ALASTAIR
“Ava, the boss wants to see you in his office,” Sharon, the senior employee and the aunt of the diner’s owner said to the young waitress who was taking the orders at a table full of bikers.
“What does he want?” Although initially the red-haired young woman let out a sigh of relief, grateful that the co-worker got her out of the danger zone, she was afraid that the boss would fire her. “Did he mention the incident?”
“No,” Sharon shook her head, “my nephew only told me to bring you to his office as quickly as possible.”
“Sit down, Ava,” Jonathan Miller, the boss, gestured to a chair on the other side of the desk. “I have some pretty bad news for you,” he continued, avoiding looking her in the eyes. “I’m sorry and I pray for you to have the strength too...”
“Boss, look, I’m ready to pay for the damage, but please don’t fire me,” the woman desperately started, “I need this job, I may have to look for yet another part-time one, but for the moment, this one is my only source of income and...”
“Ava, relax a moment, please,” the man sighed, somewhat impatiently. “Your job is safe, I called you here to tell you about Kieran.”
”My son? What’s wrong with my baby? Boss, what happened?” The woman’s body was tensed like a bow about to release an arrow.
“Apparently, one of the older kids pushed him out of the school bus, and the truck driver couldn’t avoid him. The ambulance arrived almost instantly, though, and...”
“Ambulance? How bad is it?” Without realizing, Ava was holding onto the chair, her knuckles white from the pressure.
“They don’t know, yet,” Jonathan offered her a sympathetic look. “Sharon will drive you to New York General Hospital, it’s where they took Kieran.”
“Come on, sweetie, let’s go,” the other woman protectively wrapped a hand around Ava’s shoulders. And don’t worry about anything else, the job will be here when you get back.”
The young redhead nodded automatically, then went to the personnel's locker room, changing into the street clothes. Once finished, the woman went to the parking lot, waiting for her co-worker. A million thoughts were running through her mind, some of them contradictory, colliding into each other like high speed trains set on the same course.
Her son was literally all she had, the fruit of an ill-fated marriage with a man who won her heart and trust, taking advantage of that in the most dirty, ugly, treacherous way. After getting Ava pregnant, making sure she would never think of leaving him, her husband systematically started to embezzle funds from the restaurant chain his wife inherited from her mother.
Indeed, too busy raising and educating Kieran, she didn’t notice the leakage of funds until two years earlier, when the accounts were almost drained. The bitter divorce that followed left her almost broke, a two-bedroom apartment and a car being all she had. In spite of that, Ava was happy, because the greedy bastard of a ex-husband didn’t succeedin taking the boy away from her.
Kieran was his mother’s pride and joy, a lively, bright, intelligent, outspoken, brave little boy, with a cute little face, rusty-red hair and dark-green, piercing eyes. Much ahead of his classmates in school, the child amazed the teachers with his extensive knowledge and the desire to learn more about all kinds of things.
However, not everyone was happy with Kieran having outstanding academic results and being the favorite of the teachers. Older kids picked on the little boy, calling him all kinds of names, some of them dirty, pushing him around and teasing him. Ava even noticed some scratch marks and light bruises on the child’s arms and legs, but he denied that they were inflicted by his older schoolmates.
Until they pushed her beautiful, intelligent, playful son under a truck, like the killers they were. Bloody beasts, the woman cursed them mentally, those were not children, but criminals who should go to jail for what they did. Just wait and see, she said, clenching the jaw and gritting the teeth.
“Here we are, honey,” Sharon’s voice brought Ava to reality. “I’ll leave you now, I have to go back, but don’t hesitate to give me a call if you need anything.”
“Thanks a lot, darling, you already did enough,” the young woman said, hugging her co-worker. “I appreciate the offer, though. I’ll let you know how my baby’s doing as soon as I have news.”
“Go, run to him, that poor little soul needs you, don’t worry about anything else,” Sharon gently shoved Ava to the hospital’s entry.
“Kieran O’Neall,” she said to the receptionist, who looked a little surprised to see her there. “A little boy, seven years of age, this tall, red hair...”
“Oh, sorry, didn’t they tell you? The child was in a very bad shape, he was transferred to the Institute right after the stabilization...”
“What stabilization? What institute? What are you talking about?” Ava kept asking, unable to understand the meaning of the receptionist’s words.
The woman checked her watch, then answered in the same professional voice. “The Van der Meerwe Institute. An ambulance will be available in about an hour, you can see it for yourself how the child is doing. Now, if you excuse me...”
“Excuse you?! The hell I will! Look, lady, my baby is there, in very bad shape, as you kindly put it earlier, and you tell me I should wait for an hour for the bloody ambulance? Aren’t you a public hospital, isn't it your obligation to...”
“Miss Ava Shepherd?” a man’s polite, warm voice made the redhead turn to the direction it was coming from. “Please, excuse me for not spotting you earlier. My name is Seymour Donovan and I was instructed to wait for you and take you straight to the Van der Meerwe Institute.”
“Instructed? By whom?” the woman measured the man from head to toe, giving him a distrustful look.
“By Doctor Rayne Stark, the director of the institute. Kieran’s out of surgery, but he’s very weak and lost a lot of blood, so be prepared to donate,” Seymour gently spoke, as he was guiding Ava through the parking lot. “Here we are.”
Gesturing to a small, silver convertible, Seymour opened the door for the young woman, warning her to put on the safety belt with a small, cute grin. After making sure she was properly settled in, he climbed into the vehicle, ignited the engine and stepped on the gas pedal until it hit the floor.
From the corner of her eye, Ava studied the man, the precision in every move he made, the concentrated expression in his eyes indicating he could be trusted. Her biggest worry was that a police car could pull them over, because the speed limit was exceeded by far. Anyway, the man didn’t seem preoccupied by that aspect, driving a million miles a minute.
“Will you slow down just a little bit?” Ava tentatively spoke, hoping to get the driver’s attention.
“Why are you sick?” Seymour’s voice was laced with worry, but he continued to speed up. “We’ll be there in an instant, and you can get professional care. You have to be there for the little one.”
“We won’t arrive in time if the police pulls us over for speeding,” Ava replied. “Besides, I can’t afford to pay the fine right now...”
“Don’t worry over this or anything else,” Seymour spoke in the same soft voice from earlier. “The little boy should be your only concern, save your strength for him. All radars are blocked on our itinerary, just so you know,” he offered a small smile.
“Blocked? By whom?” Suddenly, Ava started to wonder if she decided wisely when accepting to get into the car with that man.
“Tarquin,” the driver mysteriously smiled, “Who else? Here we are,” he pointed out to the imposing building in front of them.
“I’m happy you finally could make it, Miss Shepherd,” a red-haired, bearded man greeted her as soon as she set foot inside the building. “I’m Doctor Rayne Stark, the director of this research institute, and the one in charge of your son’s case. Your ex-husband will be here any minute, we finally located him.”
“First, my son is not a case, he’s a little boy, second, what does that bastard have to do with my child?” Ava replied, staring coldly at the doctor.
Rayne didn’t reply, offering the woman a sympathetic look she didn’t appreciate very much. He was painfully familiar with the situation: one parent desperately struggling with the limitations of poverty, the other one indulging themselves in a life of luxury. The big difference in that case was that the struggling parent was the one who had the child.
“Listen, Miss Shepherd,” he spoke calmly,“I suspected that the relationship between you and your ex wasn’t all milk and honey by the way he spoke about you. But I had to make this call in my patient’s best interest. He bled internally and lost a lot of blood. Somehow, we managed to stabilize him during the liver transplant, but still needs a massive transfusion, and I need to test both of you.”
“Wait a minute,” Ava gestured with one hand, “you just mentioned liver transplant. Was Kieran so bad, and if yes, whose liver did he get? Could you do that without getting us tested for compatibility first? And didn’t you think that Kieran’s body could reject the organ?
“The compatibility chances with the new liver are one hundred percent, you don’t have to worry about it being rejected,” Rayne proudly smiled. “The organ was obtained with the help of a bio-engineering procedure we discovered, perfected and implemented here at the Institute.
“An artificial organ? You took my baby boy and experimented on him, replacing his liver with that thing, as if he was a robot or something?
“No one treated your son like he was a robot, let me assure you, Miss Shepherd,” Rayne spoke somewhat coldly. “I took an oath and I’m not going to break it. Waiting for a “real” liver, when Kieran’s condition was so critical, would have led to his death. We don’t use the black market here.”
“Where is he? Where is my son? I demand to see him,” a man who just entered the reception area started to speak in an unpleasant voice, with dramatic accents.
“He’s in the intensive care unit, Mister O’Neall,” Rayne’s stone-cold voice cut him short. “Your exaggerations aren’t helping him at all, only your blood could. I also called your ex-wife to be tested.”
“That incompetent bitch!” the man hissed between clenched teeth, “I knew the wench would screw things up, she was not able to take care of my son, my only child,” he spat.
“You gave up on Kieran a long time ago, Dillon,” Ava calmly spoke, “there’s no need to pretend you care about him. You were too busy to steal from him, barely acknowledged his existence.”
“Filthy whore, how dare you!” the man snapped. “He wouldn’t have ended up on a hospital bed if you wouldn’t have been busy spreading your legs for every man you crossed paths with.”
For Rayne, it was enough. He looked at the impeccably dressed, clean-shaved man, who was there only to impress the audience by playing the father of the year, blaming the woman in front of him for his negligence and irresponsibility. And then, he cast a look at the ex-wife, with the hair tied in a loose bun, half of the strands hanging loose, dark circles under her beautiful, emerald-green eyes.
Bitter memories of his past invaded Rayne’s mind as he closed his eyes for a split second. Just like the well-dressed, rested man belittled his tired, messy-looking ex-wife, the doctor saw himself standing, or more likely shrinking, under the torrent of venomous words flowing from Conroy’s mouth.
Just like the woman, he was stripped down of everything that was important to him. But, unlike her, he didn”t have the courage to oppose his ex, who, although briefly, took Gerrard from him. In spite of being a pest earlier, Ava deserved the doctor”s respect, admiration and support, so he decided to step in.
“Listen, dude, your language and behavior are intolerable, so you better change them while you are here. And don’t you think about leaving before getting tested, either, because I can make your life a living hell, and I will.”
“Uncle Rayne, we don’t need the parents anymore,” a teen in a lab coat came running from a corridor leading into the heart of the institute. “Problem solved.”
“What are you talking about, Alasdair?,” the doctor put a hand on the kid’s shoulder, his voice filled with paternal affection.
“Do you remember the blood bank we created some months ago? The one where we stocked the team members’ blood samples? I, Benji and Dubois tested some of them, and I’m totally compatible with Kieran.”
“Hmm, that’s odd,” Rayne rubbed his beard, “I thought that only parents and close relatives would show a compatibility degree so high. Anyway, I won’t allow you to donate the entire amount, you’d be too weak after that. I need you at full capacity here,” the doctor examined the teen with a critical eye. You already look exhausted, go have some rest.”
“I will, after the transfusion is completed, and yes, you’re right about me not being able to donate the whole amount, that’s why I want to suggest something to you,” the boy hesitantly spoke.
“What is it? I’m open to any possibility, if that means saving Kieran’s life,” Rayne looked at the little redhead.
“Please, call grandfather, tell him to bring Gerrard here, explain to him the whole situation, he’ll listen to you. Your son and I have the same chemical composition of blood, he could donate the rest.”
From where she stood, Ava could hear the conversation between the two, and she was listening intently, ignoring everything else. The woman examined the boy dressed in the lab coat, her heart aching for how exhausted he looked. She couldn’t stop from admiring his will to fight for her son’s life, the dedication he put in everything he was doing.
The hope and strength the little redhead’s words gave to Ava vanished when she heard the part where he was suggesting to the doctor to bring his son as blood donor for Kieran. He wouldn’t accept, the woman thought, to sacrifice one of his own to save a stranger’s life, no matter how dedicated the man was to his profession.
“Brilliant idea,” Ava flinched, hearing the doctor’s voice. “I’m calling, father from my office right now. You are no longer needed,” he turned to the woman’s ex-husband, his dark-green eyes narrowed to two slits. Get out of my Institute, and if I ever hear that you give the lady a hard time...”
“Thank you, doctor,” Ava plopped down on one chair, on the brink of tears. “He never cared about my poor boy, on the contrary.”
“Problem solved,” the boy wearing a lab coat came from the research wing, “I spoke to grandfather, and explained to him the whole situation, and he’s on his way here, bringing Gerrard with him. Oh, and we have backup, too,” he grinned. “Maxi is accompanying them.”
“Thank all the gods dead, alive and unborn!” the doctor raised his hands to the ceiling in a gesture of gratitude. “What about the babies? Who will take care of them?” he suddenly frowned, turning to the kid.
“Don’t worry, they are already at the mansion, Regina and Auntie Willa kindly volunteered to babysit, with Hayden and Arnett as trusted helpers,” the teen grinned again.
“Thank you Alasdair,” the doctor sighed, relieved, “you are a real lifesaver, always where you are needed. Now, you can go and get some sleep. You too, ma’am,” he turned to Ava. “You have a small room with a bed where you can go and lay down for a bit, the next couple of days will be tough, you’ll need all the energy you can get.”
“Why are you doing that?” she raised her head, looking into Rayne’s warm, kind, sincere eyes. “Why do you put so much effort in saving my son’s life? And don’t tell me you are doing it only because you are a doctor,” Ava said in a half-playful, half-serious tone.
“No, I’m also a father of two, and I’ll die if something bad happens to my children. OK, maybe not die, but I’d like to know that someone fights for them the way I fight for my patients’ life. I understand how it is for a parent to have their child taken away from them.”
Just when Rayne finished talking, Alastair and Gerrard stepped into the building, the former CIA director’s arm protectively wrapped around his grandson’s shoulders. The teen was a combination of inner strength and sensibility, impressing Ava in a positive way. However, she felt an instant, inexplicable connection to the distinguished gentleman accompanying the kid.
She must have been insistently staring at him, because he raised his head, returning the stare, but gasped in surprise when the two of them locked eyes. Leaning over his grandson, Alastair whispered something in his ear, the boy nodding from time to time. Gerrard waited for his grandfather to finish talking, then started to walk in the direction he discreetly indicated.
“Excuse me,” he then said, extending his hand, “you must be little Kieran’s mother. Your boy is a hell of a fighter, if I may say so. Alastair Stark, at your service.”
“He is, indeed,” Ava wiped her eyes with the shirt’s sleeve, “my son is braver than I am. Ava Shepherd, she took the man’s hand, shaking it.
“Lucille Shepherd’s daughter? I had the privilege of knowing you mother, she was one of the best restaurant managers of her generation. A great lady, with an even greater character. And, as I see, the admiration was reciprocated,” Alastair finished on a melancholic note.
“What do you mean? Mother was never fond of men, except my father. She never enjoyed spending time in their company, only did it when and for how long a situation required it. When she spoke about my father, though, things were completely different. In spite of his absence from my life, I grew up adoring him.”
“Did your mother tell you his name?” Alastair felt his heart hammering against his ribcage while waiting for the answer.
“Yes, many times,” Ava nodded, a small smile on her lips. “In fact, I wanted to name my son after him, but Dillon didn’t like it, so I picked Kieran in the end, because it was a Gaelic name. My father was named...oh, my god, his name was Alastair, just like yours!”
“I always suspected something happened that night, at the party. I’m not much of a drinker, but I had a major fight with my husband, and decided one glass of champagne wouldn’t hurt, so I took the one Lucille offered me. Next thing I remembered was the bed and the warmth, the sweet perfume... At thirty-four, I was repressing all my emotions, unable to accept reality. I was clinging to the illusion of a picture-perfect life, when in reality the images were twisted and the colors blurred.”
Without saying any word, Ava took her father’s hand between her own, enjoying the warmth, comfort and safety radiating from the man. He was just like her mother told her all the time, affectionate, kind, and caring, she could feel all those things and much more. The young woman was basking in the paternal love she was surrounded by, and suddenly, all her worries vanished into thin air.
Kieran was going to be alright, Ava thought, smiling, her brother is a dedicated doctor, and he will put up a hell of a fight for her boy’s life. Somewhere deep inside her, the young woman trusted Rayne from the very first moment, even if she bossed him around at first. He must be a very wise and patient guy, who understands the patients’ relatives’ reactions and lets them vent it all out.
Her son was going to be healed by a brilliant doctor, who was also his uncle, Ava’s trail of thoughts continued. Without realizing, she put her head on Alastair’s broad shoulder, letting out a small sigh of content. Kieran’s cousins were literally giving their blood for him to come back to life. Being part of a loving family was good. Knowing that you have someone in your corner was good.
“Miss Ava,” the voice of a teen made her flinch. It was Gerrard, looking pale, but happy. “Father sent me to tell you that Kieran is awake now. He’s asking about you.”
“Let’s go see your grandson,” she extended a hand to Alastair. ”He’ll be thrilled to finally meet you.”