Untraceable (48 page)

With a trembling hand, Micah separated
our son from my body.

A female EMT was checking our son, who
by this point had begun to cry again, “He’s got a two on his Apgar
score—looks like a healthy little boy.”

They loaded me and the baby onto a
gurney and were about to push me through the doorway when my mother
appeared.

“
Leese, oh God, baby are
you okay? Is the baby all right?”

“
Thanks to Doctor Ryan,” I
said with a happy, fresh surge of emotions.

It seemed as if everyone thought they
were going to pile into the ambulance with me, but the EMT’s said,
no. Only Micah was allowed. The doors closed and we left for the
hospital.

By the time it was dark outside, I was
sitting in my hospital bed. A doctor had already given me a couple
stitches to repair the tear from Ryan’s hands and the birth. Our
son, whom Micah informed me was to have been named Joshua Caleb,
would now be named to honor the man who saved Joshua’s life.
Although, with a bit of a chuckle, he said Ryan wasn’t getting top
billing. The birth certificate read: Joshua Ryan
Gavarreen.

At six pounds and three ounces, he
wasn’t as big as predicted, but, then again, he was six weeks
early.

The first doctor to listen to the
story of our son’s arrival, stated with absolute certainty that I
had been in labor for a couple days. The earlier contractions had
been mild—a little unusual but not unheard of—but when I fully
relaxed, my body took over, breaking my water in my sleep and
intensifying labor. Joshua was fully engaged in the birth canal and
ready to arrive. “Thank goodness your friend had a cool head and a
little bit of knowledge or this could have ended in
disaster.”

He also said that little Joshua would
need to be flown to a neonatal intensive care unit, but then he
examined him. “He’s amazingly strong and alert. His lungs are in
excellent condition. Other than a slightly lower birth weight, it’s
like he’s full term. A strapping fellow,” he remarked, smacking
Micah on the back, “like his daddy, I suppose.”

I was thrilled that my son wouldn’t be
flying anywhere, instead the doctor said he saw no reason for
Joshua to leave my room.

I was allowed visitors for a short
while. They told me they’d only allow three at a time. Mom, David,
and Kimmy were first. David appeared ‘star-struck’ as he watched my
mother hold Joshua, cooing and talking with him. I finally
understood her pain and why she didn’t want to get engaged to
David; it seemed so unfair that a man who studied a baby with so
much wonder, would never have children of his own. Mom was more
emotional than I’d ever seen her. She was teary as she kept saying
over and over, “I love babies, don’t you David?” I was hoping she’d
stop because I could tell it was tearing him in two. He was happy
for us, but yet he seemed sad. He finally smiled, and picked Kimmy
up off the floor so she could get a better view of Joshua’s sleepy
face.

“
He’s pretty,” she
exclaimed.

“
Handsome,” I corrected
her.

“
Beautiful,” Micah
corrected me.

“
Perfect!” Mom corrected
us all.

David simply stared.

CHAPTER thirty-seven

I was amazed at the resilience of my
body. Other than being sore, I felt normal. They said I would be
able to leave the next morning, so when the sun rose, I was up
shedding my hospital gown for one of the sundresses my mom brought
me. Micah was sound asleep in the big recliner next to my bed. It
had apparently been a long time since he been able to rest—this
morning he was making up for it.

I packed up my things,
brushed my hair, and placed my shoes next to the bed, ready to be
out of the hospital environment. I heard Joshua beginning to move
in his blanket, so before he could utter a cry, I picked him up and
kissed his tiny face, whispering my good-morning to him. I pulled
down my left strap and sat back in bed attempting to feed him. I
never realized how awkward breastfeeding would be until I tried it
last night. I didn’t feel embarrassed by it, but rather I just felt
like I wasn’t holding him properly. The nurse had helped me with my
first attempt, but it didn’t feel natural. I was pretty certain, if
I could get the angle right, nursing
should
feel natural.

He was eager this morning, evidently
hungry, and he latched on quickly—bad angle and all. Now not only
did it feel unnatural, but also uncomfortable, but Joshua seemed
content so I decided to stick it out and pray that things would get
better.

I didn’t realize I was grimacing until
I heard that deep, wonderful voice beside me asking if it
hurt.

I smiled, and all the muscles in my
face relaxed as I stared up into Micah’s curious green eyes,
“Yes—it hurts.”

“
You don’t always have to
be so brave and strong—and stubborn,” he added. “I’m sure he’d do
fine on formula.”

I puckered my face back into the
previous frown, “This is better for him!”

He smiled and then leaned over and
kissed my forehead, “I know; I just wanted to hear what you’d say.”
He kissed my ear this time and said, “he’s so beautiful,
Annalisa.”

“
So are you going to tell
me how you arrived at his name?”

“
I know you’ll hate me for
saying this, but I’ve never really believed that I’d make it out of
the mafia.”

“
My dad’s going to fix
that,” I stated, hoping I sounded sure of that fact when I was more
afraid than ever.

“
Let me finish. I started
looking in the Bible and I found out that Moses, even though he
went from a high position in a pagan land, to a changed man who
believed in God, he never made it into the promise land. Joshua
wasn’t his son, but it seemed to me anyway that the relationship
was similar to a father and son. Joshua and Caleb were the only
two, in the original group, to make it into that beautiful place
God prepared for his people. I want our son to make it, even if I
don’t. That’s how I came up with his name.”

“
As soon as this last
thing is behind us, you will,” I said, still horribly afraid of his
meeting with Sharon. “I think that was an incredible thing for you
to change his middle name.”

“
I’ll never be able to
tell Ryan how grateful I am for what he did, but—”

“
Micah,” I stopped
him.

“
Hmm?”

“
He knows—trust me, he
knows.”

“
So I guess I’ll just have
to save Caleb for our next baby,” he teased.

“
No you don’t—those naming
rights are mine!”

“
Then I guess I’ll just
have to keep getting you pregnant until you let me name one
Caleb.”

I kissed his lips as he cuddled me and
the baby in his arms. “Deal.”

I expected Mom and David to be the
ones to pick us up from the hospital, but, to my surprise, Ryan
rounded the corner as I was filling out the dismissal
paperwork.

“
So, where’s my boy?” he
teased as he entered the room. Micah had been holding him while I
finished filling out the forms, but Ryan was quick to put out his
hands, motioning to Micah to pass him off.

I noticed the reluctance, but Micah’s
hesitation was brief as he fussed at Ryan about the proper way to
hold him.

“
I know how to hold him,”
Ryan said rather smugly as he secured the baby in the cradle of his
arm and drew him to himself. “Hello little Ryan,” he said simply to
vex Micah a bit.

“
It’s Joshua,” Micah said,
taking the bait.

“
I’m your Godfather,” Ryan
said ignoring Micah’s correction.

“
I never said you
were—”

“
Yeees, I am. Yeees, I
am,” he prattled in baby talk.

“
I thought Mom was
coming,” I said, hoping to stop the baby-talk; it was just so weird
to hear Ryan using that voice.

“
I talked them into
letting me and your dad come get you. You know that man does
not
like to be told what
to do!”

“
You were bossing my dad?”
I chuckled.

“
Nooo,” he said (and I
could tell by the way he said it that he knew it would never be a
good idea for him to boss around the man who had the power to
remove his untouchable status), “A lady down at the front desk
snapped at him when he said we were going up to pick you up from
the maternity ward. And she was like,
‘where’s your baby seat?’
and he’s
like,
‘my daughter will just hold
him.’
Oh my God, that lady came unglued on
him! She said he would
not
get to take you out of here without a baby seat
properly fastened in the car.”

“
Did he have to leave to
go buy one?”

“
No. Your mom bought one,
but she put it in the trunk. I guess she figured she would put it
in the seat later. When I left, that lady down there was barking at
him about the fact that he didn’t get the seat in right. He was
cussing like a mafia member,” Ryan laughed. “I don’t think anyone
has ever told that man he
had
to do something. Geez, he was pissed.”

Right about that moment, my dad came
around the corner. Ryan was right; his face was beet red and the
steam was nearly visible rising from his ears. I could hear him
mumbling, something, something, ‘bitch’, something, something,
‘damn bitch.’

We were all trying
hard
not
to
laugh.

“
Just look at your
grandpa,” Ryan was saying, tilting the baby toward my dad, “come
on, we gotta get him to smile, yeees we do,” he said falling right
back into baby talk.

My dad wasn’t impressed, but he did
finally smile when he actually looked at Joshua. The smile
immediately vanished when he looked back up at us, “Let’s get the
hell out of here before I lose my temper.”

We were prepared to comply, until a
nurse shouted, “No, you’re not leaving here like that.”

My dad blew off a string of
obscenities at the woman.

Her mouth was gapped open, truly
shocked at his tirade.

“
What now?!” he finally
ground out. “Do we need a freaking baby seat to get him
downstairs?!”

“
N-no,” she stammered,
pulling a wheelchair out from behind the desk. “She needs to sit
and let someone push her downstairs.”

“
Oh no, that’s okay,” I
started to say, but she brought the wheelchair to me
anyway.

“
It’s hospital policy, and
besides I know you feel good right now, but you haven’t walked ten
feet. You could pass out and I don’t think
anyone
,” she stated, finally
mustering her courage as she gave my dad a blistering stare, “wants
to see you hit the floor.”

“
Sit down, Annalisa,” he
ordered. “Thank you,” he responded as he turned toward her. It
almost sounded sincere.

We were moving away from her as I
heard Ryan apologize and say it’d been a rough morning.

When the elevator doors closed, my dad
turned to Ryan.

“
Never
apologize for me. Understood?” His authority level at the
moment was evident in his tone.

“
Yes, sir.”

Ryan was, wisely, quiet after
that.

CHAPTER thirty-eight

We drove to the Holiday Inn where Mom
was impatiently waiting for her grandson to arrive. Well, perhaps
she was happy to see me too, but I think Joshua was the reason for
the big smile on her face. My father decided to return to the beach
house until it was time for Micah to call Sharon.

Micah tried to dissuade the rest of us
from staying, saying he would prefer we get on a plane and go to
Nova Scotia for a few days. Mom was ready to go home to Palm Beach,
but neither he nor David thought that was a good idea until this
business with Sharon was finalized.

Micah and I settled into the adjoining
room to my mother’s for a little private time while Mom enjoyed
Joshua. We cuddled on the king-sized bed holding each other and
talking for however long the peace and quiet would last.

“
Can’t you just call her
and tell her the game is over and that her dad is
alive?”

“
I wish I could, but if
she thinks, even for one second, that Caprizio knows what she’s
been doing, she’ll bolt. God only knows where she’ll go, but I
guarantee you at some point, whether it’s ten days from now or ten
years from now, she’ll show back up and try to wreck our lives,
again.”

I could see his point. I did not want
to deal with her ever again, but, even with as much reason as I had
to hate her, I was torn on the idea of my dad having someone shoot
her. How could I have asked Micah to never take another human life,
and then turn right around and tell my father that I wanted her
gone—permanently?

“
Are you feeling okay?
You’re looking pale,” he said, resting his lips for a long moment
on my forehead.