Chapter 6 #2
As soon as Clint was secured in his helmet and they had finished the initial communications check, he reminded everyone, “Gentlemen, and I expect you to act that way, we have a lady on board. If you haven’t met her before, this is Theodora,” he swallowed hard over the lump that grew in his throat. “She is, I mean was, Javier’s wife.”
“Fuck.” “Oh hell.” “Jesus,” were whispered but still audible over the sound of the hydraulics and the engine winding up.
“Mrs. Castillo, my condolences. Javier was one of the best NCOs I’ve ever worked under.”
“I’m really sorry for your loss, Mrs. Castillo. Javier was a great guy. We’re all going to miss him.”
Similar sympathies were repeated by each man as the helicopter rose to cruising height.
Clint was shocked at how quiet the usually rowdy hour-long flight to Addis Ababa had been.
He had to rearrange his day to include the airport pickup of Theodora’s mother.
Thankfully, Mr. Rabinowitz was able to push their appointment back two hours.
He knew Blade wouldn’t leave without them, but he hated to keep everybody else waiting.
As soon as they landed, Clint jumped out and immediately turned to offer Theodora a hand down.
When she was safe on the ground, he immediately let go of her and headed for the fleet of Riggs cars waiting next to the hangar.
Wordlessly, she followed him to the Mercedes G-wagon.
It had low running boards, so he felt assured she could climb in while he effortlessly slid into the driver’s seat.
He glanced over to see that she didn’t have any problems getting into the passenger seat.
“What’s the address?” Clint asked, finger poised over the voice activation button. As soon as she started to speak, he pressed it. The numbers and street appeared quickly. “Is this the correct address?” he pointed to the larger dash screen.
“Yes, that’s it.”
He pushed the start navigation button, put the expensive vehicle in drive, and followed the directions through the busy streets.
At a stoplight, Clint glanced over at Theodora, who was nervously wringing her hands.
“Are you okay? Are you comfortable enough? The seat controls are on the side next to the door if you want to readjust it. You also have air conditioning focused on your side. You can turn it up with this button.” He gestured to the appropriate control.
“I’m fine, thank you. This is quite an amazing vehicle,” she commented, looking around.
“Haven’t you ever ridden this car before?”
“No. When we would come into the city, we usually took one of the other cars.” She grinned. “We were usually stocking up on supplies, so we quite often got the station wagon, or if we were buying something big, we’d take the truck.”
That made sense. Besides, usually the Mercedes was reserved for one of the Riggs family members. “Well, I picked this one because I knew it would have the smoothest ride.”
“Thank you, Clint, I appreciate how thoughtful you are. It’s extremely comfortable.”
They arrived at her doctor’s office in plenty of time.
He was pleased to see the offices were in the modern part of the city, filled with concrete-and-glass buildings, many of which were over twelve stories tall.
This area could have been in any midsize city in the USA…
unless you ventured off the boulevard to a street or two in either direction.
Those streets were often filled with garbage, vendors who knew no discretion and would paw at any potential buyer, especially females.
He turned the car into the paved parking lot and found a space close to the front door.
Clint wondered whether he could just wait for her there.
Then he remembered Theodora mentioning the doctor gave her the creeps.
He might be needed to protect her and Javier’s baby.
He wanted to see this man for himself. It wouldn’t be the first time that a man called himself a doctor in Africa with little or no training in the field he professed to be an expert.
Clint hopped out of the car and went around to the other side to offer a hand, should Theodora need it.
Good thing he was there when her shoe slid off the running board.
He caught her in his arms before she fell all the way to the ground.
For a long moment, he held her, their faces only inches apart, their eyes locked on each other. Neither said a word.
Whew. That was a close call. Could a fall make her lose the baby? He had no idea. He’d have to ask somebody. Maybe the doctor. But not in front of Theodora. He wouldn’t want to embarrass her or himself.
“Are you okay now?” Clint wondered if he could stand her up and get her out of his arms. This closeness to her was awkward.
“Yes, I’m fine.” She stood upright and adjusted her clothes. “Thank you for catching me, Clint.”
“Can you walk?” What would he do if she said no? Would he carry her in? That wouldn’t look appropriate. Maybe they would have a wheelchair inside. Yes. He would lean her against the G-wagon and go into the building in search of a wheelchair.
She nodded and took a tentative step as though testing her limits. After two steps, she smiled at him. “See, I can walk. No problems.”
“Good. We’re plenty early, but let’s go in.” He gestured toward the front door. “Lead the way.”
On the tenth floor, Clint stood by the door while Theodora checked in. When she was finished, she gestured toward the seats along the far wall. “This may take a little longer than I expected. They want to do an ultrasound to make sure the baby is okay.”
“I’ll just sit here and wait for you.”
“But…you said you’d come in with me.” She was obviously holding back tears.
“Okay, okay. I’ll come in with you.” Clint couldn’t handle a woman in crying.
Had it been Xena, he would have taken her in his arms and gently patted her back.
He wasn’t about to do that with his good friend’s pregnant wife.
As an afterthought, he couldn’t remember the last time he saw Xena cry.
She was one of the toughest women he knew.
His sister was like the other women she’d trained with, who were still on active duty.
He couldn’t ever imagine Ashlin crying. Why couldn’t Theodora be more like his wife and his sister?
The door opened, and another very pregnant woman waddled to the counter, followed by her husband or boyfriend, who looked like he wanted to be anywhere else but there.
Obviously, pregnant women checked in at the counter and found seats in the lobby as fast as others were taken through a door to the back.
This doctor had a pretty robust business.
Some of the women had obvious spouses, others had brought their mothers or a girlfriend, and a few had no one.
They were the ones who looked the most nervous.
“Mrs. Castillo,” the nurse in light blue scrubs called out from the door at the back of the lobby.
Theodora stood and waited for Clint. He took his time because he really didn’t want to do this, practically dragging his toes like a calcitrant toddler.
“Please step on the scale.”
Clint had no desire to know how much she weighed, so he found a poster on the wall extremely interesting…
until he realized that he was looking at the drawing of a uterus and how a baby grew inside, month by month.
Part of him wanted to be grossed out, but the other part of him, which had never been exposed to a pregnant woman, found the chart fascinating.
It showed how something the size of a grain of rice developed into a human being with fingers and toes.
“Clint,” Theodora called from down the hall. “We’re going into this room.”
Shit. He’d lost track of her. Great bodyguard he was being.
“You can leave your clothes on today as long as you can lift your blouse and pull down your pants enough to take measurements,” the nurse announced.
Pull down her pants? Clint wanted no part of that. “I’ll just step out while you get ready.”
“Clint,” Theodore pleaded. “Please don’t leave me alone.” Their eyes shot to the door as a man who looked to be in his late twenties strode into the room wearing a white physician’s coat and a smile that looked strikingly bright against his dark skin.