You, Me and a Family

His teeth ground hard as he cursed under his breath. He really enjoyed this job, but today it was shaping up to be a pain in the butt. Or a tickle in his hormone department.

Worse, like an ungainly teen, he’d struggled to stop ogling at her exquisite features: high cheekbones, pert nose, flawless skin. Not to mention that gleaming auburn hair locked up in a knot so tight not one strand could escape. ‘She’s so tiny. Yet her reputation is huge.’ A powerhouse on heels.

As he continued to study her it dawned on him that he’d been expecting an Amazon woman to match the stories he’d heard about her—a demanding, punishing doctor who expected unsurpassed devotion towards the patients from each and every member of her staff, who accepted nothing but the finest care and treatment for every child entering this ward, and would do whatever it took to get it. Including, so he’d been told, reading stories to wee tots at all hours of the night and day. So he had that much in common with her. He’d also heard she cared a lot for her staff.

Those amazing green eyes, filled with angry questions, had sizzled at him, bursting with frustration because she didn’t know what was going on in her domain. Never mind she’d been away a third of the year. Admittedly he fully understood her feelings. He’d be the same in a similar situation. Scema.

He’d expected it. Even in Italy he’d heard of Alexandra Prendergast and her groundbreaking theories on dealing with premature infants. He’d read the paper she’d written and had been keen to meet her, to work with her. Who hadn’t?

Why hadn’t she taken up a grand position in a large hospital overseas? Mistakes in her past? Something had rattled her in Tommy’s room. There’d been a fear lurking in her eyes until the boy’s heart restarted. Whatever caused it had tugged at his heartstrings, had made him want to wrap her up in a hug and protect her. As if she’d let him even try. As if he had time for another female, another broken soul, to look out for.

Because right now his focus had to be totally on Sophia. Which left no room in his life for anything, anyone, else. Sophia ruled everything including his heart. Getting his wee daughter’s life back on track, making her happy and, hopefully, finally winning spontaneous smiles from her sweet cupid’s mouth was paramount. Everything else was on hold for as long as it took and beyond.

He shrugged. Enough conjecturing. His first move would be to explain his presence without going into any personal details. Was it too much to hope she wouldn’t notice the six-month gap in his CV? The CV the board’s chairman insisted he show Alexandra, even though the job was his. Maybe he could forestall too many questions by talking about the reason for Liz’s abrupt departure from the department.

Sighing, Mario finally managed to stop staring and instead called to her. ‘Do you want to join me when I talk to Carla Jenkins?’

Her eyes lightened and that tautness in her shoulders relaxed. ‘Yes. I should meet her.’

Just then a distressed woman in her thirties burst out of the lift and shot straight towards him, tears streaming down her cheeks. ‘Mario, what’s happened? Is Tommy all right?’ Carla rushed at him. ‘Kay told me to come in immediately. What’s wrong?’

Mario looked into Carla’s imploring eyes and had one of those moments when he hated his job. He understood her fears. Really understood them. He’d be absolutely terrified if Sophia’s heart had stopped. ‘Tommy’s fine now but his heart stopped for a while.’ He paused to let his words sink in. When Carla’s eyes widened and her bottom lip trembled, he pressed her shoulder gently, and repeated, ‘He’s all right now.’

‘I have to see him.’ Fear and despair laced Carla’s voice. ‘I shouldn’t have moved here, but it was so hard dealing with this on my own after everything else.’

‘Tommy’s no worse off being here. His heart would’ve stopped if he’d been in Auckland.’ Taking Carla’s elbow Mario gently led her into a visitors’ room. ‘The nurses are staying with him and you can see him once I’ve explained what happened.’

Alexandra followed and shut the door firmly. Then she reiterated his first statement. ‘Tommy’s heart is beating fine now.’

‘Who are you? Why did it stop? Are you sure he’s all right?’ Carla stopped the torrent of words and swallowed hard. Tears gleamed at the corners of her eyes as she stared at the door as though wishing Tommy would walk through and hug her. Her fingers were tightly interlaced against her stomach, her elbows taut and awkward at her sides. ‘Sorry. I freaked when Kay phoned.’

‘Take a seat, Carla.’ Mario parked his backside on the edge of the small table. ‘This is Miss Prendergast. You’ve heard about her and she’ll be part of Tommy’s medical team from now on. She’s very experienced and Tommy couldn’t be in better hands.’ Hell, Tommy was getting excellent care in his hands.

Glancing around, he found Alexandra’s eyebrows lifting ever so slightly as she listened to him, amusement blinking back at him from those emerald eyes. Had he gone overboard with his compliment? With a shrug, he got back to the main reason they were all shut in this airless room. ‘Do you recall the conversation you and I had when Tommy was first admitted? About what to expect at this stage of Tommy’s disease?’

‘Yes, but I hoped you were wrong. No, I prayed you didn’t know what you were talking about. They didn’t put it so bluntly in Auckland. I’m sorry.’ Carla sagged further.

Mario winced. There was nothing to be gained by keeping a patient’s family in the dark. But then Carla and her son had been dealing with another tragedy, and anything else might’ve overwhelmed them at the time.

Alexandra took the empty seat beside the woman and reached for Carla’s hands. So here was Miss Prendergast’s softer side. ‘It’s very understandable for you to hope for better. I’d probably do the same thing if I was in your situation.’ She shook Carla’s hands gently. ‘But as doctors we don’t have that luxury. We have to be prepared for anything to happen so that we can do our very best for Tommy.’

Carla lifted her pain-filled eyes to Alexandra’s face. ‘Thank you.’

Mario watched as Alexandra talked softly, explaining the situation once again, having gone from confused to kind and compassionate in a flash. Amazing how her own priorities had been put aside for a suffering parent. He was impressed. This was the soft caramel specialist he’d heard about.

Alexandra said to Carla, ‘What you can keep believing is that we’re doing everything possible for Tommy.’

Carla’s bottom lip trembled but she blinked hard and held herself very straight. ‘I do, but I’m afraid of losing him.’

Mario murmured, ‘S`i. It is very hard for you. But Tommy’s fighting hard. He won’t give in. I’ve seen it in his eyes.’

He noted Alexandra listening as carefully as Carla. Sussing him out? Making sure he was up to speed on the job? That rankled. He’d worked in some of the best hospitals in England and Italy. He had an excellent reputation as a surgeon for the little ones. This hospital board had been more than happy to accept his qualifications. Miss Prendergast had to accept him, like it or not. Starting now.