Her Brooding Italian Surgeon

Annoyance fizzed in his veins. ‘That isn’t saying much then, is it?’

His father, Stefano, who’d been silent behind the most recent edition of Vintners’ Monthly, lowered the magazine. Wise molasses-coloured eyes stared back at Leo from behind rimless lenses. ‘Your mistake is you’ve forgotten Bandarra isn’t Melbourne and the choice of doctors here is seriously limited.’

Rosa sighed. ‘Your nonna’s getting old, figlio mio.’

No. He wanted to put his hands over his ears like he’d done as a little child when he didn’t want to hear. Right now he didn’t want to hear or think about Nonna and death. Nonna was such a special part of his life. She featured in every childhood memory—always there giving hugs while his parents had been busy establishing the vineyard, clipping him around the ear when he got too cheeky and always feeding him like he was a king.

Holding him so tightly after the accident.

Right then his exasperation with his family peaked. Enough! He’d let everyone have their say and now it was his turn. ‘I’m the qualified medical practitioner in this conversation and I’ve made a decision which I intend to follow through on.’ He pushed back his chair, the red-gum scraping loud against the polished boards.

‘You go and be the doctor but Nonna doesn’t just need that.’ Stefano rose to his feet and his quiet but determined voice stalled Leo’s departure. ‘Most of all she needs you to be a grandson and to give of your time. In fact, all of your family needs your time.’

Leo’s throat tightened and every part of him tensed, all primed and ready to flee. For years he’d flown in and flown out of Bandarra, only ever staying forty-eight hours, often less. ‘Papà, I can’t. Work is busy.’

‘Work is always busy.’His father downed the last of his coffee. ‘You managed to arrange things so you could be here for Nonna. I’m certain you can arrange to stay longer if you choose. You haven’t been home for a vintage since you were eighteen and we’ve never asked you to come, but you’re here now. This time you need to stay for Nonna, your mother and the rest of us.’ His hand settled on Rosa’s shoulder and he gave her a gentle squeeze.

Leo’s breath stuck in his chest as he tried to think of a way out, a way to avoid having to stay. Excuses rose to his lips but his father’s implacable stance and knowing expression silenced them. His father would see them for what they were—excuses. The ties of family tightened around him, pulling him back to a place he didn’t want to be.

Anna winked at him. ‘Come on, big brother, stay a while. It’ll be just like the old days, lots of fun.’

But fun was the last thing a holiday in Bandarra could ever be.

Bubbling frustration tinged with fury ate at Leo as he shifted in the car seat, unable to get comfortable. Bandarra Car Rentals didn’t run to a Ferrari Spider and he was stuck in a small car which wasn’t designed for men who were five foot six, let alone six foot one.

Although not even nine a.m., heat poured through the untinted windows, declaring that the day would be a scorcher. He pulled on his aviator sunglasses and slammed down the visor. His father hadn’t pulled rank like that in seventeen years. On top of that, he couldn’t get over his family’s attitude towards Nonna’s medical care. Didn’t they want the best for her?

Perhaps she already has the best with Abbie McFarlane.

No, he couldn’t believe that. The woman had disaster written all over her, from the rent in her khaki trousers to the burnt-red ochre smear on her freckle-dusted cheeks. Smooth, soft cheeks. He shook away the image and focused on his concerns. She looked about twenty-one, although he knew she had to be older than that, but still, she had the chaotic look of someone who could hardly look after herself, let alone patients. Nonna needed someone with solid experience—years and years of experience. Not someone with the bare basics of a couple of intern years, who still held a textbook in one hand and a prayer in the other.

It was well known that the further a person lived from a major capital city the more their health was compromised by their lack of access to state-of-the-art health care. That was a given in Bandarra, but at least it still had a small hospital which meant it attracted more doctors than other outback towns. He intended to talk to the senior practice partner—that was the doctor who should be looking after Nonna, not the trainee GP.

Vineyards and orchards flashed past as he headed into town, the rich red loamy river soil contrasting intensely with the grape-green foliage of the ‘close-to-harvest’ vines. The familiar clutch of unease tightened another notch and his chest hurt the way it always did when he found himself back under Bandarra’s endless outback sky. His fingers whitened as he gripped the steering wheel overly hard and he concentrated on forcing away the demons that threatened to suffocate him. Pulling hard left, he deliberately avoided the river road, taking a longer route, a route that he could navigate with his eyes closed despite the fact he’d lived in Melbourne a very long time. Avoiding the river was the only way he was going to survive three to four weeks in Bandarra.

Visitors to the district were always amazed at how the pioneers had harnessed the power of the great Murray River and turned what should have been an arid and harsh land into the luxuriant and premier fruit basket of Australia. But back then the river had run with a lot more water and the current irrigators now faced a new set of problems that the pioneers had probably never envisaged.

Ten minutes later, Leo walked into the hospital and caught sight of the broad back of a male standing at the nurses’ station. He was wearing a white coat. Leo smiled—now that was more like it.

‘Excuse me.’

The doctor raised his head from the chart and turned his shirt-and-tie-covered torso towards him. ‘May I help you?’

The English accent surprised Leo but this doctor had a gravitas that Abbie McFarlane lacked, despite the Star Trek tie. He extended his hand. ‘Leo Costa, surgeon. Are you the Senior Medical Officer?’

‘No, but I’d be happy to introduce you.’ He shot out his hand. ‘Justin Willoughby. It’s brilliant that you’re going to be working here.’

‘No!’ Hell would freeze over before he’d work in Bandarra.

Justin started with surprise at his emphatic tone and Leo sucked in a calming breath. In Melbourne he was known for high standards but with an easy-going approach. He wouldn’t let a short time in Bandarra steal that from him. ‘Sorry, what I meant to say is, I’m Maria Rossi’s grandson and I’m just up here for a few weeks until things are sorted out with my grandmother. Then it’s straight back to Melbourne.’

‘Ah.’ Justin nodded but his expression remained disappointed. ‘Pity. Bandarra could do with a visiting surgeon. The SMO’s caught up in ED. This way.’ He inclined his head and started walking down the corridor.

Leo fell into step with Justin and followed him through double perspex doors into a compact emergency department. Screens were drawn around cubicles and a pretty nurse walked towards them.

‘Where’s the boss, Lisa?’ Justin asked.

‘Not far away.’

‘Leo, you stay here and I’ll bring the boss to you. Back in a mo.’

Justin disappeared, leaving Leo with the nurse, who gave him a none too subtle look of curiosity which finished with smouldering interest. ‘Hello. New to Bandarra?’

‘I grew up here.’The words came out stark and brusque and he immediately forced himself to return her friendly look with a flash of his trademark smile. A smile he used many times a day without even thinking because it was never wise to burn bridges. His smile had gained him all sorts of things and had got him out of a few nasty situations. Except for yesterday.

Yesterday had been an aberration. His cool had slipped slightly with Abbie McFarlane and he’d chalked it up to his shock about Nonna and being back in a town he tried very hard to avoid. But everyone made mistakes and thankfully no real harm had been done.

‘Were you a blockie?’ Lisa used the local term to describe people who grew fruit on land with irrigation rights.

‘My grandfather was.’

‘Oh, are you related to the Italians out by Wadjera billabong?’

The name plunged into Leo like a knife to the heart and he stiffened. Thankfully, Justin’s return ended the conversation.

‘Leo, I’d like to introduce you to our SMO.’

Leo turned with a welcoming smile on his face. A pair of questioning moss-green eyes hit him with a clear and uncompromising gaze. Eyes that slanted seductively at the corners. A burst of unexpected heat fired low in his belly, disconcerting him for a second before reality crashed in, wiping out all other feeling. Our SMO. Damn it, how could she possibly be the senior doctor?

You’ve forgotten Bandarra isn’t Melbourne. His father’s voice rang loud in his head and the full ramifications of what he’d done last night hit him like a king punch. He’d let the Bandarra demons get to him and had made an ill-judged call.

He pulled himself together and, with aching cheeks, smiled. ‘Abbie.’

Her mouth flattened. ‘Leo.’

A startled expression crossed Justin’s face. ‘So you two have met before?’

‘We met last night.’ Abbie tugged at the edges of a clean starched white coat which covered a plain round-neck T-shirt and a straight no-frills navy skirt. The hiking boots had been replaced by flat utilitarian sandals of nondescript brown.

Not a trace of make-up touched her face but, despite that, her lips had a luminous sheen that pulled Leo’s gaze and held it fast. What the hell was wrong with him? But he didn’t have time to second-guess his reaction—the moment had come for damage control. He forced a self-deprecating quirk to his lips and gave a European shrug of his shoulders. ‘I didn’t realise Abbie was the SMO. A major error on my part.’

Justin laughed, giving his boss a cheeky grin. ‘Poor Abs, if you were a bloke you could grow a beard to look older.’ He winked at Leo. ‘She might forgive you in time.’

Going by the implacable set of her face and the tight pull of skin over her cheekbones, Leo wasn’t so sure. Still, that didn’t matter because he’d pull in a favour and ask the doctor from Naroopna to take over. ‘May we speak in private?’

She matched his shrug and rolled her hands palm up. ‘Is there anything left to say? You made your position quite clear last night.’ Turning on her heel, she headed towards the perspex doors and thumped them open.

Ignoring the intrigued looks of the other staff, he walked with her. ‘I do have something to say.’

‘You surprise me.’ Her sarcasm radiated from her like heat haze. She unexpectedly turned left into an empty ward and then spun back, crossing her arms hard against her chest, pushing her breasts upward. ‘Look, Leo, I don’t have time for this; I have patients waiting. Are you flying in a private doctor or transferring Maria to Mildura or Melbourne?’

He found it hard to resist sneaking a look at her surprising cleavage. ‘Neither one of those options is my choice.’ No matter how persuasive he knew he could be, there was no way he’d be able to convince Nonna to leave Bandarra. She’d lived here since arriving as a bride from Italy back in the fifties. Perhaps there’d been times in the past when she might have toyed with the idea of leaving but, since the accident, she’d refused even visits to Melbourne. She wouldn’t leave Dominico. Leo alone had been the one to run.

He rubbed his chin and hauled his thoughts back to the here and now. ‘You can hand over her care to David Martin.’

A deep V formed at the bridge of her nose. ‘So you’re transferring her to Adelaide?’

What? ‘No, she’s staying here.’ He tilted his head slightly and met her gaze. ‘Abbie.’ He paused for the briefest moment, the beat lending credence to his upcoming words. ‘Thank you for your care. This isn’t personal; it’s just that David’s experience is what Nonna needs.’

For the first time since he’d met her, a smile pulled her generous mouth upwards. It danced along her cheeks and into her eyes, making them sparkle like the rainforest after rain. And then she laughed. A laugh tinged with incredulity and yet grounded with a known truth, as if she’d heard a similar story before. As if she saw straight through him.

A flicker of unease stirred his normally unshakeable confidence.

‘It’s been a while since you last visited Bandarra, hasn’t it?’

And, just like that, he felt the power shift. ‘What makes you say that?’

‘David Martin moved to Adelaide ten months ago and the practice at Naroopna is vacant. As is the one at Budjerree. Right now, Bandarra is the only township within two hundred kilometres with medical staff. Come Wednesday, when Justin leaves, it’s just me and the nursing staff.’

His breakfast turned to stone in his gut. All he’d wanted was the best for Nonna. Instead, he’d let fatigue and fear of the past interfere with his usual clear-thinking and now he’d backed himself into a corner.

The urgent bleep of her pager suddenly blared between them and she checked the liquid display. Without a word, she sprinted past him and out of the room, leaving behind only a lingering and delectable scent of strawberries and liquorice.

He hated that he instinctively took in a deeper breath.

Abbie raced into a chaotic ED, shedding all of her disconcerting and unsuitable thoughts about the infuriating and ridiculously gorgeous Leo Costa. There should be a law against men being that handsome, and a statute that stopped her even noticing. The piercing siren of an ambulance screamed in the distance, instantly focusing her with its howling volume that increased with every moment. An intense sound that never brought good news.

People were everywhere. Two teenagers sat pale and silent holding each other’s hands, an elderly man supported a woman to a chair and a young woman clutching a baby called out, ‘Help me,’ and still people poured through the doors, many bloodied and hurt.

Lisa and Jason were murmuring platitudes mixed in with firm instructions as they tried to examine a hysterical woman with blood streaming down her face. Her shrieks of anguish bounced off the walls, telling a story of terror and pain.

The area looked like a war zone. ‘What’s happened and why haven’t emergency services notified us?’

Justin grimaced. ‘Apparently a bus hit a truck. Those who could, walked here.’

Triage. Years of training swung into action. ‘Lisa, you’re on walking wounded. Get a nurse from the floor to help you stat, and get someone to ring all the nursing staff and tell them to come in. I want a list of all names and all injuries. Prioritise, treat and be aware of anyone who blacked out. Any concerns, consult me or Jason.’

‘Will do.’ The experienced nurse headed to the chairs as Abbie grabbed the emergency radio.

‘Bandarra Base Hospital to Bandarra Police, over.’

Daniel Ruston’s voice crackled down the line. ‘Abbie, a bus and a truck collided. The paramedics are on their way with the first of the seriously injured passengers. It’s not pretty.’

‘How many are there?’

‘Two at least, probably more.’

‘Thanks, over and out.’ She headed straight into the resuss room, which was technically always set up ready for any emergency but she always liked to double-check. She glanced at the brand-new Virtual Trauma and Critical Care Service – a video conferencing screen on wheels. With its camera that used superfast broadband technology to transfer images from the country to the city, GPs in small towns could teleconference with specialists if need be. It was an extra medical lifeline in the tyranny of distance. Everything was ready. She didn’t have to wait long.

The paramedics barrelled through the doors, their stretchers bringing in two patients, both wearing oxygen masks. Paul, the senior paramedic, his face grim, started talking. ‘First patient is Jenny, a thirty-year-old woman, conscious with pneumothorax and suspected abdominal internal injuries. Chest tube and IV inserted in the field but BP continuing to drop. Second patient is Emma, a seventeen-year-old female with suspected spinal injuries, currently on spinal board and immobilised with a collar. Complaining of not feeling legs. IV inserted in the field and observations stable.’

Abbie bit her lip. ‘What else is coming?’

Paul looked sombre. ‘There’s a forty-five-year-old male with a fractured pelvis and multiple lacerations, and a sixty-year-old woman whose leg has gone into the wall of the bus. Jaws of life are on hand.’

Adrenaline poured through her, making her shake. She had at least four seriously ill patients, a minimum of thirty walking wounded and only four staff until the other nurses arrived. The ratio of staff to patients totally sucked.

‘It hurts.’ Jenny’s muffled sob came from behind the oxygen mask.

Abbie put her hand reassuringly on the woman’s shoulder as the trolley was wheeled into the resuss room. ‘I’m Abbie McFarlane and I’ll give you something for pain as soon as I’ve examined you.’

Justin appeared. ‘Lisa’s got it under control out there and I’ve given the hysterical woman a sedative and will stitch her forehead later. If you’re right here, I’ll examine the other stretcher patient.’

‘Great. Thanks.’ Abbie wrapped the automatic blood pressure cuff around Jenny’s arm and attached the electrodes to the ECG dots that the paramedics had applied. The reassuring beat of a regular heart rate traced across the screen.

The blood pressure machine beeped. Eighty on fifty.

Not good. ‘I just have to feel your tummy, Jenny.’

‘Will it hurt?’ Fear lit the woman’s eyes.

‘It might.’ Abbie gently palpated the woman’s abdomen and her fingers met a rigid and guarded upper left quadrant.

Jenny flinched. ‘Do you have to do that?’

‘I’m sorry.’ She’s bleeding somewhere.

‘What do you need? Catheter, plasma expander, abdominal ultrasound?’ Erin walked into the room, lack-of-sleep-induced black smudges under her eyes but as competent as ever.

‘All of the above, Erin.’ And more.

Despite what Leo Costa thought of her, Abbie knew her medicine, knew her strengths and was well aware of her short comings. She was a bloody good GP but she wasn’t a surgeon.

A patient with internal bleeding needed a surgeon.

She glanced hopefully at the Virtual Trauma and Critical Care Service but knew in her heart that this time a ‘virtual’ surgeon wasn’t going to meet her needs. She needed a real live hands-on surgeon and she had one down the hall.

One who thought she was incompetent. One she wanted to avoid at all costs, not work with side by side. But her breath shuddered out of her lungs, the sound telling. No matter how much she wanted to avoid the charismatic and opinionated Leo Costa, patients’ needs and lives came first.

The BP machine screamed incessantly, telling its undeniable message in no uncertain terms. Jenny was bleeding into her abdominal cavity. It was just a matter of time before she had more blood there than in her arteries.

She grabbed the plasma expander and plunged the sharp tip of the IV into it, piercing the seal, and then hung the bag onto the hook, opening the flow to full bore. Her choice was no choice at all. Jenny needed surgery and Abbie had to ask for help.

‘Erin, find Leo Costa and get him in here. Now!’

Chapter Three

ABBIE had just finished catheterising Jenny when Leo strode into the room, instantly filling it with vibrating energy and command.

‘You want me?’

His onyx eyes held hers with a hypnotic gaze and a sharp pang akin to hunger shook her so hard her fingers almost dropped the forceps. It had been years since she’d experienced anything like it. She cleared her throat, finding her in-charge voice. ‘Jenny sustained a blunt trauma to the abdomen, is haemodynamically unstable and transfer to Melbourne at this point is risky. She needs a surgeon.’ She pulled the ultrasound machine in close and turned it on, handing the transducer to him as Erin returned with a set of charts.

Leo put his hand gently on the terrified patient’s arm and, using the velvet tone she’d heard him use with everyone except herself, he reassured their patient.

‘Jenny, I’m Leo Costa and I’m a surgeon. Dr McFarlane’s pretty concerned about you so I’m just going to see what’s going on using the ultrasound.’

‘OK.’ Jenny gazed up at Leo as if he’d mesmerised her and all the resistance she’d used with Abbie melted away.

Abbie’s jaw clenched as memories of her father and Greg swamped her but she reminded herself it didn’t matter a jot if Leo Costa charmed every woman he ever met as long as he saved Jenny in a professional manner.

‘It will feel cold.’ He squirted the gel onto her abdomen and gently moved it across her distended belly. Black and white flickered on the screen until the image came into focus. He let out a low grunt. ‘Good catch.’

Abbie followed the trace of his finger against the screen, making out the black mass that was darker than intact liver and splenic tissue. It was everywhere – between the left kidney and the spleen, behind the spleen and ultimately pooling in the pelvis, the blood having travelled via the paracolic gutter. Her diagnosis was correct, not that it made her feel at all happy because Jenny wasn’t out of the woods yet.

Leo wiped the transducer and stowed it in its holder on the machine and returned his undivided attention to the patient. ‘Jenny, I’m fairly certain the impact of the accident has ruptured your spleen and I’m going to have to operate.’

The already pale woman blanched even more, a tremble of fear on her lips. ‘You’re good at this, aren’t you?’

Leo grinned, his smile streaking across his clean-shaven cheeks. ‘Jenny, I’m more than good; I’m one of the best.’ Then, as impossible as it was to imagine, his voice suddenly dropped even deeper, its timbre completely sincere. ‘Most importantly for you, I’ve done this operation many times in Melbourne. Erin’s going to get you ready for Theatre and I’ll see you there very soon.’

Abbie knew at that moment if she’d been the patient she would have followed him to the ends of the earth. Thank goodness she wasn’t. She was a wise and experienced woman and she didn’t follow any man anywhere. Not any more.

Leo tilted his head towards the door, code for, We need to talk, and then strode towards it. Abbie followed him out into the corridor.

Without preliminaries, he cut to the chase. ‘Can you anaesthetise?’

She nodded. ‘I can and Erin can assist but that’s all the staff I can spare because Justin and the nursing staff are needed down here.’

‘Abbie—’ Justin hurried towards them ‘—I’m evacuating the spinal injury to Melbourne by air ambulance.’

‘What about the elderly woman?’

‘She hasn’t arrived yet; they’re still trying to get her out but Paul’s worried about a crush injury and possible risk of amputation.’

Abbie groaned. ‘Man, I wish I could clone us. We’ve still got the fractured pelvis to assess. Get the paramedics to help you when they bring in the next two patients and—’

‘Abbie.’ Her name came out on a low growl as Leo slid his arm under her elbow in an attempt to propel her forward. ‘We need to get to Theatre now.’

His urgency roared through her, along with a tremor of something else she refused to name. ‘Justin if you—’

‘He’ll ring us in Theatre if he needs to consult. Come on.’ Leo marched her back into the resuss room. ‘Erin, cara, let’s move.’ He started to push the trolley through the door.

Then he swung back to Abbie, his well-shaped lips twitching with an unexpected smile tinged with cheeky humour as if he’d just realised something funny. ‘Er…Abbie, exactly where is the operating theatre?’

Her already adrenaline-induced limbs liquefied. She could resist his getting my own way smile, knowing it was manufactured, but this smile was vastly different—it was one hundred per cent genuine and completely devastating. Somehow she forced her boneless legs to start moving. ‘This way; follow me.’