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Chapter Ten
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“How long do you think you can keep avoiding me?” Brice demanded as he came up behind Francesca.
“Don’t flatter yourself, Brice,” Francesca said exasperated. “This isn’t the best time to confront me. I just had a little visit from a very unsavory reporter. He was making me out to be some kind of nutcase. I suspect I have you to thank for that.”
Brice had the grace to look ashamed even as he tried to shrug her accusation off casually. “I only told the truth. You examined my patient. At the time she was terminally ill. There is no question that was so. It was fully documented and I have all the records to prove it. Afterward every blood test came out clean, Francesca. She’s completely cured. I didn’t do it and I have no idea how it was done.”
“So you just gave me up to reporters, the freak miracle worker. You made sure my privacy was completely destroyed. Is that supposed to make me look upon you with favor?” Francesca tossed her head, her thick curtain of blue-black hair flying. “I’m busy avoiding your reporters, Brice. I don’t have time for a little chat.”
“Francesca, it didn’t happen like that. Come on, you know me better than that. I admit I like to grab the headlines, but it wasn’t me who talked to the reporters.” He caught her arm, bringing her to a halt. “Stop running, Francesca, you’re wearing me out. It wasn’t me. It was the girl’s parents. Her name is Chelsea Grant. Her father is a United States senator. I mentioned you to her mother without thinking. There was no hope for Chelsea. None. Her parents knew that. I wasn’t the only doctor who had examined her. I was only one in a long line of opinions. Mrs. Grant had you investigated. Several former patients were only too happy to be able to talk about you and the miracle you worked for them.”
Francesca glanced down at the fingers trapping her arm. There had been a time the brush of his fingers had warmed her heart; now he irritated her. Was she so shallow that her feelings could change so easily, so quickly? Or had she somehow deceived herself about his true character because she had been so lonely? She had wanted to share her life with someone once before she allowed herself to die. Now Francesca could clearly see how important headlines were to Brice, how important pleasing a senator’s wife really was to him. “Important enough to sell me out,” she mused aloud. “You wanted her to owe you a favor.”
“I’m sorry, Francesca, I wanted the best for my patient. And yes, she happens to have parents who could smooth my way to the hospital I want. A place where my skills can really make a difference.”
“I thought you cared about these kids.”
“Of course I care about them, I’ve dedicated my life to them. You haven’t learned that it’s okay to want to make a decent living. You have money, Francesca. You have more than enough, although you’re giving it away at an alarming rate. I need to make a living. It’s as easy and as heroic to help a rich sick child as it is to help one that’s homeless.”
“Like Skyler,” Francesca said softly. “She can’t do a thing for your career. You didn’t want her in your life so you tried to make certain she wasn’t in mine. That is beneath contempt, Brice. That child needs a home and I can provide her with a good one. For you to try to keep me from taking her home was absolutely unforgivable. How could you do such a thing?”
“Damn it, Francesca. You’re the one who’s changed, not me. You knew I wanted certain things. This isn’t about me, it’s about him. Gabriel. What is he, exactly? A government spy? A mob boss of some kind? Is he holding something over your head? Over the judge’s? Are you all afraid of him? Don’t think I haven’t noticed something’s not quite right about him. Was he in prison for a crime? Where has he been all the years he was gone?”