Sophia Sasson - Mending The Doctor's Heart

Anna looked up in surprise. She didn’t know anything had come of all the conversations she’d had with the congresswoman about supporting more medical infrastructure for the island.

Anna had met the congresswoman when she was Kat Driscoll, a professor who had recently discovered that she was the secret daughter of a powerful senator. At the time, Anna had set up a meeting with the senator’s chief of staff, Alex Santiago, to make a plea for funding for Guam. Alex had rebuked her, but Kat, who was a silent witness to the meeting, had come up to her afterward to ask for more details.

Eventually, Kat had become a congresswoman—and married Alex. Kat’s chief of staff was her half-sister, Vickie Roberts. Vickie was the one who often called Anna to get specific information about Guam on Kat’s behalf.

“That’s how we got this hospital built so fast and were able to buy state-of-the-art equipment. The congresswoman got us special federal funding. Ironically, it was disaster preparedness funds. She came here to tour the island last year and emphasized that you were the one who compelled her to do something.”

“I didn’t do much, I just brought the issue to her attention,” Anna said shyly, thrilled that Kat had actually kept her promise. She made a mental note to send the congresswoman a thank-you note. Kat had invited Anna on that trip to Guam, and Anna had flatly refused, ending their conversation awkwardly. Since then, their relationship had cooled and Anna was afraid she’d offended the congresswoman.

Nico cleared his throat. “I’ve been meaning to thank you too, Anna. It escaped my mind with everything going on.”

Maria slapped him playfully. “Nico, I can’t believe you. It’s the first thing you should have said when you showed her this building. I bet he went on and on about how he built this place with the best stuff and that’s why it’s still standing.” She gave Anna a conspiring look. “Isn’t that just like him?”

Anna’s stomach churned. “I should check on the other patients.”

“I’ll take you to the next unit,” Nico said quickly.

As Anna stepped out from the nursing station that had separated them, Maria came and gave her a hug. “I’m so glad to meet you. I know you’ve been a big part of Nico’s life, so you will always have a place in my heart. Will you please let me make you dinner one night?”

Is she kidding? Who invites the not-so-ex-wife to dinner? Anna searched for malice in Maria’s eyes but all she saw was an open invitation. Maria was exactly the kind of woman Nico should be marrying. She shared his generous heart and his Chamorro hospitality.

“Thanks for the offer, but I’ll be leaving in thirteen days and there’s a lot to do between now and then.”

Maria began to protest but Nico gently dissuaded her and walked out with Anna. The tense silence stretched between them until Nico finally broke it.

“Our wedding date is set for one month from now. As soon as I can, I’ll get you those divorce papers.”

CHAPTER FIVE

JUST WHEN NICO thought the day couldn’t get any worse, Uncle Bruno showed up. Nico had tried to keep the older man away from where Anna was tending to patients but once Bruno had seen her enter the hospital, the man was on a mission.

“You listen, boy, I don’t want your head turned again. Maria is a good girl. Your mama only has a good year or two left in her. I don’t want you wasting them chasing that woman again.”

“Uncle B, less than an hour ago you were greeting her like she was your long-lost daughter.”

“Of course. What do you want? I should be rude to her? She was family—technically still is since you’re too much of a sissy to get the divorce done.”

Nico pinched the bridge of his nose. He loved his maternal uncle but Bruno had become quite insufferable since Aunt Mae’s death and his mother’s diagnosis. Bruno’s anxiety was easy to understand. Nico’s mother had five siblings. One had died in a car crash and two others had moved away to the mainland. They came home once a decade. Most of their children had also moved away as well; Nico hadn’t seen his cousins in more than twelve years. Bruno and Mae’s two daughters were living in Oregon and Washington. While they came to visit their father once a year, both were increasingly “westernized,” as Bruno called it. Nico knew that he was effectively Bruno’s only family. He and Maria had talked about the fact that they might one day have to take care of Bruno when he became too old to live by himself. It was a conversation he could never have had with Anna.

“What do you want me to do? Wave a magic wand and get the internet working so I can get to my files? On a good day we don’t have a reliable connection.”

“You can build this whole hospital but you can’t get the internet working?”

Nico sighed and threw up his hands. “Uncle B, I got work to do.”

Bruno grabbed his arm. “Listen, Nico, I see the way you look at her and I understand it. It’s how I felt about Mae. But Anna is going to break your heart again, just like your father did to your mother. The white folks never stay. They come here and see the glittering shops and beach resorts and think that’s what life will be like for them. Then they realize that us locals don’t live like that.”

How many times had Nico endured that lecture? Everyone knew the tired old story of how his father swept his mother off her feet, married her with a promise to build a life together, then abandoned her when she was several months pregnant. Nico’s father had been a marine stationed on the island, and he simply left when he was reassigned. Teresa Atao hadn’t even had a chance to change her maiden name. Divorce papers were sent before Nico was born.

When Nico fell in love with Anna, the family was up in arms, worried that history would repeat itself. And it had. He knew that Bruno and his mother were close, and her pain over his father’s betrayal anguished Bruno’s heart, but the knowledge didn’t make his uncle any less difficult to deal with.

“I will get those papers signed. It’s a good thing she’s here. She’s met Maria, she knows where things stand with me. Don’t worry.”

Bruno heaved a sigh of relief. “Good. I don’t want her destroying your happiness again.”

“I won’t.” Anna’s voice cut through the air like a machete.

He really should stop asking whether the day could get worse. Apparently, it was careening downhill. How long had she been standing there?

“How could you think I mean him harm? I will not stand in the way of his happiness.”

Okay, so she’d heard the worst of it.

“Nico, if the internet is what you need, the field hospital has a satellite connection. I’ll ask the clerk to help you when we get back. The sooner we get this over with, the better it will be for everybody.” She looked pointedly at Bruno.

“Oh, Anna, don’t be mad at me.” Bruno gave her one of his cuddly, toothy smiles. “You’re well aware this boy needs a kick in the pants to get something done. You are a lovely girl and will make someone a very good wife—”

“I’ll make a white man a very good wife, right?”

Nico flinched at the hostility in her voice and noticed Bruno did too.

“Anna, Bruno is a Chamorro-ist, you know that.”

Although she tried to hide it, he could see the hint of a smile on her face. It was a term she had come up with to describe his friends and relatives who constantly berated the non-Chamorro people of the island. They were the ones paranoid about their culture being washed away by the increasing presence of tourists and foreigners on the island.

“You two go ahead and make fun of this old man—my poor Mae is rolling in her grave seeing how you treat me these days.”