St Piran’s: Italian Surgeon, Forbidden Bride. Margaret McDonagh

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СКАЧАТЬ I joined St Piran’s when I was in the final year of my training,’ she’d explained to him, amazed he’d found room for apple pie and cream after the large portion of lasagne that had preceded it. ‘They asked me to stay on once I’d qualified.’

      What she hadn’t told him had been the extent of her relief that she’d not needed to move on again, something she had done several times since the life-changing bombshell had brought things crashing down around her. She’d carved out a niche for herself in St Piran, fulfilling a role that patients, relatives and staff all appreciated and which allowed her some welcome autonomy.

      ‘You don’t see patients in your office?’ Gio had queried.

      ‘Very rarely—although I have done so if circumstances required it,’ she replied, thinking of Izzy, the young A and E doctor who, then six months pregnant, had wanted to return to work after taking leave following the traumatic time she had experienced.

      It hadn’t been easy, for Izzy or herself, but things had worked out well. Now Izzy had a beautiful baby girl and an amazing new man in her life in the shape of attractive Spaniard Diego, who had been a charge nurse in NICU/SCBU, and Jess wished them all the happiness in the world.

      ‘My role is more immediate,’ she had gone on to tell Gio. ‘I give emergency help to those who need it, be that on the wards, in A and E, or elsewhere in the hospital.’

      ‘Like the Rowlands.’ Gio’s smile had nearly stopped her heart.

      ‘Y-yes.’ Flustered, she’d tried to get a grip. ‘There can be a wide variety of situations… parents making difficult decisions about treatment for their child, or a young man who has crashed his motorbike and, overnight, has gone from being fit and active to waking up in hospital to the news he’ll never walk again. Or it could be an older person who’s had a stroke and is unable to return to their home. Or a relative in A and E trying to come to terms with a sudden bereavement.’

      Something dark and painful had flashed in Gio’s intense blue eyes, alerting Jess to the possibility there had been some traumatic event in his past. She hadn’t pried, and Gio had declined to refer to it, but she had wondered about his background.

      ‘So you see people through those first stages?’ he’d asked next, pushing his empty dish aside and reclaiming her attention.

      ‘That’s right. Sometimes people need a shoulder to cry on and a friend in their corner. Others need greater help and back-up. I can liaise with other departments and with agencies outside the hospital that can offer care, advice and support, like social services, or relatives who have expectations that the patient may not want,’ she’d explained, finding him easy to talk to. ‘My job is to support them and their rights, and to help them achieve the best solution to whatever problem they’re facing. If they need ongoing counselling once they leave hospital, they are assigned to one of my colleagues through Outpatients, or to an outside support organisation.’

      Gio had shaken his head. ‘I hadn’t realised the full extent of what you do for people. It’s very impressive… you’re very impressive. I can see why everyone here respects you so much.’

      The admiration in his eyes and praise in his sexy voice had warmed her right through and brought an uncharacteristic sting of tears to her eyes. ‘It’s hardly brain surgery,’ she’d quipped to mask her embarrassment.

      Gio’s husky chuckle of appreciation had tightened the knot of awareness low in her tummy, and a sudden wave of longing had stolen her breath and made her realise how alone she had been these last four years. She enjoyed a friendship with Megan and Brianna, but it didn’t extended beyond work and could never fill the cold and lonely void that had grown inside her since her life had turned upside down.

      ‘Your first day’s been hectic and hasn’t ended in the best of ways, but how have you found St Piran’s?’ Jess had asked, anxious to move the conversation away from herself.

      ‘I would rather not have returned to Theatre for that poor girl tonight,’ he’d admitted, and she had seen the lines of tiredness around his eyes. ‘But I’ve enjoyed today and it’s good to be in near the beginning of a new unit for the hospital. It was one of the reasons I took the job. I was impressed with Gordon Ainsworth, the senior neurological consultant, the state-of-the-art equipment and the plans to increase the neurosurgical services here. Being able to help shape those services and build my own team appealed to me. Of course, many people cannot understand why I would leave London to come here.’

      ‘It’s none of their business, is it? If it’s what you want, that’s all that matters,’ she’d told him, his surprised expression suggesting her matter-of-fact support had been in short supply.

      ‘Thank you.’ His slow, intimate smile had threatened to unravel her completely. ‘St Piran’s offered me new challenges and fresh opportunities, as well as the chance of more rapid career progression.’

      It had made sense to her. ‘Better to be a big fish in a small pond?’

      Again the smile with its devastating effect on her. ‘But it’s much more than that… more than what I might gain for myself.’ He’d leaned forward and folded his arms on the table, a pout of consideration shaping his sexy mouth. ‘I commit a fair bit of time and money to a charitable trust that not only funds research, equipment for hospitals in various countries and support for patients and their families with brain tumours and other neurological conditions. We also bring children in desperate need of specialist treatment to the UK.’

      She hadn’t been surprised to learn of this side to him. She’d seen the kind of doctor he was. Instinct had told her how important the charity work was to him, and she’d suspected there was far more to it than he had told her… reasons why the trust was so close to his heart.

      ‘That’s fantastic. And it must be so rewarding.’

      ‘It is. That St Piran’s is interested and has given permission for me to continue to bring over a number of children each year, donating the hospital facilities free of charge, was a huge factor in my decision to come here.’

      Jess had been fascinated as he’d talked more about the work he’d done with the trust. Her heart had swelled with pride as she’d thought about his selflessness and determination to use his skills to help others.

      ‘He is very handsome, isn’t he?’

      Brianna’s comment impinged on Jess’s consciousness and she blinked, looking up and following her friend’s gaze in time to see Gio carrying a tray across the canteen and sitting at a table with Ben Carter and James Alexander. Her pulse raced at the sight of him and she had to beat back a dart of jealousy at Brianna’s evident appreciation of Gio’s looks.

      The man in question turned his head and met her gaze. For several moments it was as if there was no one else in the canteen?the myriad conversations going on all around her faded to a background hum and everything was a blur but Gio himself. A shiver ran down her spine and a very real sense of fear clutched at her. Less than a week and already this man had breached her defences and become all too important to her.

      What was she going to do? If she allowed the friendship to develop, she knew things would end in heartbreak. Despite knowing that, and despite a desperate need to preserve all she had achieved these last four years, she wasn’t sure she could give Gio up.

      A sudden clatter and burst of laughter from across the room caught the attention of everyone in the canteen and snapped Gio’s gaze away from СКАЧАТЬ