The Ugly Duckling (7 page)

It wasn’t true.

Nicholas had brought Tania into his life. It was a debt he would never be able to repay even if the bastard continued bringing him his wounded strays for the rest of his life.

“Oh, what the hell.”

Think Galatea.

“W
hat are you doing here?”

Nicholas looked up as Joel came into the hospital room. “I could ask the same of you,” Nicholas said.

“I belong here.”

“Plastic surgeons don’t make rounds at eleven o’clock at night.”

Joel was glancing at the chart. “Did she wake?”

“For a minute or two. She thought she was dying.” He paused. “She asked for her daughter.”

“She doesn’t know her husband and daughter are dead?”

“Not yet. I thought she had enough to contend with.”

“Too much. Surgery and the psychological adjustment.” He grimaced. “And then you mix in traumatic loss. It can trigger a breakdown if she’s not strong enough. What kind of woman is she?”

“She’s no powerhouse.” He had a sudden memory of Nell Calder’s face when she had left her daughter’s room. “Soft, gentle. She was crazy about the kid. You could see her world revolved around her daughter.”

“Great.” Joel wearily ran his fingers through his curly brown hair. “Does she have any other family?”

“No.”

“A career?”

“No.”

“Shit.”

“She studied art during her first three years at William and Mary. Then she transferred to Greenbriar and switched to education. She met Richard Calder, who was studying for his master’s in economics at Greenbriar. It appears he was a prime catch—brilliant, charismatic, and ambitious. She married him three weeks after she moved back home and quit college. She had Jill a year later.”

“Why did she drop art?”

Nicholas shook his head. “I don’t know. I’ll try to fill in the blanks later.”

“It’s not going to be easy.”

“But you’re going to take her on?”

“You may wish I hadn’t. The work I did on Tania is child’s play compared to the surgery required here. I think you may pay for my new lake house.”

He grimaced. “That steep.”

“She must suspect something’s wrong, and we can’t keep putting off telling her. You’ll have to break it to her that she no longer has a family.”

“Why do I have the honor?”

“I don’t want her identifying me with it. I have to represent hope and a new life. Tell her and then walk away. She won’t want to see you again in the foreseeable future.”

“Bad cop, good cop?”

His brow rose. “You’d know more about police procedure than I would, but you’ve got the general idea.” Joel was becoming more cheerful by the minute. “We can’t have Superman’s cloak tarnished. Tomorrow I’ll lessen the sedation so that she’s alert enough to understand and you can talk to her.”

“Thanks.”

Joel’s smile faded. “Be gentle, Nicholas. It’s going to be a hell of a shock.”

Did he think he was going to try to hurt her? Nicholas thought. He nodded curtly. “Not that it will do any good. She won’t care if I’m gentle as Jesus Christ once she realizes what I’m telling her.”

“I’ll come in later and give her a sedative.”

“And take away the pain?”

“That’s what the good guy does. That’s why I became a doctor. Ugliness and deformity can bring a lifetime of pain. I can change that.” He turned and headed for the door. “Of course, the big bucks don’t hurt.” He gave Nicholas a sly smile over his shoulder. “Well, maybe they’ll hurt you. Yes, I believe I’ll make sure your wallet cries out for mercy.”

Nicholas heard him begin to whistle as he strolled down the corridor.

“G
o to bed.” Tania stood in the doorway of the library.

“Soon,” Joel said absently. He studied the measurements he had scrawled on the oval diagram on the pad.
He always liked to work on the pad first before transferring the image into the computer.

“Now.” Tania strode forward and stopped at the desk. She was barefoot and wearing only one of his old T-shirts. Why did women look so damn sexy in men’s clothes?

“It’s after midnight,” she said. “You can’t operate tomorrow if you don’t sleep.”

“I don’t operate until tomorrow afternoon.” He wearily shook his head. “And then I have to go and tell Nell Calder that for the next few weeks she’s going to have to lie in bed with a minimum of movement. Nice, huh? She’ll have plenty of time to think of her husband and kid.”

She looked down at the oval. “This is her face?”

“I’m checking the measurements to see what’s possible. I need to have something to tell her. Everything else has been taken away. She needs something to hold on to.”

“You’ll give it to her.” She put her hand on his shoulder and added softly, “You’re a good man, Joel Lieber.”

He leaned forward and fastened his gaze on the pad. He said gruffly, “Then go to bed and stop bothering me. I have work to do.”

“Two hours.” She stepped back, and her hand dropped away from him. “And then I’m coming back to get you.”

His gaze lifted to watch her stride toward the door. She never strolled, she always looked as if she knew exactly where she was going.

“I have nice legs, yes?” She smiled at him over her shoulder. “That is lucky. Donna said you were a leg man.”

“Actually, I’m not. I told Donna that only because she had breasts like a boy.”

She clucked reprovingly. “You lie now, not then.”

She left the study.

Joel forced himself to look back at the pad. She would be back in two hours and he must not be here. She deserved more than a workaholic twice her age who had already failed at one marriage. He must not think of those long legs or that smile.

Yeah, sure.

Well, he had to try.

Think Galatea.

T
he face was not Tanek’s this time.

A young face, broad cheekbones, a nose that had once been broken, blue eyes, blond crew cut. “Hi, I’m Phil Johnson, Mrs. Calder.”

“Who?”

“I’m your nurse.”

He looked more like a linebacker, she thought. The white hospital tunic stretched over shoulders that rippled with muscle.

“You feeling better? They’ve cut down on your medication, so some of the fuzziness should be gone.”

She was thinking more clearly, she realized. Too clearly. Panic was beginning to ice through her.

“Don’t worry about all the bandages.” The smile he gave her glowed with warmth. “You’re going to be fine. The wounds aren’t serious and you’ve got the best surgeon in the business to take care of the rest. People come to see Dr. Lieber from all over the world.”

He thought she was worried about herself, she realized incredulously. “My daughter …”

His smile vanished. “Mr. Tanek’s outside. He asked me to call him when you woke.”

Tanek’s expression when she had asked about Jill came flooding back to her. Her heart was beating so
hard, she thought it would choke her as Tanek walked into the room.

“How do you feel?”

“Scared.” She hadn’t known she was going to blurt out the word. “Where is my daughter?”

He sat down in the chair by the bed. “Do you remember what happened to you?”

The knife, the pain, Jill standing in the doorway, the tinkle of the music box, falling. She began to tremble. “Where is my
daughter
?”

His hand closed on hers. “She was killed the same night you were attacked.”

She jerked as the words struck her. Dead. Jill. “You’re lying. No one could kill Jill.” Her words rushed out feverishly. “You saw her. You met her. No one would hurt Jill.”

“She’s dead.” He said roughly, “I wish to hell I were lying.”

She would not believe him. Richard would tell her the truth. “I want to see my husband. I want to see Richard.”

He shook his head. “I’m sorry.”

She stared at him in shock. “What are you saying?” she whispered. “Richard wasn’t even in the room.”

“There was an attack in the ballroom. Your husband and three others were killed. Kavinski was wounded.”

She didn’t care about Kavinski.

Jill. Richard. Jill.

Oh, God, Jill …

The room was whirling, darkening.

Up, up, up, we go, into the sky so blue …

Was that Jill singing? But he had said Jill was dead. Richard was dead. She was the only one alive.

Down, down, down we go …

Yes, go down into the darkness. Maybe there she could find Jill.

“J
oel, get the hell in here,” Nicholas called out. “She’s fainted, dammit.”

Frowning, Joel strode into the room. “What did you do to her?”

“Not a thing but tell her she doesn’t have a life anymore. No reason why she should be upset.”

“In your usual tender, diplomatic manner, I assume.” Joel checked her pulse. “Well, it’s done now. I don’t think you’ve done too much damage.”

“She fainted, dammit. Do something.”

“It’s better if I let her come out of it on her own. You can go. She won’t want to see you when she comes out of this.”

“So you told me.” Nicholas didn’t move, his gaze on Nell’s bandaged face. Her eyes … “Don’t worry. I don’t want to see her either. She’s all yours, Joel.”

“Then let go of her hand and get out of here.”

He hadn’t known he was still holding it. He released her hand and stood up. “I’ll be in touch. Keep me informed.”

“And get Kabler off my back. He called again this morning.”

“What did you tell him?”

“Nothing. I didn’t talk to him. Why do you think I have a secretary?” Joel sat down in the chair Nicholas had vacated. “But I can’t have him questioning her. It would be too traumatic.”

Nicholas had been thinking about Kabler. He didn’t want him questioning Nell either, and Phil’s presence wasn’t a cast-iron guarantee she was safe from Gardeaux. “Can you move her to your clinic in Woodsdale?”

“You mean for her recovery?”

“No, now. You have operating facilities there.”

“I don’t use them often.”

Only when a famous movie star or head of state wanted complete privacy and anonymity. Woodsdale had all the amenities of a luxury hotel and the privacy of a confessional. “It would be difficult for Kabler to reach her there. Your security people are top notch.”

“You should know, you hired them all for me.” His brow wrinkled in thought. “It would be inconvenient. Woodsdale is over a hundred miles from here.”

“It would be more inconvenient having to deal with Joe Kabler.”

He sighed. “I may still have to deal with him.”

“And you may not. It depends on how much else he has on his plate and how badly he wants her. How soon can you move her?”

“I didn’t say I was going to.” He shrugged. “But it would probably be best. This afternoon, I suppose.”

“She’ll take the nurse I hired with her.” He thought about it. No, there was something else he needed Phil to do. “He’ll follow her to Woodsdale tomorrow.”

“He’s one of yours? He looks too young.”

Nicholas didn’t answer directly. “His qualifications are impeccable and he has excellent references.”

“If they’re authentic.”

Nicholas grinned. “The majority of them are. And your nurses seem to like him. You’ll find you do too.”

“Well, he’s better than that Junot you hired for Woodsdale. The man looks like a Renaissance assassin. I can’t let him near the patients when they first come out of anesthesia. They’d go into shock.” He frowned. “And he won’t let me fix him.”

“Poor Joel. How frustrating for you. Junot is no fool. Sometimes looking like what you are can be an advantage.”

He went still. “Is that what he is?”

“What difference does it make? He does his job and
causes no trouble. Are there ever any disturbances when he’s around?”

“Not likely. But I don’t like the idea of harboring criminals.”

“He’s not a criminal.” He smiled. “Anymore. But you’ll find Phil much more reassuring.” He left the room and started toward the nurses’ station, where Phil was chatting with the head nurse.

S
ame room, another face.

Jill
.

Jill wasn’t here. Nell quickly closed her eyes. Go back to the darkness.

“I’m Dr. Joel Lieber. I know you’ve had a great shock, but I have to talk to you,” he said gently. “I’m going to have to operate very soon in order to bring about the best results, and I can’t do that without your permission.”

Why wouldn’t he go away? He was holding back the darkness.

“You don’t want to talk? All right, just listen. Your face is badly shattered. I could try to put it back the way it was, but it would still not be quite the face you saw in the mirror every day. But I can give you a new face, probably a more attractive face. Since it’s the bones that are damaged, only one operation would be required. I’d go in through the upper mouth and push up and repair the—” He stopped. “No details. You don’t want to hear them right now.” His hand closed around hers. “But I’m good, very good. Trust me.”

She didn’t answer.

“Do you have any preference? Is there anyone you’d like to resemble? I can’t promise, but I might be able to manage a fleeting resemblance.”

He kept talking. Why wouldn’t he let her go back to the darkness?

“Nell, open your eyes and listen to me. This is important.”

No, it wasn’t important. Everything of importance had vanished. But his tone was so compelling, she opened her eyes and stared up at him. He had a nice face, she realized numbly. Square and strong with gray eyes that should have appeared cold but managed to be intelligent and compassionate instead.

“That’s better.” His hand tightened. “Did you understand?”

“Yes.”

“What do you want me to do?”

“I don’t care. Whatever you want to do.”

“You want me to do what I think best? What if you don’t like what I do? Help me.”

“It doesn’t matter,” she whispered. Why couldn’t he understand that?

“It
does
matter.” He shook his head wearily. “But evidently not now. I hope it does later.” He stood up. “I’m moving you to my clinic this afternoon. I want to operate the day after tomorrow. I’ll be out to see you tomorrow evening and I’ll show you the possibilities.”

He was troubled. He seemed like a nice man. It was too bad she couldn’t help him.