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He heard Abbie’s sharp intake of breath at his tone. Or was it the way he’d referred to her as his ‘wife’—as if she were some kind of possession?

Rafael closed his eyes and took a deep, inward breath as he deliberately dialled down his anger. Whatever was going on, becoming too passionate about it would only make things worse. Hadn’t he learned that lesson already?

Towering over everybody else in this room wasn’t going to help anything either.

Opening his eyes again, Rafael inclined his head in acquiescence that something clearly needed to be dealt with and he moved to lower his body into the empty seat beside Abbie.

He took a sideways glance at her, still concerned by how pale she looked, but Abbie was staring down at her hands. He wanted her to look at him so that he could send her a silent message that everything would be all right. He would deal with whatever it was that had prompted their summons into this office.

There was a beat of silence in the room and then Ethan cleared his throat.

‘We asked you both to come in this afternoon,’ he said into the silence, ‘because an issue has been brought to our attention that we thought needed urgent resolution. A complaint has been made—’

‘Che cosa?’ Rafael’s gaze jerked to meet Ethan’s. ‘What are you talking about?’

‘It’s not a complaint, exactly.’ Leo flicked an unreadable glance at his brother. ‘I would phrase it more as an expression of disappointment that a client feels strongly enough about to bring it to our attention.’

‘I have no idea what you’re talking about,’ Rafael snapped. ‘Is someone unhappy with my work? And why is Abbie here?’ The speed of his speech was increasing. So was the volume. ‘Nobody could have complained about her work because she hasn’t even been in the country for three months.’ Rafael shook his head in frustration and tried to calm down again. ‘Or is that what this “disappointment” is about? The fact that we have had to deal with a family crisis that has disrupted our ability to work?’

Again the brothers exchanged a meaningful glance.

‘You could say that,’ Leo said. ‘Sort of.’

‘Spit it out, man,’ Rafael growled. ‘I’m hoping to have enough time after my work to visit my daughter before she’s asleep for the night.’

‘Of course.’ Leo turned to smile at Abbie. ‘And can I just say again how wonderful it is to have you and Ella back? Especially when you’ve come back with such a great result.’

‘Thanks, Leo.’ Abbie’s nod was stiff. She caught Rafael’s gaze briefly then and he could see that she was just as mystified as he was by the reason for this meeting.

Ethan took his cue from Leo’s nod. He looked directly at Rafael, who had the strange impression that a game of ‘good cop, bad cop’ was going on here. And Ethan had been designated ‘bad cop.’

‘I believe you saw the MacDonald family at your outpatient clinic this morning? With their seven-month-old son, Angus, who’s now ready for admission for repair of his bilateral cleft lip and palate?’

‘That is correct.’ Rafael frowned. What on earth had the MacDonalds found to complain about? ‘They seemed perfectly happy to know how well the stretching and reshaping of the tissues has been with the taping and use of the retainer. He’s a good candidate for a single initial surgery to repair the defects in both his lip and palate.’

‘He’ll still need further surgery for cosmetic improvements, though.’ It was Abbie who spoke.

It was Abbie who’d first seen Angus back when the newborn had been brought down from Scotland by his distressed parents. She’d immediately called Rafael to share the consultation and reassure them that they would be able to achieve an almost perfect result for their son.

He nodded. ‘You can deal with that further down the track. And I’ll do the gum repair later. When Angus is around seven years old.’

Ethan had listened to the exchange and was shaking his head. Rafael glared at him. ‘The MacDonalds were delighted to know that their son can be admitted for the surgery as early as the end of the week. What is the problem here?’

‘The MacDonalds came to the Hunter Clinic for a private consultation within weeks of Angus being born,’ Ethan said. ‘Do you know why they chose us out of all the places they could have taken their baby for surgery after they’d decided they didn’t want to go on a National Health waiting list?’

‘We treat a lot of these types of cases,’ Rafael responded. ‘Our reputation is very good.’

‘No.’ It was Leo who was shaking his head this time. ‘Our reputation for dealing with this particular birth defect is the best. And you know why?’

Rafael met his gaze squarely. ‘My background in craniofacial surgery for paediatric oncology patients gave me a very good training that has easily transferred to birth defects.’ He shrugged, still puzzled. ‘I’m good at what I do.’

Repair of this kind of deformity that was so distressing to parents wasn’t just about the reshaping of bones and tissues, though, was it? How good the final result was was largely dependent on the skill of the plastic surgeon involved in the finer, external work.

‘And Abbie’s very good at what she does,’ he added. ‘The best, in fact.’

‘Exactly.’ Leo and Ethan exchanged a satisfied glance this time. ‘And therein lies our issue.’

Rafael raised an eyebrow.

‘You saw the MacDonalds this morning.’

‘Yes. You know this already.’

‘But Abbie didn’t see them. We understand that the case had been on her list, with a note to share the consultation with you. But you...ah...rearranged the lists this morning.’

‘Only so that Abbie wasn’t overwhelmed with work on her first day back.’

‘You also told the MacDonalds that you would be performing the whole surgery. Alone. That Abbie would not be available to work with you on the case.’

‘Ah...’ Rafael could feel Abbie’s stare. She wasn’t happy. But it had been her choice to let him shift the case onto his list this morning. Women! Dio... The way their minds worked was an unfathomable mystery sometimes.

‘The MacDonalds came to the Hunter Clinic because of the reputation that both of you have in dealing with a case like theirs. The emphasis here is on both of you. They’d heard about the Hunter Clinic’s “dream team.” Now they’re feeling...cheated.’

‘Look...’ Leo sounded uncomfortable. ‘We’re well aware of your personal issues but whatever problems you have need to be put aside in working hours for the benefit of the clinic, not to mention the benefit of our clients.’

‘There’s a waiting list of elective cases like this,’ Ethan added swiftly. ‘And an even longer list of potential charity cases. This is an incredibly common birth defect.’

‘We can’t support this separation at a professional level,’ Leo put in. ‘You have to be able to work together.’

‘We were working together,’ Abbie said. ‘This morning. And, yes, Rafe did take the MacDonald case off my list but I had the choice. I could have kept it.’

‘You’re missing the point,’ said Ethan. ‘It’s not a case of who gets who. Even a few minutes ago you were both talking about future surgery that Angus would need like it was some kind of “pass the parcel” game. That might be all very well with elective cases but what’s going to happen with an acute case? An emergency? Are you two going to be squabbling in a corner because you’re not professional enough to work on the same case? In the same theatre? Together?’

‘No.’ Abbie’s voice sounded strangled.

‘Of course not.’ Rafael was insulted. ‘That suggestion is ridicolo...’

‘You were a tight team,’ Leo said quietly. ‘The best. We want that back.’

‘Everybody knows how tough it’s been,’ Ethan said. ‘And we’ve all done our best to help but the worst is over now and the kind of disruption we’ve seen today can’t be allowed to happen again.’ He shook his head. ‘If word gets out that you two are not happy working together, it will cause untold damage to our reputation and we’re not going to allow that to happen.’

Leo sighed. ‘If it continues, we might all have to rethink whether you can continue in your current employment.’ He eyed Abbie. ‘You’ve been a full-time mother for months now. If that’s more important to you than your career then we’ll find a way to work around it, but you need to be up front with us.’

‘I am being up front with you.’ Abbie’s voice was shaky. ‘And I’ve never considered choosing to give up my work. My daughter is the most important person in the world to me but I know how brilliant the childcare system at the Lighthouse is. We’d always planned to juggle our careers and family life to allow us to both continue working.’

Rafael felt something tighten inside his chest. He remembered those planning sessions. Lying on the bed beside Abbie, admiring the increasing size of her belly. Keeping his hand resting lightly on her skin so that he could marvel at the movement he could feel beneath it. Imagining them both collecting their baby from the crèche and taking her home for family time.

Life had been so perfect back then. So full of exciting dreams for the future.

How had it all turned to dust? He wanted it back. All of it.

But Abbie wasn’t even looking in his direction again now. She was facing her employers here at the clinic. Fighting for her career.

‘Then the issue is simply whether you can continue working together.’ Both Ethan and Leo shifted their gaze from Abbie to Rafael. Abbie also turned to look at him.

‘I can,’ she said.

There was determination in her eyes. And something more.

Hope that this could be a way through the enormous barrier that still lay between them?

Or was that wishful thinking on his part?

Whatever. It was a first step.

Rafael smiled. ‘So can I,’ he said. ‘I look forward to the privilege of working with you again, Abbie.’

CHAPTER FOUR

SHE HADN’T EXPECTED THIS.

She’d been in perfect agreement with Leo and Ethan during that meeting this afternoon. Okay, she was partly to blame because she’d consciously chosen to let Rafael see the MacDonalds as part of his outpatient list but he’d had no right to push her out of being involved with Angus MacDonald’s first surgery. He’d actually told them she was unavailable?

Abbie scrubbed harder. It had been a long time since she’d been through this routine and her skin wasn’t liking the stiff bristles of the soap-impregnated brush. It stung as she spread her fingers and scrubbed between them and then moved on to the backs of her hands and the insides of her wrists but she didn’t lighten the pressure. The physical pain was an echo of the simmering anger she was prodding.

Rafael had been unprofessional. What had stopped him from popping his head into her office and just asking whether she wanted to be involved? He hadn’t needed to, though, had he? She’d already told him that it was another case she’d love to do.

Being pushed out like that was also confusing. And hurtful.

Wasn’t he the one who was so good at maintaining a professional distance that he could put his own emotions aside to make life and death decisions for his own daughter?

Why didn’t that automatically apply to his wife?

Because he hated her that much now? So much that his desire to avoid working closely with her was enough to make cracks appear in that ability to distance himself?

So much for thinking that they might be able to repair their marriage.

It was proving difficult enough to repair a professional relationship.

Not that others seemed to see that. The nurse who was waiting with a sterile towel held in a pair of tongs was smiling.

‘It’s so good that you and Mr de Luca are going to be working together again. Everybody’s really excited about it.’

Not everybody, Abbie thought grimly. But she smiled back as she took the towel to dry her hands.

‘It’s been a long time, hasn’t it?’

‘It’s never quite the same without you. Nobody else can work with Mr de Luca like you can. He gets quite cross sometimes.’

Abbie’s eyebrows rose as she pulled on her gown and then turned so that the nurse could tie it.

It made her feel a little better to know that no one else could partner Rafael in Theatre as well as she could but it wasn’t really a surprise, was it?

Their professional relationship had been astonishingly good from the moment they’d first shared an operating theatre together nearly two years ago.

Had any two surgeons ever clicked like that from the get-go? Complemented each other so perfectly it was as if one surgeon had suddenly doubled their skill set. And not only that. They worked in such a similar way that they could anticipate what the other was thinking or about to do. A silent form of communication and co-operation that had quickly become a talking point in their professional circle.

They’d been dubbed the ‘dream team.’

And they’d loved that.

But that had been then. The nurse’s comment had been a boost but she’d disappeared with an armful of dirty linen back into the changing rooms, and without her enthusiastic support the thought of working side by side with Rafael in Theatre was enough to make Abbie’s heart race and her mouth feel dry.

‘Get a grip,’ she ordered herself sternly, as she pulled on a pair of gloves.

She’d faced far harder things than this in the last few months. She’d had to make decisions and take actions with nothing more than her instinct to guide her at some points. And she’d had to do it firmly and swiftly. Because she’d had to do it alone.

So she could handle this.

Even if she hadn’t expected a challenge like this to appear so fast after Ethan’s edict that they work together—or face the consequences.

It was only 11:00 p.m. on the same day, for heaven’s sake.

A child had been brought in by helicopter for emergency surgery. Unrestrained, the six-year-old had been ejected from a car in a smash. She had multiple injuries, including two broken arms and major facial trauma.

She needed the best surgeons the Lighthouse had to offer.

Abbie was one of them, so that she could deal with the initial repair of the facial tissues and skin in the hope of a result that wouldn’t be too disfiguring in the future.

Rafael was the other surgeon and he would be able to handle anything that Abbie couldn’t. Thanks to his experience as a general paediatric surgeon before he’d specialised first in oncology and then in reconstructive surgery, there was nothing that could happen in an operating theatre that he couldn’t manage, at least in an emergency situation.

Knowing that had always made her feel safe.

Confident.

All she needed to do now was to tap back into that background confidence. And remind herself of just what she’d achieved with Ella’s treatment without that umbrella Rafael could provide.

She could do this. Even if Rafael didn’t really want her in there.

Taking a deep breath and pressing her lips together in a grimly determined line, Abbie crossed her arms in front of her body and turned so that she could use her back to bump open the swinging doors that led into the brightly lit operating room.

* * *

Rafael saw Abbie enter the theatre from the scrub room, holding her gloved hands crossed in front of her body, with only her eyes visible between the bottom of her hat and the top of her mask. He watched only until her gaze met his. He held the eye contact for a heartbeat and then nodded once, turning back to the task ahead. It was a simple gesture but one that had become significant to them both in the past. It conveyed satisfaction. Gratitude. Confidence. There was a difficult job to be done. He needed her to be here. She had arrived.

Things were as good as they could be for the moment.

Had he really thought it would be better if they tried to keep their professional lives as separate as their personal lives had become? At least until things had settled down? Thank goodness Ethan and Leo had taken them both to task and made it a professional duty to start working closely together again or it could have been a very long time before he’d had the bonus of having Abbie by his side like this again.

And he did need her. Rafael had been shocked when he’d met the helicopter crew in the emergency department as they’d transferred the care of little Lucy to his team. She’d been stabilised as far as possible in the rural area where the accident had occurred but there were bigger challenges ahead. The first had been dealt with in the emergency department with the help of a specialist paediatric anaesthetist. Securing a definitive airway had been extremely difficult due to the level of facial trauma but at least it had given him time to get used to the horrific injuries. He just wished he’d had more time to warn Abbie before she arrived in Theatre.

‘Oh, my God...’ He could hear the way Abbie’s breath caught in her throat as she whispered her first reaction.

‘It’s actually not as bad as it looks,’ he told her quietly. ‘The jaw’s broken in three places and she’s lost several teeth. Cheekbones are both fractured and displaced. As is the nose. One ear has been partially amputated but there’s no skull fracture or brain haemorrhage. And I think her eyes are okay. It will be easier to see what other damage there is when we get these parts of her face back where they should be. It’s the soft-tissue damage that’s making things look so bad. The scans are up over there if you want to have a look.’

‘Is there a photograph available?’ Abbie’s initial shock had worn off commendably fast. ‘Of what she used to look like?’

‘Yes. The grandmother emailed one through. It’s been printed out and is beside the viewing screens.’

‘Thanks.’ Still holding her crossed arms carefully in front of her to avoid any potential contamination and need to rescrub, Abbie moved to examine the images of both the damage and what the little girl’s face should look like. It was several minutes before she came back to the table but that was fine. Rafael had a lot of work to do before there would be an area ready for Abbie’s delicate touch in repairing delicate vessels and skin tears.

And he needed to concentrate. It wasn’t easy, trying to manoeuvre tiny titanium rings into position to try and fix fractured bones back together.

‘What’s been said about her arms?’

‘Colles’ fracture on the left. Spiral fracture of the radius and ulna on the right. Looks like she put her arms out to break the fall and then hit the ground face first. Not pretty but it may have saved her from a bad head injury or internal damage.’

‘What’s been done for them?’

‘The arms?’ Rafael didn’t need this distraction. ‘Just support with back slabs until orthopaedics can come in. It’s well down the list of priorities.’

‘Do we have the X-rays?’

‘They’re on digital file. Why?’ Rafael needed Abbie to focus on what was more of a concern right now—putting this little’s girl’s face back together.

‘Look at this.’

‘I can’t.’ Rafael was waiting for his senior theatre nurse to suck blood away so that he could see where to place the ring he was holding in his forceps. ‘I could use some help here, Abbie.’

But Abbie ignored him. ‘Scalpel, thanks,’ she ordered a registrar. ‘And someone throw some antiseptic on this arm.’

Rafael gave up on the ring and looked up, incredulous. ‘What are you doing?’

‘Opening this arm.’ Sure enough, Abbie waited only until a nurse had hurriedly swabbed the skin of a small forearm and then she was slicing into it with her scalpel. Rafael’s jaw dropped. He’d never seen her act like this.

Ever.

Seconds later, Abbie dropped the scalpel, having left a long, deep incision in the small arm. She reached for the hand still lying on the table and pressed one of the small fingernails.

‘Capillary refill’s slow but at least it’s there now.’

‘It wasn’t there before?’ Rafael was frowning now. This was the child’s right hand, which many might consider even more important to her future quality of life than how her face looked. Had there been a major problem with circulation that had been missed due to his focus on her face? Yes. He could see the unhealthy dark colour the fingers still had. How puffy they were.

‘You can still see the swelling in her arm. The fingers were cold and blue. There was no radial pulse.’

‘Compartment syndrome...’ Rafael took a deep breath. That was why Abbie had incised the muscle casing so decisively. If she hadn’t, the result could have been catastrophic. Lucy might have lost her whole hand, let alone the efficient use of it. ‘Thank goodness you noticed.’

‘If it had started when she was conscious, the pain level would have alerted someone.’ Abbie’s gaze was in no way accusing. ‘It’s just lucky I came in late and wanted an overall picture before getting focussed.’

Rafael could only nod. This was not the time or place to tell Abbie that he was proud of her picking up on the complication. And taking control without waiting for his opinion.

Getting that overall impression was a characteristic that Abbie had much more noticeably than he did these days. She was always fastidious in gathering every piece of information she could about a case. Looking at a bigger picture that included things like family circumstances and relationships. A way of looking at a case that invariably led to the kind of emotional involvement in a patient that he preferred to avoid when possible. That was why they’d always made such a good team. Two halves of an amazing whole. The ‘dream team,’ as Ethan had reminded them only today.

But hadn’t he always been the unspoken leader of that team?

No longer, by the look of things. Abbie had changed since the last time they’d worked like this together. She’d become more decisive. More authoritative. More...independent? In here, that was a good thing. It would give him a partner he would enjoy working with even more. Out of here? That was another matter entirely. Persuading Abbie to forgive him and give their marriage another chance might be an uphill battle.

‘Call Orthopaedics,’ she was instructing a nurse. ‘We’ll need them here sooner rather than later. And someone find a dressing to cover this wound in the meantime, please.’ She stepped around the table to stand beside Rafael.

So close that their shoulders were touching.

‘Now...’ Abbie was peering into the area Rafael was working on to align the small jaw again. ‘Can I start debriding the cheek tissue? I’d like to get an idea of how much skin we’ve got left to work with. I suspect we’re going to need some grafts.’

Rafael absorbed the feeling of having her this close. He could hear the calm confidence with which she was now assessing the work she had come here to do. Suddenly it was easy to push anything personal and negative into a space that had no relevance in here. He knew without any doubt that within minutes he and Abbie would be working together seamlessly. The way they always had. His own confidence soared. They could do this. Between them they would get the foundation work done that would end up with little Lucy looking as close to the way she’d looked before the accident as was humanly possible.

He hadn’t felt this inspired—this happy in his work—since...well, since Abbie had left.

How had he not realised how much he’d missed this?

Because he had isolated himself emotionally from his work so effectively?

The way he’d isolated himself from his wife and daughter?

That was in the past. He’d learned his lesson. With the resolution that things were going to change from now on, Rafael didn’t dismiss the pleasure of having Abbie working beside him. Instead, he channelled it into making sure he did the best work he was capable of.

* * *

Talk about diving into the deep end.

Six hours later, Abbie all but staggered into the changing room where she’d stored her clothes in her old locker. The one beside Rafe’s.

She headed for the closest shower, which offered a private area that included a slatted wooden bench seat beneath a hook on which to hang her dry clothes. Having hung what she would change back into on the hook, however, Abbie didn’t immediately close the door or turn on the shower to let the water get hot. Instead, she sank down on the wooden seat and closed her eyes for a moment.