasant enough in jail to be murdered. It was, in fact, Dominic Sanchez who killed him. We had brought him in for questioning in regards to his father’s affairs. He saw Vincent and went crazy, thought he had set them all up. Dominic is a big man, snapped his neck.” Mateo shrugged. “It saved us from having to take Vincent to trial. With Sanchez’s father and older brother already admitting to selling to the terrorists, three of the four Sanchez crime family members are out of play. There were at least a half-dozen people who witnessed the murder.”
I guess I my expression showed more than I intended.
“I thought never to see the look of shock on your face,” Enrique said. “Mateo assumed that you would be glad he was dead after he was so…unpleasant to you. You are perhaps overwhelmed by your experiences here. That is enough of discussing these people.”
“He deserved to die. I had feared when I had him in my power that I might kill him myself. I thought never to say that about anyone, but when he crawled over my Hannah and began to brutalize her, it was a near thing.” Takeshi’s eyes revealed the anger he was feeling.
Mateo nodded. “He murdered the two Ramirez girls, children. He was a rabid animal. He was lucky his death came swiftly. Hannah, you and Takeshi have done so much for my country, for us all. I told you because I thought it would be a relief to know he could never hurt you again. I am truly sorry if I upset you.”
“Mateo, you could never upset me. You are my friend, and I will always hold you dear to my heart. It was unexpected. The terrorists, are you sure you found them all?”
Enrique shrugged. “We will never find them all, but we found a nest of them in our country through this investigation. It will certainly impair their ability to spread their evil for a while. Now, how may we be of service to you?”
“Just the people I need,” Takeshi claimed. “That is, if you can cut through government red tape.”
“Don’t even go there, Shimodo. You’re kicking a dead horse on that whole subject.” I was annoyed with his need to get us married, when all he should be thinking about was getting better.
“Anything we can do to assist you, Dr. Shimodo, that is within my power, consider it done.” Enrique bowed to him then turned to me. “Hannah, I have come to take you home with me. I was so overwhelmed with the last few days that it just dawned on me that you haven’t had anywhere to stay. Not even a wallet, money or suitcase to live out of. I am so sorry for my negligence. I have arranged rooms at a bed and breakfast very close to here.”
“No, she will stay with me. I have an extra room. She can come and go as she pleases there,” offered Mateo.
I shook my head laughing. “You boys are all a few days late and a penny short. I’ve managed for days in this foldout chair. I can manage a good while longer, although regular showers would be a nice break for Shimodo. He’ll get tired of me stinking up the place.”
“What about you, Dr. Shimodo? Where would you like her to stay? Your input would be the thing to help her decide on a nice comfortable bed.” Hector, my little negotiator, tried for group decision.
“Hannah, I insist on seeing this list, alone with you.” Takeshi looked serious.
I smiled. “Well, honey, you’re looking at four of the top ten on the list. Keep in mind that a sense of humor brings up the points in my book, or list.”
“That is what I feared. Agent Eneas, I need to arrange a marriage for tomorrow, the next day at the latest. She’ll have to remain in my room until it is done.”
Enrique stared at us both, not sure if Takeshi was joking or not.
“I am very serious. Tell me what we must do to arrange a marriage between Hannah and me.” He looked at Enrique as if he should know the answer.
“Ignore him, Enrique. He tends to hallucinate on the drugs they give him.”
“Quiet, woman,” Takeshi ordered in a loud whisper. He gestured to Enrique. “I will not rest until we are married. If something happens to me, I want her protected. This is the way I can be sure. Please help me do this thing.”
“Yes and we talked about this already,” I started.
“You talked. I listened. It did not change my mind,” he declared.
“Aren’t you all grumpy.” I tried to placate. “You need a nap, I’ll just start tapping on your wrist and see if I can put you to sleep.”
“Do this, or I will go into a decline.” His voice was barely a whisper.
“We’ll talk later. We’ve got company right now.”
“You’ve not eaten your sandwich, Hannah. Why don’t you let us take you to eat?” Hector asked.
“Yes, that would be good,” Takeshi agreed.
“Got you mad enough to kick me to the curb.” I blew him a kiss.
Mateo came forward and offered me his hand. I went with them out of the room. I wasn’t deceived when Enrique stayed behind with Takeshi.
I stayed at the bed and breakfast blocks from the hospital. My room was next to Enrique’s. Shimodo locked me out of his hospital room at eight p.m. and insisted I not return until after ten the next morning.
When Takeshi had been in the hospital two weeks, I began asking Dr. Santiago when he’d be well enough to fly back home. “Soon, Hannah, soon” was his standard reply.
Everyone was attentive to Takeshi and me. I felt that I had become an imposition to these wonderful people. I tried to explain that to them over dinner.
“I love that you make time for me in your days, but I’m an adult. I understand that you have busy lives and much more important things to worry about then two grumpy Americans. Shimodo knows you can’t spend every day keeping us company. Don’t get me wrong. You three are our friends forever. Anything we could ever do for you, we will, but you need to get back to your lives. You don’t owe us anything more than your friendship.”
Enrique smiled. “We understand what you are saying. Now, tell me of this list Dr. Shimodo refers to. He calls it the replacement list. He seems concerned.”
I laughed at him. “It’s a joke. A rude joke on my part, but you should know nothing is sacred as far as I am concerned. The day he woke up, I told him he’d better get well quickly because I had a replacement list of men to fulfill his…manly duties, until he was able.”
I laughed at their faces and took a deep breath to explain. “Don’t act so shocked. I told him he could help me decide who’d be on the actual list. I put all three of you on it. He informed me he’d have to dispatch you all to hell. He was joking of course.”
“I wouldn’t be sure of that,” Hector said.
“Tell me, Hector, if you woke up from sure death, major surgeries and I wept all over you, would that be therapeutic for you? Would my misery impress you? Would it make you feel better or would it be one more burden as you lay there in pain?” I shrugged.
“You know me, my sense of humor. When he woke, I squeezed his hand. I told him, you better get well soon because now I have been with you, I need a man. He knows I’m teasing, but I’m telling him how important he is to me as a male, that I can’t wait for him to be back in my bed. The replacement list is our way of using sexual innuendo to remind each other how much we want to be together. I know the replacement list is of men I find attractive. In truth, they are men who would not be interested in me, but in some weird way it is a tribute to him.”
The three of them digested what I’d said. Men’s minds are very different, but somehow Shimodo understood me. That was all that mattered.
Mateo frowned. “Were I Dr. Shimodo, this conversation from you would very much make me want to get better, but I would be very jealous of any man you might put on that list. To say I am on the list is a great compliment. Shimodo is a strong man. I would not handle the knowledge that the same men who take my woman out for meals, are men she finds attractive enough to be on this replacement list.”
“I find you all attractive. Hell, Dr. Santiago, Bill and Jack are on that list. You are all good men and yes, sexy too. More important, you are all dear to me. But there is only one man I gave my heart to and he’ll never need to doubt that. If he doesn’t know that now, then we have no chance of a life together. I tease him, because I couldn’t imagine him not understanding how I feel about him.”
“Why do you argue against his wanting to marry you?” Enrique asked.
“I don’t want him to marry me because he needs to protect me. That is not a good enough reason. I want him to marry me because he couldn’t imagine not being with me, the same reason I want to marry him. This rushing to marry me is not out of love; it’s out of fear.”
“He does love you that way,” Hector interjected.
“I know.” I nodded.
Mateo shook his head in frustration. “Hannah, you want to marry him?”
“For the right reasons.”
I don’t think I’d explained things well enough to them. We finished our meal and they walked me back to the bed and breakfast in polite conversation. I went inside feeling frustrated. I couldn’t sleep, so I got dressed again and walked to the hospital.
I almost didn’t knock when I went into his room, but it was habit. I woke him. The lights were out except for a square night light on the wall. He lay on his left side, facing the door.
“I missed you.” I marched up to his bed. “I need to tell you something.”
He patted his bed, moving over to make room for me. I stripped to my tee shirt, took off my jeans and shoes, and slid in next to him curled on my side. I pulled the blanket over us both. He closed the space between us until he curled against my back. It had been a while since I’d felt him close to me like this.
“Tell me, what brings you to my bed?” His voice whispered against my neck.
“I need to take the three Spaniards off the replacement list.”
He stilled against me. “They have misbehaved towards you.”
“No, they just don’t get me. That’s a big issue. So few people really get me.”
“Praise the heavens.” He sighed in relief and it sent chills down my spine.
“Oh, by the way, I have to enter a convent as soon as you’re better. I promised to, if He saved you.” I yawned. “When are we going home?”
“Anytime, I suppose. Where will our home be?”
“You already have it all figured out. I’m tired now.”
“Stay here with me.”
“I’ll hurt you. I’ve been a restless sleeper.” I made a halfhearted attempt to get up, but he bit my ear until I lay still.
“You’re restless because I’m not wit
h you, as am I. I toss and turn, trying to find that sweet spot. My sweet spot is a person. You.”
“I’ll hurt you.” I was so comfortable sinking into the warmth of him against my back. I realized Takeshi had slipped his left arm under me and had taken my wrist and was doing pressure points. “Shimodo, Japanese voodoo shit. I’m going to kick your ass when I wake up.”
“I’m looking forward to it.” His laugh rumbled against my back as I drifted off to sleep.
Epilogue
The wedding was at Enrique’s estate three days later. We finally got to use the ballroom. I realized neither of us would get a good night’s sleep unless we were together. Waking up to him was better than anything I’d ever known. We could work out the logistics when we got home as long as we were together.
At the reception, Takeshi and I were presented with two envelopes. I opened mine, reading the top in bold calligraphy. The Replacement List. Ten names were written, almost all also signed by the individual. It included all the men I mentioned, and more. They must have gone to Vicki and my brothers for names, because it even included the name of an old high school boyfriend.
Carl, my favorite research assistant, sat with us at the table. He’d been flown in with the other wedding guests. “We drew lots for list position.” He was number three and very proud.
Even Takeshi’s cousin, Nico, had put his name on the list. I laughed wondering who was on Takeshi’s list. I tried to snatch it from his hand, but he wouldn’t let me even peer at it.
“I did not make or contribute to this,” Takeshi claimed. “You don’t need to ever think about the names they put on this list.”
Carl grinned. “Tom and Jack felt it was only fair for the professor to have his own replacement list. Melissa told Dr. Ling that Tom thought she should be on it. She showed up at the lab demanding to sign the list. Dr. Ling made it to the number ten position.” Carl came over and handed me a disc. “I thought you should know who your competition is, pictures and a bio on each.”