Ricardo Fernandez
First appearance: TEMPTATION CALLS
Birthplace: Guadalajara, Mexico, but raised in the San Diego area
Date: April 14, 1978
Current Life: Psychic Healer posing as a Santero in Spanish Harlem
Eyes: Hazel Height: About 6’2″
Distinguishing Features: None
Books in which Ricardo has appeared:
Ricardo first appeared in TEMPTATION CALLS, but was the hero in DEVOTION CALLS
Ricardo always had a connection to wounded things. As a child he would take care of injured animals and as he grew, he realized that there was something special he could do.
Ricardo’s life has been hard. As a child, his parents left Mexico to come to the United States to work as migrant workers. It was difficult for him and his family, but they slowly worked their way up and embraced the American Dream.
Honorable and sexy, Ricardo Fernandez is determined to help others despite the risk to himselfTo be able to go to college, Ricardo joined the Navy and became a Marine. Training as a medic and working on various missions, Ricardo realized his gift was much more than he could have imagined. While on a relief mission to a typhoon-destroyed region of Thailand, Ricardo meets some monks who reveal to him the basis of his gift and start him on a road of self-enlightenment.
Having strengthened his gift, and with his stint in the Marines finished, Ricardo becomes an EMT but finds that the constant connection to the sick and injured drains his powers too badly. He chooses to instead set up a botanica and pose as a santero. In this way, he can still help others, but within the limits of his powers. He can also control the dark side of the gift — the ability to take life forces from other.
Ricardo is honorable and deceiving people about his true abilities eats at him, but he knows this is one way to be able to help those who need his healing powers.
When Sara Martinez brings her terminally ill mother to Ricardo, he promises to do what he can, but his powers have limits. Add to that his instant attraction to the prickly nurse and he knows that trouble is on the way.
