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“That’s exactly what I’m talking about, actually,” Amy said. “I’m talking about surrogacy. I’ve recommended it for patients facing similar scenarios in the past, and it might be a perfect option in your situation. Is it something you would consider?”
“So you reallyaresaying that I should go find a woman who wants to have my baby.”
“Yeah, I’m saying exactly that,” she said. “I’m saying you should find a woman who’s willing to carry a baby for money. You’ve got plenty of that to contribute.”
She worried for a moment that she might have overstepped, that that had been too rude a thing to say, but he just nodded. “No, that’s true, money isn’t an issue for me.”
“What do you think of the idea?” she asked gently.
“I think…that it’s something I’d like to pursue,” he said. “And if I get things sorted out with a surrogate, then—yes, I would want to try the drug and see if it can help me. If I’m going to have a child, I owe it to that child to do everything I can to extend my life.”
Amy nodded. “In that case, maybe I should book a flight back home.”
He frowned. “Why would you do that?”
“Well, you can deal with surrogacy with any local physician,” she said. “It’s not my specialty, so I don’t think I’m going to be of much help with it. And since you won’t be starting treatment for your Barks-Howard’s, there doesn’t seem to be much point in me taking up space in your guest house.”
Adriano shook his head. “I don’t see this taking more than a few weeks. You should stay.”
“A few weeks?” Amy laughed. “You are optimistic. But I guess money opens a lot of doors.”
“Will you stay?” he pressed.
She should have said no. She should have walked away right then. There was no reason to be here if she wasn’t actively treating him. The fact was, every instinct she had was telling her this was crossing a line.
And every fiber of her being wanted to cross it.
“Okay,” she said, meeting his eyes. “I’ll stay.”
CHAPTER14
AMY
Two weeks later, Amy was at the free clinic operated by Romano Labs, performing an examination on a nine-year-old girl.
“Stick out your tongue,” she said, holding out a tongue depressor.
The girl, who didn’t speak English, looked up at her mother. The mother mimed sticking out her own tongue and nodded encouragingly, and the girl did as she had been told.
“I’m sorry,” Amy said to the mother. “I really need to learn to speak Italian if I’m going to be working in the country.”
“It’s okay.” Her nurse, a tall blonde woman named Gianna, flashed her brilliant smile. “You’re helping. We’re all thrilled to have another set of hands available. And besides, I can translate for you.”
She turned to the girl and her mother and rattled off a streak of Italian. Immediately, the two of them relaxed, and the girl answered in Italian.
“What did you say to her?” Amy asked.
“I asked her how she’s been feeling. She says she’s had stomachaches.”
“Well, I can’t find anything wrong with her,” Amy said. “Tell mom to try bland foods and to bring her back if things don’t clear up in a few days.” She smiled at the girl as she said it. “I’m sure she’s just fine.”
Gianna translated for the mother and daughter, and the two of them nodded and thanked Amy in both English and Italian before leaving.
“She’s the last patient you have for today,” Gianna said. “We’ll go ahead and close up.”
“It’s really good of Romano to operate this place at no charge,” Amy said. She had been surprised, when she’d begun looking for someplace to volunteer her services, to find that this place existed. What was more, Adriano had known about it—when she’d mentioned to him that she would be working here for the short term, he had simply nodded as if that made perfect sense and told her that Luca would drive her in and bring her home each day.
“It’s really all about what benefits the community,” Gianna said. “Romano Labs exists to serve the people, at the end of the day. All the developments we make here are intended to benefit Italians. It only makes sense that we would use the expertise of the people working here to provide medical services to those in need.”
