PART THREE by ThomasMcNab
Chapter One: "Hope"
Chapter Two: "Not Quite The Mother"
Chapter Three: "Secrets From Her Past"
Chapter Four: "Coffee & Mind Games"
Chapter Five: "New Things"
Chapter Six: "What The Eyes Can't See"
Epilogue: "Signs"

Previously on 'The Caliente Affairs',
Dina receives the results of her paternity test, she confides in her friend about what to do now she knows the father isn't Mortimer but the result of her affair with Ed Wilson. Nina calls off her engagement to Don after losing their baby. Cassandra is visited by Alex over the Christmas festivities and senses he is holding something from her. Alex spends the day in the company of his new neighbour David Asher and is sure that there is an attraction growing between them.

Chapter One: "Hope"

Nina had finally ventured out for the first time in weeks and now she was paying for it, she thought as she rotated her shoulder blades and massaged her neck with her hand. She'd spent the day with Don Lothario, her boyfriend. Unfortunately, since they lost their child after Nina fell down the stairs she had broken off their intimate relationship and their engagement. But being with Don today had brought her to her senses and made her realise that she had possibly been a bit too hasty in calling it quits. Though, Nina had only been home a couple of days and Don hadn't yet got round to fully cleaning the house up.

He insisted he wanted to keep the Christmas Tree up since they hadn't properly celebrated Christmas due to being in hospital. But it wasn't just that, Don had stopped looking after himself and devoted all of his free time to making sure Nina's needs were fulfilled. She wasn't used to so much attention from Don, she was sure he felt guilty but Nina didn't know why. She had explained to him her fall was an accident and that she didn't blame him, but she sensed he couldn't forgive himself. Nina knew deep down he could be attributed to the cause of her miscarriage but Nina would never tell him that. But still, she couldn't let go of the fact that if only he had been in the house when she fell their baby might have survived. Suppressing all of these anxieties, she smiled and invited Don to sit with her.

"Listen, I hope you enjoyed today as much as I did?" Don asked as Nina smiled and nodded "But I haven't forgotten about what you said to me at the hospital and, if you still want some space between us then I think I should move out." Don shocked Nina with his announcement.

"Move out? Don't you want to be with me anymore?" Nina asked with worry.
"No, of course not. I can't stand not being with you. That's partially why I think I should move out, if you really want to give this break a go then I want to give you your space."
"Space? I don't need space I need someone who sticks by me and doesn't bail at the first sign of trouble."
"I'm not bailing, I thought it was what you wanted."

"All I wanted was for you to understand I wasn't ready to get back to normal yet. Before I couldn't even look at you without..."
"Hating me" Don finished Nina's sentence off.
"No. I couldn't look at you without feeling like I'd let you down."
"You haven't let me down." Don said with confusion.
"Is that because you didn't want a kid yet?" Nina sighed.
"No. I wanted a kid more than anything. What I said when we were arguing," Nina put up a finger to stop Don from bringing up the past but Don felt he had to explain, "I was talking out of my butt, I didn't mean any of it. I wanted to start a family with you because I love you. I still love you. That's why I think I should go, I need to respect your wishes and give you some space."
"Don." Nina said as she placed her hand on his.

"I love you too." Don smiled and grasped Nina's hand.
"Nina, I really want to respect your wishes. But would it be alright if I kiss you?" Don asked. Nina let out a silent laugh as she coyly smiled. Everything was alright now, she thought. Nina felt as if their problem's were finally coming to an end.

"I'll let you do a lot more than that if you promise to take these decorations down tomorrow." Nina bargained as Don jumped up and almost took Nina on the kitchen worktop right then.
"Deal!" Nina stood up and headed with Don towards the bedroom, but as she took a few steps she paused and looked in pain. "Nina, are you okay?" Don asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine I think. Just stood up too quick." Nina said as she put a hand on her stomach to stop herself from feeling queasy. But the pain wasn't subsiding, in fact it was getting worse.

Don looked on in horror as Nina coiled over and cried out in pain. "Don, call the hospital." She managed to say before collapsing on the floor.

Don was too stunned to try and catch her, even when she had reached the floor he just stood there staring at her. With his mind elsewhere, it took another scream from Nina to jolt him from his thoughts and he rushed over to grab the phone.

Chapter Two: "Not Quite The Mother"

Dina soaked the sponge and cleaned up the last of her mess with a sigh. This morning she had woke up felling so well. Her, Mortimer and Alex had all had breakfast together and she had kissed Mortimer goodbye as he went to shop for furniture for their nursery. When she waved Alex off as he went out with his friends, she told him to be back in time for dinner and he had complied. She felt like a proper mother! But when it came to lunch she opened the fridge and was hit by a whole host of smells that strangely overwhelmed her. She promptly held on to the kitchen counter and emptied her guts all over it! It was as if Ed's baby was reminding her that she had no right to be this happy when she was living with a guilty secret. She had not spoken to Ed or even seen him since their last meeting before Christmas. With Shaun moving in with Brandi and Dina once again refusing to love him, perhaps he had moved away. No, she thought as the phone rang, nothing is ever that simple.

The automated voice on the other end informed her she had missed a call whilst she was throwing up. Pressing the digits, she tensed up as she heard a panicked Don on the other end.

The message said Nina was back in hospital, but for what reason it didn't say. Dina knew it had to do with her miscarriage, but she assumed Nina was better. Hanging up, she called Don back to find out some answers, he was never good at leaving a coherent message. Unfortunately she was informed his mobile phone was switched off, which she realised made sense since he was in a hospital. But if he didn't have the time to wait outside for her to call him back, surely Nina's condition must be serious. Trying to stay calm she left Don a message asking him to phone her again soon. Dina was a bit shaken now, she had planned a day of relaxing by the pool. She couldn't relax now, not after hearing that. Even though her sister had been back home neither of them had talked to or seen each other. She felt stupid for letting their silly feud go on this long, Nina still didn't even know Dina was pregnant. A sudden wave of relief came over her as she heard a ring, but then realised it was the doorbell.

Her pleasant feeling was replaced by another nauseous wave as she opened the door to see Cassandra. Surveying her slender figure she thanked god she had made the effort to get dressed this morning instead of just hanging around the house in her maternity clothes. Cassandra remained a few feet away, stubbornly refusing to greet Dina.

"Cassandra, what a pleasure to see you. Would you like to come in." Dina said in a sickly pleasant manor that made her toes curl. She figured there was no use in arguing with Cassandra, she had neither the time nor the patience.
"I just came over to see Alexander actually, could you tell him I'm waiting outside for him." Cassandra ordered as she remained fixed to the sidewalk, refusing to continue with their conversation.
"You can tell him yourself when you see him." Dina indignantly remarked.
"I beg your pardon?" Cassandra said in an annoyed tone.
"He's out with his friends, when he comes back you'll be able to tell him." Dina said as she spun around and headed back inside.

Upon hearing a very high-pitched and quick squeak escape from Cassandra's mouth she rolled her eyes and looked back. "You are welcome to wait inside until then." Dina offered. Cassandra tucked her fringe behind her ears as she replied,
"I think I'll do that, make sure you're not running my father off his feet with your incessant demands."
"My incessant demands?" Dina raised her voice as Cassandra's mouth curled up at the corners ever so slightly. 'No' Dina though to herself, 'that's just what she wants'.

"I have no idea what you're talking about but Mortimer informed me he would be out for the morning."
"So it's just you?" Cassandra asked in slightly dejected tone. Dina nodded and politely waved Cassandra in. For a moment she just stood on the path with her arms folded and nose held high in the air. Then, as if entering a Royal ball she walked into the Hacienda with an elegant grace. As soon as her feet made it inside Dina slammed the door shut and jokingly laughed it off as Cassandra looked at her with wide eyes. 'This was going to be interesting', Dina though to herself.

Chapter Three: "Secrets From Her Past"

When Don returned to the ward after leaving a message for Dina, he was taken aside by Dr. Crane for a talk. He knew from past experience that this meant bad news, and he wasn't sure he was strong enough right now to take anymore bad news, what else was there left to go wrong in his life?
"We're prepping Nina for surgery now. The good news is it's just some minor incisions and she'll be back home tomorrow." Dr. Crane informed Don, who had rushed Nina in around twelve hours earlier.
"Why has she had to wait so long, what's wrong with her?" Don asked, eager to know the results of Nina's tests she had earlier on.

"Nina hadn't quite healed fully from the procedure she underwent last month, this attributed to some internal bleeding and that's why we're going in there now to fix her up. Now this is usual with a small percentage of women, but due to her circumstances I must say if I knew earlier I would have most definitely kept Nina in longer."
"What circumstances? You said yourself when she left that she'd recovered excellently." Don argued.
"Yes that was the case then, but that was before I found out that Nina has had a previous abortion."

Don stared into Dr. Crane's eyes as he spoke. He wasn't the type of man that would lie, but surely he must have been wrong. "Nina's never had an abortion before."
"Well that's what she said too but the results don't lie Mr. Lothario, Nina's test results showed signs of a previous abortion, and a sloppy one at that. If I'd known this before hand, perhaps something could have been done to counter the effects of the procedure to remove..." Dr. Crane stopped his sentence early, knowing that Don was smart enough to understand where he was going.

"All I can do now is make sure Nina doesn't lapse in her recover again, otherwise her condition could become very serious."
"How serious." Don asked, disregarding everything else the Doctor had just told him.
"Well I would recommend that the surgeon remove one, if not both of the ovaries so as not to take the risk of an infection spreading. As I said, Nina did heal excellently and I think it would be unlikely that could happen. But she's given her consent and I feel it best to continue with the surgery."
"This surgery, it has side effects." Don assumed.

"Yes. As a result it will be highly unlikely Nina will be able to naturally conceive a baby." Dr. Crane revealed to Don.
"And you let her make this decision without consulting me?" Don asked as he raised his voice.
"I only needed her consent and personally I didn't want to put her under anymore due stress by making her wait to talk to you before she made a decision." Don turned away from the doctor and let out a grunt of defeat. Processing all the information he had just received, Don turned back toward him. "This previous abortion, why did you tell me about it. Doesn't that breach your code or something?"

"It would but Nina told me that you'd verify she's never been pregnant before."
"But these tests, they don't have a very large margin of error do they?" Don asked, already knowing the answer.
"Listen, I've been Nina's doctor for almost four years now, I was just as shocked as you were. I got a second opinion and she verified my findings. This abortion happened a long time ago, and as such perhaps Nina has subconsciously erased the event from her memory. She clearly had no knowledge of a previous pregnancy when I confronted her about it." Dr. Crane lowered his voice as Don instinctively leaned in. "But just because she forgot, doesn't mean everyone else has." Don slowly nodded and understood that now he knew of this information he was free to tell whoever he wanted, he had no code of confidentiality, other than that of mutual respect for Nina's privacy. But when it involved something as big as this, how could Nina not expect him to go looking for answers?

Chapter 4: "Coffee & Mind Games"

Dina had been with Cassandra for a few minutes and already her nerves were beginning to be tested. Deciding to at least try to make the best out of a bad situation, she invited Cassandra into the kitchen for some coffee.
"Coffee! In your condition?" Cassandra had sneered.
"There's nothing wrong with drinking coffee." Dina lied, knowing a few weeks ago she might as well have been allergic to the stuff.
"Well I don't know what whack-job obstetrician you've been talking to but I know I wouldn't advise drinking it." Cassandra said in a matter-of-fact tone.
"And who exactly would you advise on pregnancy, the lab rats?"