Unforeseen Circumstances
A sequel to Mistaken Identity
Part 7
"What is it Tom?" Danny said lifting himself off of the floor and sitting down in the vinyl-covered chair next to Michelle's bed. He cast his eyes, first at Michelle, awaiting her reaction and then at Tom, who was as close to a friend as he would ever have again.
"I want you to understand that this is not my specialty and I need to get another opinion before I am sure, but it looks like Michelle has a condition called Placenta Previa where the baby's placenta is out of position" he explained.
"No, oh no" Michelle gasped and her reaction to this news told Danny all that he needed to know. The news about the baby wasn't good.
"Now Michelle" Tom continued, "Please remember that I said it appears to me that you have it and I am not an expert in this field. I would like to call in Dr. Pate for a second opinion. This is her specialty. Until then, my suggestion is to just calm down until we can get her consensus on this and remember, there is a margin for error so don't start worrying too much just yet okay?"
Michelle never spoke a word as she let Dr. Welch's words sink in. If she did indeed have this condition, she could be hospitalized or at least bedridden for the remainder of her pregnancy. She felt Danny's eyes on her and looked at him and tried to force a smile, which he saw through immediately.
He knelt by the table and laid his head on her belly, which encased their baby. He wrapped his arms around her and said "It's gonna be all right. We have to believe it will be all right."
Tom broke the silence by proclaiming that he was going to go and call Dr. Pate. "Come with me Alex" he said, "There are a mountain of forms that need to be filled out and it will be easier to go ahead and do it now."
Danny looked at Michelle who still looked as if she were going to burst into tears at any moment. "Look Tom, can't it wait? I will fill them out in a little bit. I need to be here right now"
"No Danny" Michelle said reaching for his hand and holding it to her, "you go on ahead and start the paperwork. The other doctor will be here soon and I want you to be here when she comes."
Danny lowered his head and placed a kiss on her forehead and said, "This will only take a few minutes. I will be right back," he said and Michelle told him to get her wallet and take out her insurance card.
After securing the card, he walked out of the examining room, hoping against hope that Tom hadn't her the slip that Michelle had made in calling him Danny.
As soon as the door was closed and Michelle was out of earshot, Danny pulled on Tom's sleeve and stopped him. "Level with me Tom" he said, "how bad is it really?"
"It's just as I said in there Alex" Tom said with the emphasis being on the word Alex. "I won't know what is going on until Anna comes down to see Michelle and we get her take on it" he said removing Danny's hand from his coat sleeve and pushing it away before walking over to the nurses station to page Dr. Pate.
Damn it. Tom had heard her and now he looked at him as if he were a total stranger instead of the man that he trusted his entire financial portfolio to. He would probably never guess the real truth about why she had called him Danny but the look of distrust was in Tom's eyes and Danny didn't care if he never managed his money again, but he sure as hell needed Tom on their side where Michelle and the baby were concerned. If Tom felt that he was being deceitful, then he might remove himself from the case.
Damn, damn, damn. He had managed to keep himself hidden for three years and now he was going to have to reveal his true identity for the second time in less than three hours.
Tom began to walk back towards him and Danny noticed that the look of disdain hadn't left his face. "Uhm, look Tom" Danny said "Michelle and the baby are my primary concern right now so I am not going to spend much time on this but it seems as though I have no other choice than to tell you what you have already figured out."
"I'm all ears" Tom said his look softening.
"First though" Danny began "I need you to keep this confidential at all costs."
"Anything you say to me will be covered under doctor/patient privilege and I am required by the oath I took to keep your confidence" he assured him.
"Okay Tom, thanks" he said shuffling his feet nervously. He hoped to God his instincts to trust Tom were on the money.
"My name is not really Alex Perez" he began "it's Danny Santos and Michelle is my wife except that she and the rest of the world thought I was dead. The details aren't important but she stumbled back into my life again, quite by accident, this past December and we spent the night together and that is when she became pregnant," he disclosed. "She came back here to Massachusetts to tell me of the pregnancy when she accidentally discovered that I was her dead husband" he said letting out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding.
"Wow" was all that Tom could think of to say.
"Yeah, well it gets even better" Danny said, "I had to leave her to keep her safe. You see, my family back in our home town had some ties to the underworld and no matter how hard I tried to legitimize the business that had been dirty for generations, it never happened and when the rival families began to use Michelle as a target to keep me in line, I had to take action."
"What kind of action?" Tom asked completely intrigued by this story.
"I went to the police and gave them names," he said simply.
"You became a rat," Tom stated, quoting the slang he had heard in some of the gangster movies that he enjoyed watching so much.
"Yeah, I guess you could call it that" Danny admitted " but keeping Michelle safe was all I cared about. Anyway, I knew going to the police would get me killed anyway, so the police and I staged my death."
"How?" Tom asked.
"Gunned down in the broad daylight in front of about 50 witnesses, some of them connected to the families I mentioned," he explained. "Once the news got back to the heads of the families that I was dead, Michelle was crossed off their list as a target."
"Unbelievable" Tom said. "Let me guess, bullet proof vest?"
"Yeah" he confirmed, "But one of the damn bullets hit me in the side anyway" he said lifting his shirt to show Tom the faded scarring.
"So, what happens now?" Tom asked.
"Hell if I know" Danny said. "Listen buddy, you are the only living soul besides my contact on the police force that knows about this. I have to keep Michelle safe at all costs Tom. I disappeared to keep her safe once and if sending her and the baby back to Springfield is the only way to make sure she stays safe, then I wont hesitate to do it. I will disappear again if necessary," he said and Tom nodded his understanding.
"Okay Alex, I mean Danny, I mean, oh hell, is it okay if I still call you Alex? I can't get used to you being Danny this quickly?" he explained.
"Sure Tom" Danny chuckled suddenly feeling as if a hundred ton weight had been lifted off of his shoulders.
"Okay, what I was going to say is that if Michelle has Placenta Previa, like I suspect, then she may have to be bedridden for the duration of her pregnancy. Who would take care of her?" he asked.
"I hadn't considered that Tom" he admitted. "Damn it, what am I gonna do? Is the baby gonna be okay Tom. I know you want to wait until the other doctor comes in, but what is your gut telling you?"
"I think the baby is going to be fine Alex, I really do, but as I told you before, I don't think we can get a clear picture of what is going on until Anna gets down here. I wish I had more to tell you but if you want my gut feeling, then I think that the baby will be okay but I cant say how easy it will be for Michelle to carry it" he said candidly, " I think the best thing to do right now is wait and see. "
Danny sighed deeply and nodded his head. "Okay, look Tom, can I fill these out later?" He said waving the admittance and insurance papers in the air, " I really need to get back to Michelle."
"Yeah sure Alex" he answered taking in the apprehension he was feeling. "Don't worry buddy," he said slapping Danny on the back as they walked, "somehow we will find a way for this situation to work for you guys. We will find a way," he reiterated.
Danny didn't even attempt to acknowledge Tom's words of optimism; rather he began formulating a plan in his own mind that would ensure both Michelle and the baby's safety forever.