Sold on You (7 page)

"Yes, I suppose you're right," she fretted, too worried about Christy's condition to object to his overly confident tone.

Reflecting on the unfortunate circumstances of the teen girl's pregnancy, Gabriela lapsed into silence. When Christy, the seventeen-year-old daughter of a Mexican migrant worker, had first gone to Gabriela's office for counseling, she'd been a frightened girl, devastated by her pregnancy, the result of being raped by a drunken family acquaintance. A devout Catholic, Christy had known from the beginning that she would give birth to the baby, but she had struggled for months over whether to raise it herself or put it up for adoption.

During their counseling sessions, Gabriela realized that Christy desperately wanted to keep her baby, in spite of the cruel circumstances. But since Christy was an honor student, Gabriela was determined to help her every step of the way so she wouldn't have to quit school in order to work to support her baby. Christy was a high school senior with only one semester left before graduating, and if Gabriela could help it, she'd be attending community college in the fall.

Glancing at Marcos' somber profile as he drove, Gabriela was suddenly thankful he'd be the doctor delivering Christy's baby. As chief of obstetrics, Marcos was experienced and known for his compassionate bedside manner with patients. Even though he was a wealthy playboy in his personal life, he was the best there was professionally and right now that was all Gabriela cared about.

Chapter 5

When they arrived at North Collier Hospital, Marcos pulled into the doctors' parking lot directly in front of the Birth Place, a separate maternity ward from the main hospital. Curious stares met their arrival. Gabriela had been so worried about getting to the hospital quickly that she hadn't considered how she and Marcos would appear entering together in their date clothes. The staff knew both of them well, and she could only imagine the gossip their auctioned weekend date had already generated at the hospital.

Wearing a well-tailored navy sports jacket and tan slacks, Marcos looked as he usually did, fit, gorgeous and totally at ease. She, however, felt like a completely different person in her sleek black dress and stiletto heels. Gone was her conservative image, replaced by a sexy, glamorous one complete with new hairstyle and makeup.

She gave Marcos a quick sidelong glance to see how the staff's stunned reaction affected him, but he appeared unfazed. Ignoring their questioning looks and whispers, he accompanied Gabriela to the triage room, where expectant mothers in labor were assessed before admission.

"I'm going to scrub up and change. Tell Christy I'll be in to examine her shortly," Marcos said.

She touched his arm. "She's probably terrified. You'll hurry, won't you?"

"Of course." Marcos' reassuring smile before turning away made her glad he'd be the physician delivering this young girl's first baby. Her gaze followed him, admiring the self-confident set of his broad shoulders and his long strides.

At the nurses' station, she spoke briefly to the head nurse, Nurse Fisher, who told her that Christy's water had broken at home and her cervix was already dilated six centimeters.

"Miss Ramirez has been prepped, and she's hooked up to an internal and external fetal monitor," Nurse Fisher said. "We're just waiting for Dr. Calderon to examine her."

"Who is the attending anesthesiologist?"

"Dr. Harrison."

"Oh," Gabriela said, stopping herself from saying "ugh" instead. She recalled the snooty and blond Dr. Nicole Harrison seemed to be quite friendly with Marcos. "Has she been in to see Christy?" she asked, dismissing the memory of the two doctors' cozy meetings in the hospital cafeteria.

"We paged Dr. Harrison as soon as Miss Ramirez asked for anesthesia, but I'm not sure if she's been in to see her yet. It's a madhouse tonight. We're filled to capacity."

"So I heard. How is Christy holding up?"

"Unfortunately, Miss Ramirez is very young and she has a tiny frame. She's starting to get a little frantic now that the contractions are coming closer together." She shook her short, graying hair, and her brown eyes turned sad. "Apparently, she was in labor for several hours before she could locate a family member to take her to the hospital."

"Where is she?" Gabriela asked.

"She's not in triage anymore. We admitted her to Room 240." A small smile playing at her lips, Nurse Fisher's interested gaze swept over Gabriela's attire. "Did you have a nice evening?"

"Yes. If you'll excuse me, I'm anxious to get started as her birthing coach."

Back to business, Nurse Fisher nodded briskly. "Christy will be relieved to see you. She's been asking for you since she got here."

When Gabriela entered the birthing room, she saw Christy's disheveled, sweat-plastered head thrashing from side to side as she clutched her distended abdomen.

Gabriela rushed to her side. "Christy, I'm here," she said, gently laying her hand on the young girl's shoulder. She glanced at the fetal monitor and saw that Christy was in the midst of a strong contraction. "Breathe with me," she coaxed, inhaling her breath in three short puffs, then pursing her lips to expel her breath in a long, steady gust.

"It hurts too much!" Christy cried, her dark eyes shadowed with pain. "I can't."

"Yes, you can. Try to relax your muscles and look at me," Gabriela said firmly. When their eyes connected, she began the breathing pattern again. "Breathe with me," she said between breaths, relieved when Christy followed her lead.

Gabriela gave her a reassuring smile when the contraction subsided. "See. You can do it if you concentrate and let me guide you." She looked around the room. "Where's your mom?"

Christy's eyes welled up with tears. "Papi was drinking and he wouldn't let her leave. Tio Santi dropped me off at the entrance and left. He had to go to work."

Gabriela forced her features to remain calm, even though she felt like screaming at the injustice. How could Christy's family abandon her in her time of need? "Don't worry, sweetie. I'll be right here beside you until the baby's born."

Another powerful contraction cut off Christy's response. Gabriela urged her to breathe slowly and properly, praising her bravery while coaxing her to relax and stay focused. After the pain subsided, she smoothed the short bangs away from Christy's furrowed forehead and gently swabbed the perspiration from her brow with a soft white towel.

Christy turned frantic eyes toward Gabriela. "Get me something for the pain!" She grabbed her swollen belly and cried out, "Please! I can't take this anymore!"

"Hasn't the anesthesiologist been in to see you?" Gabriela asked.

Christy shook her head.

Gabriela felt a surge of indignation toward Dr. Harrison, wondering where she was when this young girl needed her. "As soon as Dr. Calderon comes in, we'll ask him for a painkiller," she said, her gaze riveted to the monitor screen.

Seconds later, Marcos entered the room wearing green scrub, accompanied by Dr. Nicole Harrison and a young nurse. Smiling kindly, he said, "Christy, this is Dr. Harrison. She'll be your anesthesiologist. "

In the throes of another painful contraction, Christy gave an anguished cry.

"Hang in there for a sec. I need to examine you."

While he examined her, Gabriela held Christy's fisted hand.

"You're fully dilated now. I can see the baby's head," Marcos announced, smiling.

"Christy is in agony. Can't you give her anything for it?" Gabriela asked.

Dr. Harrison replied in a condescending tone, "There's no time for an epidural. Any IV medication would pass directly to the baby."

"Why didn't anyone come sooner?" Gabriela demanded, staring pointedly at the haughty Dr. Harrison. Poor Christy's eyes were glazed over with pain.

"I was busy with other patients. If you haven't noticed, half of Naples decided to have their baby tonight," Dr. Harrison snapped.

Ignoring Dr. Harrison's caustic remark, Marcos turned his attention to Gabriela. "Let's get Christy ready to push hard on the next contraction."

With a surge of enormous respect, Gabriela smiled at him. Marco's expertise and calm presence were reassuring, and she wanted him to know she thought so. "I'm glad you're delivering her baby."

He smiled back warmly. "Me too. The baby's head is crowning."

* * *

As they drove to her apartment a few hours later, Gabriela closed her eyes as she leaned her weary head against the soft leather car seat. She couldn't stop smiling as she relived the euphoric moment when Christy had given birth to a perfectly healthy baby boy. In spite of her dire circumstances, the whole atmosphere during birth was joyous because of Marcos' enthusiasm.

In her mind, she could hear the kind inflection of his voice as he urged his young patient to push with all her might. Gabriela's eyes had filled with tears when Marcos had lifted the squirming pink infant and jubilantly congratulated Christy on her new son. His dark hair slightly disheveled, Marcos' whole face had been lit up in celebration of the precious new life he cradled in his strong, competent hands.

Prior to that, Gabriela had seen him in different modes of attire—athletic, dressed casually, and looking elegant in a tux, but never had he been so appealing as tonight, dressed simply in scrubs.

"Why are you smiling?" Marcos asked, interrupting her thoughts.

"I was remembering the look on your face when you delivered Christy's baby." A wistful wave of longing swept over her, thinking of the miracle of birth and wondering if she would ever have a baby of her own. "The whole birthing experience is awesome." She smiled at him. "But you must be used to it after delivering so many babies."

Marcos regarded her thoughtfully. "No matter how many babies I deliver, the moment of birth is always magical. The experience
is
awesome and humbling."

"Humbling? Why?"

"Because the woman is laboring so hard to give birth, that my job seems easy in comparison," he replied, smiling ruefully.

Now his answer humbled her. She had never imagined that the well-respected chief of obstetrics would say something so refreshingly candid and heartfelt. Dr. Calderon was far from arrogant in his assessment of a woman's ordeal in childbirth. She gazed at him with new eyes just then, for the first time seeing beyond his playboy-millionaire image. After observing firsthand how compassionately he'd cared for Christy and her newborn, she understood why Marcos was highly respected as a physician.

"Thank you for your kindness toward Christy. She was incredibly brave tonight."

His brow furrowed. "Why are you thanking me? I behaved no different toward her than I do with all my patients."

"Really? I thought you spent more time with her than most obstetricians do, especially after the delivery."

His teeth flashed white in the night as he smiled. "Well, I might have given her
slightly
more attention than usual. She's little more than a child herself."

"That's true." Gabriela sighed. "I just hope her family comes around and accepts the baby. In the meantime, she'll be living at the Fresh Start Center, where she can complete her final semester of high school while caring for her son."

Marcos parked the car on the curb. The convertible top was down and moonlight filtered into the car, illuminating his face as he gazed at her. "You should be commended for the difference that center will make in Christy's transition into motherhood."

Gabriela shrugged off his compliment. "I'm just doing my job to make her life a little easier. It's hard enough to be poor and a new mother at seventeen." She shook her head sadly. "Christy is mature for her age. Did you know she chopped off her beautiful long hair so she'd have more time to tend the baby? That's an amazingly practical thing for a teenage girl to do."

Marcos grunted. "Most girls her age are thinking about boys and clothes."

"Not all." Gabriela gave a short laugh. She hadn't had the luxury of worrying about clothes—thankfully she'd worn a uniform to school. Outside of school, she'd worn what she could get, never once imagining that her mother's hard-earned money should be squandered on frivolous clothes. "Those weren't my concerns at that age. Getting good grades and qualifying for a full scholarship were my biggest priority."

She realized her answer made her sound stodgy, but it was the truth—so different from what Marcos' teen years must have been like. She didn't feel sorry for herself. She had never allowed herself to indulge in self-pity; instead she had taken advantage of Berta's generosity. Berta Guzman, her mother's employer had funded a private school education for Gabriela, who graduated as valedictorian and received a full merit scholarship from the University of Miami.

"I can just imagine you buried under a pile of books," he said, smiling at her.

Gabriela blinked. His smile was so warm and engaging, she was caught off guard for a moment. She touched his arm hesitantly. "Marcos... I have to ask a favor of you."

He looked surprised. "What is it?"

"I need to spend time with Christy tomorrow getting her settled in with her new baby. I want to make sure that she bonds with him. And since the baby came a few weeks earlier than expected, I need to make arrangements at The Fresh Start Center as soon as possible." She held her breath and waited for him to say something. When he remained silent, she added, "It's going to be difficult for me to accompany you and your grandmother to Mass and brunch tomorrow."