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He threw Alicia a fulminating glare and she fell silent. He felt like a jackass, even whenhewas the one who’d been lied to.
‘Okay.’ The doctor snapped her rubber gloves off and stood, smiling. ‘You’re all done. Mind if I speak to you outside?’ She addressed the question to Alicia, who hesitated a moment.
He ground his teeth together. Would she really not leave him alone with their daughter for even a few minutes? Dutifully, to avoid the same scene Alicia wanted to avoid, he moved through the door before she did, standing a little way down the corridor with his feet planted and arms crossed.
He watched as the doctor spoke to Alicia, the delineation between them clear. Legally, he wasn’t her parent. He had no claim here, no business pushing into the conversation or demanding to know what was going on, but hell, morally, he did. That was his child. His family. All his life, he’d known that blood was thicker than water, yet Alicia had deprived him of Annie.
‘She seems okay to me. Di wants her held overnight, for observation, and I’m happy to do that. It’s sensible after a hit like she had, but so far, all the signs are good. She certainly didn’t have any trouble remembering song lyrics, and could sing without slurring. Her focus is good and her eyes followed me as I spoke. Can you sit with her for a while longer?’
‘I’ll stay all night.’
The doctor smiled. ‘There’s a call button on the side of the bed. Just press it if you need anything.’
‘What about her arm?’
‘I’ll put some notes in with her discharge file. She’ll have to wear the cast for ten days, then get another X-ray to see how it’s healing. Hopefully she can have it off at that point, but otherwise, she might need it to be set for another month or so.’
‘She’ll hate that,’ Alicia remarked wryly, looking beyond the doctor to Graciano, then wishing she hadn’t when the bottom fell out of her world again. ‘Thank you for everything.’
‘It’s no problem. I’m here until three. I’ll come by and see you again soon.’
‘Thank you.’
What else was there to say?
She cast a glance over her shoulder into Annie’s room; she was playing Tetris one-handed on Di’s phone. Alicia took a step away from her daughter’s—their daughter’s—room, towards Graciano. His face was a sheer thundercloud.
‘That’s my daughter,’ he said, so quietly she barely heard. But she understood. Learning you have a child is one thing—seeing them was quite another, and particularly when they looked as Annie did. She was the spitting image of him, and his family.
‘Yes,’ she whispered. ‘I’m sorry—’
‘For God’s sake, no more apologies.’ His nostrils flared. ‘They are useless. I’m not interested in having you say sorry.’
She flinched. His voice was low, and yet the words cut deep.
‘Then what are you interested in?’
‘The next step.’
Her heart skipped a beat.
‘Meaning?’
‘Meaning, right now, I want to go in there and take my child away from this goddamned place, away from you, to raise her with me.’ He glared at Alicia, who couldn’t conceal her terror at that suggestion, but he didn’t—couldn’t—stop. ‘I want to hire the best damned lawyers in the country and sue for full custody. I want to get judicial approval to move her to Spain. I want to make you feel what I’m feeling now, to know you have a child who you’ve missed out on so much of their life.’
She startled at his vehemence, pressing her back against the wall.
‘That’s not fair,’ she whispered.
‘Do not speak to me offair.’
She lifted a shaking hand to her forehead, pressing it there as she stared up at him. An hour ago, they’d been making passionate, senseless love; now it was quite clear that he hated her.
‘Write your address and phone number into my phone.’ He handed it to her, then turned his back, breathing hard.
She did as he’d asked—there was no point keeping her details from him now. He knew about Annie. The game was up, not that it was ever anything like a game.
‘I cannot believe you kept this from me,’ he muttered, taking the phone and slamming it into his pocket. She was too shocked to refute that, to remind him she’d tried to tell him. ‘I’ll call you tomorrow to arrange a time to discuss this. And I’ll expect you to keep me informed of her progress here.’
