Liam O’Grady was up on his feet at once, fists clenched.
“The f*ck do you mean by that?” he snarled, bristling.
He was looming over the doctor, his entire body language menacing in nature.
Bianca begged him to sit down and he finally sank into the chair, still looking daggers at the doctor.
Dr Ramon seemed unperturbed. He had obviously met a lot of distraught relatives. Sighing, he opened a small screen on the wall and showed them the scan results.
Bianca’s hands squeezed O’Grady’s large one as she listened in silence, barely aware of the laboured breathing of the man beside her.
When he was done explaining , she sat forward and said, “But what did you mean, doctor, by saying, Only If the patient wishes?”
Dr Ramon met her eyes and said gently, almost rebuking her for not catching on,
“Did Mr St Just tell you of his condition?”
His eyes moved from one to the other of the white-faced couple seated before him.
the question caught her unawares and she drew a sharp breath.
“Why did he hide the fact?” the doctor’s voice droned on softly, sympathy in his dark eyes, as he watched them struggle with the realization that St Just had deliberately hidden the fact from them.
” Patients confide in their loved ones before they go in for treatment. ”
He looked at her as he leant back in his swivelling chair with a sigh.
“St Just did neither of this. Which is why I am seriously, baffled.”
He strummed his fingers on the desk, thoughtfully studying the screen as he went on, almost to himself, “He must have been aware that something was wrong’ this situation causes a great deal of discomfort and weakness, to say nothing of the pain involved.”
He swung round to look at them as he asked, in a non-judgmental way,
“Didn’t you…umm…notice?”
Bianca sat, frozen, her fingers laced in O’Grady’s, silent and stiff.
The doctor sighed.
Bianca’s mind was working overtime: Did St Just have a death wish?
O’Grady was on his feet, his confusion, anger and anxiety showing on his face as he began to speak,
“Let me talk … I want to meet him…I need to ask him…” he began but the doctor rasped,
“There are some rules we follow in a hospital, Mr O’Grady.”
His voice was firm but gentle.
” The patient has been sedated for the night. We have a series of tests lined up for tomorrow, early in the morning.”
He took a deep breath, his eyes searching O’Grady’s tortured expression.
“You can ask him tomorrow.” And then, he added,
“We are keeping him here for a few more days, need to monitor him, some more tests to be done… all that.”
Bianca nodded. He smiled gently at her and said,
“You seem to be a sensible young woman. Give your friend a reason to not give up, a reason to want to live.”
He was dismissing them, she knew but she remained, her head bowed while O’Grady breathed fiercely, his angst making him agitated.
“Good night, ” said the doctor, rising to his feet and Bianca smiled at him, a tremulous grimace as they rose and left.
They lingered for a while but, Louis Delano pointed out laconically,
“St Just has been medicated and would not know if you stayed or left.”
So they chose the second option, knowing that the Delano men were keeping an eye on S Just.
*
They made their way out, Bianca clinging to O’Grady, who seemed lost and disturbed. Claude Delano was there and Bianca felt a small rush of affection for the big, blonde giant, clumsy as a bull in a china shop but with a heart of gold.
He came over and swamped O’Grady in his embrace, asking nothing and Liam O’Grady felt his lids prickle. He remained in the warm hug for a minute, then he growled,
“We need to get back here in the morning, man, “as he reached out to hold Bianca’s hand.
She looked at him, distress for him and sorrow and fear for St Just shinign on her small woebegone face.
He pulled her into his arms and kissed her forehead.
“Saint is gonna be fine baby.”
She nodded, too choked for r words and they followed Claude out.
“To our home,” said Claude by way of explanation,
“Mamma’s orders.”
And he beamed in relief as he added,
“Mumma isn’t pregnant, thank the Lord. Or I would be toast!”
Humming tunelessly, he got into the large sedan ahead of them and the car they were in began to slink out. Bianca leant back; her eyes closed. All she could think of was St Just. Clothing her hands together, she prayed for him, with all her might.
Her hand strayed to her belly.
*
After a subdued dinner, with Jamie and Rudy banished to the kitchen, Proserpina gently placed her hands on Bianca’s shoulders, as she said,
“We are here for you, child.”
The simple declaration made Bianca bend her head and she clung to the beautiful Mafia woman for a while. Lucien Delano , who had walked in, cleared his throat loudly and Bianca stepped back quickly.
*
Later, after dinner, as both Bianca and O’Grady lay on the bed, inhaling the smell of freshly washed sheets, she turned to him.
Silently, he opened his arms and held her as she sobbed quietly.
“Ah, lass,” he grunted, kissing her face and they were in each other’s arms, as he undressed her gently. She knew he was looking for solace, for he was dreadfully shaken about his brother, who was more like his other half. As O’Grady mounted her, he said in a soft whisper,
“Bianca love, I love you with all my heart and the child in your womb…I want to see Saint alive and well, I want him to see the child we have created, the three of us…”
She was crying softly as he pulled his head down and kissed him.
Then, his movements gentle, almost reverential, he took her, kissing her tenderly, adoring her body and she came, in a rush. O’Grady spurted his seed in her, almost after that, grunting.
When they were dozing off, she thought to herself,
“I will keep this baby. I want Finn to stay alive; I need him to see the fruit of our love, the three of us…”
And with that thought, she fell asleep.