The Sicilian Doctor's Proposal

Alice sighed and wished she didn’t feel so completely out of step with the rest of her sex. Was she the only woman in the world who didn’t spend her whole life thinking about men? Even Rita was susceptible, even though she’d reached an age where she should have grown out of such stupidity.

‘He doesn’t look much like a doctor,’ she said frankly, ‘but I’m sure he’ll look better once he’s shaved and changed his clothes.’

‘He looks every inch a man. And he’d be perfect for you.’

Alice froze. ‘I refuse to have this conversation with you again, Rita. And while we’re at it, you can tell that receptionist of ours that I’m not having it with her either.’

Rita sniffed. ‘Mary worries about you, as I do, and—’

‘I’m not interested in men and both of you know that.’

‘Well, you should be.’ Rita folded her arms and her mouth clamped into a thin line. ‘You’re thirty years of age and—’

‘Rita!’ Alice interrupted her sharply. ‘This is not a good time.’

‘It’s never a good time with you. You never talk about it.’

‘Because there’s nothing to talk about!’ Alice took a deep breath. ‘I appreciate your concern, really, but—’

‘But you’re married to your work and that’s the way you’re staying.’ The older woman rose to her feet and Alice sighed.

‘I’m happy, Rita.’ Her voice softened slightly as she saw the worry in the older woman’s face. ‘Really I am. I like my life the way it is.’

‘Empty, you mean.’

‘Empty?’ Alice laughed and stroked blonde hair away from her face. ‘Rita, I’m so busy I don’t have time to turn round. My life certainly isn’t empty.’

Rita pursed her lips. ‘You’re talking about work and work isn’t enough for anybody. A woman needs a social life. A man. Sex.’

Alice glanced pointedly at her watch. ‘Was there anything else you wanted to talk about? I’ve got a surgery full of patients, Rita.’

And she was exhausted, hungry and thirsty and fed up with talking about subjects that didn’t interest her.

‘All right. I can take a hint. But the subject isn’t closed.’ Rita walked to the door. ‘Actually, I did come to ask you something. Although he doesn’t need your help, Gio wants two minutes to discuss the boy with you before he sends him out. Oh, and the police are here.’

Alice stood up and removed a bottle of water from the fridge in her consulting room. She couldn’t do anything about the hunger, but at least she could drink. ‘I don’t have time for them right now.’

‘If what Gio told me is correct, you’re going to make time.’ Suddenly Rita was all business. ‘They can’t go round behaving like that. And you need to lock the door behind you if you come in early in the morning. You might have been the only person in the building. You were careless. Up half the night with the little Bennett girl and not getting enough sleep as usual, no doubt.’

‘Rita—’

‘You’ll tell me I’m nagging but I worry about you, that’s all. I care about you.’

‘I know you do.’ Alice curled her hands into fists, uncomfortable with the conversation. Another person—a different person to her—would have swept across to Rita and given her a big hug, but Alice could no more do that than fly. Touching wasn’t part of her nature. ‘I know you care.’

‘Good.’ Rita gave a sniff. ‘Now, drink your water before you die of dehydration and then go and see Gio. And this time take a closer look. You might like what you see.’

Alice walked back to her desk and poured water into a glass. ‘All right, I’ll speak to Gio then I’ll see the police. Ask Mary to give them a coffee and put them in one of the empty rooms. Then see if she can placate the remaining patients. Tell them I’ll be with them as soon as possible.’ She paused to drink the water she’d poured and then set the glass on her desk. ‘Goodness knows if I’ll get through them all in time to do any house calls.’

‘Gio is going to help you see the patients once he’s discharged the boy. For goodness’ sake, don’t say no. It’s like the first day of the summer sales in the waiting room. If he helps then we might all stand a chance of getting some lunch.’

‘The letting agent is dropping the keys to his flat round here. He needs to get settled in. He needs to rest after the journey and shave the designer stubble—’

‘Any fool can see he’s a man with stamina and I don’t see his appearance hampering his ability to see patients,’ Rita observed, with impeccable logic. ‘We’re just ensuring that the surgery is going to be crammed for weeks to come.’

‘Why’s that?’

‘Because he’s too gorgeous for his own good and all the women in the practice are going to want to come and stare.’

Alice opened the door. ‘What exactly is it about men that turns normally sane women into idiots?’ she wondered out loud, and Rita grinned.

‘Whoever said I was sane?’

With an exasperated shake of her head, Alice walked along the corridor and pushed open the door of the room they used for minor surgery. ‘Dr Moretti, I’m so sorry, I’ve had a steady stream of patients and I lost track of the time.’

He turned to look at her and for a brief, unsettling moment Alice remembered Rita’s comment about him being a walking fantasy. He was handsome, she conceded, in an intelligent, devilish and slightly dangerous way. She could see that some women would find him attractive. Fortunately she wasn’t one of them.

‘No problem.’ His smile came easily. ‘I’ve just finished here. I don’t need anyone to hold my hand.’

‘Shame,’ Rita breathed, and Alice shot her a look designed to silence.

Gio ripped off his gloves and pushed the trolley away from him. ‘I think he’s safe to discharge. He wasn’t knocked out and his consciousness isn’t impaired. Fortunately he obviously drank less than his friends. I see no indication for an X-ray or a CT scan at the moment. He can be discharged with a head injury form.’ He turned to the boy, his expression serious. ‘I advise you to stay off the alcohol for a few days. If you start vomiting, feel drowsy, confused, have any visual disturbances or experience persistent headache within the next forty-eight hours, you should go to the A and E department at the hospital. Either way, you need those stitches out in four days. Don’t forget and don’t think it’s cool to leave them in.’

The boy gave a nod and slid off the couch, his face ashen. ‘Yeah. I hear you. Thanks, Doc. Are the guys outside?’

‘They’re having a cosy chat with the police,’ Rita told him sweetly, and the boy flushed and rubbed a hand over his face.

‘Man, I’m sorry about that.’ He shook his head and breathed out heavily. ‘They were a bit the worse for wear. We were at an all-night beach party.’ He glanced sideways at Alice, his expression sheepish. ‘You OK?’

She nodded. ‘I’m fine.’ She was busy looking at the wound. She couldn’t believe how neat the sutures were.

The boy left the room, escorted by Rita.

‘You did an amazing job, thank you so much.’ Alice closed the door behind them and turned to Gio. ‘I never would have thought that was possible. That cut looked such a mess. So many ragged edges. I wouldn’t have known where to start.’

But obviously he’d known exactly where to start. Despite appearances. If she hadn’t seen the results of his handiwork with her own eyes, she would still have struggled to believe that he was a doctor.

When David had described his friend, she’d imagined a smooth, slick Italian in a designer suit. Someone safe, conservative and conventional in appearance and attitude.

There was nothing safe or conservative about Gio.

He hovered on the wrong side of respectable. His faded T-shirt was stretched over shoulders that were both broad and muscular and a pair of equally faded jeans hugged his legs. His face was deeply tanned, his jaw dark with stubble and his eyes held a hard watchfulness that suggested no small degree of life experience.

She tried to imagine him dressed in a more conventional manner, and failed.

‘He’ll have a scar.’ Gio tipped the remains of his equipment into the nearest sharps bin. ‘But some of it will be hidden by his hair. I gather from Rita that you have a very long queue out there.’

Remembering the patients, exhaustion suddenly washed over her and she sucked in a breath, wondering for a moment how she was going to get through the rest of the day. ‘I need to talk to the police and then get back to work. I’m sorry I don’t have time to give you a proper tour. Hopefully I can do that tomorrow, before you officially start.’

‘Forget the tour.’ His eyes scanned her face. ‘You look done in. The girl who made your coffee told me that you were up in the night, dealing with an asthma attack. You must be ready for a rest yourself. Let’s split the rest of the patients.’

She gave a wan smile. ‘I can’t ask you to do that. You’ve been travelling all night.’ It occurred to her that he was the one who ought to look tired. Instead, his gaze was sharp, assessing.

‘You’re not asking, I’m offering. In fact, I’m insisting. If you drop dead from overwork before this afternoon, who will show me round?’

His smile had a relaxed, easy charm and she found herself responding. ‘Well, if you’re sure. I’ll ask Mary to send David’s patients through to you. If you need any help just buzz me. Lift the receiver and press 3.’

CHAPTER THREE

‘WHAT a day!’ Seven hours later, Gio rubbed a hand over his aching shoulder and eyed the waiting room warily. Morning surgery had extended into the afternoon well-woman clinic, which had extended into evening surgery. Even now the telephone rang incessantly, two little boys were playing noisily in the play corner and a harassed-looking woman was standing at the reception desk, wiggling a pram in an attempt to soothe a screaming baby. ‘I feel as though I have seen the entire population of Cornwall in one surgery. Is it always like this?’

‘No, sometimes it’s busy.’ Mary, the receptionist, replaced the phone once again and gave him a cheerful smile as she flicked through the box of repeat prescriptions for the waiting mother. ‘Don’t worry, you get used to it after a while. I could try locking the door but it would only postpone the inevitable. They’d all be back tomorrow. There we are, Mrs York.’ She handed over a prescription with a flourish and adjusted her glasses more comfortably on her nose. ‘How are those twins of yours doing, Harriet? Behaving themselves?’

The young woman glanced towards the boys, her face pale. ‘They’re fine.’ Her tone had an edge to it as she pushed the prescription into her handbag. ‘Thanks.’

The baby’s howls intensified and Mary stood up, clucking. She was a plump, motherly woman with curling hair a soft shade of blonde and a smiling face. Gio could see that she was dying to get her hands on the baby. ‘There, now. What a fuss. Libby York, what do you think you’re doing to our eardrums and your poor mother’s sanity?’ She walked round the reception desk, glanced at the baby’s mother for permission and then scooped the baby out of the pram and rested it on her shoulder, cooing and soothing. ‘Is she sleeping for you, dear?’ Despite the attention, the baby continued to bawl and howl and Harriet gritted her teeth.

‘Not much. She—’ The young woman broke off as the boys started to scrap over a toy. ‘Stop it, you two!’ Her tone was sharp. ‘Dan! Robert! Come here, now! Oh, for heaven’s sake…’ She closed her eyes and swallowed hard.

The baby continued to scream and Gio caught Mary’s eye and exchanged a look of mutual understanding. ‘Let me have a try.’ He took the baby from her, his touch firm and confident, his voice deep and soothing as he switched to Italian. The baby stopped yelling, hiccoughed a few times and then calmed and stared up at his face in fascination.

At least one woman still found him interesting in a dishevelled state, he thought with a flash of amusement as he recalled Alice’s reaction to his appearance.

Mary gave a sigh of relief and turned to Harriet. ‘There. That’s better. She wanted a man’s strength.’ She put a hand on the young mother’s arm. It was a comforting touch. ‘It’s hard when they’re this age. I remember when mine were small, there were days when I thought I’d strangle them all. It gets easier. Before you know it they’re grown.’

Harriet looked at her and blinked back tears. Then she covered her mouth with her hand and shook her head. ‘Sorry—oh, I’m being so stupid!’ Her hand dropped and she sniffed. ‘It’s just that I don’t know what to do with them half the time. Or what to do with me. I’m so tired I can’t think straight,’ she muttered, glancing towards the baby who was now calm in Gio’s arms. ‘This one’s keeping the whole family awake. It makes us all cranky and those two are so naughty I could—’ She broke off and caught her lip between her teeth. ‘Anyway, as you say, it’s all part of them being small. There’s going to come a time when I’ll wish they were little again.’

With a forced smile and a nod of thanks, she leaned across and took the baby from Gio.

‘How old is the baby?’ There was something about the woman that was worrying him. He didn’t know her, of course, which didn’t help, but still…

‘She’ll be seven weeks tomorrow.’ Harriet jiggled the baby in her arms in an attempt to keep her calm.

‘It can be very hard. My sister had her third child two months ago,’ Gio said, keeping his tone casual, ‘and she’s certainly struggling. If the baby keeps crying, bring her to see me. Maybe there’s something we can do to help.’

‘Dr Moretti has taken over from Dr Watts,’ Mary explained, and Harriet nodded.

‘OK. Thanks. I’d better be getting back home. She needs feeding.’

‘I can make you comfortable in a room here,’ Mary offered, but the woman shook her head and walked towards the door, juggling pram and baby.

‘I’d better get home. I’ve got beds to change and washing to put out.’ She called to the boys, who ignored her. ‘Come on!’ They still ignored her and she gave a growl of exasperation and strapped the baby back in the pram. Libby immediately started crying again. ‘Yes, I know, I know! I’m getting you home right now!’ She glared at the twins. ‘If you don’t come now I’m leaving you both here.’ Her voice rose slightly and she reached out and grabbed the nearest boy by the arm. ‘Do as you’re told.’

They left the surgery, boys arguing, baby crying. Mary stared after them, her fingers drumming a steady rhythm on the desk. ‘I don’t like the look of that.’

‘No.’ Gio was in full agreement. There had been something about the young mother that had tugged at him. ‘She looked stretched out. At her limit.’

Mary looked at him. ‘You think there’s something wrong with the baby?’

‘No. I think there’s something wrong with the mother, but I didn’t want to get into a conversation that personal with a woman I don’t know in the reception area. A conversation like that requires sensitivity. One wrong word and she would have run.’

‘Finally. A man who thinks before he speaks…’ Mary gave a sigh of approval and glanced up as Alice walked out of her consulting room, juggling two empty coffee-cups and an armful of notes.

She looked even paler than she had that morning, Gio noted, but perhaps that was hardly surprising. She’d been working flat out all day with no break.

‘Did I hear a baby screaming?’ She deposited the notes on the desk.

‘Libby York.’ Mary turned her head and stared through the glass door into the street where Harriet was still struggling with the boys. As they disappeared round the corner, she turned back with a sigh. ‘You were great, Dr Moretti. Any time you want to soothe my nerves with a short spurt of Italian, don’t let me stop you.’

Gio gave an apologetic shrug. ‘My English doesn’t run to baby talk.’

Alice frowned, her mind focused on the job. ‘Why was Harriet in here?’

‘Picking up a repeat prescription for her husband.’ Mary’s mouth tightened and her eyes suddenly clouded with worry. ‘I knew that girl when she was in primary school. The smile never left her face. Look at her now and her face is grim. As if she’s holding it together by a thread. As if every moment is an effort. If you ask me, she’s close to the edge.’

‘She has three children under the age of six. Twin boys of five. It’s the summer holidays so she has them at home all day.’ Alice frowned slightly. Considered. ‘That’s hard work by anyone’s standards. Her husband is a fisherman so he works pretty long hours. Her mother died a month before the baby was born and there’s no other family on the scene that I’m aware of. On top of that her delivery was difficult and she had a significant post-partum haemorrhage. She had her postnatal check at the hospital with the consultant.’

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