Chapter 10

"That's a beautiful baby boy you have."

Jane turned round from the glass panes through which she could see her son inside the incubator and her face split into a smile when she saw Louise. "He's the most beautiful and perfect boy I've ever seen."

"Yes, he is."

"I spend most of my time here since I was released from intensive care. I just can't stop looking at him... I can't get enough. And I'm so looking forward to holding and cuddling him whenever I want and not just at feeding times."

"Kid told me that you two will be able to leave the hospital in a few days," Lou said.

"Yeah, I know," Jane replied without much enthusiasm. "It's hard to believe. I've been in this place for so many weeks that it seems like a lifetime. I wonder what I might find out there... will aliens have conquered the earth?"

Louise giggled amused and replied, "I imagine so... I mean about you getting fed up with being here... not about aliens. But just think that soon you'll be at home with your beautiful baby and ... that you are fine."

Jane nodded and realizing that she hadn't had the chance to thank Louise for everything she had done, she added, "You can't imagine how grateful I am for what everybody has done for me and my baby... especially you."

"Jane, we were just doing our job and seeing you and your baby is enough reward for us," Lou replied, disregarding her words.

"Dr. Barnes said that I'd be dead now if you hadn't reacted so quickly."

Louise simply smiled and since she always felt uncomfortable when people paid her compliments and thanked her, she decided to change the subject. "And tell me, what is your son's name? You never told me."

"Francis."

"Francis..." Louise repeated, the name rolling softly off her tongue. "I like it. It's a good, strong name. Is he named after your dad maybe?"

The girl shook her head and added, "After his."

"Where is he, Jane?" Lou dared to ask bluntly. Like in the weeks before going into labor, the girl hadn't received any visits but from a few acquaintances and of course from Buck, who lately it seemed was always there with her. Yet, her baby's mysterious father hadn't made his appearance at all, and Lou could guess that his absence must be upsetting the girl greatly.

"I don't know," Jane replied with a somber expression. "He wasn't very happy when he learned that I got pregnant, but we kept seeing each other for a while. But suddenly one day he kind of disappeared. I haven't seen him in months and I can't even contact him now. His cell phone is always off, and he doesn't answer the one at home. He knows he's a father. I've left him dozens of messages on his answering machine and voice mail... but still nothing."

"I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault. Maybe it's mine... for hanging out with guys like him," Jane muttered, shrugging her shoulders in resignation.

"Do you think something might have happened to him?"

"I don't think so. He just doesn't care." Jane paused for a second and then exclaimed, "How can somebody not bother to see their child? I just don't understand... I'm not important, but he's his son, his flesh and blood... and whether he likes it or not, he's a Pike through and through."

"Pike?" Lou asked with evident surprise. "Your son's dad is Frank Pike?"

"Yes, why? Do you know him?"

"I... Gosh, how stupid!" Lou exclaimed, mainly talking to herself. "I should have known that things couldn't be that good."

"Dr. McCloud?"

Lou realized that she had forgotten all about Jane, who was looking at her with an odd expression as she mumbled on. Her lips then twitched into a forced smile and said, "Everything's fine, Jane. I'm just gonna make sure that some people learn that there are certain things you cannot play with."

Before Jane had time to react, Lou had scurried away and in a flash she reached Kid's office. He was sitting at his computer, entering data from his patients and without any preamble, Lou blurted out from the threshold, "Kid, I'm heading out now. Something important has come up."

"Hey... hey. Wait, wait!" Kid called, spinning round with his swivel chair before Lou dashed away. "What's so important to leave in the middle of the day?"

"Well, if you want to know," Louise replied, fury shining in her big, brown eyes. "I'm gonna find that poor excuse of a man that fathered Jane's baby and tell him a couple of plain truths."

"You can't do that, Lou!" Kid exclaimed, rising to his feet and coming towards her. "You can't meddle in a patient's personal business."

"It's also my business."

"What do you mean, Lou?" the doctor asked with a frown.

"I happen to know Frank... her man very well too."

"What?"

"Look, Kid. Whatever you say, I'm going and that's final."

The doctor noticed her resolute stance and aware that he wouldn't be able to stop her, he said after a beat, "All right but I'll go with you." Lou was about to protest but Kid lifted his finger to her to stop her flow of protests. "I'm not taking no for an answer and that's final too." As it was close to lunch time, he thought they could go a bit earlier and leave some work for later.

"Fine then," Lou replied gruffly and swirling around she almost ran off without waiting for him and Kid had to dash to catch up with her.

Kid drove in silence, from time to time throwing sideways glances at Lou, who sat still and quiet on the passenger seat. Earlier when he had caught up with her at the parking lot, she had just told him where to drive. He could guess that the person they were after was the same man she had talked to on the phone a few days ago. Could it be that her husband had actually fathered Jane's baby? If that were so, Kid could guess that Lou was going through a major turmoil. He didn't know how to get her talking without sounding too pushy or nosy. After a while he felt he needed to say something and let her know that he was there if she needed him.

"Who's Frank, Lou?"

The young woman met his eyes for the first time since they had left the hospital in a hurry and after a few seconds she said, "He... he's a friend... or at least I thought he was." Kid remained in silence, waiting for her to continue her account. "I've known him since I was a young child. He was... is older than me and well... even back then he was always getting into trouble. He grew into a ruffian, a womanizer, a crook actually... He's been in and out of jail for the past ten years." She paused to catch her breath and continued, "Despite everything else, we always had a special friendship...I don't know why but he always looked for me. And I ... well, I always tried to excuse him or find explanations for his way of life. When he heard I was back, he called me immediately... had great news for me. Apparently he was a changed man, he had learned his lesson and after his last stay in prison a year or so ago, he had got himself an honest and well-paid job."

"And you believed him."

"Yes, I did. I'm that gullible sometimes," Lou let out with a bitter expression. "Maybe he's really changed but in another direction. He has a girlfriend now..." Kid looked at her with a surprised expression and Lou continued, "Yes, a girlfriend and they're even engaged... an Italian girl... much younger than him naturally. Her family owns a large, successful business... they're rolling in money. So he's been bugging me lately that I had to meet them and I did. I imagine that after his past criminal record, it must make a good impression saying that your best friend, as he introduced me to these folks, was a doctor and a..." Lou's voice trailed off and she immediately cleared her throat to cover the slip she had been about to make. "In any case, I now believe that he's simply planning to marry into money." She sighed deeply and said, "I'm very sorry for Jane and ... the poor girl he wants to marry."

"What are you going to do when you see him?"

"I really don't know."

They didn't speak another word as Kid drove into the suburbs of the city. Lou had been told that Frank had gone to a posh and selective social club where he regularly played racquetball with his new acquaintances.

Kid pulled over in the large parking lot of the club. At the entrance the security guard stopped them and initially didn't let them get inside. Lou explained with a strained voice that she was a friend of Mr. Pike and demanded to see him. The security guy finally agreed to check the information on the phone and finally consented to allow them to go in.

Lou and Kid walked into the huge club and went past tennis courts, football fields, a golf course, the outdoor swimming pool among other amenities. When they got to their target point, at once Louise spotted Frank playing with another guy. He had also seen her and smiled while motioning for her to go inside.

"You'd better wait for me here," Louise told her colleague and Kid nodded in understanding. She squared her shoulders and took a deep breath, steeling herself for what she had to deal with now.

"Hello, Lou!" Frank chirped as he stopped the game and came up to her. His playing partner left the court and from the bench Pike picked up a towel, wiped his sweaty forehead and then had a swig at the water bottle. When he noticed Kid behind the glass panes, watching them, he asked, "Who's the guy in the suit?"

"No one of your concern."

"Why, Lou. I'm gonna get jealous!" he remarked teasingly, winking an eye at her.

"Please don't start with your nonsense!" Louise retorted sternly.

Frank sank down on the wooden bench, flexing and resting one of his legs on the seat, which made the material of his white shorts pull back, tightening in his most revealing parts. Without any ceremony Lou swatted his thigh off the seat. "For goodness' sake, sit like a normal person would... I haven't come here to see your show!"

Frank snickered at her reaction, his blue eyes glued on her figure. "Always the same old Lou. You'll never change."

"Neither will you," Lou replied pointedly.

He shrugged his shoulders in cold indifference and after a beat he asked, "What brings you here today?"

Louise didn't talk straightaway, carefully gathering her thoughts and what she wanted to say, and after a while she started, "You know? You have a beautiful and healthy baby boy."

"What are you talking about?" Frank asked as he stood up, his imposing figure towering over Lou's petite one.

"Jane... she's my patient at the clinic... and please don't pretend that you have no idea what I mean... Off with the masks, Frank! I'm tired of your lies."

The man looked down at her with a sneer. "What do you want me to say?"

"The truth... only that."

He snorted and after giving another swig to the bottle, he spat it into the bucket next to the bench. "Your beautiful Jane is a bitch. He's been nagging me with the same over and over again. Who knows how many more have tried her mattress and her easy access charms?"

Lou made a grimace at his words. "You're disgusting!"

Frank burst out laughing loudly and said, "You're so easy to shock. Just hilarious. Tell me, Louise, when do you plan to grow up and stop living in fairyland?" His teasing smile faded and he said, "As for your little friend, even if I am that bastard's father, I'm just not interested in playing the role of a concerned dad. She should have been careful and taken precautions to keep from getting knocked up. Personally, I couldn't care less what might happen to her or that brat!"

Louise turned her furious eyes to him and pointing a finger in his direction, she cried, "You stay away from her and you stay away from me. If I no more than hear that you go bothering her, you'll regret it. I think your future in-laws won't appreciate learning certain information about you."

"Are you threatening me? You?"

Lou didn't reply and tried to leave, but Frank grabbed her by one arm forcefully. "You can't go, Lou. We're friends... we've always been friends... and nothing more because you have never wanted it."

"Leave me alone!" Louise spat and tried to get loose, but he steeled his hold on her. They both wrestled and being much stronger, Frank pushed her against one of the walls. "It's such a shame that they already got their clutches on you. Otherwise, I'd show you how a woman feels after being with a man like me... and then you'd be able to share bed stories with sweet Jane."

"Take your hands off her!" Kid's angry voice resounded behind them. He had been watching them with curiosity from outside. The posture and proud bearing of that guy told him that he was untrustworthy. He had seen Lou going from calm to furious. He hadn't wanted to intervene because, as she had told him, this was her business, but when the man had gripped her violently, he hadn't been able to keep out of it any longer and had stormed into the court. Frank looked at the doctor and unleashed his hold on Lou. Both men remained glaring at each other in a silent duel and Lou quickly scurried to Kid's side.

"Let's go," she said, taking him by the arm softly but as he kept still, glowering at Pike, she had to strengthen her grip and practically drag him out of there.

Back in the car, Louise slumped on the soft leather seats, breathing in and out and releasing the tension that had built up in her body. "You ok, Lou?"

"Fine... I'm fine."

"I'm sorry for... you know... but when I saw him mistreating you, I..."

"Please can we drive off?" Lou begged in a demanding tone, cutting him off. Her disappointment on her friend wasn't actually such since she had always known what Frank was like and apart from Marmee, many people had warned her against him. Yet, she had wanted to believe that people could change, that not everything was black and white, and that a stray sheep could really return to its flock. She was very naïve and despite the dark realities she witnessed in life, she still wanted to keep faith and believe that this world couldn't be so morbid and ugly as everybody else seemed to believe.

Kid started the engine and neither said a word for a while. "I gather Jane wouldn't get any help from him," Kid remarked when they were getting in the vicinity of the hospital.

"Under the present circumstances she's better off without him."

"Bastard," Kid muttered between clenched teeth and Lou sent him a surprised glance. She had never heard him curse or use coarse language up until now but she couldn't say that she didn't share his frustration or feelings over the matter.

"He wasn't always that bad," Louise voiced her reservations timidly despite everything.

Kid looked at her sideways and a smile tugged at the corner of his lips. "I can imagine that you must have had a crush on him."

"Who? Me?"

"All bad boys usually have a strong pull on good, nice girls," Kid said half-seriously.

"Can you call it a crush when you are only eight years old?" Louise asked among giggles as Kid pulled over at the hospital. "I remember I used to think that he had the deepest, bluest, loveliest eyes in the whole world," Lou explained and it was then that her eyes met Kid's blue ones and she couldn't help but to think how different they were from Frank's... so intense, so warm, so rich. Like usual, Kid's deep stare seemed to look through her and she felt her cheeks blush and had to look away. "Of course," she continued, trying to conceal her awkwardness, "that was ages ago and since then I have learned to appreciate more important things than a couple of empty blue eyes."

They got out of the car and walked towards the entrance of the clinic, both trying to decide who should be the one to tell Jane about Frank and his response to his newly-discovered fatherhood. As they turned at the corner, they saw Sarah Downs talking to a middle-aged man. She kissed him on the cheek and turning around, she dashed towards the entrance of the hospital.

"Hey Sarah... Sarah... wait," the man called but the young woman was already inside the building and out of earshot.

Kid and Lou were close to the man and without thinking twice, the young woman addressed the man. "Afternoon, sir. We're doctors in this hospital and Sarah's colleagues... If you need something from her, we can find her and tell her anything you want."

"Thank you, Ma'am, but it's not important," the man replied. "By the way my name's Randall Downs."

Kid and Lou shook hands with him as they also introduced themselves. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Downs."

"Same here, son," Randall replied. "I have to admit that I hardly know anybody from Sarah's job... you see, the girl's kind of reserved."

Kid and Lou shared a knowing look, thinking that if things between Sarah and Jimmy progressed nicely, Mr. Downs was going to get to know a certain dark-haired doctor very well. The matter with the Roxanol bottle and the syringe still remained a mystery but according to Buck he hadn't found anything amiss in his stock. Everything was as it should be, which filled Lou and Kid with great relief. For Jimmy's sake they would have hated to find out that Sarah was in big trouble, which doubtlessly would affect their friend for the worse. Lou's findings in the restroom surely had a logical explanation, still to be found out, but the good thing was that there was nothing sordid or unclear about the matter.

"We haven't heard much about you either," Louise replied to the man's comment, "but we hardly have time to chat, working in a busy hospital like ours... but I imagine you have a pretty good idea how things work here through your daughter, don't you?"

Suddenly, the man started guffawing loudly while Kid and Lou exchanged surprised glances. When Mr. Downs sobered, he said, "I might look like an old hound... but Sarah's not my daughter... she's my wife."