LITMIR.BIZ

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saw her tucking the hem of her blouse back into the tight waistband of her skirt. He noticed the holes in her tights and the red, grazed skin of her knees. He could feel the ache in his own joints and it gave him an oddly powerful feeling of connection with this stranger. He tried to catch her eye and smile but she was looking at her watch and frowning, as though she was running late for something.

      And then she looked over her shoulder and her frown deepened. Whatever she was looking for was obscured by the crowd of people who were watching in fascination as the resuscitation scene reached fever pitch.

      The man’s airway was secured and a paramedic was delivering oxygen via a bag mask unit. An IV line was in place and drugs had been administered. And then the shout was given to stand clear and another shock was delivered.

      There was a collective gasp from the onlookers as the man’s body jerked in response to the shock and then silence fell as everybody held their breath. Only those closest could see the blip on the screen of the life pack and then another and another as the rhythm picked up. One of the paramedics felt the neck of the patient and grinned at his colleague.

      ‘We have a pulse.’

      A cheer went up from the crowd and the atmosphere only became more excited as the emergency services prepared to transport the man to hospital as quickly as possible. People were moving away in response to the shouted instructions of the police officer and Nico saw the English woman disappearing behind others.

      He couldn’t let her vanish. Somebody had to thank her for her contribution to saving the man’s life.

      ‘Scusi.’ Again, Nico pushed his way through the human obstruction. He was going against the flow towards the canal and where they were trying to manoeuvre the stretcher that now carried the still-unconscious man into the ambulance, but that was also the direction in which the woman was going. She was still looking for something, her head bent as she peered around people, and suddenly Nico spotted what she was after. A black laptop case, propped against the wooden piling the ambulance launch had been tied up to.

      He could get to it first. She’d have to stop and talk to him then and he could thank her. Get her address, maybe, and then follow up on the patient and let her know the outcome. With a determined effort Nico stepped in front of a man and reached for The case. He had it in his hand when someone bumped into him from behind with such force that his hand simply opened. The case fell, bounced on the cobbles and fell again, in a graceful arc, to land in the canal. For a second or two it floated on the surface. And then it sank.

      Charlotte watched the laptop case disappear under the murky water of the canal, its disappearance hastened by the wash of the ambulance as it took off with its beacons flashing and siren sounding.

      If she took her shoes and jacket off…

      Good grief…was she actually considering diving in to try and retrieve it before it sank too far?

      The downward glance towards her shoes had hammered home the reality of what was happening. Straightening and dusting off her skirt after she’d got to her feet hadn’t cured the creases and streaks of grime. Her tights were shredded and one knee was grazed enough for a trickle of blood to be obvious.

      Her armour had been dented.

      But worse than that—far, far worse than that—her shield had been ripped away from her and destroyed.

      ‘Oh…my…God…’ Charlotte had about a heartbeat before she knew the fear would try and kick in.

      The man was turning towards her, clearly appalled at what had just happened.

      She couldn’t let him see her fear. Couldn’t let anybody see it because if they did it would become real. It would take over and she would be sucked back into that place where she was utterly powerless. Where she became nobody.

      It wasn’t going to happen. Charlotte fought back, gathering fury as if it could repair the amour. Replace the shield.

      ‘You idiot,’ she snapped. ‘Have you any idea what you’ve just done?’

      The dark eyes widened, startled by her ferocity.

      ‘I’m so sorry,’ he said. But the apology in his eyes was being replaced by something more like astonishment. Anger, even, at being attacked for something that had clearly been an accident.

      Charlotte knew that. She’d seen the person behind being pushed and stumbling, only prevented from falling by the safety barrier this man’s back had provided. It didn’t help, though, knowing that the action had not been deliberate. How could it, when the effect was the same?

      ‘That laptop has my presentation on it,’ Charlotte snapped. ‘The presentation I’m supposed to be delivering to an international symposium in…’ She jerked her gaze to her wrist. ‘In exactly ten minutes.’

      His face was changing again, along with the expression in his eyes. He was putting pieces of a puzzle together with the same kind of swiftness that had been obvious when they had become a team, working in sync to try and save the life of the unfortunate man who’d fallen from the scaffolding in the wake of his cardiac arrest.

      They weren’t a team now. They were on different sides of a battle and Charlotte felt as if she was fighting for her life. He couldn’t possibly understand how important this was to her but he obviously knew more than she would have expected.

      ‘Not by any chance the symposium on critical interventions in the emergency department? Being held at the Bonvecchiata hotel?’

      ‘Yes. I’m Dr Charlotte Highton. Due to open the symposium in…’ Charlotte had to swallow hard ‘…eight minutes.’

      ‘You’re Charlotte Highton?’

      ‘Yes.’ Charlotte glared at the stranger, who was looking at her as if he’d seen a ghost. As if he couldn’t believe she was who she’d said she was.

      He gave his head a sharp shake. And then he held out his hand. ‘Dr Nicholas Moretti,’ he told her. ‘Nico. We’ve met before. Twice, in fact. At St Margaret’s Hospital in London. And that night at The Cosmopolitan Club. It was a few years ago now…’ His voice trailed off. He was frowning and still staring as if he could barely recognise her. As if he couldn’t make sense of what he was seeing.

      Well…no surprises there. He was talking about a lifetime ago. She’d been a different person then.

      A person she couldn’t afford to be reminded of because it would only make this situation even worse. How incredibly unfortunate was this? To not only lose the protection she depended on but to meet someone who had known her back then? Before…

      Before her life had turned so sharply it had virtually doubled back on itself to take the path she was now on.

      For just a moment Charlotte could remember what it had been like at that crossroad.

      She could feel the fear.

      She didn’t remember meeting him. Oh…she’d felt the beat of familiarity when she’d seen him. She probably would remember him if she allowed her mind to go back to that time. To when she’d been the rising star of a prestigious London hospital and her academic brilliance had been enough to erase the shadows of a painfully shy youth. To when she’d had the world at her feet and she had been courted by albeit distant royalty and wined and dined at places like The Cosmopolitan Club.

      A time that it hadn’t even occurred to her that she might be reminded of today.

      Not only reminded of but stripped of any protection she would normally have to ward it off. How long had it been since she’d felt this vulnerable?

      To Charlotte’s absolute horror, she could actually feel the prickle of tears at the back of her eyes. Tears that could unleash weakness that might undo her completely. She blinked. Hard. She dragged her gaze away from yet another expression she could read in this man’s eyes. He had such an open face. He was probably a very nice person but she didn’t need anyone to be concerned about her.

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