MEDITERRANEAN DOCTORS

Demanding, devoted and drop-dead gorgeous—these Latin doctors will make your heart race!

Smolderingly sexy Mediterranean doctors

Saving lives by day…red-hot lovers by night

Read these four MEDITERRANEAN DOCTORS stories in this new collection by your favorite authors, available from Harlequin Presents EXTRA October 2008:

The Sicilian Doctor’s Mistress

Sarah Morgan

The Italian Count’s Baby

Amy Andrews

Spanish Doctor, Pregnant Nurse

Carol Marinelli

The Spanish Doctor’s Love-Child

Kate Hardy

CAROL MARINELLI finds writing a bio rather like writing her New Year’s resolutions. Oh, she’d love to say that since she wrote the last one, she now goes to the gym regularly and doesn’t stop for coffee and cake and a gossip afterward; that she’s incredibly organized and writes for a few productive hours a day after tidying her immaculate house and taking a brisk walk with the dog.

The reality is Carol spends an inordinate amount of time daydreaming about dark, brooding men and exotic places (research), which doesn’t leave too much time for the gym, housework or anything that comes in between. And her most productive writing hours happen to be in the middle of the night, which leaves her in a constant state of bewildered exhaustion.

Originally from England, Carol now lives in Melbourne, Australia. She adores going back to the U.K. for a visit—actually, she adores going anywhere for a visit—and constantly (expensively) strives to overcome her fear of flying. She has three gorgeous children who are growing up so fast (too fast—they’ve just worked out that she lies about her age!) and keep her busy with a never-ending round of homework, sport and friends coming over.

A nurse and a writer, Carol writes for the Harlequin Presents and Medical Romance lines, and is passionate about both. She loves the fast-paced, busy setting of a modern hospital, but every now and then admits it’s bliss to escape to the glamorous, alluring world of her heroes and heroines. A bit like her real life actually!

Spanish Doctor, Pregnant Nurse

Carol Marinelli

www.millsandboon.co.uk

Contents

Cover

MEDITERRANEAN DOCTORS

About the Author

Title Page

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER TWELVE

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

EPILOGUE

Copyright

CHAPTER ONE

‘HAVE you seen him yet?’

Harriet Farrell had barely taken her jacket off before the question on everyone’s lips was directed at her.

‘I assume we’re talking about the new consultant,’ Harriet responded, rolling pale blue eyes heavenwards. ‘I’ve already had two of the late staff waylay me and tell me how divine he is. And, no,’ she added, turning to the mirror and pulling her straight, sandy red hair back into a ponytail. ‘I haven’t seen him.’

‘He’s divine,’ Charlotte, one of the grad nurses, sighed dreamily. ‘Spanish,’ she added, as if that information alone was enough to exalt him to sex-idol status.

‘Well, with a name like Ciro Delgato, even I’d managed to work that one out,’ Harriet responded with a dry note to her voice. ‘I just hope he’s good at his job. Have you seen how full the waiting room is? Unless Dr Divine is as good as his résumé attests, we could be in for a very long night.’

‘Oh, come on, Harriet, don’t be such a killjoy. Anyone would think you didn’t want to be here tonight.’ Susan, one of the more senior nurses on the night shift, grinned. ‘I’m as happily married as you are, but it doesn’t mean that we can’t appreciate a fine specimen when he comes along, particularly one with a dreamy accent! It certainly makes a night shift in Emergency go faster.’

‘Ah, but you’re not married to Drew Farrell, Susan,’ Charlotte teased, not noticing Harriet’s flaming cheeks as she rummaged in her bag for red and blue pens. ‘I, for one, wouldn’t want to leave my famous, good-looking husband alone in bed to do a Saturday night shift in this place, no matter how good-looking the new consultant was.’

It had been meant as a joke, Harriet knew that.

But even as she watched her colleagues head out for handover, even as she smiled and told them she’d be along in a few minutes, her throat was so thick with emotion she thought she might break down at any moment. Charlotte’s comment had been so inadvertently near the mark it felt as if Charlotte must have read her diary.

Not that Harriet kept one!

Sitting down on one of the rickety plastic chairs, she allowed herself the indulgence of a few moments alone, letting the bright smile that was so much her nature slip for a while.

And she should have a lot to smile about.

Married to Drew Farrell, living in a gorgeous house in an exclusive beach-side suburb in Sydney, attending A-list events draped in the latest fashions. It was easier to smile and say that life was great than open up to relative strangers and admit the truth, easier to just carry on pretending that she and Drew were the perfect, golden couple.

If only they knew the truth.

Burying her burning cheeks in her hands, she let out a low moan.

If only they knew that ‘happy’ was the last word she’d use to describe her marriage right now. If only they knew how hard it had been to paint on a smile and come to work tonight because they were desperately short of experienced staff. That just because she was married to a man whose name seemed to be on the tip of every thirteen-year-old’s lips, just because the man that adorned teenagers’ walls also shared her bed, it didn’t automatically mean that life was wonderful. Standing up, Harriet stared into the mirror, every freckle magnified somehow, her snub nose scarlet now from her short emotional lapse. Even though the tiny mirror stuck to the wall with Blu-tack didn’t reveal it, she could feel every lardy pound of overweight flesh digging into her waistband, could almost feel the incredulity behind the stares when Drew remembered to introduce her to his new friends. She could still hear the heavy silence that had resounded last night when she’d walked shy and uncertain down the stairs, draped from head to foot in a thousand-dollar dress, and the tiny beat of disappointment that had resonated. Drew’s eyes had told her that, despite the best designer, despite two months of mortgage money being spent on shoes, make-up and hair, she still hadn’t quite looked the part of a certain actor’s wife.

The look in Drew’s eyes had told her that she looked every bit the fat night nurse she was…

‘Stop feeling sorry for yourself.’ Harriet said it out loud, forcing herself out of her self-imposed misery. After all, hadn’t Drew been nice tonight? Hadn’t he made her a coffee when she’d put down the telephone and told him that she’d be working an extra shift? He’d even filled her a hot-water bottle when a griping stomach pain had hit around seven p.m. and she hadn’t been sure that she had been up to going in. He had tenderly rubbed her back and told her that she’d feel better soon.

He loved her.

She had to hold onto that—had to believe that the man she’d married, the man she’d believed in all these years, was still there under all the hype. That the dreams they’d built amounted to something.

‘Thanks for this!’ Judith Kerr, the senior nurse handing over the late shift, gave Harriet an attempt at a smile as she walked over. Having trained and worked in the military for a quarter of a century, Judith clearly couldn’t quite come to grips with the rather more relaxed attitudes in civilian nursing and seemed to have a permanent air of disbelief about her. ‘We’re just so short tonight, not on numbers…’ She gestured to the gathered crowd and didn’t even bother to lower her voice. ‘More on experience.’

‘Thanks a lot,’ Charlotte moaned, but Judith was unfazed.

‘I’m here to run a department, not massage your tender egos. You might have read the textbooks, Charlotte, come top in all your assessments and exams, but until you’ve walked many miles in Emergency you need someone experienced to oversee the department. Now, Harriet might only have been here for a few months but she’s been doing the job for years and, like it or not, that’s what this place needs on a Saturday night! Especially when we’ve got a new doctor on.’

‘How is he?’ Harriet asked, far more interested in Judith’s professional assessment than the dreamy whispers she had heard in the locker room.

‘He seemed OK.’ Judith sucked in her breath, which effectively meant ‘but’.

‘He was working his way through the patients beautifully at first, I was hoping to have the place a bit more ordered for you, but he went into cubicle four about an hour ago and has barely moved since.’

‘What’s the problem?’

‘Nothing!’ Judith said, clearly exasperated. ‘There’s a young head injury that needed to be discharged but instead of getting on, he’s chatting away—even the patient’s mother is getting impatient and wanting to leave.’ Seeing Harriet frown, Judith explained further. ‘The young girl studies classical ballet. Apparently she’s really talented and, given that Dr Delgato has a “special interest” in sports medicine, he’s decided to give her the five-star treatment.’

‘Judith!’ Even though it was a mere word, a single syllable, Harriet knew without turning her head this must surely be the new consultant. ‘I would like to take some blood on this patient.’ His thick accent was as deep and delicious as promised, but as Harriet swung around she was mentally knocked sideways at the sheer impact of Ciro close up. For once, the girl talk in the locker room had been woefully inadequate. Sexy didn’t come close to describing him. Straight raven hair flopped over a divinely sculptured face, cheekbones razoring his haughty profile, but his delicious mocha-coloured eyes started to darken as Judith’s tongue sharpened.

‘That patient is a simple head injury who should have been discharged an hour ago,’ Judith barked. ‘You’re not working at the sports institute now, young man. If she wants specialist treatment just because she’s a ballerina, then a city emergency room isn’t the place to get it.’

You had to know her to love her.

Had to know that behind that rather rigid exterior beat a heart of solid gold.

And even if Harriet had only known Judith a few short months, she’d met many Judiths in her time. Women whose barks were far, far worse than their bites. Old-school nurses who thought anyone under the age of fifty were just babies who needed to be told.

But whatever mould Judith came from must have broken when it hit the Mediterranean because clearly no one had spoken to Ciro like that before. His brown eyes were almost bulging now, his expression utterly incensed, and Harriet almost felt herself bracing for an impact, half expected a tirade of Spanish expletives to fill the emergency corridor. But even if his voice was controlled when it came, even if his stance remained utterly composed, the force of his angry glare, the slight twist of his lips as the staccato words came out had even the formidable Judith withering a touch under his direct stare.

‘All my patients get special treatment, Sister. So do not even attempt to insinuate—’

‘I was merely pointing out—’ Judith attempted, but Ciro curtly shook his head.

‘Are you on duty in the morning?’ he demanded, waiting until Judith finally nodded.

‘Then you should be very grateful to me. Very grateful that you are not the sister in charge when a fifteen-year-old girl who was discharged from your department the previous night comes in either in a state of collapse or cardiac arrest! I will take care of this by myself.’ Stalking off, he left Judith, probably for the first time in her nursing career, standing open-mouthed and blushing.

Handover was rapid. Judith was unusually subdued and the rest of the day staff were no doubt keen to escape for the last few hours of Saturday night. When it was over Harriet took a few moments to allocate the staff beneath her, first asking if anyone had any preferences.

‘Resus,’ Charlotte immediately asked, and Harriet gave a small grin at her enthusiasm.

‘You can work in there, with Susan,’ Harriet agreed, keen to give the grad nurse the experience she needed, but ever mindful of staff-patient ratios. ‘But when it’s quiet, you’ll need to give a hand out in A bay.’

‘Louise.’ Harriet gave an apologetic grimace, knowing that most emergency nurses wanted to be in where the action was, not watching from a glass booth in the waiting room. ‘Do you mind covering Triage for the first part of the night? I’ll make sure that I rotate staff.’

‘Fine,’ Louise agreed with a not too thinly disguised sigh, which Harriet chose to ignore. As the senior nurse on duty she needed to be on the floor and needed to delegate the staff appropriately, and Triage was important. As the first port of call for patients it needed a perceptive, experienced nurse to assess the patients and categorise them. As much as most nurses hated being in there, it was one of the most important roles in a well-run emergency department and a leaf or two out of Judith’s book wouldn’t go amiss.

Judith!

After a quick check to make sure everything was in order, Harriet headed for the changing room and, sure enough, there Judith was, slowly emptying her locker, filling her wicker basket with her Thermos and sandwich container, her proud face not even looking over as Harriet slipped in quietly.

‘Judith?’

‘I’m fine.’

‘I know you are,’ Harriet started, not quite sure how to broach this difficult, proud woman but knowing she was hurting. Knowing that, unlike the rest of the mob who had scampered off after handover to the pub or their families, Judith would be going home to an empty house and that the only part of the shift she would remember was the final part. ‘Look, in a couple of weeks you two will probably be friends,’ Harriet ventured, and Judith gave a tired nod.

‘Probably. Oh, Harriet, I didn’t mean to imply that he was giving her preferential treatment just because she was a dancer.’

‘No, you probably didn’t.’ Harriet gave a half-smile. ‘But that was what you said, Judith, and, given it’s his first shift in Emergency in this country and English isn’t his first language, and given that your sense of humour doesn’t come with a user manual, he’d be forgiven for thinking that you meant it.’

After the longest time Judith nodded, even managed a watery smile. ‘Should I apologise?’

‘Heavens, no!’ Harriet gave a far wider grin this time. ‘Never apologise to a doctor, Judith, you know that better than me.’

Heading back to the department, happy that Judith wasn’t if exactly cheered at least feeling a bit better, Harriet eyed the whiteboard, planning her next move. She wasn’t sure what reached her senses first, the deep voice or the heady scent of his aftershave, but for reasons she couldn’t even begin to fathom, every sense was on high alert as an all-too-familiar request met her ears.

‘Who is in charge?’

Harriet felt her confident introduction dissipate into a croak.

‘That would be me,’ she somehow managed, dragging her eyes upwards. Incredibly tall, he was easily a good few inches taller than Drew who stood at six-one, but there was nothing remotely slender about him. Ciro was an absolute brute of a man, impossibly wide shoulders, the short-sleeved theatre blues displaying muscular forearms, dusted with dark hairs. Even his hands, holding out a casualty card towards her, were somehow sexy—olive-skinned and long-fingered. Harriet immediately felt incredibly guilty for even noticing they were utterly devoid of a wedding ring.

‘The sister who was on before was very dismissive, but I am preocupado…’ Ciro hesitated. ‘Worried,’ he corrected, and even though she’d already guessed what he was alluding to she gave a small appreciative nod when he translated his word effectively. ‘Very worried and concerned about this patient.’

Grateful for something to concentrate on other than this divine specimen, she took the casualty card and skimmed through the notes written by the evening doctor Ciro had taken over from, cutting through the medical jargon in a moment and summing up the bare facts. ‘Alyssa Harrison, fifteen years old. Fell at a ballet rehearsal, lacerated scalp, sutured, neuro obs stable, ready for discharge. What’s concerning you, Doctor?’

‘A lot, I think.’ His voice was serious, and he gestured to an empty cubicle. ‘Can I speak with you for a moment?’

‘Of course!’ Harriet agreed, but nothing was that simple in Emergency. Before heading off, she flagged down a passing RN with the words, ‘I won’t be long,’ and, handing the drug keys to Susan, she added, ‘Dr Delgato wants a word in private.’

‘Lucky thing.’ Susan grinned. ‘Take as long as you need—I would.’

Thankfully the short walk allowed her blush to fade. No man had even come close to causing such a reaction in her and Harriet didn’t even need to glance at the ring that adorned her own finger to know that whatever she was feeling was inappropriate.

‘It would appear straightforward.’ Ciro wasted no time getting to the point. ‘Alyssa was seen and stitched before I arrived on duty—she had no neurological signs, etcetera, but the doctor who saw her suggested we keep her in for a few hours for head-injury observations, which have all been normal. Now her mother is very keen to get her home.’

‘But?’ Harriet asked, because clearly there was one.

‘I don’t think this young girl is well at all, I’m not happy to discharge her, yet she doesn’t want to get undressed for a full examination,’ Ciro said grimly.

‘A lot of fifteen-year-olds wouldn’t,’ Harriet ventured, ‘especially…’ Her voice trailed off, but in the interests of patient care she cleared her throat and boldly continued, ‘Well, you’re a young man, good-looking—’

‘I have taken that into consideration,’ Ciro broke in, apparently not remotely embarrassed by Harriet’s rather personal observation. ‘She is swathed in legwarmers and a cardigan. All I have managed is to roll up her sleeve, check her blood pressure and take a small look at her ankles while I checked her reflexes. That was enough for me to see that this girl is not just thin, but I would say anorexic and severely malnourished. Her ankles are swollen and oedematous, which would suggest severe malnutrition, and her arms are very thin. Now, usually you would have the parent helping, telling the child not to worry, that it is a doctor examining her and this needs to be done, but instead the mother is agreeing with the daughter when she says that she doesn’t want to get undressed and loudly insisting that any further investigations are unnecessary and that she wants to take her home.’

‘OK.’ Harriet chewed her bottom lip as she realised the possible gravity of the situation, listening intently as Ciro continued.

‘I took her pulse for a full five minutes and she is having arrhythmias. I suggested that we put her on a monitor and do an ECG and some bloods, but the mother again refused. She said that she would take her to the family doctor tomorrow. It is my belief that the mother knows her daughter is grossly underweight, knows that if she is examined properly she will be kept in hospital, and is trying to avoid it.’

‘Have you managed to speak to Alyssa alone?’

‘No.’ Ciro shrugged, his shoulders moving just a fraction. ‘Sister…’

‘Harriet,’ she corrected automatically.

‘Harriet, I do not overreact.’ He stared unblinkingly at her. ‘I do not make problems when there are none. I have asked for the most senior nurse to come with me, as I am going to attempt again to examine Alyssa properly, and if the mother again refuses then I am going to have to get…’ Again he paused, again Harriet guessed he was trying to find the right word—only this time she attempted to help him.

‘Heavy?’ Harriet suggested, and from his slightly bemused expression clearly that wasn’t the word he’d been searching for!

‘If the mother doesn’t comply, then the polite requests and friendly small talk ends and I will call the mother into the interview room and tell her that unless the daughter is examined and treated properly tonight, not only will I be consulting with the paediatrician but also the Department of Community Services, because, although it may be unusual circumstances, Alyssa is at risk.’

‘You’ll get heavy!’ Harriet summed up for him with a smile.

‘Very!’ Briefly he smiled back as the alternative meaning of the word dawned on him, but it faded quickly, his voice slightly urgent when he spoke. ‘Harriet, this is not good.’

She believed him.

Despite the fact she hadn’t even observed him with a patient, had only known him for a few moments, Harriet knew, as nurses just did, that this was a voice of experience talking, knew to go along with his hunch in the knowledge it would be reciprocated; that one day when it was Harriet that was concerned, that when everything on paper told her that the patient was fine, she’d be able to turn to him and tell him that today or tonight or whenever the time came to follow a hunch, she was worried about a patient.

And he would listen.

‘Let’s go and get Alyssa examined and speak with Mrs Harrison, shall we?’

‘Are you OK, Harriet?’ He was still frowning. ‘You look a bit…flushed.’

She felt a bit flushed, only, unlike earlier, it had nothing to do with six feet four of Mediterranean hunk and everything to do with her stomach pain which, despite a hot-water bottle and some painkillers, was still making itself known, but she certainly wasn’t about to tell Ciro that.

‘I’m fine.’ Harriet shook her head dismissively, walking briskly towards the cubicles, ignoring the griping pain in her stomach and mentally preparing for the potentially unpleasant task ahead.

But Ciro clearly hadn’t quite finished. One hand caught her arm as she went to go, those observant eyes staring down at her, narrowing slightly as he took in the pale lips in her flushed face and the tiny grimace of pain as she swung around to face him.

‘You are unwell.’ His statement was delivered as fact, his eyes holding hers as Harriet’s mind raced for some witty response, desperate to shrug off his attention. Sympathy was the very last thing she wanted or needed right now if she was going to get through the night but, given that she had no choice but to get through the night, Harriet decided to swallow her pride and ask this relative stranger for a bit of help.

‘I’m feeling a bit nauseous,’ she admitted. ‘Would you mind writing a script for some Maxalon for me?’ She watched as his eyes narrowed slightly. ‘I don’t usually ask things like this, anyone will tell you that, if I could just have something to get rid of the nausea…’

‘Fine.’ He gave a short smile and Harriet gave a relieved one. ‘After I’ve examined you.’

‘Examined me?’ Horrified, her mouth dropped open. ‘I just asked you to write me up for two anti-emetics, Dr Delgato. Most doctors—’

‘Are you saying that doctors here are prepared to prescribe drugs without examining their patients?’ Ciro questioned, his frown deepening.

‘I’m not your patient, Dr Delgato,’ Harriet pointed out. ‘I’m your colleague.’

‘Well, in that case,’ Ciro answered in the same tight vein, ‘the answer is no.’

‘Then we’d better get on with our work,’ she responded tersely, reclaiming her arm from his grip and walking towards the cubicle more determinedly now. ‘If you can give me a couple of minutes alone with her before you come in, I’ll see if I can get Alyssa undressed so that you can examine her.’

‘You won’t get anywhere with the mother,’ Ciro warned.

‘Just watch me.’

Smiling, Harriet breezed into the cubicle, introducing herself to the patient who lay on the trolley. As Ciro had said, she was swathed in legwarmers and a thick cardigan. Her dark hair was drawn back in a small bun and gorgeous velvet-brown eyes, huge in her face, were blinking in confusion as Harriet produced a gown. Without pausing for breath, as if the entire conversation with Ciro hadn’t happened, as if she had no idea that the mother and patient were resisting treatment, Harriet explained in clear terms what was going to happen.

‘Mrs Harrison.’ Smile still in place, Harriet faced the well-groomed, heavily made-up woman. ‘We’re concerned that Alyssa’s heartbeat is rather irregular at times, so I’m just going to pop her into one of our gowns and then the doctor can examine her properly.’

‘No!’ Mrs Harrison’s voice was firm, her bracelets jangling as she went to grab at the gown, rouged lips furious, but Harriet’s smile remained intact. ‘I’ve already been through all this. I want to take my daughter home.’

‘Of course you do,’ Harriet replied sweetly, ‘but it really is imperative that Alyssa be examined thoroughly. Hopefully it’s nothing serious, but, as I’m sure you’ll understand, Mrs Harrison, we can’t just ignore an irregular heartbeat.’

‘As I’ve explained,’ Mrs Harrison snarled, ‘on several occasions, I’d rather my daughter was seen by our family doctor. I’ll take her there first thing tomorrow—’

‘This can’t wait till tomorrow.’ Harriet’s smile was still intact, but the slightly dizzy air to her tone had gone. Her voice was firm, holding the woman’s gaze as she spoke. ‘Your daughter has a cardiac arrhythmia.’ Still she stared directly at Mrs Harrison. ‘It has to be dealt with tonight. I’m going to get Alyssa into a gown and put her onto one of our monitors so we can keep a closer eye on her.’

And something in her unequivocal stance, something in her voice, must have told the woman that this was non-negotiable, and even though Harriet would never have forced Alyssa to undress, she demanded the mother’s co-operation, told her with her eyes that this had to be confronted. Finally, after the longest time, she felt an inward sigh of relief as Mrs Harrison gave a tiny reluctant nod and turned to her daughter.

‘Listen to the sister, Alyssa.’

‘Harriet,’ she offered, her smile softer now, her eyes kind as she approached the young girl. If Alyssa was, as Ciro suspected, suffering from anorexia nervosa then being undressed and exposed would be traumatic for her, and Harriet was determined to make the entire procedure as gentle and as unintrusive as possible, covering the young girl with a blanket as she helped her out of her clothes. Harriet had to keep her own emotions firmly in check as she briefly witnessed the stick-thin limbs. She talked in gentle soothing tones as she gently leant her patient forward to tie up the gown and even though there hadn’t been much room for doubt, any that might have lingered was quashed as she saw the length of Alyssa’s spinal column, vertebrae protruding, dry, flaky skin hanging off. Glancing up at Mrs Harrison, Harriet saw a flash of shock on the woman’s face but she didn’t comment.

Now wasn’t the time.

‘Well done,’ Harriet reassured the girl. ‘Now, these sticky things just go onto your chest, and it lets us keep an eye on your heartbeat.’ Placing the dots and leads on Alyssa’s frail chest, Harriet quickly covered her back up, before turning on the cardiac monitor. As Ciro made his way in he gave Harriet a brief appreciative nod when he saw that the family was now being more co-operative.

‘Alyssa, Mrs Harrison.’ Ciro smiled warmly. ‘I know you are both keen to go home, but first we need to ensure that Alyssa is well enough. Now, I know you’ve already been through this, but, given the doctor that first treated you has gone home now, can you tell me again what happened this evening when you cut your head?’

‘I was at rehearsal—we’ve got the first performance next Saturday.’ It was the first time Harriet had heard Alyssa speak, her voice, small and breathless, almost drowned out by the busy background noise of the emergency department.

‘She’s the lead,’ Mrs Harrison explained. ‘That’s why I want to get her home. She needs her sleep so she can practise tomorrow. It’s a very demanding role—’

‘Alyssa,’ Ciro broke in, ‘why did you fall?’

‘She landed awkwardly…’ Mrs Harrison started, but her voice trailed away as Ciro and Harriet both looked at Alyssa for the answer.

‘I was halfway through my routine and I just got a bit dizzy. It only lasted a second, but I was in the middle of a jump, so I fell awkwardly.’

‘How often do you get dizzy?’ Ciro asked, and Harriet could only admire his questioning, assuming, as was probably rightly so, that this was probably fairly normal for Alyssa.

‘A bit…’ She gave a tiny shrug.

‘OK.’ Ciro nodded. ‘Alyssa, I’m going to examine you, it’s nothing to worry about, and then I’m going to take some blood from you. Harriet has put you onto one of our heart monitors so that we can see what your heartbeat is doing and maybe find out why you’ve been getting dizzy.’

Infinitely reassuring, still he was commanding, his voice firm but somehow soothing. His hands were gentle as he first pulled down Alyssa’s lower eyelids, examining the conjunctiva, then her hands and nail beds. Lifting the blanket and checking her reflexes, his middle finger probed the swollen ankles that looked out of place on such thin legs.

‘You have some fluid retention. Does this happen often?’

‘Sometimes,’ Alyssa answered, ‘but Mum gives me—’

‘Just some vitamins,’ Mrs Harrison said quickly. ‘I get them at the chemist.’

‘OK.’ Ciro didn’t push for any further details, acted as if the information barely merited a comment, but Harriet knew, just knew, it had been noted, but that for now he was focussed on the important task of gaining Alyssa’s trust.

He listened to her chest, warming the stethoscope in his palms first, all the while keeping as much of Alyssa covered as possible. When he’d finished listening he probed her abdomen for a moment before replacing the blanket.

‘Thank you, Alyssa. I know that wasn’t pleasant for you, but it was necessary. I’m going to take some blood now. I’m going to insert a small cannula and leave it there, but from that I can take blood, and if we need to give you any fluids or medication we can do it all through there, so at least you’ll only get one needle. I’ll try not to hurt you.’

He didn’t. Slipping the needle in neatly, he collected several vials of blood before unclipping the tourniquet and flushing the bung to keep it patent with the heparin flush Harriet had pulled up. Only when the blood had been taken, when the IV was in and Alyssa attached to a monitor did he approach the most difficult part of the whole subject. ‘How much do you weigh, Alyssa?’

‘I’m not sure…’

‘Would you get the scales?’ Ciro asked Harriet.

‘Alyssa knows her weight,’ Harriet responded without looking up at him, keeping her eyes on Alyssa. It would be easy to go and get the scales, but Harriet also knew that the delay and interruption could ruin the relatively compliant mood that they had somehow managed to foster, and it would be far better to forge ahead while the going was good. So instead she broached her patient, knowing, somehow knowing, this was what Ciro wanted her to do. Effective interview skills in Emergency required as much teamwork and synchrony as a surgeon and scrub nurse required, and with some doctors it took for ever—if ever—to perfect, yet with Ciro they fell into it easily, Harriet handing him the metaphoric scalpel without him needing to ask for it. ‘How much do you weigh, Alyssa?’

‘Forty kilos.’ When still Harriet held her gaze, she answered again. ‘Thirty-eight and a half.’

Deliberately Harriet didn’t flinch and she was thankful that, when Ciro spoke, his voice was matter-of-fact.

‘We’ll need to check it before we give any medication,’ he said, more to Harriet, ‘but whatever way you look at it, this is very underweight.’

‘She’s a ballet dancer.’ Mrs Harrison’s voice was terse. ‘She has to watch her weight.’

‘Of course.’ Ciro nodded, smiling at the agitated woman. ‘But Alyssa is extremely underweight. I’m going to run some tests and then I’ll ask one of my colleagues to come down.’

‘And how long is that going to take?’

‘It might take a while,’ Ciro admitted, ‘but I will tell you that it is my belief that Alyssa needs to be admitted—’

‘No!’ Furiously Mrs Harrison shook her head. ‘This can all wait.’

‘I’m afraid not.’ Ciro shook his head. ‘Look, I understand—’

‘No, Doctor, clearly you don’t!’ Mrs Harrison angrily interrupted. ‘My daughter is dancing next week in a role that could see her getting into the most elite dancing school in Australia. She has to rehearse, she has to—’

‘Perhaps we could talk outside,’ Harriet suggested, anxious to move what could be a very emotional discussion well away from Alyssa’s bedside, but Mrs Harrison wasn’t going anywhere.

‘Perhaps we can’t!’ she smartly retorted, and Harriet knew that for now the conversation was over. ‘I’ll wait for those blood results, and then I’m taking my daughter home.’

‘Thank you for your help in there.’ Ciro caught up with Harriet at the nurses’ station as Harriet attempted to put to paper what had just taken place, knowing that a detailed record, though always required, was especially important in cases such as this, so that the staff that were involved later knew exactly what had been broached and what the response had been. ‘You were very good with Alyssa, the mother, too. It looked as if you actually knew what you were doing.’ He smiled as she frowned. ‘That came out wrong, forgive me. What I am trying to say is that you—’

‘I worked on an adolescent psychiatric unit when I did my training,’ Harriet explained, realising that no offence had been meant. ‘I really enjoyed it. For a while there I even thought of…’ Her voice trailed off, long-forgotten dreams briefly surfacing as she remembered the thrill of excitement at being accepted to study psychology and the thud of disappointment when her fledgling plans had been effectively doused. A part-time nursing wage, while she’d studied at uni, had been nowhere near enough to cover a very part-time actor, whose dreams had always somehow been more important than her own. But this was neither the time nor place for what could have been and, quashing memories, she concentrated instead on the matter in hand. ‘Mrs Harrison was shocked when she first saw Alyssa undressed,’ Harriet said. ‘I don’t think she knew, until then, just how thin her daughter was.’

‘Because she doesn’t want to know,’ Ciro responded. ‘At least, not until the concert is over and Alyssa has her scholarship. She wants her daughter to get into this dance school—that is her sole focus.’

‘I think you’re being a bit harsh.’ Harriet frowned, but Ciro stood unmoved.

‘I have worked with many athletes, and with their parents, too. Believe me, Mrs Harrison doesn’t want to hear anything that might compromise her daughter’s chances of performing next week, whatever the cost.’

His arrogant assumption annoyed her, and Harriet let it show, her forehead puckering into a frown, her mouth opening to speak, but Ciro got there first.

‘I don’t want them to leave the department.’

‘We can’t force them to stay—’ Harriet started, but Ciro halted her with a stern gaze, his voice clipped when he spoke.

‘I was not exaggerating earlier, Harriet. I will call Community Services if I have to. If Alyssa goes home, I can guarantee she will be back at the bar first thing tomorrow, rehearsing for her performance. And, from my clinical examination, it is my belief that that child is in danger of collapse and possibly sudden death if she exerts herself.

‘So, I repeat—I do not want her leaving this department!’

As Ciro called over the porter and handed him the bloods to take directly to Pathology, Harriet stood stock-still at the desk, pen poised over the notes she was writing, her eyes shuttered for a moment. It wasn’t Ciro’s ominous warning that caused her eyes to close in horror, but the use of the word ‘child’.

They were talking about a fifteen-year-old child, and she mustn’t lose sight of that fact. It was their duty to protect her, especially if Ciro’s educated hunch proved to be correct.

‘What was all that about?’ Charlotte nudged her, putting a massive pile of drug charts in front of Harriet that needed to be checked.

‘The patient in cubicle four,’ Harriet murmured, her mind ticking over. ‘Alyssa Harrison…’

‘The head injury that’s here with her mother?’ Charlotte checked. ‘I thought she was being discharged.’

‘Not any more. Ciro doesn’t want her to leave the department. I’m going to ask Security to keep an eye on them.’

‘But what if the mother wants to take her?’

‘Then a simple head injury will become incredibly complicated.’ Harriet gave a thin smile. ‘Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that. For now just keep an eye open and let me know straight away if they show signs of leaving.’ The emergency phone trilling loudly interrupted the conversation and had Charlotte practically dancing on the spot with anticipation. When the red phone rang, everything stopped! A direct line to Ambulance Control, it was used to warn the staff about any serious emergencies they could expect, and sometimes, if the situation merited it, an emergency squad of nurses and a doctor would be sent out.

Harriet answered the telephone calmly, listening patiently to Ambulance Control and shaking her head as Susan came over swiftly, with Ciro following closely behind, clearly wanting to find out what was coming in, or whether the squad needed to go out.

‘Just a plane about to land with one engine,’ Harriet said easily, and Susan gave a dismissive shrug, before wandering off. Even the easily excited Charlotte managed a rather bored rolling of her eyes and went off to answer a call bell.

Only Ciro remained, his expressive face clearly appalled at the news.

‘One engine!’

‘Yep,’ Harriet answered. ‘I’ll just let the nursing coordinator know.’

‘And then what?’

‘Sorry?’

‘Then what?’ Ciro barked, clearly frustrated by her obvious lack of urgency. ‘Am I to go out to the airport? Should we start moving patients out of the department?’

‘Ciro…’ Putting up her hand, Harriet stopped him. ‘It’s no big deal.’

‘Tell that to the poor souls flying thirty thousand feet in the air,’ he started, and somewhere deep inside, something flared in Harriet—a twitch of a smile on her lips, a small gurgle of laughter building within, a tiny flash of mischievousness at the realisation that she could prolong his agony, a glimpse of the old Harriet, the old, fun-loving Harriet, that seemed to have been left behind somehow. Ciro responded to it.

‘What?’ His lips were reluctantly twitching into a smile, too. ‘What is so funny? I am overreacting, no?’

‘Yes.’ Harried grinned. ‘You obviously haven’t worked in an emergency department that covers an international airport before.’

‘No.’

‘Those poor souls won’t even know there’s a potential problem. This type of thing happens all the time. Ambulance Control alerts us as a courtesy, to be ready in case…’

‘Then shouldn’t we be doing something, getting ready?’

‘Ciro, we are ready,’ Harriet answered. ‘The mobile emergency equipment was all checked at the beginning of the shift, we’ve got a major disaster procedure plan in place, ready to be implemented at any given moment. This is a fairly regular occurrence. Planes can and do land perfectly well with one engine. However, as a precaution, the airport emergency crews will all be ready to meet the plane and if, if, a disaster were to eventuate, we’d commence the major incident plan. But for now it’s way too soon to do anything.’ He didn’t look particularly convinced. ‘Ciro, if they had rung to say a plane was going to land with no engines, we’d be moving. This time next month you’ll barely turn a hair at the news. They’ll ring soon to say it’s landed safely.’

He gave a relieved nod and she should have left it there, should have ended it with a swift smile and got straight back to work, but she didn’t.

‘Unless, of course, the wheels get stuck in the undercarriage.’

‘Now you are teasing.’

‘Yes.’ Harriet smiled, but somewhere in mid-smile it wavered, somewhere in mid-conversation the witty responses ended and all she could do was stare. Stare back at those mocha eyes that held hers, stare at that full, sensual mouth. He smiled back at her and the terrible realisation hit that she was flirting.

Oh, not licking her lips and hand on hips flirting, but there was a dangerous undercurrent that was pulling her. A rip in the ocean that was slowly but surely dragging her in, this seemingly light conversation peppered with dangerous undertones. Surely, surely she shouldn’t be noticing the tiny golden flecks that lightened those velvet eyes, surely she should no more than vaguely register the heavy, masculine scent of him. But instead it permeated her.

Harriet could feel her own pulse flickering in her throat and from the tiny dart of his eyes Ciro registered it too, and for a slice of time the department faded into insignificance, for a second it was only the two of them, not two colleagues sharing a light-hearted joke, but instead a man and a woman partaking in that primitive, almost indefinable ritual. A ritual that somehow acknowledged mutual attraction, that managed, without words, to voice a thousand questions. Never had she been more grateful for the sharp trill of the emergency phone ringing, dragging her back to reality, a mental slap to her flushed cheeks, a chance to regroup, to pull back, a chance to stop something that must never, ever be started.

‘It landed.’ Her voice was high and slightly breathless as she replaced the receiver, taking great pains to calmly log the call in the book, anything other than look at him. ‘Safely.’

‘I told you it would!’ Blinking in confusion, she dragged her eyes to his, smiling despite herself when he gave a nonchalant shrug and somehow turned the previous few minutes on their head. ‘Didn’t I try and tell you that you were overreacting, Sister?’

One good thing about being busy was that the hours went by quickly. Ciro, clearly used to dealing with a full department, worked his way expertly through the patients. Harriet guessed that once he didn’t have to pause to look up every last phone number and find out where every blessed form was kept to order various tests, he’d be an absolute dream to work with—so long as you followed his rules!

‘Look at you, Harriet!’ Charlotte’s voice was almost a screech. ‘You’re in the newspaper! Why didn’t you say?’

Mortified, clutching a telephone receiver in one hand, with the other Harriet reached out to grab the paper, but Charlotte was having none of it. At twenty-one she was a huge fan of Drew’s and never missed an opportunity to talk about him.

‘I just saw one of the patients reading it! I told them that you worked here so they let me have the paper—Oh, Harriet, you look gorgeous!’

‘I look huge,’ Harriet corrected, refusing to even glance at the beastly photo of her on the red carpet at the acting awards ceremony that had been held the previous night.

‘Any results back on Alyssa?’ Ciro asked as he came over. ‘The medics are waiting to see her, but I want some more information before I speak with the mother again and tell her that we’re keeping her in.’

‘I’m still on hold.’ Harriet didn’t even look at him, couldn’t actually! She was concentrating too hard on breathing, tiny white spots dancing in front of her eyes, sweat beading on her forehead as great waves of nausea rolled over her. And Charlotte’s incessant voice wasn’t exactly helping matters.

‘But you’re not huge, you look stunning!’

‘Who looks stunning?’ she could hear Ciro asking, mortification heaped on mortification as behind her back Charlotte gleefully showed him the photo and took the new doctor on a whirlwind tour of her supposedly wonderful life.

‘Harriet here is married to a soap star.’

‘Soap?’

‘Soap opera!’

‘Her husband is an opera singer?’

‘No, he’s on TV. How come,’ Charlotte asked with the tactlessness only a very pretty twenty-one-year-old could get away with, ‘that with the patients your English is brilliant, but when you’re talking to us it’s—’

‘Charlotte!’ Harriet warned, putting her hand over the mouthpiece of the phone, but Ciro was unfazed.

‘Because most of the English exams that I had to pass concentrated on medical terminology,’ Ciro answered easily. ‘I can name every bone in your body yet I cannot talk easily about television shows.’

‘He could name every bone in my body,’ Susan sighed as Ciro headed back to the cubicles, with Charlotte following like a faithful puppy. ‘He’s very good, isn’t he?’ Susan carried on, following Harriet’s far-away gaze as she sat on the telephone on seemingly eternal hold, trying to chase up Alyssa’s blood results. Despite marking the forms as high priority the results still hadn’t come through and Mrs Harrison’s already short fuse was clearly about to run out. Glancing over to cubicle four, Alyssa frowned as Mrs Harrison pulled the curtain, effectively blocking her view.

‘He’s doing well,’ Harriet admitted almost reluctantly, determined not to let even a hint of what she was feeling carry to her peers, rolling her eyes as yet again the switchboard operator asked her to stay on hold. ‘So long as you don’t ask him for any favours.’

‘Meaning?’

‘Meaning I asked him to write up two Maxalon for me and he refused. He said that he’d only write them up if he examined me first.’

‘And you said no!’ Susan teased. ‘I wouldn’t have to be asked twice to take my kit off. Are you OK?’ she asked more seriously when Harriet didn’t smile back, just fanned her face with her hand and licked lips that were suddenly dry.

‘No,’ Harriet finally admitted. ‘In fact, once I get these results I think I’m going to have to take first break. Susan, would you mind going and checking on Alyssa? Tell Mrs Harrison that we need the curtains kept open, unless she’s using a bedpan, of course.’

‘Sure.’ Susan stepped down from her stool. ‘And when I’ve done that do you want me to ring the supervisor, and see if she can send someone down to replace you?’

‘Fat chance.’ Harriet rolled her eyes. ‘I was the last of the last resorts already. I’ll just have to grin and bear it, I’m afraid. Let’s hope the department stays quiet.’

Jinx!

Even as the words came out of her mouth, even before the two nurses could touch the wooden desk in front of them in an effort to stop the jinx, the urgent call went up!

A loud crash, followed by a wail of horror filled the relatively quiet department and, throwing the receiver down on the desk, Harriet managed a rueful smile as she ran towards cubicle four, Susan quickly apportioning blame as she ran behind. ‘That’s your fault, Harriet!’

CHAPTER TWO

CIRO beat them there.

Pulling back the curtain and assessing in a split second what had happened, Ciro knelt down and swiftly examined Alyssa who lay unconscious on the floor. He checked her vital signs as Harriet pulled an oxygen mask from the wall and placed it over the young girl’s mouth, careful not to move her until Ciro gave the OK.

‘She said she felt OK,’ Mrs Harrison was sobbing. ‘I thought if I got her home to her own bed—’

‘Did she hit her head when she fell?’ Ciro’s question was direct.

‘No. She was just getting off the trolley and she went dizzy.’

‘Did you break her fall?’

‘Yes!’ Mrs Harrison’s voice was a screech. ‘What the hell’s happening? Has she fainted or something?’

That was what Harriet had been hoping when first she’d seen the young girl collapsed on the floor, but normally, with a simple faint, consciousness returned almost as soon as the patient was prone. But despite the oxygen, despite the seconds ticking past, Alyssa still lay unconscious.

‘Let’s get her over to Resus.’ Ciro’s expression was grim as he attempted to check her blood pressure, but as Harriet went to pull out the trolley Ciro impatiently shook his head. He swiftly removed the oxygen mask. Picking up the feather-light young girl in his arms, he carried her through the department to the better-equipped resuscitation room as Harriet moved like lightning ahead of him.

‘Fast-page the paediatricians,’ Ciro ordered, but thankfully Susan was already on to it. Even Charlotte was thinking ahead, pulling open a flask of IV saline to run through a drip, but though Harriet was pleased to see her acting independently, she still needed supervision.

‘Charlotte,’ Harriet called, as she attached Alyssa to a multitude of monitors, ‘run the saline through a paediatric burette. She’s extremely underweight so we have to be very careful of doses.’

‘We need to be very careful not to overload her with fluid,’ Ciro confirmed and even though he was busy, inserting an IV and connecting the drips, he still managed to find the time to explain his thought process to the eager grad nurse. ‘Her heart is beating irregularly, she may have some heart failure, so the last thing we want to do is give her more fluid than her heart can deal with. On the other hand…’ He paused as he carefully examined Alyssa’s neck, checking her jugular venous pressure. Then he whipped out his stethoscope and listened carefully to her lungs for a moment before resuming his knowledgeable lecture. ‘She is undoubtedly dehydrated. Let’s give her a stat 200 ml bolus. I want a catheter put in and her input and output strictly monitored.

‘Come on, Alyssa.’ His words were loud, the call to his patient sharp as he not-too-gently rubbed her sternum. It worked. Alyssa’s eyes flickered open as she attempted to push him away. ‘Good girl.’ Ciro’s voice was more soothing now, moving quickly to orientate his patient to her new surroundings. ‘You lost consciousness again, Alyssa, so we have moved you to a different area of Emergency where we can keep a closer eye on you…’ The frantic running of feet along the corridor outside heralded the arrival of the paediatric team, but instead of turning to greet them, Harriet noted with approval that he carried on talking to Alyssa, perhaps sensing that a full emergency team arriving at her bedside would be daunting for the young girl. Ciro took time to reassure her that, despite the apparent chaos, everything was very much in order. ‘We were concerned about you so there are going to be a lot of doctors arriving and a lot of talk that you don’t understand, but you are going to be OK.’

There certainly were a lot of doctors arriving. An emergency call always merited a rapid response, but the page had been put out as a paediatric emergency and though the difference was probably negligible, Harriet was sure that everyone had run just that bit faster to get there, from the anaesthetist to the nursing supervisor.

‘Alyssa Harrison,’ Ciro explained, ‘presented with a head injury secondary to a fall while dancing…’

Harriet listened as she worked on, listened to his heavily accented English barely faltering as he explained Alyssa’s complicated symptoms, and even though it was his first night, even though none of the doctors had met him before, he delivered his findings with a calm authority that demanded respect, explained without words to the rapidly gathering crowd that he was very much in control.

‘Can you chase up those results?’ Ciro looked over and Harriet let out a low moan.

‘I’ve left the pathologist hanging on the line.’

‘Tell him we’ll be sending some blood gases along shortly,’ Ciro called as Harriet rapidly headed back for the nurses’ station.

It took for ever to get through, the switchboard operator telling her in a rather pained voice that ‘yet again’ she was about to be connected, but suddenly those tiny white spots that had been dancing in front of her eyes earlier seemed to have returned for an encore. The nurses’ station seemed impossibly small all of a sudden. Sweat trickled between her breasts as she choked back bile, pleading with the powers that be to just let her get through the next few minutes of her life without major problems. If she could just get the blessed results down, she could hopefully escape the department for five minutes.

‘Harriet, we need those results!’ Ciro’s voice was booming at her, his impatient face swimming before her eyes as she looked up. Finally Harriet conceded to herself that she had to get to the bathroom at once. Hurling the receiver somewhere in Ciro’s direction, she stumbled off the stool.

‘The pathologist is on the line now.’

‘So, what are the results?’

‘I don’t know,’ she mumbled, backing out, her hand over her mouth. Thankfully Susan was around, and recognised potential disaster before it hit. Susan’s reflexes were like lightning, guiding Harriet to a vacant cubicle, sitting her on a chair and mercifully producing a bowl as she pulled the curtains on one of the many humiliating moments in Harriet’s life!

CHAPTER THREE

‘GIVE her the Maxalon, you meanie,’ Susan teased as Ciro stepped into the cubicle a few moments later.

Thankfully his telephone conversation with the pathologist had at least given Susan enough time to remove the offending bowl and for Harriet to rinse her mouth and at least manage a semblance of dignity.

‘I’ve already discussed this with Harriet,’ Ciro said, completely unmoved. ‘Now, will you let me examine you?’

‘There’s no need,’ Harriet insisted. ‘I went out to dinner last night, the food was really rich…’

‘Did you have a lot to drink?’

‘Apart from mineral water, no.’ Standing, attempting not to wince with the pain that small exertion caused, she attempted a brisk smile. ‘I’d better get back out there.’

‘You are in no fit state to be working.’

‘I’m much better now,’ Harriet muttered.

‘I disagree. I have already spoken with the nurse supervisor and she is arranging cover for you.’

‘You’ve what?’ Appalled, she glared at him. ‘How dare you?’

‘I dare because I am the doctor in charge tonight and I need my colleagues, especially my senior ones, to be completely on the ball. There is no room for error in Emergency.’

He was right, of course, Harriet knew that deep down, but it didn’t make her feel any better.

‘Now, are you going to let me examine you?’

‘No,’ Harriet answered tartly. ‘You should be in with Alyssa, instead of worrying about me.’

‘The paediatricians are in with Alyssa now. Everything is under control.’

‘Including me.’ Harriet bristled. ‘I’m going to wait for the nurse supervisor to arrange cover and then I’m going to take some paracetamol and lie down for an hour or so until I feel well enough to start working again.’

‘You shouldn’t take anything until you know what’s wrong with you. I’m not going to give you anything.’

‘You really are the limit, you know!’ Embarrassment was turning into anger now, furious at his control, his authoritative air—well, it might quiet his patients but it damn well wasn’t going to silence her into submission. ‘Well, Dr Delgato, as it happens, I have some painkillers in my handbag, painkillers that don’t require some over-inflated doctor’s signature to take, unless there’s a rule that’s suddenly been invented that I don’t know about, unless I’m not allowed to go into my locker without your consent, unless I’m not allowed to open my bag and take my own tablets without your permission!’

‘You are being childish,’ Ciro responded, not remotely fazed by her outburst. ‘But as you’re now off duty, that is entirely your prerogative.

‘Now, I suggest you put on a gown, lie down on the trolley and rest for a while. Then, with your consent, I will come in and examine you once I have spoken to Mrs Harrison to let her know what is going on.’

She wasn’t sure if it was deliberate, but the mention of the Harrisons made her protests about refusing to put on a gown and be examined rather feeble, childish even, and Ciro seemed to sense the change in her.

‘How do you feel now that you have vomited?’

Which wasn’t exactly the sweetest line to deliver a woman, but Harriet knew that his medical brain meant well.

‘A bit better.’

‘Good! Then rest and I’ll be back shortly.’

She gave a reluctant nod. ‘How are Alyssa’s results?’ She knew, just knew, he was about to shake his head and tell her that it was no longer her problem, so Harriet added quickly, ‘I really would like to know.’

‘Her potassium is dangerously low, as is her albumin, her renal function is decreased, she’s extremely malnourished, which is why she has the peripheral oedema. I’ve spoken with Pathology and it would seem those vitamins that Mrs Harrison’s been giving to her daughter are, in fact, diuretics, which of course are used to get rid of oedema, but that’s the trouble with self-prescribing…’ He gave her a tight smile as Harriet blushed. ‘As you know, some diuretics need to be taken with a potassium supplement. Instead, Alyssa’s potassium has dropped so low she is in danger of having a serious cardiac arrhythmia and possibly a cardiac arrest. I’ll let you know how it goes when you’re feeling a bit better.’

‘Thank you.’

It was horrible, horrible, horrible being on the other side of the curtain. Horrible lying in a flimsy gown with the ties missing, on a hard trolley. Horrible having a probe stuck in your ear and your blood pressure taken, but that didn’t even begin to compare to the humiliation of lying back and closing one’s eyes while someone as divine and toned and clearly fit as Ciro told you to stop trying to hold in your stomach so that he could examine you properly.

She didn’t even want to think about the sensible knickers she was wearing, supposedly safe in the knowledge she had been going to work.

‘Tender?’ Ciro asked as Harriet gave a stifled moan.

‘A bit.’

‘And here?’

‘No.’

‘Hmm.’

The dreaded ‘hmm’—the sound doctors worldwide made as they broached a tentative diagnosis.

‘You are tender in the right iliac fossa. I think it could be appendicitis or possibly an ectopic pregnancy.’

‘I’m not pregnant.’

‘Do you have your period?’

‘No,’ Harriet croaked.

‘So when is it due?’

‘Soon.’ Blushing to the roots of her hair, she tried to focus on dates to respond to this necessary but excruciatingly embarrassing question in as matter-of-fact a way as she could muster. ‘Actually, it was due a couple of days ago but—’

‘Hmm.’

‘I’m not pregnant.’ Meeting his doubtful eyes, Harriet shook her head firmly on the pillow. ‘I’m definitely not pregnant.’

‘You are on the Pill?’

Harriet gave a small nod, hoping that would be enough to mollify him but knowing that it was futile.

‘The Pill isn’t always a hundred per cent effective.’

‘I’m just not pregnant, OK?’ Wrenching the beastly gown down over her stomach, she prayed for her blush to fade, prayed for this interrogation to end. ‘So I haven’t got an ectopic pregnancy and neither do I have appendicitis. I just want to go home to my own bed—’

‘Harriet, I know that this is embarrassing for you.’ Perching himself on the trolley, he took her hand, the touch so unexpected, so surprisingly tender she felt tears prick her eyes, his glimpse of kindness providing no balm, more a sharp sting to her bruised emotions. ‘It is always awkward when staff are ill, but the fact is you have not looked well since you first came on duty and you are getting progressively worse. It clearly needs to be dealt with. Now, as uncomfortable as these questions are, they have to be asked. In a young woman, with abdominal tenderness, vomiting and a late period, it would be criminally negligent of me not to consider that it could be a ruptured ectopic pregnancy. So can you tell me why I should rule out that diagnosis? Are you unable to conceive, is there anything in your medical history…?’

And she didn’t want to voice it, didn’t want to admit it even to herself let alone anyone else, but knowing the truth was needed, drawing strength from the kind eyes that stared in concern, the warmth from the hand holding hers, Harriet let go of the horrible truth she had held in so tightly for so long now, admitted, perhaps for the first time, the hopelessness of her own situation.

‘I’m using the only completely reliable form of contraception.’ Swallowing hard, she forced herself to say it, to just get this the hell over with. ‘Abstinence! I can’t be pregnant because I’m not sleeping with my husband.’ She saw the flicker of confusion in his eyes, second-guessed what was coming next. ‘We haven’t slept together for months now, not since Drew got this job and we moved to Sydney. So, you see, I couldn’t possibly be…’ Tears that had been held back for so long were now finally trying to come forth and holding them in hurt her ribs almost as much as the pain in her stomach did.

‘You are allowed to cry, Harriet.’

‘No, Ciro, I’m not.’

‘You don’t have to hold it all in,’ Ciro insisted.

But she did.

Had for so long now it came as second nature.

‘When David decided his name should be changed to Drew I had to grin and bear it,’ Harriet snarled. ‘And when Drew needs a pair of designer jeans for an audition I just work an extra shift, when he misses out on a part that should have been his I’m the one who has to deliver a pep talk…’ The floodgates were opening now, years of suppressed anger bubbling to the fore, and she didn’t care. For the first time in her entire adult life, Harriet couldn’t give a damn about someone else’s feelings. She blurted out her anger and frustration because it helped and, she decided, choking through her vented fury, he didn’t have a clue what she was going on about. Her rapid spate of furious words was way too fast for him to understand.

All he had to do was hold her hand—which he was.

Nod at her very occasional pauses—which he did.

And give an occasional sympathetic murmur when her voice shrilled—rather regularly.

And through it all he didn’t say a word, didn’t attempt to say he understood as Harriet ranted on. ‘Since he got this bloody job, I’m not good enough,’ Harriet raged. ‘Not thin enough, or demure enough, not quite the happening young metrosexual’s partner.’ She registered his frown.

‘He is gay?’ Ciro finally spoke.

‘No.’ Somehow Harriet managed a strangled gurgle of laughter. ‘Metrosexual, it’s the buzz word for today’s kind of man. A man who doesn’t mind admitting he takes care of himself.’

His frown only deepened.

‘He has facials, dresses well, has his hair coloured, his eyebrows…’ Her voice petered out.

‘And he doesn’t sleep with you?’ There was just a hint of innuendo to his voice that really wasn’t helping matters.

‘He’s under a lot of pressure at the moment,’ Harriet offered in her husband’s defence. ‘He has to get up at the crack of dawn for early shoots, it’s the only time the beach is empty.’

Which mollified him not! Clearly the Spanish didn’t need a full eight hours in the cot for a performance! Clearly the Spanish didn’t give a hoot about eyebrows and waxing and face creams. And it would have been so much easier if Ciro was ugly. If his eyebrows joined or he smelt of garlic, if she could just somehow eke out a hint of justification as to why Drew needed to spend so much energy and money to be a man, when this very unpampered male sat opposite her.

‘I’m sorry!’ She gave a rather ungracious sniff. ‘If it was embarrassing before, it positively—’

‘It’s fine.’ He smiled. ‘You’re not the first patient I’ve had tell me her marriage is in trouble.’

‘I wouldn’t exactly say that it’s in trouble…’ Harriet started, but her voice trailed off as she conceded the point. ‘OK, it’s in big trouble.’

‘I’m sorry,’ Ciro responded politely. ‘But at least it means that we can rule out an ectopic! Now…’ Sensing her need to change the subject, he stood up and adopted a rather more professional distance. ‘Which means we have to consider that you could have appendicitis.’

‘No.’

‘Are you going to tell me that your appendix and you haven’t been getting on for a while, that it’s been treating itself to massages while you weren’t looking? That it’s been so neglected there isn’t any chance it could be inflamed?’

A tiny smile wobbled on her pale lips.

‘I’ll need to examine you properly, Harriet, there’s absolutely nothing to be embarrassed about.’

There was everything to be embarrassed about. He could be as matter-of-fact as he liked, pull on a pair of gloves as casually as if he were about to do the dishes, but there was no way, no way, she was going to let Ciro Delgato examine her there. She’d never in a million years be able to work with him if she allowed him to. Quite simply, she’d have to resign.

‘I’ll go to my own GP tomorrow,’ Harriet begged, desperate suddenly for the lyrical sound of her lovely GP’s voice as she chatted about her children and grandchildren, a GP who somehow made even the most uncomfortable procedures as routine as a gossip at the supermarket checkout—not like this Spanish dynamo that she’d have to work with again.

Конец ознакомительного фрагмента.

Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес».

Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на ЛитРес.

Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.