Page 41 of Vaquero
Meg nodded, thankful for all modern medicine had done for her when she’d needed it after her stroke. “He’s always been sickly, but the local doctor said he was just small for his age, a runt. That he’d recover and be stronger once he got older. I thought maybe he just had some kind of intestinal parasite, so I’ve treated him for that.”
Corpsman Giacomo had the gentlest brown eyes. He nodded like he understood. “I’m just telling you what we know now. It’s possible Dom has parasites, as well as other problems. We won’t know until we get all his blood work back. But Captain Dooley will want to know. Where are we taking these children?”
Meg swallowed hard. She didn’t know immigration law, and until now, she’d had no other plan than to save these orphans’ lives. But she’d hoped. “Aren’t they officially on United States property?”
His lips thinned. “Yes, they’re aboard a Navy vessel, but that doesn’t make them citizens, ma’am.”
Oh, damn.“Safe harbor,” she shot back at the patient corpsman. “They’re orphans, for God’s sake. All these kids need is safe harbor for once in their lives.” And now she was going to cry.
The other medic kept the children preoccupied, blowing up a surgical glove. He pulled a marker out of his chest pocket and drew a face on the thumb. Dom smiled and Maria giggled. But Meg’s heart was sinking.
“Then tell Captain Dooley they need humanitarian protection, ma’am. Regardless what you see in the press, America doesn’t turn vulnerable children away. Dooley’s a fair man, and he knows people in Washington. He’ll know someone who can help you apply for lawful permanent resident status for them. If it’s doable, he might even contact someone to make it happen before we dock.”
Her lips pursed with a sigh of relief. “Thank you, umm…”
“Lucas. Corpsman Lucas Giacomo, at your service,” he reminded her, tapping a slender finger to his head while he looked at hers. “I’m guessing lice or fleas?”
She nodded, chagrined at her bare, shorn head. It seemed Mother Nature had worked against her at every turn. First the stroke. Then lice. Then Oz stealing her kid. Everything seemed determined to make her unattractive and useless. What could possibly be next? Leprosy? Her nose falling off her face? Worse, her fingers or toes? How could she help any child then? “Yes. Me and the kids. That’s why we’ve all got short, short hair. Not sure why Craig and Marta escaped the infestation, but they did.”
He cocked his head at her. “I’m guessing because you’re more of a hands-on caregiver.”
She shrugged. “Craig and Marta love these kids as much as I do.”
“I’m sure they do.” Corpsman Giacomo’s gaze fell on the frail boy beneath the Navy’s warm blankets on the bed. “But the world’s damned hard on kids with no parents, and I’ve noticed you don’t have a problem hugging or holding them. You get close and personal with them, and Dominic called you Mom, Miss Duncan. That tells me a lot. Come on, Danny. Let’s let the lady have some time with her kids, herson.”
Meg stifled the impulse to punch Corpsman Giacomo’s muscular bicep playfully, the way he’d emphasizedson. He was as bad as Trevor, teasing her even as he hit the mark. She did love these kids, all of them. Tears filled her eyes. Even sweet Pepe. Damned if her mother’s wise words didn’t come back to her now:A mother is only as happy as her unhappiest child.
Only Pepe wasn’t just unhappy. He was lost and alone and—there had to be a way to get back to him!
“We’ll be right outside this cubicle, ma’am,” Lucas assured her. “Don’t worry if Dom falls asleep. We’ve got him on extremely low doses of pain meds. But as small as he is, it’ll probably knock him out.”
Which was correct. She’d no more than gathered Maria up into her arms and taken the chair at Dom’s side when he dozed off without speaking another word.
“I still wanna sing him a lullaby,” Maria whispered. “He looks so small. You think he can hear me with his eyes closed?”
“Sure,” Meg soothed. “Ears still work even when we can’t see. Let’s both sing to him. The usual?”
Maria’s head bobbed. “Ah huh. It’s my favorite.”
Meg drew in a long slow breath and let her cares drift away for the time being. She still had a missing child to search for, a special agent to track down, and a cocky Army Ranger to deal with. But for now, the little girl in her arms and the child sleeping so peacefully in bed came first. They always would.
The first lines of Maria’s favorite carol murmured out of her.‘Silent Night’. What else? For the first time in this long, harrowing day, all really was calm. A tear wound its way down Meg’s cheek. She brushed it off. If only she knew where Pepe was.
