Chapter 2 - The Man Outside the Operating Room
Nathan stood outside the operating room staring at my message.
Please. I can't do this alone.
He had read those words eleven times.
A nurse approached.
“Mr. Vasquez?”
“Cole.”
“Sorry. Are you the baby's father?”
“No.”
“Relative?”
Nathan hesitated.
“No.”
She frowned.
“Then what exactly are you?”
Nathan looked toward the operating-room doors.
“I don't know anymore.”
His phone rang.
His assistant.
“Mr. Cole, the board has been waiting forty minutes.”
“Cancel it.”
“Sir, Davenport flew in from London.”
“Then Davenport can fly back.”
There was silence.
Nathan Cole had built a real-estate investment company worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
He had canceled vacations for meetings.
Missed birthdays for acquisitions.
Once negotiated a hotel purchase from a hospital bed after having his appendix removed.
He did not cancel board meetings.
His assistant knew better than to question him twice.
“Yes, sir.”
Nathan ended the call.
Ten minutes passed.
Then twenty.
Finally the operating-room doors opened.
A doctor emerged.
Nathan stood immediately.
“Elena?”
“She's stable.”
“And the baby?”
“A boy. Six pounds, eleven ounces.”
Nathan released a breath he hadn't realized he was holding.
“He required some respiratory support initially, but he's responding well.”
“Can I see her?”
“Immediate family only.”
Nathan nodded.
Of course.
He wasn't family.
He wasn't anything.
Then another voice came from behind him.
“Where is my wife?”
Nathan turned.
Marcus Vasquez hurried down the hallway.
Nathan recognized him immediately.
He had seen photographs.
Marcus looked from Nathan to the operating-room doors.
“Who the hell are you?”
“Nathan Cole.”
Marcus's face changed.
So Elena had mentioned him.
Interesting.
“What are you doing here?”
“She texted me.”
“My wife texted you?”
“By accident.”
Marcus laughed once.
“Right.”
Nathan's expression remained still.
“She was alone.”
“I was working.”
Nathan looked at him.
“Your wife was having an emergency C-section.”
“We're separated.”
“That doesn't make the baby separated from you.”
Marcus stepped closer.
“Stay out of my marriage.”
Nathan's voice dropped.
“Gladly.”
“Good.”
“But I won't stay out of that hospital room if Elena asks me to stay.”
Marcus's jaw tightened.
“You always wanted her.”
Nathan said nothing.
That silence answered everything.
Marcus pointed toward the elevator.
“Leave.”
Nathan didn't move.
Then a nurse appeared.
“Mr. Vasquez?”
“Yes.”
“Elena is waking up.”
Marcus immediately followed her.
Nathan remained behind.
He told himself that was where he belonged.
Then the nurse stopped.
“She keeps asking for someone named Nathan.”
Marcus slowly turned.
Nathan lifted his eyes.
The nurse looked between them.
“Which one of you is Nathan?”
“I am.”
“Come with me.”
Marcus blocked him.
“Absolutely not.”
The nurse's expression hardened.
“Sir, my patient just underwent emergency surgery. She gets to decide who enters her recovery room.”
Nathan walked past Marcus.
When he entered, Elena looked impossibly small beneath the blankets.
Her face was pale.
Her eyes opened.
“Nathan?”
“I'm here.”
“The baby?”
“He's okay.”
Her face crumpled with relief.
Nathan reached for her hand.
“You have a son.”
“Did you see him?”
“Not yet.”
“Why?”
“I'm not family.”
Elena stared at him.
Then she whispered, “You came.”
“You asked.”
“I texted the wrong person.”
Nathan pulled a chair closer.
“Maybe.”
Elena frowned.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
The door opened.
Marcus entered.
“Elena.”
Her entire body stiffened.
Nathan felt it through her hand.
Marcus noticed their fingers.
“So this is what we're doing?”
Elena blinked.
“I almost lost our baby, Marcus.”
“I came as soon as I could.”
“I called you six times this morning.”
“I was in meetings.”
“I texted you that the contractions had started.”
“You said they were mild.”
“They stopped being mild.”
Marcus glanced at Nathan.
“And somehow he knew.”
Elena's voice became quiet.
“Because when I asked for help, he answered.”
Marcus looked at Nathan.
“Get out.”
Nathan didn't move.
Elena did something that surprised both men.
She tightened her fingers around Nathan's.
“No.”
Marcus stared at her.
“Elena.”
“I want him here.”
“He's practically a stranger.”
She looked at Nathan.
“No.”
Her eyes filled.
“He was the only person who showed up.”
Marcus went silent.
May you like
And Nathan realized that seven years after losing Elena Vasquez once, the universe had somehow placed her hand back inside his.
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