Czytaj książkę: «Somebody's Baby»

Prologue

Nina Fairchild cradled her newborn son in her arms as she gazed down at him. He was so tiny and so perfect. So incredibly beautiful. Already she felt an extraordinary bond with this baby. He was the only family she had left.

If only you could be here to see our son, Garrett. If only you could hold Dustin in your arms.

Would it have made a difference? she wondered. Would this precious child have been able to save their marriage?

Nina had been haunted by that question ever since Garrett had died two weeks before she’d learned she was pregnant.

Pain twisted inside her as she stared down at her son. Because of her, Dustin would never know his father. Would he grow up to resent her for that? Would he hate her when he learned how his father had lost his life?

It’s all your fault, Nina. Her brother-in-law’s furious words rang in her ears. Garrett is dead because of you, and somehow, some way, you’re going to pay. I’ll see to that.

Nina shivered, remembering the darkness in Trent Fairchild’s eyes. The warning in his voice.

The nurse leaned over Nina’s bed to take the baby from her. Nina’s arms tightened protectively around him. “Do you have to take him back so soon? I hate to let him out of my sight.”

“You won’t feel that way once you’ve gotten a few of those 2:00 a.m. feedings under your belt.” The nurse lifted Dustin into her arms and smiled down at him. “He is a little beauty, isn’t he? Look at that dark hair, and you so fair. But your sister has dark hair, doesn’t she?”

Nina frowned. “My sister?”

“She was here earlier while you were in labor. She seemed real anxious about the delivery.”

A tingle of alarm stole down Nina’s backbone. “I don’t have a sister.”

The nurse, settling the baby in the cart to wheel him back to the nursery, glanced up, a cloud flitting across her features. “Then I must be wrong. I thought she said she was your sister, but we have two other mothers in labor and delivery tonight. The place is a madhouse, what with Dr. Bernard being detained and all.”

“What did this woman look like?” Nina asked.

The nurse shrugged. “Late twenties. Petite. Dark hair. She wore glasses, I think.”

Instantly an image of Karen Smith, a young woman who had befriended Nina in a Houston park several months ago, leaped to mind. But Karen had recently reconciled with her husband and moved away. What would she be doing here?

Nina hadn’t told anyone she planned to have her baby at a small branch hospital in Galveston rather than at the huge medical complex in Houston. There was no way Karen could have found her. No way Trent Fairchild could have tracked her down here, either.

The nurse had to be mistaken, but the prickle of uneasiness wouldn’t go away. Why would someone pretend to be Nina’s sister? She didn’t have a sister. Except for Dustin, she had no one.

“Is the woman still here?” she asked anxiously.

“I can check, but I don’t think so. Visiting hours ended a long time ago. Speaking of which…” The nurse arched a stern brow. “It’s time for this little guy to get his rest, and so should you.” As if she sensed Nina’s distress, her features softened. “Look, I wouldn’t worry about it if I were you. I must have gotten the name wrong, that’s all. Wouldn’t be the first time, and like I said, it’s been crazy around here all night.”

The nurse’s soothing tone helped calm Nina’s fears. She was right, of course. It had to be a mistake. The months of worrying about Trent’s threats had made her paranoid.

Nina got out of bed and leaned over the cart. Her long straight hair curtained her face, and she tucked it behind her ears as she stared down at her son. “I’ll see you in a little while,” she whispered.

“It’ll come sooner than you think,” the nurse told her. “So you’d better crawl back into that bed and get some sleep.”

Nina smothered a yawn. “I am a little tired.”

“Well, they don’t call it labor for nothing, you know.” She patted Nina’s hand. “Now don’t you worry. I’ll bring him back in a few hours for his feeding.”

“I can hardly wait,” Nina murmured as she bent to kiss her baby’s satiny cheek one last time.

* * *

Nina awakened sometime later, her heart pounding in fear. At first she thought the wails and screams she heard were echoes from the nightmare she’d been having about the car crash that had taken Garrett’s life. But then, coming more fully awake, she realized the cacophony of terror was all too real. Panicked voices sounded from the hallway outside her door, and from the street three stories below her window, the scream of sirens rose to an almost unbearable crescendo.

An acrid scent stung her mouth and throat, and Nina’s panic mushroomed as she recognized the smell. Smoke!

Was the hospital on fire?

Dear God, Dustin! She had to get to her baby…make sure he was okay…get him to safety….

Her frantic thoughts spiraling out of control, Nina struggled out of bed and slipped on her robe as she crossed the room slowly, her muscles still weak from her labor. As she opened the door, the pandemonium of a full-scale evacuation erupted down the corridor.

Nina started down the hallway, trailing the exodus. She grabbed a passing nurse’s arm, and the woman whirled, her face a tightly controlled mask of fear. “Where did you come from?” she demanded.

Nina pointed down the hallway. “Room 317. What’s happening?”

“This floor is being evacuated. There’s a fire.”

Nina’s hand tightened on the woman’s arm. “The nursery is on this floor!”

The woman hesitated, then said, “Don’t worry. The babies would have been the first to be moved. You should have already been out of here, too.”

“No one came to my room,” Nina said. “I was asleep.”

The nurse’s eyes widened in alarm, but she shrugged helplessly and shook off Nina’s hand. “Just go. Head for the stairs. Do you need assistance?”

“No, I’m all right.” But when the woman turned away, Nina sagged against the wall, her strength waning. The sprinklers had come on, and she was soaked. Her robe felt like an iron mantle around her shoulders as she pushed herself away from the wall and staggered down the hallway. But rather than heading for the emergency exit, she turned the other way, toward the nursery.

Don’t worry. The babies would have been the first to be moved.

But Nina had seen the doubt in the woman’s eyes. She couldn’t be sure the babies had been evacuated, and neither could Nina. No one had come for her, had they? How could she be certain Dustin had been removed from harm’s way unless she checked for herself?

The corridors were eerily deserted now, but Nina could still hear shouts in the distance. As she rounded a corner, a man in green scrubs hurried by her. Nina recognized him. He was the young resident who had delivered Dustin.

“Dr. Wharton!”

The man stopped and glanced over his shoulder. When he saw Nina, he slipped something into the pocket of his scrubs, but he made no move to join her. His face showed more impatience than fear, and not one shred of recognition. “Who are you?” he asked. “What the hell are you still doing in here?”

Nina put out a hand in supplication. “Please help me. You delivered my baby earlier. A little boy. I have to make sure he’s okay.”

“The nursery’s already been evacuated. I just came from there.”

Nina took a shaky step toward him. “Are you sure?”

He fingered the pocket of his scrubs. “Yeah. Everyone’s split. Now I suggest we do the same.”

Not waiting for a response, he turned and strode away, leaving Nina wavering in the hallway. Dustin was safe, she told herself. He had to be. But something inside her wouldn’t allow her to leave without making sure. If she hadn’t left Garrett that night, he might still be alive. He might have been here to witness the birth of his son.

Holding her robe against her nose and mouth, Nina located the nursery and gazed through the glass partition. The babies were gone, thank God. Now she had to get herself to safety.

But the smoke had suddenly grown so thick, she became disoriented. Terror washed over her. She looked up and saw flames eating through the ceiling tiles.

She hurried down the hallway. Just as she saw the glow of the exit sign ahead, a new premonition of danger stole over her. Glancing back, she caught a movement out of the corner of her eye. Someone was still in the building with her.

She started to call out, but suddenly a portion of the ceiling collapsed and something hit her head. Pain shot through her skull as she fell, stunned and terrified, to the floor.

Coughing, struggling for breath, Nina turned her last conscious thought to Dustin. If she didn’t make it out of here alive, who would take care of her son?

* * *

Nina came to abruptly, fear exploding inside her. She was trapped inside a burning building! She had to get out! She had to find Dustin!

But when she tried to rise, she was pushed back down. Something covered her mouth and nose, and in a full-blown panic, she fought to remove it. Again a strong hand stilled her action.

“Take it easy,” a man’s voice said. “You’re going to be fine. We’re giving you oxygen. You inhaled quite a bit of smoke, but I don’t think there’s any serious damage to your lungs. We’ll know for sure when we get you to a hospital.”

Nina’s mind whirled in confusion. She lay quiet for a moment, trying to orient herself. Trying to make sense of what had happened. The hospital had somehow caught fire and was apparently still burning. The blaze reddened the sky above her, and she could still hear the shouts of the firemen and the sound of the pumps gushing water. She’d been trapped inside the hospital, knocked unconscious, but now she was outside, lying on the ground while someone—a doctor, she presumed—hovered over her.

He allowed her to lift the oxygen mask long enough to croak, “What happened? How did I get out here?”

“One of the firemen found you inside. You were lucky they double-checked the building. We thought we had everyone out. What were you doing in there anyway? Never mind,” he said quickly when she started to remove the mask again. “Don’t try to talk. Just lie still. As soon as an ambulance is available, we’ll get you to another hospital.”

Nina motioned frantically at the mask, and with a sigh of impatience, he lifted it once again. She swallowed, trying to ease the burning pain in her throat. “Where did they take my baby?” she asked hoarsely.

“Your baby was in the nursery?” When Nina nodded, he said, “All the newborns were taken to St. Mary’s in Houston. They have an excellent neonatal ICU, but don’t worry. It’s just a precaution. My understanding is that all of the infants are fine.”

Her worst fears calmed for the moment, Nina tried to relax, but it was upsetting to think of Dustin, so tiny and vulnerable, all alone in Houston, while she lay on the ground outside a burning hospital in Galveston. He was only a few hours old and already they’d been separated.

How could this have happened? Nina wondered. How could a hospital catch fire and burn so quickly?

“I’ll have you transferred to St. Mary’s so you can be with your baby.” The doctor jotted something on a notepad. He lifted her hand to glance at her wrist, then frowned. “Your hospital ID bracelet is missing. Any idea what happened to it?”

Nina shook her head. Right now a missing ID bracelet was the least of her worries.

The doctor, however, seemed overly concerned about it. His scowl deepened. “You usually have to cut those things off. They don’t just fall off by themselves.”

Was it her imagination, or was there a hint of suspicion in the man’s words and in the way he glanced down at her?

“I’ll need your name,” he said, lifting the oxygen mask from her mouth. “And your room number. Later there may be other questions.”

* * *

By the time Nina was finally transported to the emergency room at St. Mary’s, she’d been taken off the oxygen. Her breathing was even, but still painful. She was exhausted, her throat and chest ached and the horrors of the past few hours still haunted her. But all she wanted was to see her baby.

When a doctor finally came into the cubicle to examine her, Nina pleaded with him to let her see her son. “Please. He’s all I’ve got.”

Dropping his air of professionalism for a moment, the doctor nodded sympathetically. He turned to the nurse behind him. “Go see what you can find out about the Fairchild baby. Let me know as soon as you hear something.”

When the nurse exited the room, Nina said, “Thank you. I have to know he’s all right. I’ve been so worried—”

“No need to thank me.” His tone was brisk. “I have kids of my own. Now, try to get some rest. We’ll send you upstairs as soon as a bed becomes available. Then you’ll be able to see your son for yourself.”

Just as he was about to leave, the nurse hurried back into the cubicle. She murmured something in the doctor’s ear, and with a quick glance at Nina, the two dashed out.

Nina tried to tell herself whatever was wrong had nothing to do with Dustin. The emergency room was chaotic. The doctor was probably needed elsewhere, some life-or-death crisis that would explain the tense look on his face.

But when he came back into the cubicle a few moments later, a new terror seized her. Something was definitely wrong.

“What’s the matter with my baby?” She hardly recognized her own voice. It sounded far too calm, far too in control to belong to someone who was paralyzed with such fear. “What’s wrong with Dustin? I want to see him.”

“I’m afraid that’s impossible at the moment.”

“Oh, my God.” Nina’s chest tightened. Dizziness swept over her, and for a moment, she wanted to succumb to the darkness. Wanted to hide from what she was about to learn. “My baby…is he…?”

The doctor took her hand. “I’m sure your baby is fine. No cause for alarm, but…it seems there’s been some sort of mix-up. Your baby isn’t here.”

Nina stared at him in confusion, uncertain whether to feel relief or despair. What did he mean, Dustin wasn’t here? If he wasn’t here, where was he? “I don’t understand. I was told my son was brought to this hospital. Where is he? Why can’t I see him? What’s happened to him?”

“We’re making some calls right now. Some of the patients from Galveston were taken to other area hospitals. We’ll find your baby, Mrs. Fairchild. There’s no reason to worry.”

No reason to worry? Her baby was missing, and this man was advising her not to worry?

After he’d left the cubicle again, Nina lay there and tried to think what to do. What could she do? She wasn’t in any condition to get up and start a search herself, and yet the thought of entrusting her baby’s safety to complete strangers was almost overwhelming. Did they have any idea what Dustin meant to her? How much she loved him? How much she needed him?

He had to be all right, Nina told herself, but as much as she wanted to believe in the power of positive thinking, she knew firsthand how wrong things could go. Hadn’t she prayed for Garrett’s safety on the roadside that night? Hadn’t she told herself he would be all right if she left him long enough to go for help?

Inadvertently an image of Trent Fairchild materialized in her mind. She could see his handsome face contorted with rage, the cold, black hatred in his eyes as he’d glared down at her at the funeral. It’s all your fault, Nina. Garrett is dead because of you, and somehow, some way, you’re going to pay. I’ll see to that.

Dear God, was this her punishment? Was Dustin being taken from her because of what she’d done to Garrett?

When the door to the cubicle opened again, Nina jumped. The doctor walked slowly to her bedside, his expression grim. Nina’s heart began to pound. She tried to look away from him, but couldn’t. As adept as she was at protecting her emotions, concealing her fears, there was no hiding from this. No running away from the truth.

“I’m going to be straight with you, Mrs. Fairchild.” The gentleness of his tone almost did her in. She clutched the bed sheets in her fists as her throat knotted with fear.

“So far, we haven’t been able to locate your son. I still believe there’s been some sort of mix-up with Galveston, and in a few hours we’ll get it all sorted out. You’ll be holding your son in your arms in no time. But meanwhile…” His voice trailed off as his gaze dropped from hers. “Just to be on the safe side, we’re calling in the police….”