His Suitable Bride(88)

As she did, she felt an intense burst of relief. He had stopped convulsing and was now rigid on the bed, his skin turning blue. He was unconscious, but breathing. She stepped in front of Isandro and knelt down by the bed, quickly turning Zac towards her and onto his side. Then she loosened his pyjama top. Felt his forehead. He was burning up.

She looked at María and issued a rapid instruction. María just stood there, in shock. Rowan snapped out her name, and it woke María from her trance. She ran into the bathroom. That seemed to wake Isandro too. Rowan felt his hands on her shoulders, as if to pull her back. His voice was hoarse with fear.

‘What are you doing? You’re going to hurt him.’

Rowan shook him off. ‘He’s going to be fine. He’s having a febrile convulsion. Go and call an ambulance or a doctor.’

She looked up at Isandro, who hadn’t moved. He looked so pale that she felt scared. ‘Go—call an ambulance. We have to get him to hospital. He’ll be awake by the time you come back, I promise.’

Her urgency finally penetrated, and he left the room. Rowan had instructed María to get a glass of cool water and a baby paracetamol. By the time Isandro came back Zac was indeed coming round.

Rowan felt shaky with relief. She made sure to keep him in the recovery position and spoke to him softly. He was groggy and disorientated, a little grumpy, which she knew could be expected after a convulsion. When she deemed him to be sufficiently recovered enough to swallow, she gave him the paracetamol María had brought, and made him drink some water.

‘What’s that?’ Isandro stepped forward, his hands clenched by his sides. Rowan read his mood in an instant. He hated being impotent—hated seeing the power that she had just displayed.

‘It’s baby paracetamol. To bring down his temperature.’

Just then they heard banging on the door downstairs, and Rowan breathed a sigh of relief. María ran out. Rowan focused on Zac, making sure she was keeping him cool and comfortable.

When the paramedics arrived she explained what had happened. Isandro had lifted the still sleepy Zac into his arms to bring him downstairs, and they met the doctor, who had also arrived. He quickly checked Zac over and confirmed him safe enough to move.

Rowan stood at the door and watched as they got into the ambulance. She felt weak and limp in the aftermath. At the last minute the doctor looked at her. ‘Aren’t you the child’s mother?’

Rowan stood up straight. ‘Well … yes—yes, I am. But—’

‘Well, you must come with us. The child will want you too, and he’s going to be disorientated enough.’

‘But—’

The doctor was impatient. ‘You must come to tell them what happened so they can determine if it is serious enough to keep him in.’

Rowan’s eyes met Isandro’s, where he sat in the ambulance cradling Zac. His features were tight and drawn. ‘He’s right, Rowan. Get in.’

So she did. They travelled to the small local hospital some ten minutes away, and Rowan didn’t take her eyes off her son. He was recovering rapidly. Rapidly enough so that by the time they had arrived at the hospital he was looking around him with big eyes, although still groggy.

After Zac had been thoroughly examined the doctor deemed that he should stay in overnight, just to be safe. Isandro immediately declared that he was staying with Zac. Rowan said nothing, just walked with María out to the front of the hospital. She’d followed them, with Hernán. The woman was inconsolable.

‘I’m so sorry. I just froze. I got such a shock when I saw him convulsing … I knew what it was, but I’ve never seen it before …’

Rowan put her arm around María’s shoulder. ‘María, don’t worry. You did the best thing by coming to get Isandro.’

María looked at her with something like awe in her eyes. ‘But you knew what to do. You’re his mother.’

‘María, you should go home. And take Rowan with you.’

Rowan looked at Isandro. He had followed them out and he looked exhausted. She wouldn’t fight with him now, but she had no intention of going home. Isandro went back inside, and she saw María out to the Jeep and sent her off. Then she went back inside too. She didn’t go into Zac’s room, where she guessed Isandro was, she just sat on a chair in the corridor. A different bodyguard hovered discreetly nearby. All she wanted was to be close, in case anything happened.

That was when she started to tremble. Uncontrollably. Shock was setting in at what had just happened and where she now sat. A hospital. Just like the clinic. With white walls.