Jennifer Taylor - His Brother's Son

He turned to Rebecca and this time she was looking straight at him—staring at him, to be precise. Her eyes seemed to be riveted to his face and the expression in them made his heart race. He had never seen such fear in anyone’s eyes before.

He heard the door close as the nurse hurriedly left, and almost laughed out loud. It was obvious that she was trying to be tactful because she’d sensed that she might have said something wrong, but it was far too late for that now. With a few unguarded words his life had been turned on its head.

‘Who is Josh?’

He didn’t realise the question had come from his lips at first because it hadn’t sounded like his voice. It had sounded too strained, too raw, too full of emotion to be the voice of Felipe Valdez. He saw Rebecca swallow, watched her mouth open and struggled to concentrate because it was vitally important that he heard what she said.

‘Josh is my son.’

She paused and he knew that he was holding his breath as he waited for her to continue. ‘He’s Antonio’s son, too.’

Becky could feel her heart beating, but it felt as though time had suddenly come to a halt. Felipe was standing stock still and the expression of shock on his face would have made her laugh if there had been anything remotely funny about the situation.

She saw him swallow and tried to prepare herself for what he would ask her. He would be bound to have questions—dozens of them—and she needed to decide what to tell him. But it was hard to think when her brain felt as though it had seized up.

‘My…my brother had a child…a son?’

Her heart ached with a sudden, fierce pain when she heard the bewilderment in his voice. For some reason she wanted to make this as easy as possible for him, even though she knew how dangerous it was to consider his feelings. One small slip, one unguarded word and the situation could spiral out of control.

‘Yes. His name is Josh and he’s nine months old,’ she told him quietly. ‘He looks very like Antonio and you, too, I suppose.’

She gave him a tentative smile, watching the rapid play of emotions that crossed his face as he struggled to make sense of what she was saying. ‘He definitely has your colour eyes, as Karen just mentioned. Antonio’s eyes were a lot darker.’

‘Antonio took after our mother,’ he said roughly. ‘I favour my father’s side of the family.’

‘But there’s still a strong resemblance between you both.’ She felt her heart catch because until then she really hadn’t been aware of the similarities between the two brothers. Now it scared her to realise how alike they were. The last thing she could afford was to look at Felipe and see Antonio. She had to remember that they were two very different people.

It was a relief when there was a knock on the door because she desperately needed some time to think about what had happened. She hurried to answer it, shaking her head when Debbie apologised for the interruption.

‘It’s fine, really. Don’t worry. Has Mr Watts arrived?’

‘Yes. Karen sent me to tell you.’ Debbie shot a curious glance at Felipe then lowered her voice. ‘He’s none too pleased because you weren’t there to meet him, I’m afraid, Becky.’

‘I’ll be straight there,’ she assured her.

She closed the door then felt her heart skip a beat when she turned and found Felipe standing right behind her. He was so close that she could smell the tangy scent of his aftershave, feel the heat of his body, and all of a sudden it felt as though her senses were being swamped by him.

‘I have to go,’ she explained, quickly moving away. She went to the desk and picked up a pen, trying her best not to let him see how nervous she was all of a sudden. She had never felt like this around Antonio, never once felt so deeply aware of him as she was of his brother. The idea worried her for a moment until it struck her that it was because Antonio had never presented a threat to her, like Felipe did.

‘I have to get back to work,’ she said more calmly, relieved to have found such a simple explanation.

‘But we need to talk, Rebecca. That is obvious. Sí?’

He had phrased it as a question, but Becky knew there wasn’t the slightest chance that he would let her refuse. He wanted to know all about Josh, and who could blame him?

Finding out that he was an uncle had come as a shock to him, but it was what happened from here on that frightened her most. She was under no illusions as to how Felipe felt about her. He might be struggling to come to terms with what had happened at the moment, but it wouldn’t be long before the implications of it hit him.

How would he feel about her being Josh’s mother? Maybe he would have to accept it while he believed that Josh really was her child, but if the truth ever emerged it would be a very different story. There wasn’t a doubt in her mind that Felipe would waste no time trying to remove her from his nephew’s life.

She bit her lip as the irony of the situation struck her. A few days ago she had seen Felipe Valdez as her only hope to stop Josh being taken away from her. Now he presented as big a threat as Tara did.

It was an effort to contain her panic, but she couldn’t afford to give in to it. She carefully wiped all expression from her face when Felipe spoke.

‘This is the address and telephone number of the hotel where I am staying. I shall expect you to call me as soon as you are free.’ He took a notebook from his jacket pocket and wrote down the details then tore off the sheet and handed it to her. ‘We need to arrange a time this evening when we can meet.’

‘But I don’t finish work until six,’ she protested, knowing that she needed more time to work out what she should tell him.

‘Six o’clock will be fine. I shall expect you to call me then. To be perfectly blunt, Miss Williams, I am not prepared to wait while you choose a time that is more convenient for you.’

He didn’t say anything else before he left. Becky heard his footsteps echoing along the corridor and shuddered as reaction set in. She took a deep breath, but the feeling of panic was getting worse.

Maybe it was understandable that he should want to know all about his brother’s child, but she didn’t dare think about how difficult it was going to be, explaining everything to him. How much could she really afford to tell him?

It was an effort to put that thought out of her mind as she hurried into the ward. James Watts, the consultant in charge of the IC unit, was waiting by the door with his party, and he greeted her with noticeable coolness.

‘Ah, there you are, Staff. Good of you to join us. If we’re all here at last, shall we get started? I have to be in Sheffield by five, and the last thing I need are any more delays.’

Becky hastily apologised, feeling suitably rebuked. They went straight to Danny Epstein’s bed and she handed James the boy’s notes. Danny had been admitted a few days earlier with severe endocarditis—inflammation of the internal lining of the heart—and he was still giving them cause for concern.

She waited by the bed while James read through the night staff’s report in his usual thorough fashion. Although the consultant had brought several students with him that morning, as well as his two registrars, it was very quiet. Nobody dared to interrupt him or they would suffer the consequences.

Becky found her thoughts drifting back to what had happened in the office as the silence lengthened. What would be the best way to handle this coming meeting with Felipe? He was bound to have a lot of questions and she had to find a way to answer them without arousing his suspicions—

‘We’ll continue the high-dose antibiotics and hope that they’ll clear things up eventually…Staff?’