The Tycoon's Proposition

In a minute she saw the top of his head. He’d always worn his dark hair marine style, very closely cropped. Since he’d been in South America, it appeared he’d let it grow. She could tell it was at least an inch or two longer now. Maybe even more.

“Ah,” the doctor murmured with satisfaction as he removed the dressing. “Everything looks very good. No one would guess you had a cut there. Stay still while I put on a new dressing. If there’s no infection by tomorrow, you won’t have to wear the head wrap anymore.”

Just hearing those words helped Terri to breathe a little easier. She could imagine Richard felt equally relieved. Confined like that, he had to be going out of his mind. In fact he would probably have ripped off the bandages by now if he’d been able to get at the gauze.

“What about his burns, Doctor?”

“They are much better. Tomorrow we will unwrap his hands and apply a dressing which will free his fingers. I am happy to say that he is breathing at ninety-five perfect capacity and no longer needs oxygen.”

Thank goodness for that. “What about his shoulder?”

“It was an anterior dislocation which is the most common. The surgeon performed a reduction. All your husband has to do now is wear this sling for three or four weeks and he will be fine. To his credit, he is in remarkable shape. Has he always worked out?”

Richard?

“Not since he played football in high school.”

“Then he has been keeping a secret from you. You do not stay this solid without help.”

Maybe he’d been going to a gym for the last eighteen months. She had no idea.

“Is his throat really going to get better?”

“In a few days it will be like new.”

“I’m sorry I sound so impatient.”

“That’s a wife’s prerogative.”

Ignoring his comment she said, “I wish there were something I could do for him right now.”

The doctor finished rewrapping his patient’s head, then lowered the bed so Richard was lying almost flat.

“I can think of one thing.”

“What?”

“You could give his legs and feet a soothing massage with that lotion over on the table. It will relax his whole body and help him to sleep.”

“I’ll do it.”

“Excellent. I am sure your husband is looking forward to such a lovely wife ministering to his needs.”

The doctor was mistaken on that score, but she was equally certain Richard craved any relief from the pain that he could get. If a massage would help, she was only too glad to provide it.

“Tomorrow we will put him in the shower for the first time. That will make him feel really good, too.”

Terri had no doubt of it and thanked him.

“I’m impressed with the wonderful care you’re getting,” she said after the doctor had left the room. “Tomorrow you’ll be stripped of all these bandages. I know you can’t wait. Until then I’ll do as he suggested and try to bring you some comfort.”

She moved over to the table and picked up the lotion, and then walked to the end of the bed. After pulling out the sheet to expose his left leg to the knee, she squirted a mound of the cream in her palm to begin the rubdown.

But when she started to work the lotion into his skin, her hands froze.

Dear God.

This man wasn’t Richard!

The burnished, hard-muscled leg did not belong to her ex-husband! Richard’s legs were shorter, bulkier, hairier; his foot was wider, not as long.

Terri began to tremble. She removed her hands and hurried to the door to turn on the overhead light.

Without hesitation she rushed to his side and bent over him so she could peer into his eyes.

Pain-filled gray eyes stared back at her between dark lashes. There was a frantic urgency in his look she could feel to her bones.

“You poor man,” she whispered in a shaky voice. “All this time everyone has thought you were my ex-husband. No wonder you’ve been so upset.”

He let out a moan which she took for a yes.

Her eyes filled with tears. “I’m sorry it took me this long to discover the truth. Last evening when I arrived, Dr. Dominguez told me they were keeping the light off in here so you could sleep. If I’d been able to look into your eyes, I would have known immediately you weren’t Richard.

“The fisherman who brought you in said you called out my name. That means you knew Richard. I assume you were friends or colleagues. Were you both in the accident?”

The stranger lifted his head enough to nod, but it was clearly a strain. Nevertheless it meant he understood her English.

“Lie still,” she begged. “Please don’t exert yourself. Obviously you have family and friends looking for you. They must be in agony wondering where you are.

“I’ll alert the staff right now, then I’ll leave and go straight to the police to find out if the Herrick company or someone else has put out a missing persons report for you. I suppose it’s possible Richard was taken to another hospital in the city.”

This time the stranger shook his head.

She was trying to understand. “If he’s not at a hospital, do you know where he is?”

He nodded again, but the strain on him had taken its toll. His eyelids closed. The unidentified man had to be in grueling pain. She could feel it.

“That’s all right. You sleep while I’m gone. I swear I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

She covered his leg and tucked the sheet in place. Then she put the lotion on the table. After turning off the light, she grabbed her purse and tore out of the room.

To her relief the same doctor happened to be at the nursing station down the hall. She took him aside and told him what she’d discovered. He looked shocked and said he’d immediately notify the staff as well as the head of the hospital.

Within a half hour she’d told the same story to Captain Ortiz, an officer at the main police station in Guayaquil. He knew nothing about an accident at sea and proceeded to ask a lot of questions. She gave him a full description of her ex-husband. As for the stranger lying in the hospital bed, there was less to tell about him.

The captain said he would send another officer to the hospital to interview the doctors who were taking care of him. If the police could find the fisherman who’d brought him in, it would answer a lot of questions. At some point he would get back to her either at the hospital or the hotel.

Terri in turn said she would find out where her ex-husband was living. The bandaged stranger had indicated that Richard wasn’t in a hospital. That had to mean he hadn’t been badly hurt in the accident and was convalescing at his apartment or wherever it was that he lived. If she found him first, she would phone the captain right away. He agreed that it sounded like the best plan of action.