Undercover Baby

When the significance of his words sank in, Cal’s head reared back. “How bad is her disorientation?”

The other man eyed Cal compassionately. “A couple of ambulance attendants found her outside the emergency room entrance. She was sitting on the pavement in a dazed condition, clutching her baby.

“She couldn’t remember her name, where she lived, or what she was doing there. They had to look inside her purse for identification so they could call you.”

Good Lord.

Cal’s body broke out in a cold sweat. “Did someone see her fall? How do you know she wasn’t attacked?”

“We assume she slipped on the cement. The path is on an incline, so she probably fell backward. There was blood where her head hit, and the backs of her elbows are skinned. The baby didn’t appear to suffer any injury, but as you were told earlier, his bilirubin count is too high. To treat him for the jaundice, the pediatrician has put him under the lights.”

Cal shook his head in disbelief. “I have no idea whose baby it is.”

“A friend’s perhaps?”

“Possibly, though I can’t think of anyone close to us. Maybe Diana offered to baby-sit someone’s child and forgot to tell me. But I don’t see how that could be when she was on her way to work.”

“Well, it shouldn’t be too long before your wife starts to recall what happened.”

“I hope you’re right. Can I see her now?”

“Of course. Come with me. Please don’t be unduly concerned by her condition, Mr. Rawlins. Memory loss is a fairly common occurrence with some head injury patients.”

Memory loss was another word for amnesia. Just the word made Cal cringe.

“In the majority of cases, it’s temporary. She’ll probably be back to her normal self within twelve hours or so. I just wanted you to be prepared in case you went in to see her and she didn’t recognize you right away.”

Not recognize me?

Cal scoffed at the notion. She might be dazed, but there was no way in this world she wouldn’t know her own husband. They’d been soul mates from the moment they’d met.

Your soul could never forget an integral part of itself, he reasoned inwardly.

“She’s right in there. When you need to talk to me, I’ll be at the front desk.”

Nodding to the doctor Cal headed for the cubicle, his heart revving like a race engine. As he stepped inside the curtain, he couldn’t wait to embrace his wife who’d only been gone from his arms a short while.

He found Diana lying on her right side, facing him. From this angle he couldn’t tell that she’d sustained an injury to the back of her head.

Instead of the leaf-green shirtwaist dress which had molded her gorgeous figure earlier, she was wearing a hospital gown and appeared to be asleep. Her shoulder-length hair fanned out on the pillow, exactly as she’d worn it when she’d gotten ready for work.

Except for the smudges beneath her eyes where the dark lashes rested against her pale cheeks, she looked vulnerable as hell, but perfectly normal to him. Thank God.

Hopefully he’d be able to take her home within the next couple of hours.

One arm lay on top of the sheet covering her body. He leaned over to examine her elbow with his fingertip. The skin around the bandage showed definite signs of having been scraped. At the slight contact, her lips made an unfamiliar moue, then her eyelids fluttered open.

“Diana?” he cried in relief to see she was awake. In an instinctive move, he covered her mouth with his own, needing a repeat demonstration of the physical love they’d shared that morning before she’d left the house.

When she wouldn’t allow him to deepen their kiss, he tried gently to coax her lips apart to provoke the response he craved.

“No—” she begged in alarm. “Please don’t.” She pushed her free hand against his shoulder.

Never once in their lives had she rejected him. Bewildered by her behavior, he raised his head to look down at her. The green eyes staring back at him showed no sign of recognition. Only anxiety.

Lord.

She really doesn’t know who I arm.

That’s impossible!

“Diana, it’s me, Cal. Your husband. For the love of God, darling—Say something!”

He waited for her to cry out the words he needed to hear.

“I’m sorry,” she finally whispered, “but I have no idea who you are. Can I please talk to the doctor?”

Terror seized Cal’s heart so that he was slow to hear her plea.

The tall, broad-shouldered stranger at her bedside had just announced he was her husband, Cal. He’d called her Diana, and he’d kissed her with the ease of longtime familiarity.

Since she’d been brought in to emergency, Dr. Farr had referred to her as Mrs. Rawlins. Apparently she had no family other than her husband who would be arriving at the hospital shortly.

She studied the man whose brown hair matched the color of his pain-filled eyes. He reminded her of those men on horseback she’d seen in magazine ads depicting the West, rugged individualists with hardboned faces and chiseled features. Yet this man was dressed in a light brown business suit and tie, cloaking him in a mantle of urbane sophistication.

He looked successful, confident. Very much a master of his own destiny. She couldn’t imagine being married to someone who appeared so dominant and male.

Perspiration leaked from every pore of her body. She moaned in panic because she was unable to recall anything before they’d brought her and the baby into the emergency room.

The torment coming from the stranger’s eyes made her feel uncomfortable, and guilty, because she couldn’t do anything to alleviate it.

Her gaze slid away to focus on the large, breathtaking diamond of her engagement ring. It, plus a wide gold wedding band on the ring finger of her left hand, attested to the fact that she’d been through the process of an engagement and marriage to him. They’d had a child together.

The baby!

Right now she needed Tyler desperately.

Why hadn’t someone brought him back to her yet? The emergency room doctor had assured her that her little boy was all right, so what could be taking so long?

Wishing the man who claimed to be her husband would go away, she asked, “Could you do me a favor, please?”

“You know I’d do anything for you, darling,” came his husky response at last. “What is it?”

He’d been hovering over her. Combined with his loving attitude, she felt smothered and wished he would go away. “Would you please find Tyler and bring him to me?”

“Tyler?”

“My baby!” she blurted, not understanding why his voice had sounded so strange just now. But the strain of trying to get through to him had started up the horrible throbbing at the back of her skull once more. Nausea washed over her in waves.