by Sarah Morgan
Christy shook her head. ‘Nothing.’ But she knew that underneath his sometimes remote, chilly exterior was a boiling, red-hot passion capable of erupting with volcanic force.
‘Despite having lived in this country for the past twelve years, sometimes I still think there is a language barrier,’ Alessandro growled, and then switched into a flow of rapid Spanish that was incomprehensible to all except Christy.
Nicky blinked and turned to Christy. ‘All right, you’re married to the guy—translation, please.’
Christy smiled. She knew enough Spanish to have picked up the gist of his tirade and most of it wasn’t polite. ‘He’s basically saying that they weren’t that sympathetic but he told them that we need more staff or the unit will have to close,’ she said smoothly, choosing to leave out the blunter aspects of Alessandro’s invective.
Alessandro lifted an eyebrow in mockery. ‘Selective translation, querida?’
‘My Spanish isn’t good enough,’ Christy lied, but her eyes twinkled. ‘There were several words that I didn’t recognise.’
Alessandro stared at her for a long moment and her heart rate started to increase.
Nicky cleared her throat. ‘I hate to interrupt this little multi-cultural interlude but if you’d stop gibbering in a foreign language for a moment, I might be able to hand over the details of this child and get to X-Ray before some sad patient complains about the level of service in this place. I don’t want to be tomorrow’s headlines in the tabloids, if it’s all the same to you. Call me fussy, but “Patients Abandoned by Killer Nurse” wouldn’t make my mum’s day.’
Alessandro dragged his gaze away from Christy’s. ‘What child?’
‘They’re bringing in a child who has ingested iron,’ Christy said, and Alessandro’s eyes narrowed.
‘How much?’
‘Don’t know that,’ Nicky muttered, checking her notes, ‘just that he’s six years old and he’s swallowed his mother’s tablets. Big panic. On their way in as we speak. Off you go, guys. Save lives. But do it in English or no one will have a clue what you’re talking about.’
And with that she stalked down the corridor, still juggling the X-rays and muttering about her grumbling stomach as the sound of an ambulance siren grew louder.
‘I’ll bleep the paediatricians and an anaesthetist,’ Christy said, and Alessandro gave a nod.
‘I’ll meet the ambulance and see you in Paediatric Resus.’
The child was crying miserably and Christy felt her heart twist. He reminded her so much of Ben. Instinctively she stepped towards the little boy but Alessandro was there before her.
‘There, now,’ he said softly, squatting down so that he was at the same level as the boy. ‘Today is my lucky day because you have come to visit me in my special wizard’s laboratory.’
The little boy’s lip continued to wobble but he stared at Alessandro with wide eyes. ‘Wizard?’
‘Of course.’ He waved a hand around the room. ‘This is where I do all my experiments.’ He reached into the pocket of his trousers, removed a coin and promptly made it disappear. The boy gasped in delight when it was ‘retrieved’ from his ear.
Christy grinned. That was Ben’s favourite trick, too.
‘Hide something else,’ the little boy said in a small voice, and the mother gave a wobbly smile.
‘Luke’s always hiding things. You should see what I find in his pockets.’ She bit her lip and looked at Christy, her expression full of guilt. ‘I can’t believe this has happened. I didn’t even know those tablets were dangerous,’ she whispered as she moved closer to the trolley. ‘You can buy iron over the counter so I didn’t really think it was too bad, but I had a friend with me and she said that iron can be lethal.’ She covered her hand with her mouth and Alessandro gave Christy a sharp frown.
Interpreting his look, Christy took the mother to one side. Alessandro was successfully calming the child down—he didn’t need the mother upsetting him again. ‘The important thing right now is to find out how much he has taken and treat him,’ she said gently. ‘Did you bring the bottle?’
‘Oh, yes…’ The woman stuck her hand into her coat pocket and pulled out a bottle. ‘It’s supposed to have a childproof cap.’
‘Some children are born dexterous and inquisitive,’ Christy said dryly, thinking of Ben’s antics.
The mother reached for a tissue and blew her nose. ‘I can’t believe he took them,’ she whispered, her face blotched with tears. ‘Or that I was stupid enough to leave them on the kitchen table. He said they looked like sweets. I only turned my back for a moment—’
‘All drugs, even vitamins, should be kept well out of reach of children, but the important thing now is to assess how many he’s taken,’ Christy said. ‘Let’s just concentrate on sorting him out. Try not to be upset because your distress will make him worse.’
Alessandro took the bottle and examined it. ‘Do you know how many were in here?’
The mother shook her head. ‘It was a full bottle last week and I haven’t missed a dose, so quite a few.’
‘And has he been sick?’
Again the mother shook her head and Christy held out her hand. ‘I’ll count the tablets,’ she suggested, ‘and that will give us an idea how many he’s swallowed.’
At that moment, Billy hurried into the room to help, closely followed by the paediatric registrar.
‘The important thing is the amount of elemental iron that has been ingested,’ Alessandro told Billy in response to his question about iron poisoning.
Christy counted the tablets. ‘Eight missing.’ It was a lot, but Alessandro’s expression didn’t change.
‘All right,’ he said calmly, removing his jacket. ‘We need to check his serum iron, glucose, do a full blood count. And let’s get a plain, abdominal X-ray.’
Billy looked at him. ‘X-ray?’
‘Iron is radio-opaque,’ Christy said quickly, ‘the iron will show up on X-ray.’ But as she studied the child, a thought flickered to life in the back of her mind. ‘Luke, what did the tablets taste like?’
Alessandro frowned at her, clearly anxious to progress, but she lifted a hand and waited for Luke to answer.
‘Sweets.’ But he didn’t quite meet her eyes and an instinct made her step closer to the trolley.
‘Luke.’ She kept her voice gentle. ‘Did you swallow the sweets or did you hide them?’ She saw something in his eyes and her conviction grew. ‘No one is going to be angry with you, sweetheart,’ she said softly. ‘But we need to know the truth. Are they in your pockets?’
There was a long silence and then Luke nodded, his eyes huge. ‘I was keeping them for later.’
Ignoring the gasp that came from his mother, Christy held out her hand to the little boy. ‘Show me.’
After a moment’s hesitation, Luke dug a hand into his pocket and pulled out a handful of tablets, now covered in fluff and bits of sweet paper. He dropped them into Christy’s palm and she counted them quickly.
‘Eight,’ she said in a calm voice. ‘They’re all here, Alessandro. If Mrs Kennet hasn’t missed a single tablet, that makes this a full bottle.’
The paediatrician breathed a sigh of relief and backed out of the room and the mother started to scold Luke, but Christy interrupted her quickly.
‘Good boy, Luke,’ she said firmly. ‘Good boy for telling the truth.’
‘But why didn’t he tell us sooner?’ Mrs Kennet asked, a baffled expression on her face, and Luke dipped his head.
‘You were yelling and screaming and then the ambulance came and that was really cool with the light and the bell thing…’
Christy glanced at Alessandro and saw the gleam of amusement in his eyes. And relief. He was thinking of Ben, too, she thought, and her stomach twisted with love. He was a wonderful father.
They discharged Luke with a sharp lecture about the danger of swallowing things that weren’t meant for him and Christy gave the mother a leaflet on preventing accidents in the home.
‘Wow!’ B
illy’s eyes were filled with admiration as he looked at her. ‘I was just about to try and take blood from that child and I wasn’t looking forward to it. What made you suspect that he hadn’t swallowed them? It would never even have occurred to me.’
‘Mother’s instinct,’ Christy said dryly, as she briskly tidied up the room ready for the next patient. ‘Children often do unexpected things and his mother made that comment about hiding things.’ She turned to Alessandro as Billy left the room. ‘Do you remember Ben going through a phase of hiding everything?’
‘Only too well.’ Alessandro reached for the jacket that he’d abandoned. ‘I seem to remember that he took my bleeper for twenty-four hours once.’
Christy grinned. ‘I found it at the bottom of the laundry basket underneath a week’s worth of dirty washing.’
Alessandro gave a nod and his eyes were warm. ‘You did well,’ he said softly. ‘Extremely well. Were it not for you, that child would now be undergoing some very unpleasant tests.’
‘Well, they certainly would have put him off swallowing tablets that didn’t belong to him.’
‘You’re an excellent A and E nurse,’ Alessandro said quietly. ‘I’d forgotten just how good and for that I apologise. It is where you are at your best and you should certainly not be wasting your talents anywhere else. You should come back.’
She stared at him for a long moment, her breath trapped in her lungs. What exactly was he saying? Come back to A and E or come back to him?
Their eyes locked and Christy felt warmth spread inside her. It was still there, she told herself. That special bond that had always existed between them. It hadn’t died.
‘Alessandro?’ Katya’s slender frame appeared round the door. Her hair was fastened on top of her head but several strands fell softly over her eyes, giving her a sleepy, sexy appearance.
‘I’m going home now, but I’ll see you at the Snow Ball tomorrow night. You owe me a dance.’
Christy felt the special warmth inside her evaporate, to be replaced by a block of ice.
Was that why he wanted to go to the Christmas party? Because Katya was going?
Telling herself that she was being paranoid, Christy turned her attention back to the state of the room, trying not to listen to Alessandro’s response.
It didn’t matter what he thought of Katya, she reminded herself, because she was going to buy a killer dress and remind him exactly what it was that he was missing.
CHAPTER SEVEN
‘IT’S freezing today,’ Christy turned round and looked at the children who were safely strapped into the back of the car as Alessandro drove the short distance to the forest. ‘Did you two remember gloves and hats?’
‘Stop fussing, Mum.’ Katy yawned and Ben carried on playing with his space shuttle, lifting it into the air and making it swoop downwards.
‘Yeeow-w-w…’ he whined, flying it dangerously close to his sister’s head.
Anticipating fireworks, Christy pointed out of the window. ‘Oh, look, we’re here.’
They climbed out of the car and the children hurried off to take a closer look at the trees.
‘I like this one,’ Ben yelled, and Katy rolled her eyes in derision.
‘It’s completely lopsided. This one is a much better shape.’
Ben frowned. ‘Isn’t.’
Alessandro strolled across to them and selected an entirely different tree. ‘This one,’ he said in his usual decisive fashion, and Christy smothered a smile.
Even with Christmas trees, he had to be the one in charge, but the children didn’t seem to mind and jumped up and down with excitement as Alessandro paid and loaded it into the car.
Back home, Christy put mince pies in the oven to heat and dug out the boxes of decorations they’d used for years.
The children had put Christmas songs on the CD player and were dancing round the room, giggling and playing together.
Like any normal family, Christy thought as she handed another wooden reindeer to Ben to hang on the lower branches. Except they weren’t a normal family. Did Alessandro love her? Did he want to fix their marriage or was this show of togetherness purely for the children? She didn’t know and she was afraid to ask in case she heard something she didn’t want to hear.
‘Please, lift me so that I can do the fairy,’ Katy demanded, and Christy gave a wan smile.
Like daughter, like father. Katy knew exactly what she wanted and was prepared to fight to get it.
She thought of the dress safely hidden at the back of her wardrobe.
It had cost a fortune, but if it helped remind Alessandro that she was more than the mother of his two children then it would have been worth the investment.
Alessandro scooped Katy up easily and held her while she carefully placed the sparkling fairy on top of the tree. Then he lowered her and dropped a kiss on her forehead.
He’d save their marriage for the sake of the children, Christy thought numbly, because he was an excellent father and adored them. But she wanted so much more than that. She wanted a return to the greedy, hungry passion that they’d always shared. Their relationship had been so unbelievably intense and special that it was hard to imagine settling for less.
Did he still love her?
Because she didn’t want her children growing up witnessing a dead relationship.
She couldn’t do it, she decided. She’d make one last attempt to fight for him and if it didn’t work, they’d have to part.
* * *
She slipped away while Alessandro was reading to Ben, anxious to give herself plenty of time to get ready.
Remembering Katya’s flawless appearance, she took extra time over her make-up and hair and finally slid into the dress.
Glancing in the mirror, she gave a soft, womanly smile. It was fabulous.
The dress was silver and the luxurious, unusual fabric shimmered and slid over her smooth curves.
‘Not bad for someone of your age,’ Katy murmured, walking into the room, sucking a lolly which she’d stolen from the Christmas tree. ‘You need some diamonds to go with it. Something round your neck.’
Christy blinked. ‘I haven’t got anything suitable.’
Alessandro never bought her jewellery. It wasn’t his style. She glanced down at the simple gold band on the ring finger of her left hand. They’d got married in such a hurry that they’d never even bothered with an engagement ring.
‘Wait there.’ Katy sprinted out of the room and came back carrying a silver necklace. ‘Try that.’
‘Where did you get it?’
Katy grinned and jumped onto the middle of the bed where she proceeded to sit, cross-legged. ‘The front of a magazine, but don’t worry about that. Fake is cool. Go for it, Mum.’
Laughing, Christy fastened the necklace around her throat and stood back to judge the effect. It was perfect. With a conspiratorial smile at her daughter, she slipped her feet into the extravagant strappy shoes she’d purchased and picked up her bag.
‘Well? What’s the verdict?’
‘You look like something from the Christmas tree,’ Ben breathed from the doorway. ‘Like a real live princess.’
‘Which has to be better than a dead princess,’ Katy said dryly, rolling her eyes and sliding off the bed. ‘Come on. We’d better make sure Dad isn’t planning on wearing that ribbed jumper he’s been in all day.’
‘I’m not wearing a jumper.’ His voice deep and disturbingly masculine, Alessandro appeared in the doorway, dressed in a black dinner jacket that emphasised the width of his powerful shoulders.
He looked startlingly handsome and Christy caught her breath.
After all these years, she thought to herself, he still made her stare.
And he was staring, too.
His gaze slid from her eyes to her mouth, then lingered on the swell of her breasts revealed by the cut of the fabric and then finally rested on the hemline, which stopped a long way short of her knees.
‘You’re not going out like that.’
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Poised for a compliment, Christy felt her happiness shatter. ‘Sorry?’
‘It isn’t the sort of dress you should be wearing. It’s revealing and it’s—’ Alessandro broke off, the expression in his eyes dark and dangerous as he struggled to find the right words. ‘It’s just not suitable.’
Christy felt her own temper rise.
The dress was perfect and she knew she looked fabulous. All day she’d been cocooned in the delicious anticipation of the moment when he saw her in the dress. And he’d spoiled it.
‘Why isn’t it suitable?’
Alessandro prowled around the room, his expression dark and ominous. ‘You are a wife and a mother, and that dress makes you look like…’ He inhaled sharply and stabbed long fingers through his hair, ‘it makes you look like…’
‘A woman?’ Christy slotted in helpfully. ‘You didn’t think I could still work in A and E, but I’ve proved you wrong. You didn’t think I could still be a useful member of the mountain rescue team, but I proved you wrong there, too. To you, I’ve ceased to be an individual. To you, I’m just a wife and a mother.’ Her voice cracked as she said the words. ‘But I’ve got news for you. Yes, I’m a wife and a mother, but I’m also a woman, Alessandro Garcia, and it’s time you remembered that fact and stopped behaving like a caveman.’
Having delivered that speech, she walked from the room with as much dignity as she could muster, given the ridiculous height of the heels she’d chosen.
* * *
Alessandro stood in the centre of the room, his powerful shoulders rigid with tension as he struggled to control his simmering temper.
‘Well…’ His daughter’s voice came from directly behind him. ‘I’d say that you really messed that one up!’
Disturbed from his contemplation of that exact same fact, Alessandro rounded on his daughter with a growl. ‘I did not ask for your opinion.’
‘Maybe not, but I’m in this family, too!’ Katy put her hands on her hips, her temper flaring as quickly as his. ‘I don’t see why I should have to sit around and watch the two of you ruin everything. Mum bought a new dress and she looks nice—for an older person,’ she added quickly as an afterthought, and Alessandro frowned.