Independence & Consequences by M J Marlow (best color ebook reader .TXT) 📕

as she told him what they would have to do. Rafael didn’t know they’d tried to kidnap his wife. They’d left no evidence of their deed behind. They had gone about Isabel’s reeducation the wrong way. It was obvious that Rafael would have to be removed from her life permanently. Grief would leave her vulnerable. “You’re suggesting that we murder…” “What else can we do, Simon?” Olivia broke in. “We’ve tried talking, pleading, even threatening, and we lose every time.” She was in her element now as she started planning. “You keep trying to convince Isabel. I’ll deal with her husband.” * Isabel knew she’d only agreed to leave for San Matteo because she was angry. Giselle was one of the hardest ballet pieces known. She found the idea of being allowed to perform it very intriguing. She sat at breakfast the next morning and wondered how she was going to approach the subject of changing her mind with Rafael. She was very quiet, and he was still very angry. She was about ready to scream when her husband suddenly smiled at her. “I’ve heard Giselle is a dream role for a ballerina,” he said as he looked at her. “That’s what they say,” Isabel nodded. “I’m just going to have to wait. We’ve made plans.” “San Matteo isn’t going anywhere, darling,” Rafael said as he got to his feet and came to her side. He raised her to her feet and kissed the tip of her nose. “I promised you that I’d never stand in your way, so if you really want to audition for this role do it.” He laughed as she threw her arms around him. “I take it this means yes?” “I love you, Rafael Alvarez!” “You’re a silly child, Isabel Alvarez!” Rafael smiled down at her. He kissed her and released her. “I have a meeting at the hospital. Meet me for lunch after your audition.” Isabel smiled and watched him leave the kitchen. She did the dishes and heard him leave as she finished the last one and set it in the drainer by the sink. She dressed quickly and went to the theater, Emilio and Guillermo at her elbows. They were taking her husband’s instructions to keep close to her quite literally. Isabel went to her dressing room and got ready for the audition, ignoring the shocked look on Simon’s face. He looked about ready to say something, but then shook his head and went back to speaking to the conductor. Then he started to feel guilty. He pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and dialed. “She’s here,” he said simply. “Call it off.” “Call what off, Simon?” Olivia asked as she came down the aisle and took a seat. “Isabel is here to audition,” Simon said as he put the phone into his pocket. “We don’t need to do as you suggested last night.” “All right, Simon,” Olivia smiled; not telling him that she had already set it into motion. “Let’s concentrate on the ballet.” She picked up one of the clipboards with the names of those auditioning and what role they were pursuing. “Shall we start with the male lead?” Isabel watched with the others as the auditions began. The company was made up of a lot of very talented dancers; any one of them would do well in a lead role. She looked over at Martha and wondered if she shouldn’t have let the girl have the part without competition. Martha looked over at her a moment and then turned her back on her. Obviously Martha wanted the role on her own merit. Isabel didn’t blame her. The other dancers were auditioned and then it was her and Martha. Martha went first. She was absolutely brilliant; desperation lent an edge to her performance that was wondrous. Isabel was clapping when she came into the wings. Martha looked at her in shock. “I can’t beat that,” Isabel told her and gave her a hug. “I’m not even going to try.” She went to her dressing room and changed. She watched Simon enter and turned to face him. “If you don’t give her the role, you’re making a very big mistake.” She saw how pale the man was and wondered what was wrong. “What is it, Simon?” “Mrs. Alvarez?” Isabel looked up to see a police officer outside the door. She rose to her feet, a cold chill coursing through her. He could only have come with bad news. Simon left the dressing room and watched as Emilio and Guillermo went inside and closed the door. A moment later, he heard her scream. Emilio helped her out as she walked numbly, struggling to understand why she was being lied to. It couldn’t be true, she kept telling herself as her guards drove her to the hospital. She was still lying to herself when she entered the room and saw Rafael in the bed, hooked up to several monitors. She went to sit at his side, her touch on his hand stirring him to wakefulness. He opened his eyes as well as he could through the swelling and smiled weakly at her. “Querida,” he said hoarsely. “It’s all right. It always looks worse than it is.” He started coughing and blood flowed out of his mouth. He moaned and passed out. “Come, Isabel,” Ricardo said as he arrived just then. He took her aside as the nurses and doctors worked on Rafael. He set her down in a chair and held her hands, worried by how quiet, how pale, she was. “He is strong, Isabel. He will be fine.” She began to whimper and he looked up to find his wife coming into the room. “Take our Isabel to the chapel, Delphine.” “No,” Isabel protested, as Delphine helped her to her feet. “I want to stay with my husband.” She looked at them and knew she should listen, but she was so frightened she couldn’t think straight. “Please don’t take me away from him…” “Isabel!” Delphine cried as the girl collapsed to the floor. “Come on, darling,” she crooned as she patted Isabel’s cheek. “Wake up.” The orderlies came in and Delphine had them put Isabel into the empty bed next to her husband. The doctor checked her over, but couldn’t see anything wrong. He took a blood test. He left as Isabel was regaining consciousness. She tried to get out of bed to go to Rafael and Delphine held her down. “Let the doctors and nurses do their jobs, Isabel,” Delphine said softly. She stroked Isabel’s hair. “You have to believe he will be all right.” “Senor Alvarez,” the doctor called to Ricardo. “May I speak with you a moment?” Ricardo went out into the hall and the doctor closed the door. He led Ricardo down the hall to his office and waited for Ricardo to enter. Then he closed the door. “I’m afraid that the damage was more severe than we initially believed, sir. We’re going to have to operate.” He frowned. “In his condition, he may not survive. Shame, really,” he continued as he pulled out the chart he had started on Isabel, “since he and his wife are going to be parents.” “What?” “I took a blood sample from your niece when she collapsed,” the doctor told Ricardo. “She is pregnant.” He met Ricardo’s eyes sternly. “The stress and worry is not good for her. I think your wife should take her home.” “We already tried to remove her from his side, Doctor,” Ricardo told him. “That was when she collapsed.” “I don’t like this one bit,” the man frowned. He sighed and removed his glasses to rub the bridge of his nose. “I’m going to have the nurse put her on an IV, vitamins, iron supplement, etc. to help her feel better. Before he goes to surgery, I am going to have the nurse sedate her.” “I will call her parents,” Ricardo nodded. “Perhaps her mother can convince her to go home.” Ricardo returned to the room and saw that Isabel had fallen asleep. Delphine was rubbing the girl’s back. He smiled as he saw this. Delphine always struck people as a hard-hearted businesswoman, but here was a visible example of the warm-hearted woman she actually was. He leaned over to kiss his wife on the cheek and then whispered to her what the doctor had just told him. She had tears in her eyes as she looked down at the sleeping girl. “It will kill her if Rafael doesn’t recover, Ricardo,” Delphine said softly. She saw Ricardo’s expression. “It’s bad, isn’t it?” “He has to go into surgery,” Ricardo frowned. The door opened and the nurse came in with the IV stand. “Soon.” The nurse put the IV into Isabel’s arm and put the bag of saline solution and other supplements on the stand. Then she took out a needle and injected the sedative into it. Isabel fell into a deep sleep. The orderlies came in with the trolley and transferred Rafael onto it. Ricardo went along while Delphine stayed with Isabel. She found herself praying for the young man. He had a reason to live now, though he wasn’t aware of it. Martha and Quinn came to the room to check on Isabel. She was still sleeping. “Is something wrong with Isabel?” Martha frowned. “She didn’t take the news about Rafael very well,” Delphine told her. “The doctor thought it might be better if she slept while he was in surgery.” “Poor kid,” Quinn frowned. “Seems like something’s always happening to kick her in the teeth.” He pulled Martha towards the door. “Just let her know we stopped in to see how he was doing. If she needs us, for any reason, she knows how to get in touch.” “I will,” Delphine nodded. She watched them go and turned towards Isabel. “You have many people who are praying for him, Isabel. Believe he will recover.” She stroked Isabel’s hair and smiled. She was very proud of the girl. She looked up as a nurse came in to check the IV. “Please remain with her a moment. I need some coffee.” She stepped out into the hall, expecting at least one guard to be there, and smiled at Emilio. “Could you bring some coffee, Emilio? I will keep watch over the child.” Delphine returned to her vigil. She picked up a book and started to read. She set it aside and got to her feet, pacing. Looking at the clock, she saw that only a half hour had passed since Rafael was taken into surgery. She watched as the door opened, expecting it to be Emilio with the coffee. A dark frown appeared on her face as she turned fully to watch Simon Tremont enter the room. He was carrying a vase full of roses. He set them down and looked over at Isabel, almost in tears. Then he nodded to Delphine and left the room. Delphine went to read the card, and wondered at the cryptic message. “She was supposed to stop,” the card read. “I am sorry, goddess.” Delphine frowned and slipped the card into her pocket. This was obviously something Isabel did not need to deal with right now. She went back to her book and was just finishing it when Isabel woke up. “He is in surgery, darling,” Delphine told her as Isabel looked over at the empty bed. “You need to take it easy, child,” she said as she tried to keep Isabel on the bed. “You don’t want to hurt the baby.” “Baby?” Isabel sat back, stunned. Her eyes widened in shock. “Baby?” “Yes, Isabel,” Delphine nodded, pulling the girl into her arms. “The doctor took a blood test when you collapsed. He says you are halfway into the third month and must be careful.” She saw the girl glancing over at the empty bed. “He will be fine! He is in the hands of the best doctors this