Chapter 4

Pine Valley, PA

"Sing him a song," David told his daughter.

"No, I can't." she protested. "You sing."

David shook his head. "He likes your voice."

Leah's dark brows narrowed and she looked at him with the kind of scepticism he'd seen from Anna more than once. "I don't know any songs."

"You don't need words. Just anything." He pointed towards the cage where Ruben, the guinea pig had raised his head, as if interested in the conversation. "See, he's waiting for you."

Leah's lips widened into a smile. "I love Ruben."

David gave her a nudge into her room. "Go show him how much. Tell him that Melissa is coming soon."

David observed her with a smile as she tried to string a few notes together.

Content that she'd be staying out of trouble for the next five minutes, he moved to his study, next to her room.

Sitting down at his desk, David Hayward turned on his desk top and read his electronic correspondence with interest.

Rosenberg had sent Alex five e-mails so far, all of which he'd forwarded to Hayward. They were lengthy, pertaining to the article she wrote, while at the same time discussing other stem cell research theories. Much of it might as well have been in Greek. It didn't mean much to David.

He forwarded one of the e-mails to his head of IT at Seaview; an anti-social genius who wasn't embarrassed about living and breathing computer technology. David figured the man could probably hack into his online bank account if he asked him to. Instead, he asked him whether he could determine the location of the sender of the e-mails Rosenberg was receiving.

David had no idea whether the request was simple or impossible.

-vancouver, canada.

That was the response he got less than an hour later.

David swallowed, impressed. What the hell are you doing in Vancouver, Alex?

He wrote back to him.

-Are you able to get an exact address?

-you're in luck. it's a provider based e-mail. i can narrow down the ISP in a coupla hours.

David figured that was a yes. He marvelled that a chance discovery by Robin had been able to accomplish in just over a week what Anna and Sean had failed to do in two years. Find Alex.

"You don't know for sure that it's her yet," he reminded himself aloud. It could all be a massive coincidence. Another stem cell researcher whose name just so happened to resemble Alex's.

He looked at Rosenberg's latest e-mail.

-I set up correspondence with Alexia Merrick. What else do you want me to do?

David frowned. "I may have set you up with one of the most brilliant minds in your field and all I get in return is thinly veiled irritation. Granted, I did it through blackmail...but still."

-Keep writing to her. Share more of your ideas with her, he responded.

Levy Rosenberg must also have been sitting at his desk because his response was immediate.

-That's what I've been doing!

-And?

-She gave me some interesting ones of her own. Maybe interesting isn't the right word. Radical, farfetched? Some of her theories are way out there!

David held back from typing what he was thinking. Outside the box. Revolutionary. Maybe those are the words you're looking for. It sounds exactly like the Alex Marick I know. It's why you'll never be in her league. Major breakthroughs aren't meant for the timid and narrow-minded.

David decided to cut to the chase.

-In a couple of weeks I want you to have established enough of a professional rapport that it won't sound strange to suggest a local medical conference to meet up with her, to discuss some research ideas in person.

-Is she here in San Francisco?

-No, I think she's in Vancouver.

The e-mail response came with lightning speed.

-Vancouver? I don't have time to fly to Vancouver to meet up with this woman! Do you have any idea what my schedule is like?

David wanted to roll his eyes.

-You won't be meeting with her. I will

There was a marked pause at the other end before his reply came through.

-Fine. I'll work on it.

-Thanks

There were no more replies after that.

David sighed. If his head of IT could get him an address, why not take the next flight to Vancouver and show up on her doorstep? Why bother with the charade and force Levy to play along against his will?

'Because you don't want to spook her even more than you're already going to,' he thought, answering his own question. 'And because you still don't know whether it really is Alex...'

He saw a new e-mail in his inbox and was about to open it when suddenly he felt something crawling up his back.

He nearly jumped out of his chair and hit the ceiling.

Anna laughed.

David's heart pounded. "Jesus Christ...you nearly gave me a heart attack." He took a deep breath. "How the hell do you do that? How do sneak up on me without making a single sound?"

"Skills? WSB training?" She shrugged her shoulders. "Or maybe you're just deaf. Did you know our daughter is singing to her guinea pig?"

David pulled her onto his lap. She'd come straight home from one of her karate classes. Dressed in jeans and a t-shirt, Anna's hair was pulled back into a messy bun and she barely wore any make-up. She'd never looked more beautiful to him.

He wanted to kiss the nape of her neck, but she beat him to it, when she leaned in to kiss him on the lips. There was a hint of perspiration on her skin, mixed with the scent of her perfume. It was a subtle fragrance that he caught only when her skin was close enough to touch his. He loved that it wasn't obvious, but an intimate scent for him alone.

He kissed her back, deeply, enjoying the warm feel of her lips on his.

"How was class?" he asked afterwards.

"Good," she told him. "Our dojo officially got the okay for training the kids from the Better than Gangs programme. It's going to be a challenge. But I'm looking forward to it."

"The what?" She had his full attention now.

"It's a city programme. Free karate classes for low-income kids that have been in gang related trouble. We teach them that you don't have to be a bully to get respect. That there's lots of other ways to be tough."

David raised his brows. "You're going to teach karate to gang members? Baby, are you crazy? Do you know what sort of stuff these kids carry on them these days? Guns and knives! You have no idea what kind of gang related injuries I've seen at the Seaview ER!"

Anna groaned. "Actually, I might have some idea...you forget I used to work for the PVPD."

David frowned, hating the whole idea instantly. Imagining some punk striking back with a knife after Anna had the audacity to toss his butt on a mat. "I don't like this. Can't you get someone else to teach those kids, so you can stick to the five-year olds?"

Anan pulled away from him and David could sense her annoyance before she voiced it. "Actually sensei asked me to spearhead the programme and I agreed."

"For god's sake, Anna! You realize that you of all people can't risk a head injury again. You shouldn't even be doing this kind of physical stuff. Never mind increasing your chances of getting into fights with gang members."

"They're not exactly gang members...they're kids who might end up in one if we don't get to them first! Secondly..." she paused, her dark eyes meeting his angrily now. "How about a little faith in my abilities? Not that it will happen, but if I were to get into a fight with some fourteen year-old, it wouldn't be me you'd have to worry about."

"Karate chops can't stop bullets, Anna," he shot back. This was going to be a fight now, but David didn't care. If that's what it took.

Anna bit her lip. "I'm not having this argument. Again. I've already quit my full-time job. I'm certainly not about to quit this because you have all sorts of misconceived ideas about it."

"I don't want to see you hurt, that's all..." he tried to reason.

"No, you're wrong." She wouldn't let him finish. "That's not it at all. After all this time, you still think you can turn me into something I'm not. And you're doing it while you're treating me like a child. It has to stop or else..."

This time she was the one who stopped in mid-sentence, staring at the computer. "What's that...David, did you get an e-mail from Robin? Finally a sign of life from her! Let me see!"

David turned his attention back to the screen in front of him, realizing now that the e-mail he was about to open before Anna snuck up on him was from Robin. Just above all the others from Levy Rosenberg.

It was the first correspondence from her in almost a week. Although she didn't like to admit it, Anna had started to worry. So much so that she'd been on the verge of contacting the US embassy in Rwanda.

The realization that Robin had sent him an e-mail made his thoughts race.

What if she mentions the article and Alex?

His mouth suddenly went dry. He didn't open the e-mail.

"I'm sure she sent you one too, or...copied you."

Anna didn't understand his hesitation. "Maybe...but I didn't get a chance to check. Can you open yours? I'm dying to know if she's alright."

David took a deep breath, hating that he was thinking of ways not to. Right down to tossing his wireless mouse out the window. Followed by the keyboard.

If this e-mail was meant for me and she mentions Alex, Anna will never understand me not telling her sooner.

Their relationship very nearly hadn't survived his constant lies at the beginning of it. She'd left him and took off for Paris while pregnant with Leah, because of his lies. He'd sworn to himself that he'd never go back to the kind of dishonesty that used to break her heart on a weekly basis.

It was the one thing he knew Anna wouldn't forgive.

"David, what is wrong with you? For god's sake can you open it? I just want to know if my daughter's okay!"

"Yeah, sure..." he tried to sound nonchalant, unable to look her in the eye. Knowing that his delayed reaction was already all she needed to arouse her suspicions.

He clicked on the e-mail, opening it. It was short. Barely five lines.

Hi David,

Sent Mom a longer e-mail (in case you get this before she does) but I also need to ask whether you've found out anything more from the article I gave you. It's hard getting access to the Net where I've been, but please, please keep me updated! I'm dying to know what you found out.

XOXO

Robin

David exhaled an audible sigh of relief. Thank god she didn't mention Alex by name.

"See..." he managed. "There's a detailed report on how she's doing in your inbox."

Anna looked at him as if trying to figure out what had just transpired. "What is she talking about? What's so important about an article?"

"There...there's been a breakthrough in AIDS research." He pointed to the other e-mails in his inbox. "Robin asked me to contact a colleague to see if I can get an inside scoop for her."

Anna looked suspicious. "What kind of breakthrough?"

"A possible vaccine." The lies rolled off his tongue much easier now. Too easily almost.

Anna's gaze was relentless. "Is that right?"

"Haven't you been reading the news?" David managed a smile. "The full extent of their progress hasn't been released to the public yet but they're very close. I trust you can keep a secret?"

His last words finally elicited a smirk from her. "I've kept a couple of yours haven't I?" She stood up and undid the clasp on her hair, letting it fall past her shoulders. "I'm going to check my Blackberry before Melissa gets here. I'm dying to know how Robin's doing."

"Let me know too," he told her, relieved that there was no more explaining to do. For now.

Later

Anna stared at her Blackberry and read the e-mail a second time.

-Hi Mom

Sorry, I haven't been in touch. Internet and phone service are sporadic, but you and Leah and David are in my thoughts all the time. Please give them a big kiss from me, especially my little princess!

I won't lie and say the last few days haven't been hard. MSF transferred me from the Kigali clinic to a refugee camp near the DRC border, close to the Kivu region where the armed conflict is happening. Most of the refugees in the camp are fleeing that civil war. Conditions here are rough and the heat is bad. Supplies are constantly running out or getting stolen, it's so damn frustrating. Thought I'd seen everything after a year at the Pine Valley ER, but that didn't even come close. There isn't much time for sleep or much of anything besides the work we're doing. It's not what I thought I'd be doing here. I was prepared for AIDS related cases, not war injuries, but... this is where I'm needed right now and I'm grateful to have the skills for it.

I love you Mom.

Robin

ps: Tell me how the wedding plans are coming along!

Anna bit her lip, hating that the news from Robin had worried her more than the lack of news did earlier. Her HIV positive daughter was working in a refugee camp near a war zone.

Why do you have to go to an African war zone of all places to make a difference, sweetheart? Do you have any idea how hard it is to know you're there, and that if anything happens to you I'm too far away to help you? It's so damn hard, and every time I give myself two minutes to think about it I want to hop on the next plane to Africa, and bring you to your senses.

Anna leaned against the kitchen counter and drank the ice-cold water she'd poured into a glass. Exhaling after she set it back down on the counter.

Is this how David feels when he sees me teaching gangster-wannabes karate?

"It's not the same," she whispered aloud. "Not even close."

She was angry. Enough so that she wanted to kick the counter she was leaning against.

Not just because David still didn't believe that she was capable of taking care of herself.

If that's your reaction to my teaching troubled kids karate, I can't wait to see how you react when I tell you I plan on going back to the PVPD in the Fall...

But more so because she knew he was lying about something.

You used to be such a good liar. Not anymore. Or maybe I just know you too well now.

While she might not like it, Anna could tolerate his bull-headed over protectiveness because she knew it was rooted in love. Sometimes it even reminded her of Robert.

But Anna swore she wouldn't tolerate any more lies. Not when it was one lie after another that nearly killed their relationship before it even had a chance. And not when she thought that it was something to do with her daughter.

What if Robin is asking you to look into research developments because her medication has stopped working? Would you keep that from me if she asked you to?

Beside the anger, there was hurt too. Anna couldn't understand why now, when they'd weathered so much to get to where they were, David would go back to keeping secrets.

Part of her wanted to go back upstairs to his study and confront him, right now. But now wasn't the time. Melissa would be here any moment, and Anna knew that the teen girl she'd grown so fond of loved spending time with them because it gave her a chance to escape the drama of her own family. Leah loved having her over. The two of them would spend most of the afternoon playing with Ruben, the guinea pig that Melissa had to give up and was now part of their family.

The doorbell rang and Anna exhaled again.

Whatever David was hiding, she'd find out, Anna decided. Even if she had to play by his rules for a change.

Anna pushed a strand of hair behind her ears, as Leah came running into the room, to answer the door with her.

"Is it Melissa?" she asked.

Anna hoisted her daughter into her arms. "I think so. Let's find out."

Anna opened the door to find Melissa and her mother on the other side.

"Hi, Anna."

She smiled when she saw the teenage girl. "Hi sweetie." Leah slipped out of her arms and pulled Melissa into the house before Anna had the chance to say anything else.

Melissa's mother gave her look of mild disdain before holding out her hand. "I never get a chance to say hello to your little girl before she storms off, Mrs. Hayward."

'I wish I was three again and could do the same,' Anna thought fighting the urge to correct her. Instead, she shrugged her shoulders. "What can I say? She's happy to see Melissa." Anna gestured into the hallway. "Why don't you come in?"

"I can't have her stay long tonight," Patsy Cartwright pointed out ignoring the invitation. "The Senator and I have an early appointment tomorrow, so we can't pick her up too late."

It always made Anna smirk when Mrs. Cartwright referred to her husband as 'the Senator'. Maybe I'll refer to David as the Surgeon from now on.

The surgeon snuck up behind her, and Anna suddenly felt his hand on her lower back.

"Why don't you let her stay the night?" David suggested to Melissa's mother, with a smile that was full of easy charm.

It amused Anna to see Patsy Cartwright respond to it, blushing slightly.

"Oh...I don't want to impose. No, I couldn't..."

"You're not imposing. We're angling for a free babysitter."

Anna smiled. David had a way of doing that. Of putting anyone at ease. Her husband was a hard man to resist.

David's hand still rested on the small of her back, but he'd pulled her closer to him. There was never any doubt of how much he loved her. How much he wanted her. It was frustratingly easy to love him.

Patsy Cartwright managed a thin-lipped smile. "Surely you have plans too? I wouldn't want Melissa to interrupt them."

David shook his head. "Not a one. Does she have enough meds on her?"

"Yes...yes, she does, always. But she didn't come prepared to spend the night. She doesn't have any..."

"She can borrow one of Robin's pyjamas and sleep in her room. We have extra toiletries," Anna added. "It really is no trouble."

"Well...alright then."

"Are you sure you don't want to join us for dinner?" David added, knowing she'd decline.

"No, I can't. The Senator and I have dinner reservations at Millicent tonight."

"Well...can't say my cooking compares to Millicent's," Anna admitted.

"Or even Melissa's..." David added.

Anna shot him a look. "Thanks."

Patsy Cartwright eyed them both and offered another meagre smile. "I'll be off then, please tell Melissa I said good-bye and that I'll come pick her up tomorrow afternoon."

Anna closed the door, shaking her head in disbelief. "Because it would kill her to say bye to her daughter herself..." It never ceased to amaze her how Patsy Cartwright always somehow made Melissa seem like an afterthought. And that the gentle daughter who didn't have a single selfish bone in her body, never thought to call her mother on it. David told her that Patsy Cartwright had refused to let Melissa keep the guinea pig she loved so much, following her extensive heart surgery, making Anna think she was every bit as heartless as she suspected.

David's arm was around her now. "Funny how no one thought to ask Melissa whether she wanted to stay."

"You know she'd let us adopt her if we could," Anna sighed, leaning against him. It was hard to stay angry with him too. "Should we tell her the good news?"

"Go for it. But first tell me how Robin's doing."

Anna shrugged her shoulders, not wanting to think about her daughter near an African refugee camp. "She says she's alright, but I still don't think this is a good idea given her condition..."

"Anna, the virus is nearly undetectable in her system now. Don't forget that. She has no symptoms. She's healthy."

"It's nearly undetectable. Kept in control only by medication."

"Don't look at it that way, baby."

Anna bit her lip. "Right."

Anna paused, turning to meet his eyes.

I'm going to ask you one more time. Because I want to believe we're past lying to each other.

"What is it that Robin wants you to look up?"

The question took him by surprise. "What?"

"The research you said she wants you to look into, what exactly is it?"

Anna could sense his defensiveness already by the way he tightened his lips. "It's nothing, really..."

"It sounded important to Robin."

He raised his hands, not meeting her eyes this time. "Look, do you really want me to bore you with medical jargon right after our young guest got here?"

"Just tell me the basics, in layman's terms."

"It's...it's about a possible AIDS vaccine, like I said. Very experimental at this point. I can't really go into details."

Fine then. Have it your way. Remember that I gave you two chances.

Anna said nothing as he put his arm back over her shoulder.

"Come. I want to make our girls my out-of-this world spaghetti bolognese. You open a bottle of red, and I'll do the rest."

Anna bit her tongue. "Alright..."

Kigali, Rwanda

Robin Scorpio looked at the fruit stands in front of her.

There were so many varieties in such a rainbow of colours, they nearly competed with the colourful print dresses of their vendors. The afternoon market was a noisy, crowded and chaotic affair and Robin wished she'd taken along a camera. It was a beautiful change from the misery she'd seen this past month.

One African woman held out a greenish-yellow fruit with five pointy ends to Robin, urging her to buy it.

Robin shook her head with a smile. Beautiful as they looked, none of them made her want to take a bite. The nausea that had been with her all week was still bad. She knew she had to try and eat something since they took out the saline IV last night. But it was almost late afternoon now and she still hadn't made the effort.

Robin cringed when she thought of the past few days.

She fell ill almost a week ago at the rural clinic that the Médecins sans Frontières team was running near the DRC border. At first she was certain it was something she ate, combined with the unreliable refrigeration, making it impossible to keep some of her protocol meds as cold as they needed to be.

Dehydrated, running a fever and ultimately collapsing after a twelve hour shift, the MSF team promptly stuck her on a land rover that brought her to a nearby landing strip, where a wobbly single engine plane brought her back to a hospital in Kigali, where she remained for the next three days.

"And where I found out that my viral load is detectable again..." Robin whispered aloud. The thought still frustrated her enough that it almost brought on a fresh batch of tears. No matter how much she liked to deny it, the truth was that her immune system would never be as strong as that of someone who never had the virus to start. The numbers were still low enough not to be cause for serious worry, but they had increased for the first time in years.

Even so, Robin wasn't ready to quit.

She even resisted calling her mother, instead sending her an e-mail from the hotel that suggested she was still at the camp because that's exactly where she planned to be again in the near future.

Robin knew that her mother's worried voice might just be the straw that broke the camels back. The one final push she needed to hop on a plane back to the US. God knows it felt like the obvious thing to do right now, when even after three days in bed, she barely had the energy to walk a few blocks in the African heat. Every fibre of her exhausted body wanted nothing more than to call it a day and spend a week or more at the mountain cabin in Pine Valley, loving her baby sister and being taken care of by her mother and David.

'It's a setback, that's all,' she reminded herself. It was easy to give in when you felt miserable. At least she was out of the hospital and back in a hotel. All she had to do now was get back on track with her meds, rest and regain her energy and decrease the viral load again. It was something that could feasibly be done in a week.

Robin frowned. Her head pounded and she knew after less than half an hour of venturing outside it was time to head back to her hotel room. Mentally she needed an escape from the four walls that had surrounded her the last few days, but physically she wasn't quite up to the task. Besides, one of the MSF doctors was due to check in on her early this evening.

Much as she hated the fuss, she had to admit the young Belgian who'd come to see her the past two days at the hospital was easy enough on the eyes that she didn't mind his visits that much. His dark hair and easy smile reminded her a lot of David.

'A European David without the swagger,' she thought.

Her stomach lurched as she turned to head back to her hotel. It was less than a ten minute walk from the market.

She felt like she might throw up, except that she was certain she had nothing to throw up. Her nausea was now accompanied by dizziness and part of her wanted to scold herself for venturing out on her own.

Amidst the noise and chatter of the market, Robin heard a voice that made her turn her head. It was that of a woman arguing in the native tongue with a market vendor. The voice wasn't louder or more distinctive than anyone else's in the throng of people that surrounded her but there was something about it that Robin recognized.

Robin squinted her eyes in the sun as she eyed the tall, beautiful and obviously pregnant woman. Suddenly she realized that she did know her.

"Sandrine?" she called out to the woman, unsure whether it really was the African woman who worked for the WSB and had helped her mother and Sean search for Alex two years ago. Maybe her mind was playing tricks on her. Hadn't Sandrine said she lived in Kinshasa?

The woman turned around and judging from the look of utter shock on her face, Robin had no doubts that it was indeed her.

"Robin?" she asked in disbelief, dropping a piece of fruit she held in her hand. It fell with a plop onto the wooden market stall. "Is that you?"

"Yes..." Robin managed a smile. It was oddly comforting to see a familiar face halfway across the world from her home. "What are the chances?"

"Je peux pas le croire..." Sandrine muttered. "Robin Scorpio? Robin...what are you doing here?"

Sandrine didn't look like she shared Robin's pleasure in seeing someone familiar. In fact the shock and disbelief written all over her face seemed excessive.

Suddenly there was another voice in the crowd that sent chills up Robin's spine.

"Sandi, we have to get going or else we'll never make it to the dinner in time..."

The voice came from behind her and, though it seemed impossible, Sandrine looked pale now. Pale and shaken and upset.

Robin felt like holding her hands against her ears. She couldn't have heard the voice she thought she heard. It was one she hadn't heard in over fifteen years and knew she wouldn't, couldn't, ever hear again.

The dizziness was unbearable now and Sandrine's face was swimming in front of her, drowning in a kaleidoscope of African colours.

Robin was dreaming. She was sure of it.

Even so, she turned around to see where the voice came from, and for the first time in almost two decades, she saw her father's blue eyes again, staring back at her in shock.

The realization of what the vision meant suddenly dawned on her.

She was dying.

She was going to die in the middle of a bustling African market, a world away from the family she loved.

But it was okay.

She was going to be with her father again and that thought sent an unexpected warmth all over body. It made her lips curl up into a smile even.

"I missed you, Dad...but I'm coming..." she whispered, low enough to make it impossible for anyone to hear her. "I think I'm going to be with you now."

It was her last thought before the world around her went dark.