Reunion With His Surgeon Princess

‘You’ve got to understand, Seth, I went to England to escape my life here. I never envisaged anything beyond that. After graduating high school I was expected to take on my own royal duties and projects. A scary prospect for an eighteen-year-old who wanted to be like everyone else. I persuaded my parents that getting a medical degree would be useful to my position when I returned. That I could put it to good use in the community. I told them England was the best place to study. Where no one knew me. Selfishly, I chose it because it was so far away I reckoned I was beyond their reach. They couldn’t make me go back. As time went on I created a life there and I met you. I lived, studied and worked there so long I didn’t think my heritage mattered any more. I didn’t tell you the truth about who I was because I was in denial myself. I had no intention of coming back.’

‘Until I asked you to marry me. Then you disappeared without a trace.’

She hung her head, not knowing how she could begin to make amends for her cowardice. ‘That was my wake-up call. My reminder that I was living in a bubble with you. You weren’t asking a lot except for a normal, family life. Something you would’ve found with anyone other than me. There’s nothing normal about my family or my life, as you can see, but you’re right, I shouldn’t have gone like that. You deserved better.’

‘Yes, I did.’ He clearly wasn’t going to make this easy for her.

‘Your proposal made me realise I was fooling myself in living out this fantasy I could marry you and simply be Mrs Davenport. I had obligations at home that would have caught up with me eventually and I thought it best to end things before I entered into a marriage based on lies.’ The right thing to do, evidently, when she couldn’t have helped him realise his dream of becoming a father either.

‘You could have told me that. I’d rather have talked things over than wake up to find you’d gone.’

‘I panicked, didn’t know where to begin explaining myself and thought I could do it better from a distance. I intended to get in contact but then my mother died and I was swept away in a tidal wave of grief.’

‘You could have at least got a message to me.’

Even with the air conditioning on Kaja was feeling the heat, shame burning her from the inside out. ‘I was a mess, Seth. I was grieving for my mother, and feeling guilty for everything I’d put everyone through. Believe it or not I thought by leaving I was somehow saving you from getting hurt too instead of stringing you along pretending to be someone I wasn’t.’

Seth’s soulless laugh disputed her warped sense of logic. ‘How did you work that one out when you didn’t explain any of that to me? Didn’t you think I’d be worried that something had happened to you when you vanished without a trace? For all I knew you could’ve been abducted or had some sort of accident. I called everyone we knew and the hospitals and police. Of course, when they heard you’d rejected my marriage proposal they decided it was your way of dumping me. It took me a little longer to work things out.’

‘I’m sorry.’ Her voice came out as small as she felt right now. She’d never meant to humiliate him but she was guilty of thinking only about herself. In her attempt to avoid a confrontation or get talked into staying, she’d jumped on the next flight without thinking about the impact her disappearance would have on him.

He didn’t need to know that her fertility issues had helped her to maintain that distance since. There hadn’t seemed a need to reach out to him when there was no chance of a happy-ever-after and so she had only done so when her father’s survival was at stake. It was a private matter she didn’t have to share with anyone because she had no plans on repeating past mistakes. Getting involved with anyone would only bring heartache and pain when she could never live up to expectation. She had reconciled herself to never having children, perhaps never being in another relationship, because experience had shown her it wasn’t feasible. That didn’t mean she didn’t yearn for both of those things. More so now that Seth was here, representing everything she wanted and couldn’t have.

‘When I saw you on the news at your mother’s funeral I thought I was hallucinating. Never mind that you’d told me both your parents had died a long time ago, there you were walking behind your mother’s coffin with your father, the grand duke.’ He shook his head as though he was still trying to come to terms with it all.

‘What can I do to fix things between us, Seth? I don’t want you to hate me.’

‘I could never hate you, Kaja, that’s half of the problem. What’s done is done, I suppose. We can’t change what’s happened so there’s no point in dwelling on it. I don’t think I’ll ever forget but I can learn to forgive.’ The smile he gave her was devastating on so many levels it made her want to weep. The fact that this man she’d obviously wounded deeply had been willing to fly halfway around the world to help her family and forgive her showed the strength of his character compared to hers.

There were other questions she had about his life but this was more than she could ever have asked of him. Anything else she needed to say to him could wait. It was more important that they started out on this journey on amicable terms when these next few days were going to be tough. A kidney transplant was no small operation. It came with risks to everyone involved. She was putting her faith in Seth to get them all through this and that would be easier to do with the knowledge he didn’t hold a grudge against her.

‘Thanks.’ It seemed inadequate to express how grateful she was for everything he was doing for her when he would’ve been within his rights to refuse to even take her call. For now, it was the best she could give him. It probably wouldn’t improve relations between them if she burst into tears and told him leaving him was the biggest mistake she’d ever made in her life.

They were going to have plenty of time together as her family members went through this huge procedure and, hopefully, she’d be able to show him just how sorry she was about ending their relationship. Maybe then they’d both find some closure.

Seth was glad the journey wasn’t too long between the palace and the hospital. Kaja’s attempt to call a truce so they could move on had actually caused them to lapse into an even more uncomfortable silence. One only broken when they reached their destination and she advised him on the proper protocol for meeting her father. He found it disconcerting being in this alien situation when she’d been a huge part of his life for so long. A woman he’d been so comfortable around once upon a time.

With their conversation slipping back onto more familiar, albeit rockier, ground he’d almost forgotten he was dealing with royalty. He suspected etiquette would be more scrutinised by her father.

As it was, he was glad he hadn’t tried to gain access to the hospital, or his patients, alone. A stranger’s face didn’t seem welcome as they were met with imposing guards at every corner.

‘Isn’t this a tad OTT? As far as I’m aware your country doesn’t have a high crime rate, never mind a history of assassination attempts. I thought your family was more of a figurehead than a political party?’ He’d done his homework. Not only did the country have a ban on personally held firearms, with the exception of the military and police, they had one of the lowest crime rates in the world. From everything he’d read the population was pretty content here since most residents had their own wealth and status. It was a tax haven for the rich and famous after all, as well as those born into a booming economy.

The royal family appeared popular even if the articles he’d skimmed concerning Kaja’s love life were less than complimentary. He knew she’d abhor the constant attention and the patronising, cruel nickname the press had awarded her.

She spoke in her own language to another of the guards who’d attempted to block their access down the corridor. Another reminder he no longer knew the woman beside him when he’d been unaware English wasn’t her mother tongue. He could only assume the gist of the conversation was something along the lines of, ‘Don’t you know who I am?’, given Kaja’s stern body language and the chided guard stepping back to let them pass. He continued to glare at Seth as they passed, perhaps unconvinced about his credentials rather than his companion’s.

‘We can’t afford to take any chances. The whole world knows where my brother and father are. You can’t expect us to let people swan in and out as they choose.’

Apart from the extra staff, it looked like any other private hospital Seth had worked in. It was clean and airy, with the extra touches of artwork on the walls and aquariums lit up with brightly coloured marine life setting it apart from the facilities attended by lesser mortals.

In his experience the added luxury of comfortable beds in private rooms or in-house chefs serving up specially tailored meals didn’t mean a lot in the grand scheme of things. It wouldn’t matter if the walls were made of pure gold or the floors were encrusted with diamonds. At the end of the day he was employed to do the same job he did everywhere else. Money couldn’t buy a clean bill of health.

Kaja knew that. Perhaps that was why she was so on edge. She could fly someone out with the best surgical reputation in the world to perform this transplant but the rest of the recovery was down to fate. There was a possibility her father could reject the new organ. As always, Seth would do everything he could to prevent that happening but there were no guarantees in this life. He’d found that out for himself the hard way.

Another guard outside her father’s private room greeted their arrival with a curt nod of the head, followed by a conversation on his walkie-talkie before they gained admittance. Seth assumed his face was on an all points bulletin by now, his whole background undergoing a thorough check if it hadn’t already. He prayed his recent site visits to research the country—the ones about their princess in particular—wouldn’t come back to haunt him if they looked into his online search history.

‘Father, this is Seth Davenport. The surgeon who’s carrying out your transplant.’ Kaja stood in the centre of the large private room announcing him to the frail gentleman swamped in his bed by pristine white cotton sheets and plump pillows.

‘Ah, come forward, young man. My eyes aren’t what they used to be. Along with the rest of me.’ The grand duke sat up, immediately adopting an air of authority, which forced Seth to advance from the doorway towards the bed.

‘I’m honoured to meet you, Your Royal Highness.’ Seth dipped at the waist into a bow as prompted by Kaja, secretly hoping he wasn’t expected to do this every time he walked into the room. It would become tiresome when he had a job to do.

The grand duke waved a dismissive hand. ‘We can dispense with all of that nonsense. Call me Olov. I fear it is I who should be bowing to you. I can’t thank you enough for coming to our little corner of the world to help me. My daughter tells me you once worked together and that you’re the best there is.’

His excellent English was heavily accented compared to Kaja’s. Seth assumed it was the time she’d spent in Cambridge studying that had made her sound more like a local.

It was clear she hadn’t shared their personal history with her family. The grand duke might not have been so humble and welcoming if he’d known Seth had lived in sin with his only daughter for years, or that he’d had the audacity to propose marriage to her. Now he’d seen her life out here and the people she was surrounded by it was becoming clearer why she wouldn’t entertain the idea of marrying a commoner like him. What more could he have possibly offered her that she didn’t have already? Nothing except his love. Which hadn’t been enough for her to even stay in the same country.

‘That’s correct, sir.’ He wasn’t going to be modest about his credentials when that was the reason he was here. Kaja’s father would expect confidence from the man who would have his life in his hands.

‘Good. At least something positive came out of Kaja’s time away.’ The focus of both men’s attention lowered her head. Seth didn’t know if it was in deference to her father or because she couldn’t look at him.

Goodness only knew what she’d told her father about her career or her personal life during that time. It was a punch in the gut to think that their life together was nothing for her to be proud of when they’d been some of the best days of his life. Along with some of the worst after she’d gone.

‘I’ve read up on your medical history and your nephrologist’s recommendations. As far as I can see the procedure should be relatively straightforward.’ Seth adopted his professional persona, determined not to linger on anything liable to distract him from the upcoming surgery.

‘Glad to hear it. The last thing I want is to find out there could be more complications or setbacks. Time’s running out for me.’

Seth didn’t argue with him. He’d read the files and agreed that the transplant was the last option available given his condition. If he’d been any older or less fit than he was, a transplant might’ve been deemed too risky.

‘This kind of operation comes with its own risks. We can’t predict how your body will react to the transplanted organ. Obviously, we’ll be monitoring you very closely and will do everything we can to prevent rejection. I’ll need to meet with the rest of the team to discuss contingency plans to cover every eventuality.’ Although he was the medical lead he wouldn’t be able to do this without a team of other professionals with the same goal of making this operation a success.

‘I can organise that for you.’

He’d forgotten Kaja was in the room until she voiced her intention to help.

‘I’d appreciate that.’

‘Is there anything else you need me to do?’

Seth knew only too well how it felt to be powerless as your world continued to spin out of control and there was nothing you could do to halt it. Yet, her suggestion to contribute fell flat when it had been made clear to him it was only the present that interested her. With no real consideration towards him or their history.

‘Not at the moment. If that changes I’ll let you know.’ He turned his back on her, doing his best to block her out of his head so he could think straight.

‘What do you require from me, Doctor? Apart from my kidney?’ Another male voice entered the fray. Followed, of course, by another shadow figure who was quietly dismissed at the door.

Even if the new arrival hadn’t been wearing an identical hospital gown to the one Kaja’s father was sporting, the family likeness was uncanny. All three Alderisis had the same sea-green eyes, aquiline nose and height befitting royalty.

He held out a hand towards Seth. ‘Bruno. Pleased to meet you.’

‘Seth Davenport,’ he countered as strong fingers gripped his in a handshake.

‘This is my big brother. Bruno, this is the surgeon who’ll be carrying out the transplant.’ Kaja introduced them in case there was any doubt about their identities.

‘Ah. So you’re the man who’ll be cutting me open and rummaging about in my insides?’ The dark humour he employed wasn’t unheard of in these situations. A lot of patients joked to cover their fears. Bruno did seem relaxed about the impending operation considering the sacrifice he was about to undertake to save his father.

‘Bruno, I wish you would take this seriously.’ Kaja chastised him with a clip around the ear.

‘Don’t tease your sister. You know how she worries,’ the elder Alderisi scolded.

It was clear this was a family who cared deeply for one another. He had no idea why Kaja had found it necessary to keep them hidden from him during the course of their relationship. Yes, her heritage had come as a shock but he would’ve got over it given time.

‘I am taking this seriously. Trust me, giving away one of my kidneys isn’t something I would do on a whim.’

‘If it’s any comfort, donors have the same life expectancy, general health and kidney function as anyone else.’ He said it as much for Kaja and Olov’s benefit as Bruno’s.

‘See, Kaja? I trust my new best friend here not to botch this when he comes so highly recommended. I’m going to be under anaesthetic so I’m not the one who’ll be doing the worrying.’ A meaty hand slapped Seth on the back. He liked this guy. His whole attitude and demeanour was a refreshing change from the earlier heavy-hitting conversation he’d had with his sister.

‘We will need you to fill in the consent forms and other necessary paperwork before we proceed.’ If anything did go wrong, it was necessary to have everything down in writing to protect all those involved. They all knew the risks but Seth would be the one primarily shouldering responsibility or blame if necessary.

‘No problem. It’s not as though we have much else to do while we’re waiting. We’ve exhausted the whole board-game collection and I don’t think Father is up to a game of table tennis just yet. Maybe in a week or two when he’s fully recovered with a new lease of life, thanks to my young, highly sought-after vital organs.’

Kaja rolled her eyes and groaned. ‘I give up.’

‘I’ll arrange everything once I’ve had a meeting with the team. The paperwork, that is, not the table tennis.’ Seth exchanged grins with the handsome prince, satisfied they were both on the same wavelength. It was a serious procedure but a positive one if everything went to plan.

‘Good stuff. I can jot kidney transplant into my diary for this week, then?’

‘I don’t see why not once we have everything in place. I’ll go back and check on my daughter and return later to go over any questions you think of in the interim.’ He was keen to find out how Amy was getting on. He’d be spending a lot of these next few days at the hospital and wanted to spend as much time with Amy as he could now.

‘I’ll call for the car and get Isak to take us back to the palace.’ Kaja motioned for the attention of the guards at the window.

‘If you don’t mind, I’d rather walk. I’m sure I don’t need an entourage to keep me safe and I’d much rather get some fresh air.’ Along with some distance from Kaja and the memories he couldn’t quite manage to shut out altogether.

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