A Forever Family: Reunited By Their Baby

Nik felt as if a grenade had blown up his insides. The Persephone was where Melina, Stavros and their infant daughter were going to stay for the first two nights of their vacation. Nik’s good friend, in business and socially, Leandros Petralia, was the owner of the resort.

“I called Melina on her cell, but there’s no phone service.” Sandro sounded frantic.

The knowledge sent ice through Nik’s veins.

So far twenty people are unaccounted for. We repeat, it doesn’t mean those are fatalities. Relief is pouring in from all over. We ask people to stay away from the area and let the police and search-and-rescue workers do their job. Cell phones are not working. We’ve posted a series of hotline numbers on the screen in case you have or need information about a loved one.

Pure terror seized his heart. “Do you think Cosimo is home from the office yet?”

“I don’t know, but I’ll try to reach him.”

“Tell him to meet us at the airport, Sandro.” He wanted both his brothers with him. “We’ll fly to Thessalonika.”

“I’m on my way!”

Nik clicked off, then phoned his driver and told him to bring the car around. On his way out the door he called his pilot and told him to ready the jet for another flight to Thessolonika. In a little over an hour Nik and his brothers could be there. They would need a car.

En route to the airport he phoned his parents at the family villa on Mykonos. They’d just heard the news and were in total anguish. “Our precious Melina, our Demitra,” his mother half sobbed the words.

“Their suite may not have been among the ones affected, Mana. In any case, Stavros will have protected them. We have to have faith. Sandro and Cosimo are going to fly there with me now. You get on one of those hotlines and see what you can find out! Call me when you know anything. Let’s pray phone service is restored there soon. I’ll call you when I know anything.”

A rap on the hotel-room door the next morning brought both girls awake. With the TV knocked out last night, they’d talked for hours about Karmela. Before falling asleep, Fran had made sure her friend was armed with a firm plan in mind for once their vacation was over.

Kellie lifted her head and checked her watch. “It’s ten after ten!”

“Maybe it’s one of the maids waiting to make up our room. I’m closest.” Fran jumped out of bed in her plaid cotton pajamas. “Who is it?” she called through the door.

“Yannis.”

“I’ll talk to him,” Kellie murmured. In an instant she slid out of her bed and rushed over to the door. The dark-haired bodyguard stood in the hall while they spoke in Greek. The conversation went on for a minute until Kellie groaned and closed the door again. Her face had turned ashen.

Fran thought her friend was going to faint and caught her around the shoulders. “What’s wrong? Come sit down on the chair and tell me.”

But Kellie just stood with tears gushing down her pale cheeks. “A tornado touched down twelve miles to the north of here last evening, killing nine people. Among them were five guests staying at the P-Perse-phone.”

They stared at each other in disbelief. “I can’t credit it,” Fran whispered in shock. “If we hadn’t pulled over when we did…” They could have been among the fatalities. She started to tremble.

“Yannis said Leandros heard about it on the television, but he was almost a thousand miles away in Rhodes. He flew here immediately, but even with his own jet and a police escort, he had trouble getting into the site until the middle of the night. Three of the twelve individual suites were demolished. There’s nothing left of them.”

Fran gasped. “On top of the human tragedy, your poor husband is having to deal with that, too.”

“Leandros told Yannis it’s a nightmare, and there’s still no phone, internet or television service to that area. He got hold of him through the help of the police to let me know what has happened. I’ve been asked to stay put here until he joins us. Yannis said it shouldn’t be long now.” Kellie’s teeth were chattering.

“Come on. We need to get ready and go downstairs. Knowing your husband, he must be absolutely devastated and is going to need you more than he’s ever needed anyone in his life.” Now would be the time for Kellie to draw close to Leandros and put the plan they’d talked about last night into action.

Both of them showered and dressed in a daze. Fran put on white linen pants with a spring-green-and-white-printed top. She tied her dark honey-blonde hair back at the nape with a white chiffon scarf. After slipping on white sandals, she announced she was ready. Nothing seemed real as they packed up and carried their bags downstairs to wait for Leandros.

To Fran’s surprise, the main doors of the hotel were open for patrons to walk out and enjoy coffee at the tables set up in front of the building. Warm air filtered inside and a golden sun shone out of a blue sky. Up and down the street, life appeared to be going on as usual. You would never have known there’d been a natural disaster twelve miles away from here last evening.

A waiter approached them. “The tables in front are full. If you’ll walk around to the patio in back, we’ll serve you out there.”

“Thank you,” Fran said before taking Kellie aside. “Yannis is sitting outside in his car by yours. Let’s stow our luggage and then tell him we’ll be in back of the hotel. We need breakfast with our coffee. He can show Leandros where to come. I feel like soaking up some sun until he arrives. Don’t you?”

“I guess so,” Kellie answered in a wooden voice.

They walked over to their car and put their cases in the back. “This hotel seems to be a popular place. Go ahead and talk to Yannis while I get us a table before they’re all taken.”

“Okay.”

Fran followed the stone pathway to the rear of the hotel where blue chairs and tables were set with bright blue-and-white-check cloths. There was an overhang of bougainvillea above the back door, and further on, a small garden. Too bad the wind had denuded most of the flowering plants. There were only a few red petals left.

She took a seat in the sun while she waited, thinking she was alone. But all of a sudden she heard a strange sound, like a whimper. Surprised, Fran looked around, then up. Maybe it was coming from one of the rooms on the next floor where a window was open.

Again she heard the faint cry. It didn’t sound frantic and it seemed to be coming from the garden area. Maybe it was a kitten that had been injured in the storm. Poor thing. She jumped up and walked over to investigate.

When she looked in the corner, a gasp escaped her lips. There, on its back in the bushes, lay a dirty black-haired baby with cuts from head to toe—

Fran couldn’t fathom it. The child was dressed in nothing more than a torn pink undershirt. The little olive-skinned girl couldn’t be more than seven months old. Where in heaven’s name had she come from? A groan came out of Fran. She wondered how long the child had been out here in this condition.

Trying to be as gentle as possible, Fran lifted the limp body in her arms, petrified because the baby had to be dying of hypothermia. Her pallor was pronounced and her little lids were closed.

“Fran?” Kellie called out and ran up to her. “What on earth?”

She turned to her friend with tear-filled eyes. “Look—I found this baby in the garden.”

A gasp flew from Kellie’s lips. “I can see that, but I can’t believe what I’m seeing.”

“I know. Quick—get me a blanket and drive us to the hospital. I’m afraid she’s going to die.”

Kellie’s eyes rounded before she dashed through the back door, calling in Greek for help. Within seconds, the staff came running out. One of them brought a blanket. Fran wrapped the baby as carefully as she could and headed around the front of the hotel. Kellie ran ahead of her to talk to Yannis.

“He’ll drive us to the hospital.”

He helped Fran and the baby inside the backseat of his car. She thought he looked as white-faced as Kellie, who climbed in front. She looked back at Fran. “What do you think happened?”

“Who knows? Maybe the mother was on the street around the corner when a microburst toppled the stroller or something and this dear little thing landed in the garden.”

“But she’s only wearing a torn shirt.”

Both of them were aghast. “I agree, nothing makes sense.”

“Do you think she could have been out there all night?”

“I don’t know,” Fran’s voice trembled. “But what other explanation could there possibly be, Kellie? The baby has superficial cuts all over.”

“I’m still in shock. You don’t suppose the mother is lying around the hotel grounds somewhere, too? Maybe concussed?”

“It’s a possibility,” Fran murmured. “We know what tornadoes can do. The one in Dallas tossed truck rigs in the air like matchsticks. Sometimes I feel that’s all we see on the news back home. I just have never heard about a tornado in Greece.”

“They get them from time to time. Leandros told me they usually happen near coastal waters.”

The baby had gone so still, it was like holding a doll. “Tell Yannis to please hurry, Kellie. She’s not making any more sounds. The police need to be notified and start looking for this baby’s parents.”

Once they reached the emergency entrance, everything became a blur as the baby was rushed away. Fran wanted to go with her, but the emergency-room staff told her they needed information and showed her to the registration desk.

The man in charge told them them to be seated while he asked a lot of questions. He indicated that no one had contacted the hospital looking for a lost baby. Furthermore, no mother or father injured in the storm had been brought in. So far, only a young man whose car had skidded in the downpour and hit a building had come in for some stitches on his arm.

When the questioning was over he said, “One of our staff has already contacted the police. They’ve assured us they’ll do a thorough investigation to unite the baby with her parents. An officer should be here within the hour to take your statements. Just go into the E.R. lounge to wait, or go to the cafeteria at the end of the hall.”

When they walked out, Kellie touched Fran’s arm. “I think we’d better eat something now.”

“Agreed.”

After a quick breakfast, they returned to the E.R. lounge. “If the baby lives, it will be thanks to you and your quick thinking. Had you been even a couple of minutes later arriving at the patio the baby might not have had the strength to cry and no one would have discovered her in time.”

Hot tears trickled down Fran’s cheeks. “She has to live, Kellie, otherwise life really doesn’t make sense.”

“I know. I’ve been thinking the same thing.” They both had. Kellie had been praying to get pregnant and it had been Fran’s fate not to be able to conceive. What a pair they made! She found two seats and they sat down.

“I wish Leandros would get here. After seeing this baby, I’m worried sick for what he’s had to deal with. Lives were lost in that tornado. He’ll take their deaths seriously.”

“It’s too awful to think about. I’m still having trouble believing this has happened. When I saw her lying in those bushes, I thought I was hallucinating.”

Before long, two police officers came into the lounge to talk to them. There was still no word about the parents. After they went out again, Fran jumped up. “I can’t sit still. Let’s go into the E.R. Maybe someone at the desk can tell us if there’s been any news on the baby yet.”

Kellie got to her feet. “While you do that, I’m going outside to talk to Yannis. Maybe he’s heard from Leandros.”

Quickly, Fran hurried through the doors to the E.R. and approached one of the staff at the counter. “Could you tell me anything about the baby we brought in a little while ago?”

“You can ask Dr. Xanthis, the attending physician. He’s coming through those doors now.”

Fran needed no urging to rush toward the middle-aged doctor. “Excuse me—I’m Mrs. Myers. I understand you might be able to tell me something about the baby my friend and I brought to the hospital.” Her heart hammered in fear. “Is she going to live?”

“We won’t know for several hours,” he answered in a strong Greek accent.

“Can I see her?”

He shook his head. “Only family is allowed in the infant ICU.”

“But no one has located her family yet. She’s all alone. I found her in the bushes in the garden behind the hotel.”

“So I understand. It’s most extraordinary.”

“Couldn’t I just be in the same room with her until her parents are found?”

The man’s sharp eyes studied her for a moment. “Why would you want to do that?”

“Please?” she asked in a trembling voice.

“She’s a stranger to you.”

Fran bit her lip. “She’s a baby. I—I feel she needs someone,” her voice faltered.

All of a sudden a small smile lifted one corner of his mouth. “Come. I’ll take you to her.”

“Just a moment.” She turned to the staff person. “If my friend Mrs. Petralia comes in asking for me, please tell her I’m with the baby, but I’ll be back here in a little while.”

“Very good.”

The doctor led her through the far doors to an elevator that took them to the second floor. They walked through some other doors to the nursery area where he introduced her to a nurse. “I’ve given Kyria Myers permission to be with the baby until the police locate the mother and father. See that she is outfitted.”

“This way,” the other woman gestured as she spoke.

“Thank you so much, Dr. Xanthis.”

His brows lifted. “Thank you for being willing to help out.”

“It’s my pleasure, believe me.”

CHAPTER TWO

FRAN FOLLOWED THE NURSE to an anteroom to wash her hands. She was no stranger to a hospital, having worked in one since college to follow up on patients who needed care when they first went home.

When she’d put on a gown and mask, they left through another door that opened into the ICU. She counted three incubators with sick babies. The baby she’d found in the garden was over in one corner, hooked up to an IV. She’d been fitted with nasal prongs to deliver oxygen. A cardiopulmonary monitor on her chest tracked the heartbeat on the screen.

She was glad to see this hospital had up-to-date equipment to help the baby survive, yet the second she spied the little form lying on her back, so still and helpless, she had to stifle her cry of pain. The precious child had cuts everywhere, even into her black curls, but they’d been treated. Mercifully none of them were deep or required stitches. With the dirt washed away, they stood out clearly.

The nurse pulled a chair over so Fran could sit next to the incubator. “Everyone hopes she will wake up. You can reach in and touch her arm, talk to her. I’ll be back.”

Finally alone with the baby, Fran studied the beautiful features and profile. She was perfectly formed, and to all appearances had been healthy before this terrible thing had happened to her. All the cuts and hookups couldn’t disguise her amazingly long black eyelashes or the sweetness of her sculpted lips.

With such exquisite coloring, she looked like a cherub from the famous painting done by the Italian artist Raphael, but this cherub’s eyes were closed and there was no animation.

She put her hand through the hole and touched the baby’s forearm. “Where did you come from? Did you fall out of heaven by accident? Please come back to life, little sweetheart. Open your eyes. I want to see their color.”

There was no response and that broke her heart. Even if the baby could hear her, she couldn’t understand English. “Of course you want your mommy and daddy. People are trying to find them, but until they do, will you mind if I stay with you?”

Fran caressed her skin with her fingers, careful not to touch any cuts. “I know you belong to someone else, but do you know how much I’d love to claim a baby like you for my own? You have no idea how wonderful you are.”

Tears trickled down her cheeks. “You can’t die. You just can’t—” Fran’s shoulders heaved, but it wouldn’t do for the baby to hear her sobs. By sheer strength of will she pulled herself together and sang some lullabies to her.

After a time the nurse walked over. “I’m sure you’re being a comfort to her, but you’re wanted down in the E.R. Come back whenever you want.”

Fran’s head lifted. She’d been concentrating so hard on the baby, she hadn’t realized she’d already been up here several hours. “Thank you.”

“Leave everything in the restroom on your way out.”

“I will.” With reluctance she removed her hand and stood up. “I’ll be back, sweetheart.”

A few minutes later she reached the E.R. lounge and discovered Kellie talking quietly with Leandros. Her attractive husband had arrived at last, but he looked as though he’d aged since Easter. When he’d flown to Pennsylvania with Kellie in the Petralia company jet at that time, the three of them had gone out for dinner and all had been well.

The second her friend saw her, she jumped up from the chair and ran across the room to meet her. Leandros followed. “Is the baby going to make it?” Kellie cried anxiously.

“I don’t know. She’s just lying there limp in the incubator, but she’s still breathing and has a steady heartbeat. Have the police found her parents yet?”

“There’s been no news.”

Leandros reached for her. “Fran—” he whispered with a throb in his voice. It revealed the depth of his grief. They gave each other a long, hard hug.

“It’s so good to see you again, Leandros, but I wish to heaven it were under different circumstances. I’m so sorry about everything,” she told him. “I’m sure you feel like you’ve been through a war.”

He nodded, eyeing his wife with pained eyes. Something told Fran the pain she saw wasn’t all because of the tragedy. She could feel the negative tension between Kellie and her husband. Her friend hadn’t been exaggerating. In fact, their relationship seemed to be in deeper trouble than even Fran had imagined.

“Five guests at the resort died,” he muttered morosely. “We can thank God the honeymoon couple weren’t in their suite when the tornado touched down or there would have been two more victims. Unfortunately the other two suites were occupied. Mr. Pappas, the retired president of the Hellenic Bank and his wife, were celebrating their sixtieth wedding anniversary.”

“How terrible for everything to end that way. What about the other couple?” Fran asked because she sensed his hesitation.

Leandros looked anguished. “The sister of my friend Nikolos Angelis and her husband had only checked in a few hours earlier with their baby.”

“A baby?” she blurted.

“Yes, but when the bodies were recovered, there was no sign of the child. The police have formed a net to search everywhere. You can imagine the anguish of the Angelis family. They’re in total shock. People are still combing the area.”

“Nik is the brilliant youngest of the Angelis brothers,” Kellie informed her. “He’s the new CEO of the multimillion-dollar mega corporation established by their family fifty years ago. He was out of the country when Leandros and I married, or he would have been at the wedding.”

“I remember seeing some pictures of him in a couple of magazines while I was on the plane flying over.” Gorgeous was the only word to come to mind.

Leandros nodded. “We’ve both put up money for volunteers to scour the region, but so far nothing. His parents are utterly devastated. They not only lost their daughter and son-in-law, but their little granddaughter.”

Granddaughter?

The mention of a baby girl jolted her as she thought of the baby upstairs fighting for her life.

“How old is the baby?”

“Seven months.”

“What color is her hair?”

“Black.”

A cry escaped her lips.

Maybe she hadn’t fallen out of heaven.

Was it possible she’d been carried in the whirlwind and dropped in the hotel garden? Stranger things had happened throughout the world during tornadoes.

“Kellie?”

“I know what you’re thinking, Fran—” Kellie cried. “So am I.” The two women stared at each other. “Remember the little girl in the midwest a few years ago who was found awake and sitting up ten miles away in a field after a tornado struck, killing her entire family? We both saw her picture on the news and couldn’t believe it.”

“Yes! She was the miracle baby who lived!”

“It would explain everything.”

Leandros’s dark brows furrowed. “What are you two talking about?”

“Quick, Kellie. While you tell him what we’re thinking, I’m going back upstairs to be with the baby. Maybe she has come to by now. After hearing from Leandros that their baby is missing, I think she could be that lost child! She has to be! There’s no other explanation. She has to live.” Those words had become Fran’s mantra.

The police had made a grid for the volunteers to follow. Nik and his brothers had been given an area to cover in the pine trees behind the resort. They’d searched for hours. Separated by several yards, they walked abreast while looking for any sign of Demi.

Debris had been scattered like confetti, but he saw nothing to identify their family’s belongings. The tornado had destroyed everything in its path, including lives. Pain stabbed him over and over.

Where in the hell was the baby? How could they go home without her body and face their parents? The grief was beyond imagining.

Each of his brothers had two children, all boys. Their wives and families, along with Stavros’s family had flown to Mykonos to join Nik’s parents. He knew Sandro and Cosimo were thanking providence that their own children hadn’t been anywhere near either tornado, but right now their hearts were so heavy with loss, none of them could talk.

Demi was the only little girl in the family, so beautiful—just like her mother. Not having married yet, Nik had a huge soft spot for his niece. She possessed a sweetness and a special appeal that had charmed him from the moment she was born.

Melina’s baby was the kind of child he would love to have if he ever settled down. But that meant finding the kind of woman who could handle what he would have to tell her about himself before they could be married.

Up to now he hadn’t met her yet and was forced to put up with the public’s false assumption about him. Throughout the last year, various tabloids had put unauthorized pictures of him on their covers with the label Greece’s New Corporate Dynamo—The Most Sought-After Playboy Bachelor of the Decade. He was sickened by the unwanted publicity. But this tragedy made the problems in his personal life fade in comparison.

Just two weeks ago he’d bought Demi a toy where you passed a ball through a tube and it came out the other end. She loved it and would wait for it to show up, then crawl on her belly after it. She could sit most of the time without help and she put everything possible in her mouth. Her smile delighted him. Never to see it—or her—again…he couldn’t bear it. None of them could.

Hot tears stung his eyes at the thought that the seven-month-old was gone, along with her parents. It was a blow he didn’t know whether he could ever get over. He and Melina had shared a special bond. She’d been there for him at the darkest point in his life. A grimace broke out on his face as he realized he couldn’t even find her baby. He felt completely helpless.

Sandro caught his arm. “We’ve finished this section.”

“Let’s move to the next grid.”

“Someone else has done it,” Cosimo muttered.

“I don’t care,” he bit out. “Let’s do it again, more thoroughly this time. Examine every tree.”

They went along with him. Maybe five minutes had gone by when his cell phone rang. He checked the caller ID. “It’s Petralia.”

Their heads swiveled around, as they prayed for news that some volunteer had found her body.

“Leandros?” he said after clicking on. “Any word yet?”