A Father for Baby Rose

Yannis smiled. “That’s good. By the time you’ve been here—remind me, how long is it you’re working at the hospital?”

“Six months. Tanya and Manolis have been offered a six-month sabbatical, if you remember.”

“Yes, yes. I remember signing your contract now. You were interviewed in London, I remember. Manolis has put me in charge of the day-to-day running of the medical and surgical side of the hospital while he’s away but I leave the paperwork to our efficient administration team. I knew you were coming in to work tomorrow but when you arrived briefly in Theatre this morning I couldn’t think who you were. Sorry if I was less than welcoming. I was in the middle of a difficult operation and—’

“Oh, please. I hadn’t realised that the theatre was in use. My fault.”

“I’ll take time to show you around tomorrow.”

“Thank you.”

Rose was now crushing a potato chip against her mouth before opening it and demolishing it with her four tiny white teeth. She wiped her hands over her blond curly hair and grinned happily.

“I think it’s time for me to take Rose home,” Cathy said, reaching for another paper napkin. “I’ve got the numbers of the taxi drivers in my mobile so I’ll see who’s free to come and get us.”

The brief twilight had faded already, she noticed as she punched in the first number on her list. That number was engaged. She tried the next on the list and was lucky this time.

“Theo will be with us in ten minutes,” she said as she closed her mobile.

“Good. I’m glad you’re not going to attempt to walk back. I’ll take your buggy home with me and ask Petros, the man who helps me in the garden, to see if he can mend it. He can mend most things.”

Except broken hearts, Cathy thought as she smiled her thanks. It was so obvious to her that Yannis’s heart would need a lot of tender loving care from a good woman. She certainly wasn’t the person to do it because she needed to keep her own life on track. Whoever took on the mending of Yannis’s heart would have a difficult job breaking down the barriers he’d built around himself.

She reminded herself firmly that whatever it was that that Yannis needed, she shouldn’t feel obliged to try and provide it. After all, she was always the one left wanting when she was barrelled into trying to smooth things along for people. Besides which, she wasn’t here to get too involved with another man, let alone a colleague she was going to have to work intimately with for the next six months.

Out loud she told Yannis that she didn’t think Grandma Anna would need the pushchair for a while.

“Rose is her youngest baby at the moment. Tanya told me she was getting withdrawal symptoms now that they were taking baby Jack over to Australia. Anna told me today she’s lost count of how many babies she’s cared for over the years.”

“She’s an amazing woman. But you must still find it hard, being a single parent and working full time as a doctor.”

“I’m very lucky. In England, my mother takes care of Rose when I’m working and here I’ve got Anna. I wanted to spend a short time away from Rose today to see how she would get on with Anna. She absolutely adores her already so I won’t have to worry about her when I’m working.”

“So why did you want to bring Rose out with you this evening?”

“I wanted to spend some quality time with her. Every mother’s guilt trip, I suppose. Working away from home and leaving her baby in the care of someone else.”

Yannis swallowed hard. “Guilt is a terrible affliction. We all suffer from it at times.”

She saw the worried look on his handsome face and wished she could conjure up that wonderful smile he’d had just a short time ago. She’d noticed the flash of his strong white teeth, the curve of his full, sensuous lips, the vulnerable expression in his dark, brooding, brown eyes.

She gave herself another mental talking-to. She wasn’t in the dating market any more. Neither, it seemed, was Yannis— wise man! Never again! Not after the disastrous relationships she’d suffered over the years. Life was going to be very good if she avoided meaningful relationships.

“I think this is your taxi coming along the coast road.”

She gathered Rose up into her arms. “Kali nichta, Yannis,”

“Kali nichta, Cathy. I…” He hesitated. “I look forward to seeing you again tomorrow.”

CHAPTER TWO

CATHY waited until she could hear Rose breathing that easy, steady rhythmic way that usually indicated her daughter was well and truly out for the count—for a few hours anyway. Barefoot, she walked backwards so she could keep an eye on her daughter, just in case she’d misjudged the situation.

She propped open the door then looked back to make sure she’d put the teddy-bear books that Rose loved so much at the end of her cot, where she would see them if she woke up early. With any luck, as had happened a few times recently back home in England, she just might become entranced by one of the pictures and give her sleeping mother a few more minutes of blissful oblivion.

Was she being over-cautious, over-anxious, over the top in her solitary state as a single parent? If she had a husband or lover waiting in bed for her now, would she be taking so much time? That would depend on the man in question. Sitting down at her dressing table, she confronted the image of an exhausted, sleep-deprived thirty-one-year-old mum with developing crow’s feet at the corners of her tired blue eyes.

What an evening! she told herself as she wiped off the bronzer that she’d applied earlier in the evening so as not to frighten the tourists with her unseasonal pallor. It may only be April but out here on Ceres the season was already in full swing following the Easter festivities, and there were lots of healthy-looking people tramping over the hills and lying on the beaches.

She’d never imagined that she would end the day in the company of Yannis Karavolis who, although technically in charge of the hospital, hadn’t seemed to know who she was when she’d arrived. She’d obviously been infinitely forgettable when she’d met him eighteen months ago at Tanya’s wedding, whereas he… She felt embarrassed now that she’d been attracted to him as soon as she’d seen him skulking— perhaps that wasn’t the word, more kind of hiding—in the kitchen so he wouldn’t have to mingle with the revellers.

She’d split up with Dave two weeks before, and had already been licking her wounds and vowing never to get interested in a man again. But there had been something appealing about Yannis tonight. His total vulnerability. His obvious unshakeable devotion to his deceased wife. Tanya had just told her about his wife’s tragic death, she remembered.

She realised now that if she were to fancy him—which she didn’t…well, no, she mustn’t! But if she were to even think of him as sexy, which he was, handsome, interesting to be with, yes, but only when he wasn’t thinking about his wife.

Now, that would be the obstacle. Yannis’s total obsession with the unattainable. His wife was dead, but yet, in his mind, she obviously lived on, set on a pedestal where nothing and nobody could ever replace her. So in a way, if anybody did try to take her down from the pedestal, somebody—not herself, oh, no! But just supposing she were to allow her feelings of attraction towards Yannis to develop into…

But she wasn’t going to! However, if she hadn’t decided never to have a meaningful relationship or even a fling with another man she just might, having imagined herself to be attracted to Yannis, forget her single-woman plan and have another go at romance.

She picked up the hairbrush and brushed her hair vigorously. It would be a stupid thing to do but she was renowned for making stupid decisions—or rather non-decisions, drifting into disastrous situations that started out as fun and ended in tears.

And this hypothetical idea that she’d just dreamed up would most certainly end in tears! The goddess-like wife would always be there with them. And Cathy had played second fiddle long enough. Dave had told her he was separated from his wife and waiting for the divorce to come through. And idiot that she was, she’d believed him. The long business trips abroad he’d had to make away from her! She hadn’t questioned them because she had been in love and, therefore, that meant she trusted him implicitly.

What an idiot she could be! For a whole year she’d believed everything he’d told her. She’d been taken in by every single lie he’d told her.

It was the truth she couldn’t believe!

That awful Saturday morning when he’d turned up and announced his divorce wasn’t going through as planned. Well…sheepish expression on his face…to be honest, they hadn’t got around to planning it. Actually, he was still theoretically living at home. He and his wife had decided they were going to make a go of it. Purely for the sake of the kids, you know. His wife didn’t know about Cathy so he’d be truly grateful if she would keep it that way.

Mind you, if it were up to him…blah, blah, blah… She’d stopped listening to him by this time as she remembered the lonely Christmas she’d spent because he’d told her he had to go and stay with his sick mother. The numerous weekends when he’d had to fly away on business.

She put down the hairbrush and stared into the mirror again, this time seeing the face of a very gullible woman who never learned by her mistakes. But at least this time she’d learned. It would be the same kind of scenario if she chose to have any kind of dalliance with Yannis Karavolis. She would play second fiddle again to the perfect wife who could do no wrong. Yannis’s wife may not be with them in the flesh but she would certainly be with them in spirit.

She forced herself to grin at the picture of desolation she posed in the mirror. “Don’t take yourself so seriously,” she told herself. “It’s not as if you’re remotely attracted to the man so the situation isn’t going to arise.”

And with that she crawled between the cool sheets and tried to fall asleep. The fact that she tossed and turned for half the night was put down to the fact that she was suffering from jet-lag. Towards dawn she decided to get up and finish unpacking and sorting out her bedroom. At the first squeak from Rose she was in there, smiling welcomingly at her daughter, reaching out her arms for a cuddle.

* * *

In his bedroom overlooking the wide inlet of moonlit sea in Nimborio bay, Yannis was also finding it hard to sleep. He hadn’t expected to enjoy the evening when he’d invited Cathy and her little daughter Rose to join him for a drink. He’d certainly never envisaged they would all have supper together. And now it was time to admit to himself that he hadn’t felt so alive since before Maroula had died.

He flung the sheet away from him. It was too hot to be covered tonight. He ran a hand down the side of his naked body as he experienced a feeling of strength flowing through him. It was a good feeling, but the feeling was also tinged with confusion. Was it guilt, this awful feeling now that he shouldn’t be able to enjoy life without Maroula? He supposed it was. He didn’t really think he deserved to enjoy himself like that in the company of an unattached young woman.

It wasn’t as if he’d flirted with her, because he hadn’t. But she might have misinterpreted his friendliness as an ulterior motive, mightn’t she? She might have thought he fancied her in a sexual way. Well, actually, if he was truly honest with himself, he did! And that was something he couldn’t hide from himself.

That was another thing he’d discovered tonight. Looking across at Cathy, who was undoubtedly very attractive, he’d felt himself almost if not actually, physically moved. And that hadn’t happened since Maroula had died. He’d made sure that if he was in the company of an attractive woman he held a tight rein on his sexual emotions.

He’d lived like a monk for over three years. But tonight he’d felt himself drawn towards Cathy in a way that he couldn’t dismiss. Was it because he sensed that she was also trying to survive, that she was vulnerable like he was? He was attracted by her beauty, her warmth, her forthrightness and the fact that because she was a stranger she had the distance needed to be able to ask direct questions.

Whatever it was, he hadn’t been able to stop himself from allowing these long-lost feelings deep down inside him to come back.

But should he let them? Hadn’t he vowed that Maroula was his lifelong soul-mate? She was no longer here but he was. And what about all the promises he’d made after she’d died? He was going to make it up to her. She’d been cut off unnecessarily in her prime and he’d pledged to spend the rest of his life devoted to her memory.

He found himself beginning to get drowsy at long last. His last thoughts as he drifted off were about how he would love to have Cathy beside him here in his bed. Because his wicked physical longings were becoming unbearable. He doubted he would be able to resist the temptation of her wonderful seductive body. The trouble was that if he gave in he would never be able to forgive himself.

* * *

Cathy hurried down the Kali Strata, aware that she wouldn’t be able to reach the hospital in time. Having hardly slept all night, she’d spent too much time giving Rose breakfast, washing and dressing her, playing with her and finally taking her to Anna’s house.

Breathlessly she hurried into the hospital. A flash of recognition registered on the receptionist’s face as she leaned forward.

“Dr Karavolis would like to see you in his office, Dr Meredith.”

Cathy smiled. At least she was expected today. “Thank you. Which way…?”

The receptionist pointed. “Straight along the corridor. It’s the last door you come to.”

As she hurried down the long corridor, Cathy wondered if Yannis had chosen to be right at the end so that he would have a quiet bolt hole when he needed it.

“Come in!”

She pushed open the door. Yannis was seated at a large, imposing desk, staring at a computer screen. He stood up and came round the desk, taking one of the two armchairs and indicating she should sit in the other.

She sat down, wondering why she was feeling so awkward now. Was it that she’d fantasised about him so much in the night and now, seeing this tired-looking man with the serious face, she was realising that she’d misjudged the situation completely? They’d simply had a drink together and eaten some food because they’d been hungry. End of story, thank goodness!

“Did you get home all right last night?” he asked gravely.

“Yes, the taxi took me to the end of the street. How about you?”

“I live very near Michaelis’s taverna. A short walk. I asked Petros, my gardener, to collect your buggy this morning and see if he could mend it.”

Silence, the ticking of a clock in the background, the hum of the computer. Cathy cleared her throat. “Where would you like me to start work today?”

He picked up a file from his desk. “I’ve mapped out your duties, which will vary from day to day. All the information you should need is in here. Today we have an open clinic in Outpatients. I’ve alerted the midwife who’s working in the obstetrics section that you’ll be joining her shortly. She’ll be delighted to see you. Women doctors are always popular with our obstetric patients and at the moment one of our ladies is on maternity leave. Don’t worry, we’ve got plenty of medical staff at the moment so there’s plenty of back-up. It’s later in the tourist season that we begin to find ourselves short-staffed. April is a good month to start—apart from Easter.”

“What went wrong at Easter?”

For a moment she saw him relax his tight facial muscles and a hint of a smile appeared on his decidedly sexy lips. She felt a pang of interest once more. Something she shouldn’t be feeling as she listened to Dr Karavolis explaining the workings of the hospital.

“What didn’t go wrong?” He stretched out his long legs in front of him as he visibly relaxed.

She couldn’t help noticing the expensive cut of his lightweight suit. The silk-lined jacket was hung over the back of his desk chair and the trousers he was wearing were just tight enough to make him look sexy even though the suit was of a formal design.

She waited for him to elaborate. “Easter celebrations on Ceres last more than a week. Fireworks are set off at every opportunity, and as you know they can cause havoc. Our casualty department was dealing with injuries on a round-the-clock basis.”

He stood up, possibly to signify that it was time to start work. She clutched her file as she moved towards the door.

“I’ll come along to see you during the course of the morning,” he said as he reached ahead of her to open the door.

She smiled up at him as he held the door open. “Thank you…er…Thank you.”

Her hesitation was because she’d no idea what she should call him when they were on duty so she moved swiftly away, back towards Reception.

She could feel a quickening of her pulse rate. Was he going to have this effect on her when they were actually working together? If so, she’d have to get a grip on her emotions.

Yannis remained with the door open, watching Cathy walking away. He’d managed to maintain a professional attitude, which he intended to maintain while on duty. But he had no idea how he was going to handle off-duty situations. He could, of course, make sure that he didn’t meet up with her again in an off-duty situation. But having experienced the warmth of an evening spent with Cathy and Rose, he didn’t think that was an option. He would just have to be careful when he was with them and not allow the situation to get out of hand.

He closed the door and returned to his computer, staring at the list of surgical operations he had to schedule. It was a long time since he’d felt emotionally confused like this and it was playing havoc with his concentration.

Yannis’s decision to be careful came almost at the same time as Cathy got a similar idea firmly fixed in her mind. She was now following the sign above the corridor directing her to Outpatients. Having found the obstetrics section, she was immediately introduced to the midwife in charge.

Sister Maria welcomed her warmly as she went into the treatment room and explained the case history of the patient she was looking after. Cathy smiled down at the patient as she listened.

“Ariadne is a model patient,” Maria said in Greek.

The patient smiled. “Only if you say so, Sister.”

Cathy looked down at Ariadne. “I hope you don’t mind me coming in halfway through the examination. I’m Cathy Meredith, very new here, but I spent a lot of time in Obstetrics when I was working in an English hospital.”

“Your Greek is very good, Doctor.”

“I’ve spent a lot of time over here and I have Greek cousins who made fun of me so much when I was a child that I had no option but to pick up as much Greek as I could.”

Maria and Ariadne laughed and there was a good, friendly feel between all of them. Cathy always liked to break the ice when she was working. Tense patients were more difficult to take care of.

A young nurse came hurrying into the room, requesting the immediate attention of Sister Maria in the next cubicle. Maria excused herself.

“These are Ariadne’s notes, Cathy, and she understands everything that’s going on. She used to be a nurse before she started her family.”

“Would you like to tell me about your family, Ariadne?” Cathy asked, glancing briefly at the notes.

“These twins will be numbers four and five in the family,” Ariadne said, unable to hide the pride she was feeling as she patted her sizeable bump. “We intended to have four children but we were both delighted when I found out we were expecting twins. The more the merrier, my husband says. He wheeled me into hospital and then he went to do some shopping for me. He’ll be back soon. I’m not allowed to drive any more and I have to use a wheelchair outside home.”

Cathy glanced briefly at the case notes again. “Ariadne, tell me about the day you discovered you had symphysis pubis. It says in the notes that it was a sudden realisation. What actually happened?”

“I’d had a busy day, got the children to bed, cooked supper and then sat at the table with my husband, who’d just got back from a business meeting. He told me to sit still and let him wait on me during the meal. I suppose I was probably sitting for about half an hour. Then, as I stood up and tried to take a step I felt my pelvic bones split open. It was excrutiating. Thank goodness, Demetrius was with me! He got me straight into hospital and they gave me strong painkillers.”

“It’s a condition that’s not uncommon in women carrying more than one baby, Ariadne,” Cathy said in a sympathetic tone. “Especially among those who’ve had a number of births in a short period of time like you have with your first three children. So, I see you were referred to our orthopaedic specialist, who made the diagnosis.”

“It was such a relief to find out what was happening. I felt as if somebody had put a sword inside me. I will recover, won’t I, Cathy?”

“Yes, you will. Your ligaments, which stretch naturally during pregnancy and childbirth, have become too loose to hold the pelvis together. But you were given steroid injections, which tighten everything up, weren’t you? And I expect you were told to rest.”

“I didn’t move! I don’t go out any more except for my hospital appointment once a week. My mother lives nearby and my husband tries to work from home as much as possible.”

“Well, you seem to be doing all the right things. I see your twins are due in July.”

“It can’t come quick enough for any of us! I’ve been told I’ll be delivered by Caesarean section.”

“Yes. A natural birth would put too much strain on the pelvis. But the policy here at Ceres hospital is for operations of this nature to be transferred to the larger hospital on Rhodes. Minor operations are scheduled in for our hospital but most major ones are taken care of in Rhodes.”

“I’ve already discussed this with Dr Karavolis and requested that I have the Caesarean here, Cathy. I know it’s serious but he’s going to make an exception in my case. Because I’m a trained nurse and I know the risks, I also know the qualifications Dr Karavolis has in surgery and I’m sure I’ll be safe in his hands. This hospital is equipped with everything required, including an excellent surgical team. The specialist I’ve been seeing over on Rhodes has also agreed to this because he knows just how desperately I want my twins to be born on my beloved island.”

Cathy smiled as she secretly admired her patient’s positive attitude to her condition. “In that case, I’ll try to be with you at the birth.”

“Thank you. I’d like that very much.”

Sister Maria arrived back, saying she was going to take Ariadne for her scan.

Maria handed Cathy another set of case notes referring to the patient in the next cubicle. Cathy moved on, scanning the notes as she went. Tatiana, her next patient, was being treated by weekly injections of a new anti-miscarriage drug.

Before giving the injection Cathy asked her patient if she’d had any side effects.

Tatiana smiled. “Nothing at all to worry about. I was so pleased when the doctor suggested he would like to try this new drug. I’ve had three miscarriages and I’m so anxious not to lose this one.”

After giving the injection, Cathy turned round to put the kidney dish back on her trolley.

Yannis was standing in the doorway, watching her. “How are you getting on?”

No smile, no sign that they were anything but medical colleagues. Exactly how it should be, Cathy thought, ignoring the confused feelings inside her.

“Fine!”

“I’d like to take you up to Theatre before I start on my list. I may not have time to show you around before I need you to assist me some time in the near future so I’ve told Sister Maria I’d like to take you away from Outpatients for a short time.”

He moved into the cubicle and smiled down at the patient. “Looks like you’re going to be fourth time lucky with this baby, Tatiana. I had a word with your obstetrician over on Rhodes after your last appointment there and he’s very pleased with your progress.”