Undercover Baby

“No,” Cal answered in a hoarse voice. “Her reaction to me left me too shaken up to think, period.”

“I hear you. Let’s go inside the hospital and see if we can find anything else that will shed some light.”

Cal nodded before the two of them went back to the emergency room. Dr. Harkness met them at the desk.

After exchanging the amenities he said, “I concur with the attending physician’s diagnosis. She’s suffering the kind of amnesia brought on by head trauma.

“There’s been no loss of knowledge of the things around her. For example, she knows she’s in a hospital, she can tell time, add numbers, all of those details. But for now she has blocked out past events. In time, she’ll recover her memory.”

“How soon, Doctor?”

“No one has the answer to that question. You just have to be patient. My advice is to feed her information on a need-to-know basis only. Her mind is refusing to let her remember, possibly because she doesn’t want to remember.” One blond brow lifted. “Has something happened recently that has been very painful for her?”

Cal started to nod. “She’s had three miscarriages in a row. The most recent one dealt us both a severe blow. Since then, Diana has been obsessed by the idea that she might not be able to conceive again, let alone have a child. She’s wanted a baby ever since we were married.”

“That could explain the reason why it might take longer for her to get her memory back, Mr. Rawlins. Dr. Farr tells me the baby she was holding isn’t yours, that you have no idea whose it is.”

“None at all. Roman, here, is the head of the Lufka detective agency. He’s going to start an investigation to find out whose baby it is, and why Diana happened to have the baby with her.”

The doctor’s expression sobered. “That’s good. But as you’ve realized by now, she believes the baby is hers.”

“Yes. That’s what’s got me worried."

“I confess I don’t like it, either. Dr. Farr told me you would rather she didn’t see the baby again. I tend to agree with you, yet I also feel that the other doctor has a point. The baby would be good for her right now to comfort her in her fear. She’s very frightened that she can’t remember anything about her life with you. She’s clinging to that child because she needs something to love that is familiar to her.”

“What should I do?”

“For the time being, the baby has jaundice and can’t be moved from the lights until the pediatrician gives the go ahead. I’ve told your wife about his condition. She seems to have accepted the fact that she’ll have to wait until he’s improved before she’s allowed to see him.

“Thankfully the baby’s condition, which is not life threatening now that he’s being given the proper care, has bought us some time. We can hope that as you stay with your wife, keep her company and anticipate her needs, she’ll start to remember things on her own. The memory usually comes back in bits and pieces with little effort.”

“Except that she’s repulsed by my presence,” Cal ground out.

“She told me she’s afraid of you. That’s why I didn’t invite you to stay for the examination. It’s a natural reaction. She has to go on blind faith that you are her husband, that you two love each other and have been happily married. To her, you’re a complete stranger.

“I’m going to have her admitted overnight for observation. In the morning, if all her vital signs are stable, and another X ray doesn’t show any problems, I’ll let you take her home.

“For the time being, my advice for what it’s worth is to treat her like a sister rather than a wife. Slowly but surely allow friends and relatives to come around, but warn them not to upset her or act startled by her loss of memory. Always be supportive, friendly, tender, kind. Don’t overreact when she retreats. She’s only protecting herself. Don’t make physical advances.”

Cal shook his head. “I already did when I kissed her and she didn’t kiss me back.” The pain of her rejection had gone soul deep.

“A perfectly natural gesture on your part, but it explains her anxiety. Until her memory returns, she has to regain her trust of you. I’m afraid the burden is on your shoulders, Mr. Rawlins. However I want to assure you that I believe her condition is temporary. In time you’ll have her back as good as new.”

He turned to Roman. “We’ve had to report Baby Doe to the police, but perhaps your investigation will produce swifter results. Let us know, will you?”

“Of course. I’m hoping to have answers within a few hours.”

“Good. Then I’ll talk to both of you later. The hospital will keep me notified if there are changes in your wife’s condition. If you have any concerns at all, feel free to ask someone at the desk to phone me.”

“Thank you, Dr. Harkness.”

He smiled. “She’s a lovely woman. I can understand your fear. This is the time when the wedding vows start to take on a whole new meaning.”

Cal pondered the doctor’s words. He knew the other man was trying to commiserate, but could anyone understand a situation like this unless they had experienced it for themselves?

“You all right, Cal?”

The concern in Roman’s voice jerked him back to the present.

“No, but I’m going to have to be, aren’t I?”

The rhetorical question required no response. Roman shifted his weight. “After listening to Dr. Harkness, I think it would be better if I don’t see Diana until tomorrow or even the next day. One person at a time. It makes sense to me.

“What I want you to do is ask an attendant to bring her belongings out here. Tell them to make up any excuse they want so they won’t alarm her unduly. I might find a clue. It’s the first place I need to start. Then I’m going back to the office. Maybe she left some kind of clue there which I didn’t see at the time.

“We know she was on her way to work this morning and made no mention of tending anyone’s baby. So it’s my guess the baby was either placed in her car or—”

“Or placed on the doorstep at work!” Cal blurted. “If it had been on our doorstep or in our car when she left the garage, she would have run in the house to tell me.”

“Unless it was still kind of dark and she didn’t notice it on the back seat until she got to work.”

“That’s a possibility, except that she almost always locks the car doors. Someone would have had to force entry to even get in the garage.”

“Whatever, following this to its logical conclusion, if the baby looked yellow to her, she might have been so concerned, she didn’t think to call anyone. Instead she felt it was an emergency and immediately drove to the hospital figuring an ambulance couldn’t get there any faster. Obviously in her haste, she slipped and fell.”

“That’s it, Roman! That has to be the explanation.”

“As soon as you can, get me her things, and I mean everything, we should have answers before long.”

“I owe you for this, Roman.”

“Then we’re more than even. I can’t count the times you’ve come to my rescue, especially when I was working on Brittany’s case. You and Diana helped me keep my sanity before I made her my wife. Now it’s my turn to help you. I’ve never made it any secret that I love Diana. So do the other PI’s. She’s the best thing that ever happened to the agency. When the guys hear what happened, it’s going to come as a horrible shock, particularly to Brittany and Annabelle.”

“I know. Those three have grown as close as sistets.”

“I’ll inform everybody. You go back to Diana and let us handle the investigation.”

Cal put a hand on Roman’s shoulder. “Wait here just a minute. I’ll get someone to bring out her things.” He found an attendant nearby and told her what they needed from Diana’s cubicle.

“No problem. The doctor has just given orders to take her up to a private room on the fourth floor, 418 North. I’ll just tell her we’re going to load her stuff on a cart first.”

“Perfect.”

In short order the attendant came back with a large sack provided by the hospital containing Diana’s personal effects. Cal handed it over to Roman. “I hope you find something. For Diana’s own good, the sooner the mystery about the baby is cleared up, the better.”

“Don’t worry. We’ll be fast and thorough. I’m going out to her car for the box and blanket. One of the guys will be by later to drive the car back to your house. In the meantime, as soon as I discover anything, I’ll phone you on your cellular.”

Cal nodded. He couldn’t ask for more than that. Right now as he stared at Roman’s departing back, he realized his friend’s level-headed thinking was the only thing keeping him from going right over the edge.