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I stood and rushed to her side. With that instinctual maternal sixth sense, she took my hand and squeezed it, trying to comfort me when we both knew that she needed it more than anybody else.
“Name?”
“Raphael Dubois.”
“Documentation?”
Claudia provided the requested information without blinking at the request.
“Perfect. And this is?” The nurse turned my way.
“His fiancé.”
Shocked, I held in my retort. Ruthgina was already back there with the same title.
“His fiancé was already let back into the family waiting room.”
“How? She’s standing right here.”
“I…” The nurse looked clueless about what she needed to say. “I can call…”
“Security. You can call security. I’ll own everything and everybody in this hospital if you’ve allowed someone unauthorized to decide about my son’s condition. You’re looking at the only two people able to do that.”
Well, damn.
“I… Let’s get you back and figure out what’s going on.”
“Yes, we should do that. Don’t forget to call security.”
We waited by the door while she phoned someone and minutes later, two uniformed men came to the nurse’s station to accompany us back.
“I just wanted to let you know that the woman back there is Ruthgina,” I whispered to Claudia.
“I know who it is.” Claudia patted my hand reassuringly just before they led us back to where we needed to be.
“Claudia, I’m so glad that you’re finally here,” Ruthgina greeted her, going in for a hug. Claudia’s hand came up, quickly halting her from moving any closer.
“What are you doing here, Ruthgina?”
“What do you mean? Raphael is hurt…”
“He is. And you have no business here interrupting his family while we wait for news. You need to leave,” Claudia insisted.
“Leave? Raphael and I were…”
“‘Were’ is exactly right. You’re no longer his fiancé. It’s time that you leave.”
“But…”
“Go.” The one word came out with so much finality that even I was nervous for Ruthgina.
“Ma’am, she told you to leave. Looks like you have no reason to remain. You’ll have to wait in the waiting room until the patient can give the authorization to let you back.” The guards stepped up to Ruthgina, giving her very little choice in the matter, backing up Claudia. “Let’s go.”
Ruthgina stared straight at me. I could feel the murderous intent in how she looked at me. I guess if I were her, I’d feel the same way. The only difference was that I’d never be in her shoes. Raphael didn't believe in love because of her. She’d been the one that he’d taken a chance on. She was the reason his heart could never belong to me. And here she was, pretending to love and care for him. She put on a Class-A act to convince others, but the people who mattered saw her for who she really was, a fraud.
“Why does she get to stay?” Ruthgina asked bitterly.
“Because they reserved this area for the family.” Claudia’s no-nonsense attitude was unmerciful. More than ever before, I could see why Raphael was how he was, ruthless.
