The Playboy of Harley Street / Doctor on the Red Carpet

by Anne Fraser

  CHAPTER NINE

  A COUPLE of days later, Fabio came to find Katie. She had gone out of her way to avoid him since the night of the premiere, terrified he’d read how she felt about him in her eyes.

  He’d phoned to make sure she was all right, but they hadn’t spoken since. At least, not about anything except work.

  ‘I’ve just had Amelia on the phone. She’s worried about Lucy. Says she’s not her usual self. I’m going out to see her—are you free to come too?’

  ‘Of course I’ll come. I have one more patient then I’m all yours. I won’t be more than thirty minutes. Will that be okay?’

  Fabio nodded, looking worried. Despite his nonchalant manner, Katie had seen from the way he was with Lucy that the little girl was more to him than just a patient. She hoped Lucy hadn’t caught a chest infection. Every time she did, it carried a risk of additional scarring to the lungs. The more infections, the worse the ultimate prognosis. Not that there was anything anyone could do to stop a sufferer of CF getting chest infections. It was impossible unless the patient spent their life in a bubble and the effect on the quality of life had its own drawbacks.

  Alone in the car with Fabio, Katie switched on the radio, pretending to find a news item fascinating. She needn’t have worried. Fabio seemed preoccupied with his own thoughts.

  Every time Katie went to Lucy’s home she was stunned all over again. A little outside London, it had its own private gated entrance, enormous manicured gardens, a swimming pool and tennis courts.

  Amelia met them at the door. If anything, she was paler than ever and for the first time Katie saw her looking less than immaculate. Her hair was scraped back in a ponytail and instead of her usual stylish trouser suits she was wearing a pair of jogging trousers and a T-shirt.

  Fabio jumped out of his car as soon as it stopped and went over to Amelia.

  ‘Hi, Amelia. Where’s our patient?’ he asked.

  ‘Thank God you’re both here. I didn’t know what to do. I wondered if I should take her straight to hospital, but when you said you could come, I knew it was better to wait.’

  ‘Why don’t I go and see her before we make any decisions?’ Fabio asked. ‘Is she in bed?’

  Amelia nodded. ‘That’s how I know she isn’t well. Normally I can’t keep her inside, especially on a day like this.’ She indicated the garden with a sweep of her hand. The June sunshine bathed everything in light, but Katie felt a shiver of dread.

  Katie followed Amelia and Fabio up the sweeping staircase. She hoped that Amelia was being over-anxious, and who could blame her? But equally Amelia had enough experience of her daughter’s illness to know when she should seek medical help.

  Lucy was sitting up in bed, looking listlessly out of the window.

  ‘Hey, Luce,’ Fabio said, crossing the room. ‘Mum tells me you’re not feeling too good.’

  ‘Hey, Dr Fabio,’ Lucy replied softly. ‘I’m just a bit tireder than usual. I told Mum I’ll be all right by tomorrow.’

  ‘I assume you’ve being having your physio regularly? When Katie hasn’t been doing it?’ Since they’d returned from Monaco, Katie had been teaching Amelia and Lucy how to do Lucy’s physio. Under Katie’s supervision Amelia had soon gained the confidence to do it herself and they had agreed that they would do it themselves two days out of three, with Katie coming every third day.

  Amelia nodded. ‘If anything, Lucy has been having it more regularly since I can do it.’

  ‘We all know that it is an unfortunate part of CF—that despite the medication and the physio chest infections can still occur,’ Fabio said as he slipped a stethoscope from his bag. ‘Why don’t I listen to Lucy’s chest and then we can see what’s what?’

  When Fabio finished his examination, he looked up and smiled. ‘You do have a very mild chest infection, Luce, but I don’t think it’s too bad. I’m going to give you some antibiotics, up your dose of mucolytics and come back and see you tomorrow, but I think we caught it in time to get on top of it quite easily. In the meantime, I’m afraid, Lucy, you need to rest. Not necessarily in bed, though.’

  ‘I could make you up a little bed on one of the couches outside by the swimming pool,’ Amelia suggested. ‘How about that?’

  ‘I don’t know, Mum. Maybe tomorrow.’

  Fabio, Katie and Amelia looked at each other. This behaviour was unlike Lucy. Katie wondered if something else was bothering the little girl. Something she didn’t want to share with her mother.

  ‘Why don’t I give you some physio while your mum and Dr Fabio have a chat?’ Katie suggested. Perhaps if she got Lucy on her own she might share whatever it was that was troubling her.

  ‘Okay, sweetie, do you want to tell me what’s really up?’ Katie asked as she percussed Lucy’s chest.

  Lucy was quiet for a moment. ‘There’s this girl at school. I thought she was my friend.’ Katie waited for her to continue. ‘She said she overheard her mum and dad talking about me.’ Lucy’s bottom lip wobbled and her eyes were damp. Katie stopped what she was doing and sat on the bed alongside Lucy and put her arm around her.

  ‘Go on, Luce. You can tell me. What did she hear?’

  ‘Her mum’s a doctor. I don’t know what kind. Anyway, they were saying that they were sorry for Mum. That not only might she lose me but even if I did live into my thirties she would probably never know what it was like to have grandchildren because I would almost certainly never be able to have babies.’

  ‘Oh, sweetie,’ Katie squeezed her tighter. ‘We don’t know that.’

  ‘I don’t even know how you have babies,’ Lucy said, ‘but I think one day I’ll want to be a mummy.’ She was quiet for another moment. ‘I’m sorry for Mum and Dad too. I know that I make them sad. I don’t want to make them even sadder if I can’t have babies.’

  For a moment Katie couldn’t think of anything to say. What was there to say? Children with cystic fibrosis often did have trouble conceiving, but many went on to have perfectly healthy pregnancies. At this stage only time would tell. Lucy was far too young to have to worry about stuff like that at the moment, but on the other hand she was wiser than her years and didn’t deserve to be palmed off. How could she give the child the comfort she needed right now? Only by telling her the truth.

  ‘We don’t know how your illness is going to progress, Luce. What I do know is that medical science is making huge advances in the treatment of CF every day. All we can do is try to keep you as healthy as we can and trust that you are going to lead a long life that includes all you ever dreamed of. I wish I could promise you right now that everything will be okay, but I can’t. What I do know for sure is that your mum and dad love you very much and that they would rather have you the way you are than a different child. As for thinking that you make them sad, you don’t. You bring so much joy and happiness to their lives you should be proud. Of course I know that if they could take away your illness with a magic wand, if they could do anything to make you better, they would. But if it is a choice between having you, Lucy, and not having you at all, there’s no contest.’

  Katie hugged Lucy tighter. ‘You know, Luce, one day you’ll meet someone and fall in love.’ She smiled as Lucy pulled a face. ‘And if he’s worth loving he will want to share his life with you regardless of whether you can have children or not. That’s the important thing to remember.’

  Lucy smiled wanly. Then, in the way of children, she picked up her games console and eased her legs out of bed.

  ‘I think I’ll do as Mum suggested and rest outside by the pool.’

  ‘You should tell your mum and dad what you told me,’ Katie said, helping Lucy into her dressing gown. ‘They will be able to reassure you.’

  ‘Maybe.’ She flung her arms around Katie and squeezed her so tightly Katie stumbled back a step or two.

  ‘Whoa, Lucy. You’re stronger than you think.’ But Katie was delighted to see that Lucy’s apathy seemed to have disappeared. For the time being at least. No doubt there would be many times o
ver the coming years when the child would have to face up to the effects of her illness. However, she was a tough kid and somehow Katie knew she would deal with whatever life threw at her.

  ‘C’mon, then.’ Lucy smiled. ‘Let’s go and see if Mum has a snack for us.’

  After they had driven away, leaving Lucy tucked up on the sofa outside with Amelia reading to her, Fabio turned to Katie.

  ‘What happened back there? One minute Lucy was looking miserable, the next she was more like herself.’

  ‘We had a chat while I was doing her physio,’ Katie said. ‘It seems that some kid at school said something about her not being able to have children.’

  ‘Porra!‘ Fabio said. ‘Poor kid. How did you deal with it?’

  ‘The only way I knew how. I told her that it was far too early for anyone to know whether her illness would affect her fertility—not in those exact words, though. I said that when she grows up and meets someone who falls in love with her, if he’s any kind of man at all, he won’t care whether she can have children.’

  Katie slid a glance in Fabio’s direction. He was frowning as he concentrated on the road ahead.

  ‘A small percentage of children do suffer fertility problems,’ he said after a while. ‘It is something Lucy might well have to face later on.’

  ‘It’s so unfair. The way life can turn out for some people,’ Katie muttered.

  ‘One thing I do know, Katie, is we have to make the best of what we have. Life can be fun and exciting and we should make the most of any time we might have.’

  ‘Is that why you go big wave surfing and BASE jumping, or whatever they call it. Just for the excitement? Don’t you care that you could be killed?’ Katie burst out.

  Fabio held her gaze for a second. ‘Of course for the excitement. What other reason could there be? I am not planning on getting myself killed, though. I manage the risk.’

  ‘Manage the risk! From what I saw on the internet, there is no way you can manage the risk. Too many things can go wrong. Men like you just don’t think.’ She couldn’t help it. She was so frightened for him. Not that she could admit it.

  Fabio brought his car to a stop and swivelled in his seat.

  ‘You looked it up on the internet?’ His lips twitched briefly.

  Damn. She hadn’t meant to say that, but he was always doing strange things to her head.

  ‘You’re really upset, aren’t you?’ he continued with wonder in his voice. Then a look of remorse crossed his face. ‘Of course you’re thinking about your brother. But, Katie, this is different. I really don’t take crazy chances.’

  Anger was still boiling up inside her. Not least because she was furious with herself for showing him that she cared. ‘What you do has nothing to do with me. If you want to break your damned neck, that’s entirely up to you.’

  Despite her best efforts, hot tears were burning behind her eyes. She looked out of her side window and blinked rapidly. Please. Don’t let me make a bigger fool of myself than I’ve done already.

  ‘Katie,’ he said softly. ‘I warned you not to care about me. I’m not the kind of man you need.’

  When she said nothing—he wasn’t to know she couldn’t speak—he started the car and headed back into the traffic.

  After Fabio dropped Katie off at home he sat in his car for a while, drumming his fingers on the steering-wheel, feeling restless.

  He wondered what Katie would think if he told her that he had suffered from the effects of having mumps as a child. Not that he intended to tell her. It wasn’t as if he had any plans to get married and have children. But she would one day and that was the problem. Whatever she’d told Lucy about not caring whether someone could have kids when you were in love with them was naïve. Surely that was the only reason most people got married? Otherwise why bother?

  He glanced at his watch. Six o’clock. It would be daylight for another hour or so. Not for the first time he wished he lived closer to the sea. Taking a board out and pitching himself against the waves, or flinging himself off a cliff, always helped clear his head, but that would have to wait to the weekend. Perhaps he would go for a ten-mile run. Maybe after that he would be able to sleep without thinking of sad grey eyes and a wounded expression.

  Fabio, with Kendrick behind him on his surfboard, drove the jet ski at speed towards the wave. It was one of a set of five and Kendrick was determined to ride the wave of his life. After he had finished it would be Fabio’s turn. The wind rushed through him, filling him with exhilaration. This was just what he needed to get Katie out of his head. The ten-mile run the night before hadn’t helped him to get to sleep or prevent his dreams from being filled with Katie.

  Kendrick had hired a helicopter to take them to the west coast of Ireland, where he’d heard that the waves were, in his words, ‘awesome'. He’d been right. There was no way they could catch the waves by paddling out to them—hence the need for the jet ski.

  Fabio towed Kendrick on to the lip of the second wave and raced the jet ski out of the way. As he turned back to watch, he felt a sickening jolt of dread. Kendrick was in trouble. The drop of the wave was so huge there would be no time for his cousin to surf under the curling lip of the wave before it crashed down on him.

  It seemed that this time they had taken one risk too many.

  His heart pounding, Fabio watched as Kendrick did the only thing he could—he dived straight into the wave, hoping to come out the other side. But it wasn’t to be. The wave hit Kendrick with such force it sent him and his board shooting into the air.

  Fabio gunned the jet ski and headed back towards his cousin. Kendrick had been hit by his board and was bobbing around semi-conscious. Summoning all his strength, Fabio grabbed the neck of Kendrick’s wetsuit and dragged him onto the front of the jet ski. He had to get him to dry land before he could assess how badly his cousin was hurt. He glanced around for help but knew it was useless. There was no one else crazy enough to tackle the waves that morning.

  It seemed to take for ever to drag Kendrick back to shore. Once he was as close to the beach as he could manage, he still had to get him onto to the beach and Kendrick was a big man.

  To his relief, Kendrick was coming round.

  Fabio cut the engine of his jet ski, hoping that the tide wouldn’t pull them back out.

  ‘Kendrick!’ he yelled in his cousin’s ear. ‘Are you with me?’

  Kendrick groaned and opened his eyes. ‘Hey, man, what happened?’

  ‘Can you wade to shore?’

  Kendrick pushed himself off the jet ski and although he swayed a little he managed to stay upright long enough for Fabio to jump into the water and get his arm around him for support. Together they staggered to shore and collapsed on the beach.

  Fabio took a look at Kendrick’s head. It was bleeding but should only require a stitch or two. Fabio knew it was only a matter of luck that they were both still in one piece.

  Kendrick eased himself to his feet and smiled down at Fabio.

  ‘Some wave. D’you fancy giving it a go?’

  For the first time Fabio wondered what he was doing. He would always love the excitement of pitching himself against nature but, hell, he didn’t want to die.

  ‘You, my friend, are going nowhere—except to the hospital, where we can get that head wound stitched,’ Fabio said.

  Kendrick looked as if he was about to argue, but then he grinned. ‘Okay, but once I’m fixed up, can we go back in?’

  As Fabio waited in Casualty a little while later for Kendrick to be fixed up, he knew that he would be going back to London that evening.

  For some reason, big wave surfing had lost its appeal. Perhaps it was because Katie wasn’t there. Perhaps it was because these days he was getting more of a buzz by being with her than any extreme sport could give him. The realisation turned his blood to ice. Damn the woman, he couldn’t stop thinking about her, wanting to be with her. What was going on? Lust had never done this to him before. Deus! He was falling for Katie Simpson and he
didn’t like the feeling one little bit. All he knew for sure was that he had to see her.

  CHAPTER TEN

  KATIE was taken aback when on Saturday evening she opened the door to find Fabio standing there.

  ‘Will you have dinner with me tonight?’ he said.

  Katie’s heart did a little roll of beats. When he smiled like that, it undid her.

  ‘I’m sorry, I can’t. I promised Suzy I’d babysit. She’s going out with a friend for the first time since …’ Her words tailed away.

  He looked disappointed and uncharacteristically unsure of himself.

  ‘But there’s no reason why I can’t cook for us here,’ Katie said impulsively. ‘If you like baby food, that is. I don’t think there’s very much else.’

  ‘Tell you what. Why don’t I cook?’

  When he grinned at her, Katie knew astonishment was written all over her face. Fabio could cook?

  ‘I know it’s a surprise, but I can make a mean feijoada. It’s a typical Brazilian dish.’

  ‘What’s in it?’

  He grinned again and if anything Katie’s heart beat faster.

  ‘You’ll find out,’ he said. ‘Give me an hour and I’ll be back.’

  After he’d left Katie leaned against the door. He was making it clear that he was interested in her and the realisation churned her up inside.

  ‘Was that Fabio’s voice I heard?’ Suzy came into the room, towelling her hair. Although her sister-in-law’s eyes were still shadowed with grief, she was beginning to go out with her friends again, and was even talking about returning to work. And as for her? She still couldn’t think of Richard without experiencing a stab of pain that took her breath away, but since the night she’d confided in Fabio, she was beginning to see a future that wasn’t clouded by grief.

  ‘I’ve invited him here for dinner,’ Katie said. When Suzy’s eyebrows shot up, Katie added hastily. ‘He’s doing the cooking.’