- Chapter Eight -

Some Accidents Have A Silver Lining And Are Worth A Second Chance

Dawn breaking pale gold on a horizon of near obsidian sentinels, uneven fields of rosy rubble, and mauve pillars of civilization, Rafe woke from a fitful sleep. Haunted by the quietly bottled dismay that one accident would define him for the rest of his life, the man had been unable to achieve a more satisfied subconscious state and was therefore reluctant to face the day. Blind numbness from a lack of proper dreams receding like a dense fog over waves still as glass, as a result of his alert state there was no question of who he would find at his side. At the cathedral of Saint Dismas, there were only so many that it could have been, but in the city there were options. A man of his own whims, variety was important.

Yet somehow... Glancing across the sable sheets to find Nadine curled up at his side, snoring and content in the silk, he watched her with the faintest traces of envy. Curls tumbling across her face in a way that she wouldn't have tolerated while awake, there was a different kind of beauty to the woman when she was free of all her cares. And these last few days, the more there was for her to trouble herself with. It shouldn't have mattered to her any, yet it seemed as if she had spent every breath subtly implying just how important family was. When news broke that Bai had gone into labor, Nadine's hints had devolved into outright nagging that he go support the mother so that the child wasn't born under duress and with a darkness over its head.

Samuel had even chimed in with his own two cents on the matter. The multi-billionaire didn't need to hear it from all ends, so a few hours later he had the jet fueled and flew off to be with his right hand when she delivered the baby. Despite never outright addressing his own claim, he assumed doing that much would have eased his partners off his case, but Nadine was adamant that the bond of father and child be fostered. She was quiet now though.

Trained from boyhood to never tarry when there was something important on the schedule, the man who owned most everything worth owning in the world tossed the jet-black blankets off. Reaching for his favorite watch, he had it off the tabletop and on his wrist before he accomplished a vertical state. Running his fingers through the dark locks that fell into his icy stare, the businessman reviewed the itinerary for the day. Ordinarily it all revolved around research and analysis (along with the odd call), however today was special.

Special. Ha.

Everyone else around him had been on edge for the past twelve hours, from the prim lieutenant never be far from his boss needing instructions twice to the mandatory well-wishes, however he had remained unruffled. Babies were useless distractions that ate large chunks out of even the biggest bank accounts, and as for the mother... Pregnancy doing little to change the nature of their relationship, to put it bluntly he expected that it was only a matter of time before she came begging, so being the generous sort that he was, he didn't need to ruin a good thing by witnessing the birth.

All the same, he realized that there were still certain expectations.

Sleek case shining on the nightstand as it waited, from how stationary the device was he knew that nothing had changed. Someone would have called him if the baby had been born while he slept, would keep calling him until he got the message, and the phone was still as death. Unconcerned about whether or not the child was a boy or a girl, all he knew was that the baby was taking its sweet time being born. He wasn't sure if that was more annoying or something he should applaud - the mother certainly deserved none of his sympathy and had earned everything she got.

Technically Rafe had already honored his word and had poked his head in on the woman - it wasn't his fault that the baby was refusing to get the show on the road. Still though, now that he was awake he may as well make another appearance to appease the unseen eyes watching his every move. Reaching over for the phone to scroll through the morning newsfeed and the early financial outlooks, he then called a service to ferry him to the hospital in twenty minutes. Scratch that, thirty. If the baby was being a primadonna and taking its time to come out, he had no reason to hurry either.

Bleached and sanitized around the clock, the door to the private hybrid flower store opened to the icy-eyed thief forty-five minutes later. Transparent tubes pumping blood back into the body with countless gray wires connecting her to every other type of machine imaginable, he found the woman whiter than a sheet. Flock of nurses earning their paychecks, one had broken free to inform the man that her condition was due to excessive blood loss. Bai had apparently struggled to have a natural birth, but complications had risen that left no choice (or time) so she had to be taken to surgery that morning. The baby had been delivered via a cesarean section twenty some-odd minutes ago and was currently with the doctor when he had arrived. That would explain the call he had opted to ignore on the way to the hospital.

Only the word 'complication' had registered. Obviously the entire staff must have been comprised wholly of under-certified idiots, because his business proxy was too strong to be downed by something that women did every day and had done since the dawn of time. Some even had gone through the process repeatedly in their lifetimes. There was no way that this was going to get her! If anyone is going to kill this woman, it's going to be me. Telling himself as much, he demanded to be left alone with the patient. Having the most gall among them, the freckled head nurse attempted twice to tell him that it wasn't a good idea, however she had shut her mouth and ordered most of the rest of them out when he waved a hundred dollars in her square face.

"Rafe." Paper thin and edged with something that sounded too much to the ears like weakness, she beamed when she saw him standing at the side of the bed. After almost losing the baby and her own life, Bai's happiness was complete when she saw that he had come. Arms connected to all kinds of IVs, the needles made it hurt like hell to move, however she still reached out for the man.

Mind absolutely on the other side of the spectrum, he couldn't stand to see her this way. Crossing his arms against his chest, he was glacial as any man could be when speaking, "I should fire you now."

Threat nothing more than wind in her present state, it was difficult to watch a woman that had overcome a cocaine addition with very few to thank for the success succumb to something like this. His Bai wasn't some wilting pansy that would wither from a little setback - his Bai was a fighter that pushed herself every day to prove to him that she was worthy of his recognition. Every time they fought, every time they found their way into each others arms, every time her heart broke, it was another test of her mettle, and every time she had managed to impress. Or close enough to give her the credit. The point was that she wasn't going to die like this - he wouldn't let her.

Delirious from her condition and the heavy medicine that she was being given, the woman nodded her head meekly against the pillow. She looked truly pathetic. "You should end us both. Now you have Nadine. What about my needs?" Brow shining as she blinked over at the businessman, Bai manged a feeble head shake, "I should have waited. Should have remembered..." yawning, she was slipping away, "...party."

Party? Young once and always fabulously wealthy, it could never be said that there had been a shortage of get togethers in all the several years they had been acquainted. In fact that was often when the woman would reveal herself at her lowest, and why she was was missing part of her right pinky. Belligerent, jealous, prone to a wild imagination, and just a general vexation, Bai was the last person you wanted to show up for a social gathering, unless you were into the drama of reality tv trash. Having said that, they had also had some damn good times; Vegas was always a blast, and if it hadn't been for removing himself from his own celebration, they probably wouldn't be sitting here at the hospital today. But which was she referring to?

Brain automatically traveling back in time to his twenty-second or twenty-third birthday, the multi-billionaire fondly (and vividly) recalled the time that her vices became his personal knowledge. Oh how he had milked that to his advantage...! Monumental as that must have been for her, something told him that that wasn't what was on her mind. Racking the backlogs for what that else it could have been, when the answer presented itself, he could have slapped himself for being so dumb. Of course that was what she meant.

On the first big outing since he helped her get clean and shape up her act - which just so happened to be a company-wide Christmas party - she had bullied some little intern into being her escort. Clearly she had lost her damn mind, because her only goal that night had been to get underneath his skin for some perceived slight. Done up all in things he had gifted her, hanging all over every man that she could sink her fangs into while only really seeing one, she brought it on herself when he snapped. Requesting a slow song of some minor significance, she hadn't been in the spotlight a minute when the multi-billionaire had slapped her on the dance floor. Cold, unexpected, and in front of everyone, she had taken the blow. Her lack of fight infuriated him more than anything else, so he had hit her again. Everyone pretended that they hadn't noticed, but they knew.

What was missing from the story was that after she had been shouted at for her lack of professionalism, well after both of their dates had been forgotten and she followed him off to wherever they had gone to be alone, he told her that he didn't have to cover her detox by saying that she was working on a project abroad. He could have let the vultures descend when her habits became a problem that could no longer be contained, but he'd stepped up to protect her in her time of need. He was good to her when he had no reason to be, so she should have been kissing the ground he walked on.

"Sir?" Left to monitor the dosage and that the woman didn't take a sudden turn for the worse, a different nurse from before approached. Aside from him, there was another person in drubs bobbing about, but that didn't come as much of a surprise when it was taken into considerate how much money was being shelled out to keep the woman and her child alive. This one spoke with the assertive air of showing him out, "I'm going to have to ask you to leave now. This woman needs to rest." No, that pallor creeping over her figure was completely natural.

Allowing himself to be shown to the door, Rafe nodded automatically when the squat ginger gestured back to the sleeping beauty. Countenance leeched of all life as she drifted off, he mused to himself that death became the woman.

"Are you the baby's father?" As of that moment, there was no concrete evidence to the contrary, so the businessman inclined his head in acknowledgement. Even then he refused to admit his responsibility aloud, though he was doing everything that a father with all of his near-unlimited resources would do. "Would you like to meet your daughter?"

So it was a girl.

Unsure he could have made himself care if it had been a boy, knowing the gender of the baby still didn't matter one whit. Pausing in the harshly lit corridor as if he were considering the question, Rafe had merely stopped to reach into his pocket. Extracting his wallet, the icy-eyed thief handed the other man a stack of clean bills. "Let's just say that I did." Understanding the transaction, the nurse dipped his head and took the money.

The first time that Rafe actually saw his little girl was late one stormy night.

Wisely (albeit with many a curse) the operation had been halted due to the weather, and since the advisory was pointing to a possible hurricane, the entirety of Shoreline had gone mainland to hunker down until they received an all-clear. Nadine had gone ahead with her men, which had just left Samuel with the billionaire, the baby, and the wheelchair-bound baby mama. Bai had not only abused her maternity leave but had somehow fallen down a flight of stairs and wound up extending the paid vacation by breaking her leg. Recent as the injury was, she had been recuperating at a nearby hotel so that the baby could be seen by her father at his leisure. Nothing more than dead weight, she was in too frail a condition to wander about.

Left no choice but to abandon the island for the time being, when the power had went out across the map he had relocated the foursome to sunnier shores. With Bai in need of near constant care, that left Sam to have to see to her. The ex-con complained at length about having to tend to the bespectacled businesswoman, but there was no secret that he was enjoying the break from the constant cold of the deary cathedral. In turn that had left the baby to Rafe.

Crying from the crib that first night, the little girl looked so small and helpless when she fussed and kicked the peach-colored covers off. Something to cross his mind before, it occurred to him just how easy it would have been to right the wrong. Anything could have been to blame: him being out of the room for just a moment, the coverlets, the seeping cold that carried over from Scotland. Yes, he quite liked that last one as it would have been Bai's fault.

Prepared to turn away from the wailing newborn to leave her to her own devices, Rafe made the mistake of looking at the child to remember the moment. Unnaturally blue and too big for her head, the baby's eyes reminded him of Bai. Loosing the girl would truly devastate the woman. Pursing his lips as he examined the baby closer to see if he could see the resemblance that the woman always droned on about, he acknowledged that she hadn't done anything lately to warrant such a harsh punishment.

Staring up at the strange man that she had never seen before, the baby ceased her call for attention and smiled up at him. Extending her chubby little hands to the billionaire, the little girl giggled happily. Taking the hint that she just wanted someone to hold her, he cautiously picked the bundle up only to drop her back into the bed when she unleashed her lunch all over his front. Leering down at the little urchin as he wiped off most of the sick, she returned the scowl with another joyous grin. Unmoved and pondering if the barf had been malicious or if the smile was just to rub it in, he turned away and left to clean himself up.

From that point on, if one of his party had been unable to see to the baby, he called in one of the hotel staff to take care of the girl. If he had done it himself, there was no guarantee that he would show mercy a second time.

Weeks after that there had been a time when such service was not a luxury. Troubled by dubious tax reports and a string of sexual harassment suits being filed against the head manager of the Des Moines branch, the businessman had been stuck in a meeting with Bai. That was nothing out of the ordinary in and of itself, however the woman had refused to go anywhere without the baby. In a moment of confusion and a potential million-dollar loss with a client that she herself had brought in, it was the woman's duty to smooth things out. Really tearing into the guy for attempting to back out once he realized what he had gotten himself into, the stockinged typhoon became momentarily to busy to hold the baby.

Handing it over to Rafe with the most scorching of stares that brooked no room for argument, he looked at the thing in his arms with distrust. It was a ticking time bomb just waiting to go off.

Hesitant to be so close in proximity to the girl and making disgruntled faces as he held her at arms-length, once again the baby showed her appreciation and smiled at him. On one hand he wondered if the child was broken or simply that grateful to be away from her smothering mother, and on the other it crossed his mind that she just realized greatness when she saw it. Untested as his new theory was, the infant seemed to innately know when she was in the presence of her father. Knot never got half as warm a reception from the girl when he was placed in charge of her (which was fairly often in truth), and Sam was even less keen on being around the baby than even Rafe was.

All the same, the minute that Bai was off the phone he had thrust the baby back into her arms. Watching her whimper slightly when trading hands, he graced the girl with a second look.