Sacrifices of the Siren [Sirens and Sailors 6] (Siren Publishing Allure) (14 page)

“There’s a café open down there.” Blandon pointed.

The café was very basic and quite empty, but they were able to order a cup of coffee and use a computer.

“Hi, Dr. Ernaut, how’s our patient?” Dr. Jay spoke easily into the machine as the old man’s face appeared on the screen.

Dr. Ernaut sighed. “Not too good, I’m afraid. We’re becoming quite concerned about how depressed she is. We’ll see how she fares tonight and put up her dosage of antidepressants tomorrow if she’s no better.”

“Won’t that make her more tired?” Dr. Jay queried.

“I’m afraid so, but we don’t have much choice.”

“Wait until we’ve seen her,” Blandon urged the older man. “I’ve got photos of Owen to show her. I’m sure they’ll make a difference.”

“You realize they could make her worse?” Dr. Ernaut said with a frown.

Blandon nodded as his blood turned to ice.
What if he was making everything even more horrific for her?

“Let’s see what tomorrow brings,” Dr. Jay said hopefully.

Blandon didn’t listen to the rest of the doctors’ conversation. He took his coffee and went over to the window where he stared out at the black street. It was beginning to rain and he traced droplets down the window. His mind whirled. Images of the little boy kept flashing through his mind.
How could Mel feel sad when she sees that little face?

Dr. Jay finished his conversation and came over to join him. “Ready to go?”

Blandon nodded, putting his cup on a nearby table.

“There’s a tavern over the road, they might have a room,” Dr. Jay said cheerfully, as he swung an arm around Blandon’s shoulder.

Blandon yawned. It had been a long day. They were lucky enough to find that there was a spare room at the tavern and they booked in for the night.

“You wanna eat?” Dr. Jay offered as Blandon placed the camera and photograph on the nightstand of the twin-bedded room.

Blandon shook his head. “I’m not hungry. I think I’ll just turn in early.”

“All right. Come on down if you change your mind.” Dr. Jay headed down the stairs to the bar while Blandon stripped off and had a wash.

As he climbed into the soft bed, Blandon picked up the photograph of the little boy. He couldn’t help smiling when he thought of that cheeky little face and podgy arms.
Melantho would love him!

* * * *

Blandon was up with the sun next morning. He washed in the tiny en suite bathroom and pulled on his clothes. He felt bright and cheerful.

“I’ll meet you in the cafe,” he told Dr. Jay, who was just getting up as he left the room.

Blandon ran down the street to the orphanage. He took a few photographs of the building to show Melantho, and then popped into the internet café they had been in the previous night. He connected his camera’s microchip to the café’s computer and printed off his photographs. The paper wasn’t best quality but it didn’t matter.

“You OK?” Dr. Jay came in, grinning, just as he finished printing.

Blandon held up the pictures for him to see and he beamed. “Lovely one of Owen.”

“I thought she’d like to see where he was staying, too,” Blandon explained, holding up a picture of the orphanage.

“Not the nicest of buildings,” Dr. Jay frowned.

“Probably better than what she’ll be imagining once we tell her where he is, though,” Blandon replied.

Dr. Jay raised his eyebrows and took another look at the pictures. “You’re right, bro. Knowing Mel she’ll fear the worse. Well done.”

Blandon beamed with pride. He ate a hearty breakfast with the doctor before they headed back for the train station.

“I can’t wait to see Mel today,” Blandon chirped excitedly as they boarded.

“I hope she’s a bit better than last night,” Dr. Jay said with a sigh. “I hate to think of her being dosed up on antidepressants even for a short time.”

“Maybe she won’t have to take them,” Blandon said with a grin.

He stared out of the window as they sped along.

“Mel would feel better if she was back home,” Blandon mused after a while. “I reckon it’s being over here that’s started her down this road. She must miss the sea and the quiet of the island. It’s all she knows.”

Dr. Jay smiled. “I know. We’ll have her home as soon as we can, but we have to make sure she’s well enough first. Her friends will have lots of questions for her when she gets back and she has to be strong enough to cope with all of that. It won’t be easy.”

Blandon frowned, thinking how much Mel hated being the center of attention.

He continued to mull over the situation until they reached Harborside. By the time they got to the hospital his heart was hammering. He wasn’t sure whether he was excited or nervous about showing Mel the pictures.

Dr. Ernaut had just come back on duty when they arrived in the corridor outside his office. “Come in, have some coffee,” he urged them.

They sat down as he handed them each a mug of steaming hot liquid and he took his seat behind his desk.

“How is she today?” Dr. Jay asked as a nurse came in with some notes for the older man.

Dr. Ernaut opened the records in his hand and quickly scanned them. “The same,” he said, looking up.

“Can I show her the photos?” Blandon’s heart was in his mouth.

Dr. Ernaut tapped his fingers on his desk for a moment, then sat back in his chair, thoughtfully.

“OK, but you go with him,” he said at last, pointing to Dr. Jay.

The sailors grinned and got up.

It was late morning and the hospital was a hive of activity. As they neared Melantho’s little side room a nurse came out. She recognized Dr. Jay and smiled.

“Is it OK to go in?” he asked her.

“Yes. She’s not very talkative though,” she said a little sadly.

Blandon was the first one through the door this time. He walked straight up to the bed and looked down at her beautiful face. Her eyes were puffy and her cheeks were red with tear stains. She looked so melancholy and fragile. He leaned down and kissed her gently on the cheek.

She looked up slowly.

“Hi, Mel, how are you?” Blandon asked as brightly as he could. The eyes which stared back at his were just like the ones he had seen on the little boy yesterday. His heart lurched.

“I’m OK,” she replied, unconvincingly.

Dr. Jay leaned over and kissed her on the top of the head. “We’ve got some news for you,” he told her.

Melantho looked up at him but there was no excitement or hope in her face. Blandon looked over at Dr. Jay, not quite sure where to start.

“Show her the photo in the frame,” Dr. Jay told him calmly.

With shaking hands Blandon held up the little silver frame and watched her eyes grow as big as saucers. She obviously recognized the little bundle immediately and her eyes filled with tears as she stared at it.

“Is this how you remember him?” Dr. Jay asked softly as he rubbed her hand.

For once, Melantho didn’t bother to wipe away the tears which flooded her cheeks. She just let them fall. She nodded.

“Do you remember this?” Dr. Jay took the tiny blue knitted hat and gave it to her.

Melantho looked stunned as her shaky hand came up to take the soft item. She smelled it and hugged it close to her chest, gazing back at the photograph.

“Mel, we’ve seen him, he’s all right. He’s beautiful,” Blandon told her, stroking her soft cheek.

She stared up at him through her tears. A look of realization flooded her face and her whole body wracked with deep sobs. Blandon sat on the edge of the bed and took her in his arms as she cried and cried. Noisy sobs. Big sniffs. Masses of tears. She let it all out. Blandon felt tears prick his own eyes as he held her, rocking her gently while her heart broke. He never wanted to let go of her.

“I love you,” he whispered into her ear when the sobs finally eased a little.

He felt her tighten her grip on him and his heart leapt.

Dr. Jay put a box of tissues on the bed in front of Melantho and poured her a glass of water as she gasped for breath. Blandon loosened his hold on her so she could take a drink.

“Slowly, just little sips to start with,” Dr. Jay urged her.

Afterward she took a large tissue and blew her nose. She looked much brighter after that. The glazed look had left her eyes and she looked more alert. Her body didn’t quiver half as much, and she seemed more attuned to her surroundings. She blinked as she looked up at Blandon. “You’ve seen him?”

Blandon smiled. It was as though a veil had been lifted from her and she could finally see him. “Yes. He’s beautiful. Do you want to see?”

She nodded and he held up the photograph he had taken in the orphanage.

Melantho gasped and tears flooded her eyes again as she took the picture from his hand. She looked up at him as if in disbelief.

“He’s gorgeous. He chatters away nineteen to the dozen,” Blandon told her with a grin.

“He what?” Her mouth turned up a little at the edges and Blandon realized she wouldn’t be familiar with the term.

He laughed. “He talks a lot,” he explained.

“What did he say?”

“I’ll give you a few minutes,” Dr. Jay said, standing up with a smile. “I’ll just be outside.”

Blandon told Melantho the whole conversation he had had with her son. He showed her the photographs of the house and garden he lived at with his adoptive parents and explained that they had recently died. She looked sad to hear the news and immediately asked how Owen was coping. He told her all about him and how cheerful he was. He also told her about Catalin and how she had been looking after Owen at the time of the accident. He watched her face fall as soon as he mentioned the orphanage and quickly showed her the photographs of it.

“It’s actually much nicer inside,” he promised her. “There’s loads of light and space. There’s lots for the children to do and the staff are so kind.”

He went on to describe Argi’s office with the play area inside it, and the massive lounge and the playroom.

It was lovely to see Melantho’s expressions changing as she took it all in, and she asked questions all the time. She cried a lot, but having had that one big sob she seemed so much better.

“I wasn’t allowed to see him. I couldn’t say good-bye.” She wept.

Blandon felt his gut wrench as he held her tenderly. She told him how scared she had been, and that she didn’t really know anything about having babies.

“The pain was agony, and then they said there was something wrong.” She recalled the night she gave birth—or tried to. “They put a big mask on my face and I couldn’t breathe,” she went on. “I thought I had died.”

“Shh, it’s all right,” he told her, wishing he could take away all the horrid memories and the pain of her torrid past.

“When I woke up a nurse brought him to me. I was only half-awake but I remember the smell of him, and he was so soft. I remember his big eyes staring up at me. I held him to me so close and then this doctor came and shouted. He took him away. I wanted him. I wanted to keep him. But they wouldn’t let me.” Melantho howled as her heart broke all over again and Blandon held her as close as he could. He murmured into her ear, trying to reassure her. He rocked her back and forth gently and waited until she was ready to speak again.

A noise behind him alerted him that someone else was in the room and he glanced around to see Dr. Jay and Dr. Ernaut watching them. He was relieved. Melantho had opened up to him. She had cried to him. And now, it seemed, she was coming through that awful black tunnel which she had been stuck in for so long.

“Hermandine brought me back to the island. She said I must never speak of it,” Melantho told him as she calmed herself again. “I wanted to know where my baby was. I called him Owen.”

“Young warrior,” Blandon said with a smile and she looked up at him in surprise.

“Yes. He was so brave, you see.”

“So were you,” he murmured.

Melantho shook her head. “But I’m not. I couldn’t let him go. I want him, Blandon. I want my baby back!”

Blandon felt his heart wrench as she stared up at him. Her large brown eyes looked like two pools of chocolate, silently pleading with him. He felt his heart thumping hard against his ribs, so heavily it was almost painful. A vision of her holding the little boy flashed into his mind and it was perfect.
Could it happen?
He looked up at the doctors who were still standing by the door, watching.

“Please?” Melantho’s voice was quiet and desperate. He so wished it was up to him—he would agree in a heartbeat. It seemed the perfect solution.

“We’d have to look into that.” Dr. Ernaut’s voice was grave.

Melantho’s eyes darted over to the doorway. She appeared surprised to see the doctors standing there. “Will you?” she whispered to the elderly doctor. Her beautiful face was full of hope for the first time in over a week.

“We can’t make any promises, Mel, but we will see what we can do. In the meantime you need to get yourself well again, d’ya hear?” Dr. Jay walked over to her and kissed her gently on the top of her head.