by Sarah Morgan
It was another thing that she’d always admired about Alessandro. No matter how tense the situation, he never forgot his patient. He wasn’t a touchy-feely doctor, but he understood the importance of communication in lowering stress levels.
Her eyes flickered to the machines next to her. ‘His blood pressure is stable,’ she said quietly, and Alessandro gave a nod.
‘Good. He’s still in pain so I’m going to give him a femoral nerve block before we splint and X-ray.’
Immediately Christy reached for the needle she knew he was going to need and an ampoule of lignocaine.
Alessandro felt for the femoral artery and cleaned the skin. Then he held out his hand for the local anaesthetic that Christy had prepared.
She watched while he inserted the needle perpendicular to the skin and then aspirated to check for blood. ‘That’s fine,’ he murmured, moving the needle up and down as he injected the local anaesthetic.
Katya moved forward, standing close to Alessandro. ‘What happens if you puncture the artery?’
‘I resign.’ Sounding impossibly Spanish, Alessandro dropped the syringe back on the tray that Christy was holding and gave a brief smile. ‘But before I resign, I compress it for five to ten minutes or until the bleeding stops. Then I carry on with the femoral nerve block.’ He turned his attention back to his patient. ‘That should give you some relief very quickly, Derek.’
Katya turned away but not before Christy had seen the flirtatious glance.
She wanted Alessandro.
Christy’s stomach lurched and she swallowed hard.
She was used to women staring at Alessandro. It had always happened and perhaps it always would because he was a man who inevitably attracted the attention of the female sex. But this was the first time she’d seen it happen when their marriage was in trouble.
Had he done something about it?
She bit her lip. Katya was very pretty. Alessandro was a hot-blooded Spaniard with a high sex drive, she knew that better than anyone. With their marriage in its current state, it was hard not to worry.
Had something happened between them?
The man closed his eyes and shook his head. ‘We were on our way to a school—delivering presents.’
‘Don’t worry about that now.’ Pushing aside disturbing thoughts of Katya with her arms wrapped around Alessandro, Christy gave a reassuring smile as the man gripped her hand tightly.
‘Will you get someone to phone the school and explain? These kids believe in Father Christmas. What will they think if I don’t turn up?’
Alessandro looked taken aback but Christy squeezed the man’s hand. ‘I’ll talk to one of the nurses outside see if one of your elves can make a call.’
Alessandro looked at her blankly and she just smiled and turned to Donna, who was hovering nervously. ‘Can you speak to Nicky?’ she said quietly. ‘Ask her to talk to one of the elves and call the school.’
Visibly relieved to be given an excuse to leave, Donna backed out of the room.
Alessandro watched her go with an ominous frown in his dark eyes. ‘She’s nervous.’
‘She’s learning and you can be scary,’ Christy said calmly. ‘Do you want to immobilise the limb now?’
He looked at her. ‘I’m scary?’
‘Not everyone is born with your confidence. Derek, we’re going to splint this leg of yours and for that I need to take some measurements on your uninjured leg.’ Having offered an explanation, Christy moved the blanket and measured the uppermost part of the patient’s thigh.
Donna slipped back by her side. ‘It’s done,’ she said breathlessly. ‘They’ve phoned the school and everyone is fine.’
‘Good. Well done.’ Christy smiled at her patient. ‘You can stop worrying. Even Father Christmas is allowed to be held up when he’s delivering presents.’
He smiled weakly. ‘You probably think I’m mad, worrying about that while I’m lying here with a broken leg, but I don’t want to disappoint the children. I think the pain is getting easier.’
‘The splint will help the pain, too,’ Christy explained, and then turned to Donna and handed her the measurements she’d taken. ‘We’re going to use a Thomas splint. Can you go and fetch me one, please? You’d better get the size above and below, just in case. It will save you making another journey.’
Working as a team, they prepared to fit the splint and Christy applied the adhesive tape and then wrapped the leg from ankle to mid-thigh with gauze bandage, talking Donna through what she was doing.
The girl lost her nervous appearance and moved closer to the trolley, her expression keen and interested.
Alessandro applied traction to the leg, gently pulling the ankle with one hand and supporting the knee with the other.
Katya stood closer to him than was strictly necessary and Christy tried not to mind and concentrated instead on helping Donna.
‘You can see that he’s correcting the abduction and the external rotation,’ she explained as she helped manoeuvre the splint onto the leg until it was in the right position.
She and Alessandro worked together smoothly, closely observed by both Katya and Donna.
Once the cords were tied and twisted, Christy put wool roll padding under the thigh. ‘Now we just need to bandage the whole splint from thigh to lower calf,’ she said to Donna, ‘lift and support the leg on a pillow and check the distal pulses.’
‘Great.’ Alessandro turned to Katya. ‘Can you arrange for X-rays and then we’ll refer him to the orthopaedic team? I want X-rays of the pelvis, hip and knee.’
Katya gave a feline smile. ‘Of course, Alessandro.’
Donna shot a questioning glance at Christy, who dragged her gaze away from her scrutiny of Katya and volunteered the information she knew was needed.
‘For the femoral shaft to fracture, there must have been a violent high-energy impact and that is associated with other injures.’ He wouldn’t be sleeping with Katya, she told herself firmly. Alessandro wouldn’t do that. He might be the archetypal alpha male, but he was an honourable man with strong principles. ‘So when we’re X-raying, it’s important to check pelvis, hip and knee.’
But if he considered their marriage to be over, would he do that?
CHAPTER THREE
CHRISTY started to clear up some of the debris that had accumulated while Katya and Donna arranged the X-rays. She knew how important it was to keep Resus tidy and well stocked, and she thought that the comfort of routine might relieve the sick feeling building in her stomach.
Forcing herself to be rational and mature, she hung a fresh bag of IV fluid from the drip stand and then started to replenish the drugs that they’d used.
Eventually the patient was transferred to Theatre and she was left alone in the room. She picked up a laryngoscope from the intubation tray and snapped it open, testing that the bulb worked. She stared down at the curved, silver blade in her hand and didn’t hear the door open behind her.
‘So—working in A and E is obviously like riding a bike.’ Alessandro’s deep, masculine drawl came from directly behind her and she turned, her stomach jumping. There was no reason to feel nervous, she told herself firmly. They’d worked together as a smooth, efficient team. She hadn’t done anything wrong.
‘It came back to me.’
‘Obviously.’ His dark eyes lingered on her face. ‘You’ve missed it, haven’t you?’
She caught her breath. It had been years since she’d stopped working in A and E and yet that was the first time he’d ever asked her that question. ‘Yes,’ she breathed. ‘I missed it terribly.’
Something flickered in his eyes. ‘You never said.’
‘You never asked.’
Their eyes met and held and Christy felt the heat flicker and stir in her pelvis.
Why did she have to find him so completely irresistible? The attraction between them was so powerful that it blinded her to every other aspect of their relationship, which was probably the reason they hadn’t sorted their pro
blems out earlier.
‘We should talk more,’ he said roughly, and she gave a wan smile.
‘You’re not always that easy to talk to, Alessandro.’
‘Am I really scary?’ There was a frown in his eyes and she realised that her earlier comment had genuinely bothered him.
‘You can be intimidating,’ she said honestly. ‘But that’s partly because of your skills and experience. You can’t expect a newly qualified nurse to respond to an emergency situation with your confidence.’
‘If she can’t cope with the situation, she shouldn’t be in Resus,’ Alessandro growled, and Christy sighed.
‘You’re so hard on people. In an ideal world, I suppose you’re right. But we don’t live or work in an ideal world. And the best way to learn is by the patient’s bedside, gaining hands-on experience with the appropriate supervision.’ She scanned the trolley, checking that she’d replaced all the drugs they’d used. ‘All the studying in the world doesn’t prepare you for the pressure and demands of Resus when a patient is bleeding before your eyes.’
Alessandro looked at her thoughtfully. ‘You were good with her,’ he conceded. ‘The nurse, I mean.’
It was so unlike him to offer praise that she blinked in astonishment and then felt the warmth spread inside her.
‘Thank you.’
‘Do I scare you?’ His direct question made her catch her breath.
She wondered whether she ought to admit that the only thing that scared her was the thought of losing him.
She opened her mouth to tell him, but pride trapped the words in her throat before she could utter them. She was sleeping in the spare room, she reminded herself. He hadn’t come after her.
It was the wrong time to be honest about her feelings when she was so unsure about his.
‘No,’ she said finally, her voice quiet. ‘You don’t scare me, but you can be difficult to reach and sometimes I just give up rather than keep trying.’
He muttered something in Spanish and ran a hand over his jaw, a jaw that was already showing signs of stubble. Then he reached out and slid a hand behind her head and pulled her face to within inches of his in a gesture that was both male and possessive. ‘I don’t want a divorce, Christy. Be clear about that.’
She stared up at him, hypnotised by the look in his dark, brooding eyes. They were the words she’d waited to hear for two long months and he’d chosen to say them in Resus under harsh, fluorescent lights with the likelihood that they’d be disturbed at any moment. She wanted to ask why he’d let her go. She wanted to ask about Katya. Suddenly, she wanted to know how he’d spent the last six weeks. ‘And what if I want a divorce?’
She said the words to goad him and remembered too late that goading Alessandro, with his volatile, Latin temperament, was not a good idea.
‘You don’t.’ He slid his other arm and around her and jerked her against him in a decisive gesture that was so much a part of him.
She felt the strength and power of his body and the breath trapped in her throat. ‘Alessandro…’ she couldn’t concentrate on anything when he was this close. Couldn’t think…
‘Need me to prove it to you?’ He breathed the words against her mouth, his tone silky smooth and dangerous, and she gave a whimper, knowing what was coming and willing herself to reject him. ‘Need me to prove that you still want me?’
‘No, I don’t, I—’
His mouth came down on hers with seductive intent and immediately she sank against him because no one kissed like Alessandro and resisting him was impossible. His hand was buried in her hair, the skilful slide of his tongue erotic and demanding as he took her to the edge of sanity with a speed that shocked her.
His kiss was hungry and primitive and she clutched at him, pressing against him, her need so intense that she forgot everything except her desire for him.
Kissing him gave her the reassurance she needed and then he released her and stepped back, his expression cold. ‘The children need both their parents. We’re a family, Christy, and that isn’t going to change.’
The tiny flicker of hope died inside her. ‘Alessandro—’
‘We won’t ever speak of divorce again, Christy. And don’t pretend you don’t want me.’
Oh, she wanted him. How could she pretend otherwise when her nipples were pressing hard against the soft fabric of her scrub suit and her mouth was still swollen from the ravages of his kiss?
She wanted him. But how did she explain that she needed more than the physical when his solution to every problem was sex? He was a red-blooded, Mediterranean male with a high sex drive. She’d known that right from the first. Had loved the fact that he couldn’t get enough of her.
And the fact that he’d made it clear that his thoughts were only for the children caused her intense pain. The kiss hadn’t been about her, she thought miserably. It had been about the children. Alessandro was Spanish, through and through. He believed utterly in the sanctity of the family.
He would stay married to her for the sake of the children.
Could she do the same? Could she stay with him, knowing that he didn’t love her any more?
‘We can’t talk about this here, Alessandro,’ she croaked. ‘Not now.’
His eyes dropped to her mouth and the tension rose between them.
‘When, then?’
‘I don’t know.’ She felt so shaky and miserable that she didn’t feel up to another confrontation. Didn’t feel up to listening to more evidence that he was determined to save their marriage for the sake of the children.
‘Well, it has to be soon.’ He was standing close to her. So close that her heart rate increased alarmingly.
Was it normal? she wondered. Was it normal to be married to someone for twelve years and yet still want to rip their clothes off at every opportunity?
‘I need to go home and prepare dinner,’ she said huskily as she dragged off her gloves and washed her hands, seeking any excuse to turn away from him. ‘Mum’s dropping the children in an hour. Are you joining us?’
She expected him to tell her that he was staying at the hospital but as she risked a glance at him she collided with his hard, unyielding gaze.
‘Sí.’ His Spanish accent was more pronounced than usual. ‘I’m joining you, querida. I want to eat dinner with my children. Why wouldn’t I?’
The children.
It was all about the children, she thought dully as she washed her hands and walked out of the room.
As a couple, they didn’t exist any more.
* * *
Checking that her parents were still seated at the dining table, Katy grabbed her brother’s hand and dragged him upstairs and into the spare bedroom. ‘It’s time to interfere.’
‘What’s interfere?’ Ben started playing with his toy aeroplane and Katy snatched it away from him and held it out of reach.
‘Interfere is when you try and help someone do something they should be doing for themselves.’ She threw the aeroplane onto a chair and grabbed his hand. ‘Come on. We’re going to bounce on the bed.’
Ben tried to jerk his hand away from hers. ‘I was playing with my aeroplane.’
Katy rolled her eyes. ‘You can play with it again in a minute, but for now we’re going to bounce.’
Ben eyed the bed doubtfully. ‘We’re not supposed to jump on the beds.’
‘And when has that ever stopped you?’
‘I’ll get into trouble with Mum.’
‘And if you don’t do it, you’ll get into trouble with me,’ Katy informed him sweetly. ‘Take your pick.’
‘I do like bouncing.’ Ben looked at the wide bed with something close to yearning. ‘Come on, then. Just a quick one. How hard do you want me to bounce?’
‘Just hard enough to break it,’ Katy muttered under her breath, slipping off her shoes. ‘I’ll help you. Come on.’ And she leapt into the middle of the bed and started jumping, her dark ponytail flying around her shoulders as she leaped higher and higher.
Be
n gave a delighted giggled and climbed up next to her.
‘Come on.’ She grabbed his hands and encouraged him to bounce, too.
Downstairs in the kitchen, Christy and Alessandro were finishing their meal in tense silence when there was an enormous crash above them, followed by a plaintive yell.
‘Oh, no.’ Driven by her maternal instincts, Christy was out of her seat and up the stairs in record time, Alessandro right behind her.
In the bedroom they found Ben sobbing noisily on the carpet and Katy with her arms around him. She looked up when her parents entered. ‘Poor Ben. He bounced on the bed and…’ she gave a baffled shrug, her expression both innocent and mystified ‘… it must have broken or something. Unbelievable, the rubbish they sell you these days.’
‘The bed broke?’ Christy looked at the collapsed bed in horror and disbelief. ‘Oh, my goodness. It looks as though the frame has snapped right through. How did you—?’ And then she saw the blood on Ben’s cheek and dropped to her knees. All the training in the world didn’t prepare you properly for coping when your own child was injured, she thought frantically. ‘You’re bleeding. Alessandro, he’s bleeding.’
‘I see it.’ Calm and steady, Alessandro scooped his son into his arms and swept the aeroplane and Christy’s clothes off the chair so that he could sit down. ‘What’s happened to you?’
‘Katy told me to bounce,’ Ben hiccoughed, his face blotched with crying, ‘so I bounced, but when the bed broke I fell off and banged myself. It hurts.’
‘Where did you bang yourself?’ Alessandro ran strong fingers over the little boy’s arms and legs, hunting for damage—trying to find the source of the bleeding. He found it on the boy’s palm. ‘It’s fine. Just a scratch. He must have run his hand over his cheek. That’s why he has blood on his face.’
Christy stood there, heart thumping, relieved that Alessandro was there. She’d always been a wreck inside when either of the children had been ill or injured. She suddenly realised how much she’d missed his strength.
Still cuddling Ben, Alessandro threw a frowning glance at the bed. ‘That’s well and truly broken. You won’t be sleeping there tonight.’