LITMIR.BIZ

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feel perhaps we should wait. I know he looks a bit blue but he doesn’t seem that ill at the moment and I feel awful making him have this operation.’

      Nico nodded, sympathy and understanding in his dark eyes. ‘But you are not the one making the decision, Lorna. The doctors here have made the decision that Thomas needs this operation and you are being a good mother by agreeing to it.’ He kept hold of her hand, his voice deep and level as he spoke. ‘Thomas has something called Fallot’s tetralogy, which basically means that there are a number of things wrong with his heart. Experience has shown us that if we delay the repair it puts a strain on one of the chambers of the heart. It can become enlarged and this may cause problems in later life. Also, repairing the fault early in life restores the oxygen saturation—the amount of oxygen in his blood. This is important for normal development.’

      Lorna looked at her husband who shrugged his shoulders helplessly. ‘So you really think it should be done now?’

      ‘Definitely.’ Nico didn’t hesitate. ‘I have reviewed all his tests and I am convinced that it is totally the right thing to do.’

      Lorna nibbled her lip and looked at him shyly. ‘Do you have children yourself?’

      There was a long pause and Nico Santini glanced towards Abby, his dark lashes shielding his expression.

      Confused by his sudden attention, she shifted slightly and felt herself colour.

      Why was he looking at her?

      He seemed to look at her for a long time and then finally he turned his attention back to Lorna. ‘If you are asking if I would recommend this operation for my own child in the same situation, the answer is yes. I can assure you that if Thomas were my child, I would have no hesitation in letting the operation go ahead. Do you understand the actual mechanics of the operation? What I will be doing?’

      Lorna blushed slightly and exchanged awkward glances with her husband. ‘Sort of.’

      Which meant no, Abby thought quickly, preparing to intervene. But Nico was ahead of her.

      ‘Maybe I will explain it again,’ he said smoothly, releasing Lorna’s hand and reaching into his pocket for a pad and a pen. ‘A drawing usually helps. Imagine the heart as four chambers…’

      His pen moved quickly over the pad as he drew a diagram to illustrate his explanation.

      ‘One of the problems with Thomas’s heart is what we call a VSD—a ventricular septal defect. In other words, there is a hole between the two chambers here….’ He tapped his pen on the page to demonstrate what he meant more clearly. ‘I will put a patch on that. Here the artery is narrowed and I need to sort that out, probably by opening up the valve that leads into it.’

      Nico continued his explanation and finally Lorna’s husband gave a weak smile. ‘You make it sound like DIY.’

      Nico gave a brief nod. ‘In a way it is. I am a technician. Only I don’t always know exactly what will need to be done until I have a look at the heart.’ He gave another shrug. ‘You just have to trust me.’

      Lorna bit her lip and he lifted an eyebrow.

      ‘There is something else you wish to ask me?’

      ‘You say we must trust you….’ Lorna hesitated and then took a deep breath. ‘Are you good?’

      Nico seemed momentarily taken aback by the question and then he gave a wry smile and touched her cheek briefly with a long finger.

      ‘The best.’

      Abby stayed silent as Lorna visibly relaxed and started to ask all the questions that had clearly been bothering her for some time.

      Finally she seemed happier and Nico rose to his feet in a fluid movement and flashed her a smile.

      ‘I hope you feel a little better now.’

      Lorna nodded and gave him a weak smile. ‘I do feel better, thank you, although I can’t pretend I’m not worried.’

      ‘Of course you will be worried.’ Nico slipped his pen back into his pocket. ‘You are a mother and it is a mother’s role to worry. If there are any other questions that you wish to ask me then just ask one of the nurses to contact me and I will be happy to speak to you at any time. I will come and find you after the operation tomorrow so that I can tell you how it went.’

      At the reminder of what lay ahead, Lorna swallowed and he reached out a hand and squeezed her shoulder.

      ‘It will go well. Trust me.’

      With that he strode out of the room, leaving Abby to follow in his wake, stunned by what she’d witnessed.

      It wasn’t at all what she’d expected.

      She’d never seen a doctor take so much time with a family before and she was impressed by how skilfully he’d translated the technical aspects of the operation into language that the family could understand. She was also impressed by the way he’d picked up the signals that Lorna hadn’t understood the previous explanations that she’d been given.

      Maybe she’d misjudged him.

      ‘Thank you for giving them so much time. I’ve never heard a doctor give such a clear explanation. You were amazing with them,’ she admitted quietly, as she walked back along the corridor beside him.

      He stopped dead and turned to face her, a frown touching his forehead, almost as though he’d forgotten she was there until she’d spoken.

      His eyes locked with hers and suddenly she remembered the way he’d looked at her in the side room.

      Accusingly.

      Which was utterly ridiculous, she told herself firmly. What could he possibly be accusing her of?

      Or maybe he’d recognised her but couldn’t place her.

      Maybe she should tell him that she used to go to school with Lucia?

      His gaze was cool and assessing and something in those fabulous dark eyes chilled her to the bone.

      ‘Are you staying for my teaching round?’

      ‘I can’t.’ She was off duty at four and nothing was going to stop her seeing Rosa. She’d nipped down to the crèche in her lunch-break to check that the baby was all right, but she’d be happier when they were both at home.

      ‘And will you be at home this evening?’ His voice was silky smooth and she nodded, taken aback by the question.

      Why would Nico Santini be remotely interested in her plans for the evening?

      His eyes scanned her face with disconcerting thoroughness and then he turned on his heel and walked back onto the main ward, leaving her staring after him, thoroughly confused.

      Nico completed his teaching round and glanced at his watch.

      ‘Are you busy this evening?’ Jack Gibbs was clearly about to extend a social invitation and Nico was quick to make his excuses.

      There was only one place he intended to be that evening, and that was confronting Abby Harrington. Incredibly skilled at interpreting body language, he’d instantly recognised her nervousness when they’d been introduced.

      His mouth twisted into a bitter smile. After all these years he didn’t think that he made mistakes about women, but he’d certainly been way off the mark in her case.

      He’d thought her extremely shy, but she’d also seemed to him to be sensible and intelligent and he’d hoped that she might be a favourable influence on his dizzy sister. She certainly wasn’t the sort of person he would have credited with telling lies or choosing to become a single mother.

      It was no wonder she’d looked nervous when he’d walked onto the ward.

      She was afraid that he’d discovered her secret and at this very moment she was probably pacing the floor of the tiny flat that she was being forced to vacate, dreading

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