Invidious Betrayal (31 page)

“Maybe you could,” he said, suggestively.

She hooked a stray hair behind her ear and smiled bigger. “I’ll be at the nurse’s station if you should need
anything
.” Walking away, she glanced back to see if he was looking at her. He was. Oh the things he did for science and research.

Later, after securing nurse, what’s-her-name’s, personal information, Vincent stepped back inside the room and closed the door. He went to Noemi and took her pulse. His eyes roamed her arm until he found the small injection site. He opened one of the drawers and placed a Band-Aid over it, then walked around the bed and checked the IV that was in her other arm.

Injecting her with Syn-Beta was the solution. He was sure of it. He’d gone over the data a million times since Noemi had been rushed into the hospital last week. Every day she’d gotten worse. The baby she carried was killing them both. The way Vincent saw it, his sister-in-law and the child were dying anyway, so at least now they had a fighting chance. He let that last thought wash over him as he sat in the recliner to watch over the results of his work.

February 29
th
, 1992

The stool hit the wall cabinet and the thundering sound of breaking glass and metal on metal carried throughout the operating room as a nurse hurried out with the naked, crying newborn inside an incubator.

“Dr. Becker?” a surgical tech said timidly. She wanted them to call it.

“Dr. Howl?” Dr. Becker questioned. When Vincent Howl didn’t respond, Dr. Becker glanced over at the tech. “I’m calling it.” He looked at the time. “1:05 a.m.”

Victor felt a hand on his shoulder. He knew it was one of the nurses trying to console him. “Mr. Howl,” she said, hovering over him. He looked up at her. “I am so sorry.”

Victor couldn’t believe this was happening to him. He’d held his wife’s hand during the labor, telling her that she was being brave and that she was going to be the best mother any kid could have. He’d told Noemi how proud he was of her, and that he loved her so much.

Victor looked at his hands which still clutched hers. His were warm, blood still flowing with life; Noemi’s were not yet cold, but cooling with every passing second. His eyes burned from staring so long, but Victor didn’t want to close them. He just wanted to watch her.

Victor just wanted to watch her.

“Senator,” Dr. Becker said, speaking to him now and not his brother. “Is there anyone we can call for you?”

Victor shook his head. Noemi had no one but him. “She lost her only family her freshman year of college,” he managed to mutter.
This wasn’t happening
.
She wasn’t gone
.
She wasn’t really dead
.

“Dr. Howl,” a nurse said quietly.

Victor closed his eyes and took a much needed deep breath. He couldn’t remember when he’d stopped breathing, only that he had and he needed air. It was good that his body knew this and reacted on that need because if he had to think to breathe…

He looked across the room to where his brother sat on the floor in a corner with his head hung low. Vincent had a meltdown when Noemi couldn’t be revived, and he’d thrown a stool across the room.

Victor slowly stood, rolling the stool he’d been sitting on aside. He rubbed Noemi’s cheek, then bent to kiss her chilled lips. She was beautiful, and his image of her would be forever young. Victor felt the wetness of his tears as he sucked in a gulp of air and began to openly sob while he gazed at her angelic face.

He had to be strong.

A hand firmly gripped his shoulder and Victor knew it was his brother. When he felt Vincent’s arms wrap around his chest, holding him tightly, it shocked him. Vincent wasn’t the hugs and kisses type.

“I’m so sorry, Victor. I just couldn’t stop the bleeding,” Vincent sobbed.

Victor touched his brother’s arm and squeezed. Vincent and Dr. Becker were the best, and if they couldn’t save her, then... “The Lord called her home, brother”—he sniffed—“there was nothing you could do.”

Dr. Becker cleared his throat. “We should clean her up.”

Victor didn’t want to leave her, but there were things that needed to be done so he reluctantly let the nurse escort him and his brother out of the operating room. His mind was cloudy as he stepped out into the hallway. He had no destination, no purpose. When he sat down in a small sitting area, he rubbed the back of his neck as if doing so would clear the haze in his head, so he could think. He had to call his son, Richard, and tell him that his mother was gone. How do you tell a kid that their mother was no longer coming home? They had adopted him when he was just five years old, and now the only mother the kid has ever known was gone.

The thought made him tear up all over again. Then he thought,
oh God, the baby
. When the baby was born, Victor had held him up, so Noemi could see him. The kiss she gave their newborn son would be the only one he would ever have from his mother. And Noemi’s only gifts to their son were his life and name. Ian François Howl, she’d managed to whisper with her last breath.

February 28, 1999

T
HE LOUD MOTOR OF THE
lawn mower drew Ian’s attention to the patio doors. Ralph, the gardener, looked at him through the glass panels and shrugged. The gardener mouthed the word ‘sorry’ then gave Ian a wave as he drove the lawn tractor away from the house. A seven-year-old Ian watched Ralph’s back as he headed for the other side of the vast lawn. He wished he was outside. Heck, he would even cut grass right now if he was allowed outside.

“What’s up, bud?”

Ian turned his head around at the jovial voice. He dropped his pencil and swung his legs from under his desk, turning his body toward the door. “Richard,” he yelled. Ian jumped to his feet and ran to his big brother. Richard lifted him in a tight embrace. “When did you get back? Are you staying for a while? Did you bring me something?”

Richard sat Ian on his feet and kissed him on the head. “Whoa now, Ian, one question at a time, please. I got home a few minutes ago. I’m staying for a few weeks. And…” Richard lifted three wrapped packages. One looked like a cassette and the other resembled a book. Ian snatched the packages and ripped one open. “You know not to let Dad see that wrapping paper, right?”

Ian nodded. Holding the new
Final Fantasy
game in his hands, he mouthed the word “Wow.”

“How’s he doing?” Richard asked his tutor, Mr. Freidman.

Ian forgot all about his tutor being in the room, vaguely paying attention to the adult conversation as he sat down at his desk and unwrapped several comics and a small book. Ian read the cover of the book,
The Magician’s Nephew
. Uninterested, he placed the book at the corner of his desk and began flipping through the Marvel comics.

Mr. Freidman sat on the edge of his small desk with his arms folded over his chest. “Aside from him zoning out every thirty minutes, he’s doing exemplary. Last week young Ian here began sixth grade coursework.”

“Imagine that,” Richard said proudly, ruffling Ian’s hair. “You’ll be graduating high school before you can legally drive.”

Ian shrugged. He didn’t get all excited like grownups did when talking about academics. He pushed his brother’s hand off his head and jumped up. He ran to the paper shredder and shredded the evidence that he’d gotten an actual birthday present, then went back to his desk and sat down to read the game’s description.

“Not if he doesn’t want to,” Mr. Freidman said.

Ian looked up to see his tutor unfold his arms and walk around his desk. “Your brother has this idea that if he doesn’t do his work, he can get into the second grade, where he thinks he belongs.”

Tattletale
, Ian thought, but didn’t say it. He’d thought he and his tutor were friends, but the man was trying to get him in trouble. Then it dawned on Ian that if Mr. Freidman was trying to get him in trouble, he wouldn’t be discussing this with Richard. He’d be telling their father, not his brother.

Richard kneeled down beside Ian, giving him the ‘What’s going on with you’ look. “Can I talk to him alone?” Richard asked Mr. Freidman, but continued staring at Ian. Richard dragged the assignment Ian was supposed to be working on across the desk to inspect it.

“What?” Ian snapped, after Mr. Freidman left the room.

“Don’t you ‘what’ me. How long have you been shucking your work?”

“About a week,” he mumbled.

Richard smiled. “Excuse me?”

Ian shifted in the chair. “About a week, I guess,” he said louder.

“You guess. You guess? When have you ever guessed at anything, Ian? What’s the problem?”

Ian sighed. He tapped the cover of his new game until his brother flattened a hand over his. “I want to be around people my age and not old people. I want to go to school.”

“So you decide not to do your work? That’s not going to get you what you want. And even if Dad said that you could go to school, it may not be possible to go with kids your age, Ian. You’re seven years old doing sixth grade work. It may not be that easy to integrate you with young or older students right now. Have you talked to Dad about this?”

“Dad never listens to me.” Ian pouted. He hardly ever pouted. His father disliked childish behavior of any kind.

“I’ll talk to him for you, but only if you start doing your work again.”

“Really?” Ian gushed. He hugged Richard around the neck. “Thanks, Richard.”

“Don’t thank me yet, bud. You know Dad is hard to sway.” Richard stood and turned around to leave, but looked over his shoulder. “I almost forgot. That book...the series was one of Mom’s favorites. Happy birthday, little guy.”

“Technically, it’s not my birthday,” Ian grumbled, trying not to sound so miserable. Mention of the mother he never knew was a double-edged sword. He wanted to know everything about her short life that neither his father or brother felt inclined to discuss, but when one of them let a tidbit of information about her slip, it was almost always painful to hear. He reasoned that if they’d only talked about her more, that maybe it wouldn’t hurt so badly.

After Richard left, Ian moved the game out of the way and pulled the book to him. He smoothed his hand over the hard cover, then opened it.
It was one of her favorites
. He knew then that it would be one of his favorites as well. He would read the entire series too, just like his mom had.