Ophelia (14 page)

Her husband had gotten a little color back when he ordered
David out of the room, but he paled once again. “You’re
pregnant?
”

“Elizabeth Rose Westbrooke will arrive in
September.”

Butterflies danced in Eduardo’s stomach. She had Anglicized
the name the name they chose long ago.

“How long have you been together?”

“David has
always
been there for me,”
she reminded him. “He has begun to demonstrate the…
extent
…of his
fondness only recently.”

Ophelia paused for a moment, glancing out the window.

“When you did not come for Thanksgiving
he…he dried my tears. But he held back. I received a day pass for the Winter
Solstice…you never came. I spent most of the day…receiving his affections.”

“Why did you do this to me?”

“Why did you do this to
me
, Eduardo?”
she snapped.
“How many times have you left me alone when I
needed you? How many times have you turned your back when I wanted your support?
How many times have you thrown a fit when I refused to do things your way?”

He looked aghast.

“Do I have to recount our entire
relationship?”

“Please. Remind me.”

“When I came to this country to execute
Norman’s wishes, you decided that I was going to elope with David and broke off
our engagement. We went to counselling, where you lied to the therapist and
said that you thought we were ready to get married. Every time I get sick or
hurt, you always seem to be on a shoot
outside
of Manhattan and everyone
has to scramble to find you. When I decided that I needed long-term care for my
mental health, you argued, and when I would not bend to your will, you
disappeared.”

Ophelia took a breath.
“My bodyguard has
been with me since I was six. He was there when my parents could not be…the
only person I knew when I moved to Australia and then New York. When you broke
off the engagement, David defended you, saying that you were upset when I left
you to finish my work at the
atelier
. When something goes wrong at work
or at home, David is always there to take care of me. When you decided that you
were not going to support my desire to enter the Shady Rest Institute, Mr
Laurier made
my bodyguard
power of attorney in your place.”

“How could you go off and
screw
him like that? You
always said he was like your father!”

“
Mi padre
,
mi hermano
,
mi
novio
,
mi amigo mejor
…in short, everything you never were,”
she said bitterly.
“
Athair
wanted me to get rid of
you…up until the last moment on our handfasting day; he continued to demand
that I marry David instead.”

“You believe a
vision?
”

Ophelia turned and looked her husband in the eye.
“When I kissed David for the first time, I realized what I had been
missing.”
She bit her lip.
“I apologize, Eduardo. I
always wanted to believe that I loved you, but I have spent the last ten years
lying to you…and to myself.”

He watched a tear steal its way down her cheek, then made as
if to leave.

“I am sorry.”

He stuck his head outside, ignoring her. After a moment,
Eduardo and David stepped back inside.

“I wanted to congratulate the happy couple.”

Eduardo punctuated this by taking a swing at the bodyguard,
but David was too quick.

“Stop it!”
Ophelia yelled. She sprang
to her feet and tried to separate them.
“That is
enough
,
you two!”

Ophelia ducked Eduardo’s punch just in time to see David slam
her husband’s head into a table. He flicked some blood off his hand.

“Call security.”

Sunday, September 14, 2008

You
finally
learned to take orders!

Ophelia’s head snapped around as she looked for the source of
the voice.

“Are you okay, Ms. Osborn?”

After struggling in the fashion industry for several years,
Nicole Crawford, Ophelia’s former assistant, had moved to America and found a
job at Osborn Scientific in Ophelia’s absence. Nicole, now in her mid-thirties,
had cleaved onto Ophelia as soon as the older woman returned from the
Institute.

“I am about to deliver a baby. You may call
me Ophelia.”

They paused while she had a contraction.

I hope that’s Westbrooke’s child
.

Ophelia glanced up and saw her father’s shade for the first
time in more than a year.

I don’t want scum for a grandchild!
Norman hissed.

“Where is David?”

“We sent him out an hour ago,” Nicole said as they rounded
the corner and headed back across the room. “The doctor left and you went into
a tirade that Mr. Wes—
David
—said translated to, ‘Why the
hell
did
you knock me up?’”

Ophelia tried not to show her concern.
“Summon
him.”

They were about to turn once again when Natalie appeared in
the doorway with a pitcher of water.

“Ms. Osborn wants to see Mr. Westbrooke.”

Natalie nodded. “I’ll take over. See if you can find the
doctor while you’re out there…it’s been nearly an hour.”

Ophelia’s past and present assistants switched places in time
for Natalie’s hand to be crushed mid-contraction.

“You are too good to me.”

“What are assistants for?” Natalie smiled. “You’d do the same
for me!”

They looked at each other and laughed.

“
Mo chroí
?”

The two of them automatically glanced at David, who had
appeared in the doorway.

“I’ll come back in a few minutes.”

Ophelia nodded as she braced herself against the wall for
another contraction.

“I saw
Athair
right before Nicole and
Natalie switched places,”
she whispered when her assistant disappeared.

“Is he tormenting you again?” asked David.

“He seemed pleased that you and I had
conceived.”

“Are you sure it wasn’t a pain-induced hallucination?”

Before Ophelia could answer, the doctor appeared in the doorway.

“Alright, Mrs. Westbrooke—”

“
We are not married,”
Ophelia said
tersely.

“I apologize, Ms. Osborn,” the doctor replied. “Let’s get you
down and we’ll see if your little girl is ready. Okay?”

David took Ophelia’s arm and helped her into bed. The doctor
squatted at the foot for barely a moment before she sprang back up.

“Ladies, I’m going to have to ask you to leave. Mr.
Westbrooke, if you want to stay, please report to the nurse’s station.”

Natalie and Nicole darted in to squeeze Ophelia’s hand one
last time as David slipped past.

“You’ll be fine,” said Natalie.

“Stay strong,” Nicole added.

They seemed prepared to continue their encouragement, but
suddenly scattered at the arrival of a pair of nurses.

Even in the throes of labor, Ophelia was amazed at the number
of people in medical attire pouring into the room. Only when one of them
hurried to her side did she relax.

“This will be over in a few minutes.” Her lover’s eyes
sparkled above his mask. “I promise.”

Ophelia forced a wan smile as she squeezed his hand.

“Ophelia, I need you to give me a nice big push…”

~*~

The
doctor’s voice seemed to come from far away…perhaps beyond the horizon…Ophelia
only knew the warmth of the sand between her toes, the caress of the waves
under her feet…and the strength of David’s hand in her own.

“There is no one I want more in the world than you.”

The sleepy glow of an ocean sunset caught Ophelia’s silver
bikini as David stopped and turned her so that they were facing each other.
Their eyes met and Ophelia smiled as she lightly trailed her fingers along his
abs.

“I cannot live without you,”
she
murmured.

They drew together and kissed slowly…sensuously…

Until
Ophelia’s arm was nearly wrenched from its socket.

“My
grandchild
!” Norman roared.

~*~

“Get him
out
of here! Out of my sight! He should not
be
here! He is
dead!
”

Ophelia didn’t seem to realize that she had come back to
reality, nor that she was screaming in Irish, until she heard a flurry of
voices.

“She must be delirious!” said one.

“Check her temperature,” said another.

“Normal,” said a third, removing a thermometer from Ophelia’s
ear.

On some level, she understood these voices, but on the
surface, it seemed like gibberish.

“Are you able to translate, Mr. Westbrooke?” asked a voice
Ophelia recognized as belonging to her doctor.

David hesitated. “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”

“Sponge her off and get back to work!” the doctor suddenly
snapped. “One more push is all it will take!”

Ophelia felt a cool, damp cloth on her forehead…a warm voice
murmuring in her ear. She screamed so loud that it felt like the walls were
screaming with her…but the voices at her feet sounded victorious.

“A healthy baby girl!”

David translated this for Ophelia, but her attention was on
the other side of the room.

Perfect!
said her father.

“Go to hell!”
she growled.

In spite of his lover’s outburst, David lowered his mask and
kissed her glistening forehead.

“I love you, Ophelia Rhiannon Osborn.”

Her smile was stronger as she squeezed his hand yet again. So
distracted were they that they nearly missed the beaming nurse who brought over
their daughter.

“Welcome to the world, little one,”
Ophelia murmured as she stroked her daughter’s hair.

“What’s her name?”

“Elizabeth. Elizabeth Rose Westbrooke.”

David looked up then, his expression darkening when he
noticed the doctor lingering in the doorway.

“Is she okay?”

“Of course she’s okay. Why?”

“She was speaking English when she was walking with her
assistants, but now she’s speaking…” The doctor frowned. “What was that?”

“Irish.” David glanced down at Ophelia, smiling as if they
were discussing a loveable quirk. “She tends to lose her command of the English
language when she’s in extremely stressful situations.

“Fortunately, she hasn’t spoken much Spanish since her
divorce—otherwise; she might have gone into a tirade that would have made more
than a few of your staff members cringe.”

The doctor nodded. “I’ll be back in a while. Let the nurses’
station know if you have any problems.”

When she had disappeared into the corridor, David stroked his
lover’s hair and wondered if she’d fallen asleep.

“
Mo chroí
?”

“Mmm?” Ophelia’s eyes fluttered open.

“Do you want to tell me what happened?”

She sighed.
“I…drifted away…while I was
trying to deliver. You and I were on a beach somewhere, walking with the sunset
at our backs. You stopped me…we kissed…but then my father interrupted us. I
thought he was going to pull my arm off…the sun flashed…the air went white…and
then I was back in the bed, yelling.”

“When was the last time you saw your father?”

Ophelia was too busy admiring Elizabeth to respond. After a
few minutes, she offered the baby to David, who politely refused.

“The last time you saw your father?” he repeated.

“
Three months into my treatment.”

David’s eyebrow shot up. “Norman was still appearing to you
in
August?
”

“It took a while to find the right
medication,”
she said as she adjusted their daughter’s blanket.
“Once I had been taking it for a few weeks,
Athair
began to
appear less and less often.”

“Until you became pregnant.”

“I never stopped taking the medication, if
that is what you are implying,”
Ophelia snapped.
“When
I told my counsellor that I was pregnant, we looked at other treatment options,
including herbs and acupuncture. She also offered more sessions if I needed
them to handle any disparity between the pharmaceuticals and the herbs.”

“Should we call Melody? See if she can recommend another
psychiatrist? Perhaps get a new prescription?”

“I need to continue the herbs until
Elizabeth is no longer breastfeeding. As for calling Melody, we will see if the
visions recur.”

David was about to try switching to English when something
distracted him.

“You’re going to
breastfeed?
”

“If the chief executive officer of Osborn
Scientific cannot breastfeed, who can?”

Saturday, April 10, 2010

“My office is top priority. I would like to move before I depart for
maternity leave.”

“When are you due?”

“Three weeks.”

The contractor took notes.