Baby out of the Blue

“Someone else has done it,” Cosimo muttered.

“I don’t care,” he bit out. “Let’s do it again, more thoroughly this time. Examine every tree.”

They went along with him. Maybe five minutes had gone by when his cell phone rang. He checked the caller ID. “It’s Petralia.”

Their heads swiveled around, as they prayed for news that some volunteer had found her body.

“Leandros?” he said after clicking on. “Any word yet?”

“Maybe. If you believe in miracles.”

Nik reeled. “What do you mean?”

“I’m with my wife at the hospital in Leminos village. It’s twelve miles south of you. Come quickly. This morning her best friend Mrs. Myers from the States, who’s staying with us for a few weeks, found a baby girl, barely alive, in a hotel garden.”

Nik’s hand tightened on the cell phone. “Did I just hear you right?”

“Yes. If you can believe this, she was lying in some bushes at the rear of the hotel. On their drive to the Persephone yesterday, the storm got so bad, they ended up staying in Leminos.”

“You mean your wife and her friend—”

“Could have been among the casualties,” he finished for him. The emotion in Leandros’s voice needed no translation. “Fran went out to the back patio to get them a table for breakfast when she heard some faint cries and walked over to investigate.”

“What?”

“It’s an absolutely incredible story. The child is cut up and bruised. All she had on was a torn undershirt. They brought her to the hospital and Fran has been staying in the infant ICU with her in order to comfort her. So far no parents have shown up yet to claim her.”

“You’ve seen her?” Nik cried out.

“Yes. She’s about seven months old, with your family’s coloring. She’s alive, but not awake yet. So far that’s good news according to the doctor who thought at first they were going to lose her. Come as fast as you can to the E.R. entrance. We’ll show you to the ICU.”

He eyed his brothers. “We’re on our way, Leandros—My gratitude knows no bounds.”

“Don’t thank me yet. This child might not be your niece.”

“I have to believe she is!”

Nik clicked off and he and his brothers started running through the forest. On the way he told them the fantastic story. Before long they reached the rental car at the police check point. Nik broke every speed record getting to Leminos while they all said silent prayers.

Once they reached the village, he followed the signs to the hospital. Leandros and his wife were waiting for them in the lounge of the E.R. His lovely wife, Kellie, was in tears over what had happened to Nik’s family. He was deeply moved by her compassion. She, in turn, introduced them to the doctor who was taking care of the baby.

“Come with me and we’ll see if she belongs to you.” On the way upstairs the doctor said, “I’m happy to report that a half hour ago, the baby opened her eyes for the first time and looked around. I think that had something to do with Kyria Myers who’s been singing to her and caressing her through the incubator. She’s the one who first heard the baby cry and found her before she lost consciousness.”

Nik couldn’t wait to see if the baby was Demi, but he understood they had to wash their hands and put on masks and gowns. It took all his self-control not to burst into the ICU. If it wasn’t their niece lying in there it would kill all three of them to have to return to Mykonos without her.

When they were ready, the nurse opened the door and beckoned them to follow her to the corner of the room. A woman gowned and masked like themselves sat next to the incubator with her hand inside the hole to touch the baby. With her back to them, he could only glimpse dark honey-blond hair tied back with a filmy scarf. She was singing to the child with the kind of love a mother might show for her own flesh and blood.

Touched by her devotion to a child she didn’t even know, Nik had a suffocating feeling in his chest as he drew closer and caught his first sight of the baby.

“Demi—”

His brothers crowded around, equally ecstatic at discovering their niece lying hooked up to machines, but squirming as if she didn’t like being trapped in there. She kept turning her head. Sounds of joy and tears escaped their lips as her name echoed through the ICU. But Demi took one look at them and started crying. With their masks on, she was frightened.

The woman caressing her limbs spoke in soothing tones and soon calmed her down. Nik could hardly believe it. Those words might be spoken in English, but Melina’s baby responded to the tender tone in which she’d said them.

After a minute, the woman pulled her hand through and stood up. Nik noticed she was of medium height. When she turned to them, he found himself staring into eyes a shade of violet-blue he’d only seen in the flowers that grew in certain pockets on Mykonos. They were glazed with tears.

“Mrs. Myers? I’m Nik Angelis,” he spoke through the mask. “These are my brothers Sandro and Cosimo. I understand you’re the person we have to thank for finding our niece before it was too late to revive her.”

“I just happened to be the first guest to walk out to the back patio of the hotel to be served,” came her muffled response. “When I heard her crying, I thought it was a kitten who’d been injured by the storm. I almost fainted when I saw her lying there face-up in the bushes.” Her eyes searched his. “What’s her name?”

“Demitra, but we call her Demi.”

“That’s a beautiful name.” He heard her take a deep breath. “There’s no way to express how sorry I am for the loss of your sister and her husband, Mr. Angelis. But I’m thankful you’ve been reunited with their daughter. She’s the most precious child I’ve ever seen,” she said with a quiver in her voice. Nik happened to agree with her. “If you could remove your masks, I’m sure it would make all the difference to her.”

“Demi doesn’t seem to have any problem with you wearing one.”

He saw a distinct flush creep above her mask. “That’s because I’ve been talking to her since we brought her here. I couldn’t stand it that she didn’t have anyone to give her love. Babies want their mothers. Her experience had to have terrified her.”

Not every woman had such a strong maternal instinct as Melina’s, but being a married woman, he had to assume Mrs. Myers had children of her own. “Leandros told me you’re here on vacation. For you to forget everything except taking care of Demi constitutes a generosity and unselfishness we appreciate more than you could ever know. She’ll be the reason our parents can go on living.”

“It’s true,” his brothers concurred before expressing their gratitude.

Nik moved closer. “I hope you realize our family owes you a debt we can never repay.”

She shook her head. “What payment could anyone want except to see that sweet little girl reunited with her family?” Her eyes still possessed a liquid sheen as they played over him. “Anyone can see she’s an Angelis from head to toe. Of course I don’t know about the noses and mouths yet.” Her husky voice disturbed his senses in ways that surprised him.

In spite of the horrendous grief of the past twenty-four hours, her comment made one side of his mouth lift. Until he’d entered the ICU and watched the loving way she was handling Melina’s daughter, he couldn’t imagine ever having a reason to smile again.

She took a step back. “Well—I’ll leave you gentlemen alone to be with your niece. When you speak to her, your voices will be blessedly familiar and will reassure her.”

Nik wasn’t so certain Demi wouldn’t start to cry the second Mrs. Myers left the room. “Where are you going?”

“Downstairs to join Kellie.”

“Don’t leave the hospital yet. We need to talk.”

“Since I’m their guest, I’m not sure what our plans are now.”

Making one of those decisions on sheer instinct in case she got away, he said, “In that case, I’ll go downstairs with you. I need to call our parents and give them the kind of news that will breathe new life into them. Above all, they’ll want to thank you.” He turned to his brothers and told them his plans before he left for the anteroom with her.

Once inside, he removed his mask and gown while she untied hers. Though she was married, he was a man who enjoyed looking at a beautiful woman and was curious to see what she looked like unwrapped.

Once she’d discarded everything, he discovered a slender figure clothed in a stunning green-and-white-print outfit. She had classic bone structure and a face that more than lived up to the beauty of her eyes. In a word, she stole his breath.

“What’s the verdict?” he asked after she’d studied him back.

Again, he saw warmth enter her cheeks, but she didn’t look away. “I happened to see your picture on the cover of a magazine while I was reading on the plane.” Nik’s teeth snapped together at the mention of it. “If you want honesty, then let me say I’m glad your niece received all the feminine features of her parentage.”