Mummy, Nurse...Duchess?

‘I think you’d probably have a queue of staff there, if you asked,’ Leo said. ‘From what I hear, Penny’s a firm favourite. And her kitten pictures are pinned up in the staff room—they’re adorable.’

‘Aren’t they just?’ But behind her smile Julia’s eyes were sad. ‘I’m sorry, I’m probably keeping you from a patient.’

‘It’s fine,’ Leo reassured her. ‘But if there’s anything you need?’

‘Rosie’s there,’ Julia said. ‘But thank you.’

‘I’ll let you get on.’ He smiled at her, and headed back to his office to prepare for his next clinic. But all the same he couldn’t get Rosie out of his head.

* * *

Thomas propped himself against the desk where Rosie was sitting. ‘Obviously I’ve read the file, but you’ve seen Penny more than anyone else this week. How do you feel she’s doing?’

Rosie grimaced. ‘There doesn’t seem to be any change in her condition this week, even though we’ve been juggling her meds as you asked us to do.’

‘So it’s not working. I’m beginning to think that the only way forward for her now is a transplant.’ He sighed. ‘Julia’s in today, isn’t she? I’ll ask her to get Peter to come in as well, so I can talk to them together.’

It wasn’t going to be an easy conversation, Rosie knew. ‘Do you want me to be there when you talk to them?’

He shook his head. ‘Thanks for the offer. I know you’ve been brilliant with them, but this is my responsibility. It’s going to come as a shock to them.’

‘You know where I am if you change your mind,’ she said gently.

‘Thanks, Rosie. I appreciate it.’

Thomas looked almost bruised by this, Rosie thought, but he clearly wasn’t going to let anyone close enough to support him. She remembered how it had felt when things with Michael had gone so badly wrong, so she wasn’t going to push him to confide in her. But it was always good to know that someone could be there for you if you needed that little bit of support. ‘Thomas, I’m probably speaking out of turn, but are you OK?’

‘Sure.’ He gave her an over-bright smile which clearly underlined the fact that he wasn’t OK, but he wanted her to back off.

‘Uh-huh,’ she said. She didn’t quite have the nerve to suggest that maybe he could talk to her if he needed a friend. ‘I guess I’ll see you later, then.’

He nodded, and left the nurses’ station.

Rosie hated this situation. Whatever way you looked at it, someone would lose. She really hoped that Penny would get the heart she needed; though that would also mean that a family would be bereaved, so it kind of felt wrong to wish for a heart. The best of all outcomes would’ve been if Penny had responded to the drug treatment, but it wasn’t to be.

And poor Julia. Rosie could imagine how she’d feel if she was in Julia’s place, worried sick about Freddie or Lexi and knowing that they might not be able to get the treatment they needed so badly. Despite the misery of her life with Michael, he had given her the sheer joy of the twins. She had a lot to be thankful for.

But now wasn’t the time to dwell on that. She had a clinic to do.

* * *

Leo happened to be checking some files at the nurses’ station when Rosie walked over. He could see that she looked upset, and the words were out of his mouth before he could stop them. ‘Do you want to go for a drink after work and tell me about it?’

She shook her head.

‘Don’t tell me—a previous engagement?’ he asked wryly.

‘I’m afraid so.’

‘A chat in the ward kitchen, then.’

‘Thanks, but I have obs to do.’

‘Thirty minutes,’ he said, ‘and you can take a five-minute break—and I’m not pulling rank, before you start thinking that. You look upset and I’m trying to be supportive, just as I would with any other colleague who looked upset.’

She looked surprised, and then rueful. ‘All right. Thirty minutes,’ she said. ‘Thank you.’

While she was doing her patients’ observations, he finished his paperwork and then nipped out briefly to Tony’s Trattoria, the place across the street that he’d been told sold decent coffee, to buy two cappuccinos.

He’d half expected Rosie to make some excuse not to see him, but she arrived in the staff kitchen at the same time as he did.

‘Thank you.’ She smiled as he handed her one of the distinctive paper cups. ‘Someone told you about Tony’s, then?’

‘Decent Italian coffee? Of course—and it’s much better than the coffee in the hospital.’

‘We have instant cappuccino here in the ward kitchen,’ she reminded him, gesturing to the box of powdered sachets.

‘That stuff isn’t coffee, it’s an abomination.’ He smiled back at her. ‘So are you going to tell me what’s wrong?’

Her beautiful blue eyes filled with sadness. ‘I was talking to Thomas earlier. It’s Penny.’

He frowned. ‘What about Penny?’

‘We’ve been juggling her meds all week and it’s just not working.’ She shook her head in seeming frustration. ‘Thomas says we’re probably going to have to look at a transplant, so he’s going to do an assessment. But even if she’s on the list there’s no guarantee she’ll get a heart. It could be anything from days, to months, or even more than a year before a suitable heart is available, and it feels horrible to wish for a heart for her because it means that another family’s lost someone they love.’

‘But at least they have the comfort that their loved one has saved a life by donating their organs after death,’ he said softly. ‘And you’re thinking a heart might not arrive in time?’

‘You know that one in five cases don’t. Those are really big odds, Leo. And she’s such a lovely little girl.’

‘Hey.’ He gave her a hug. Then he wished he hadn’t, because holding her made him want to do more than that. Right at that moment, he wanted to kiss her tears away—and then kiss her again and again, until he’d made her forget her worries.

When he pulled back slightly and looked her in the eye, her pupils were so huge that her vivid blue irises seemed more like a narrow rim. So she felt it, too. He looked at her mouth, and ached to find out for himself how soft and sweet it tasted. He shifted his gaze and caught her looking at his mouth, too. Could they? Should they?

He was about to give in to the impulse and dip his head to hers when she pulled away. ‘Sorry. It’s not appropriate to lean on you like that.’

Leo knew she was right. Except he was the one who’d behaved inappropriately. ‘The fault’s all mine,’ he said. ‘I guess it’s being Italian that makes me—well...’

‘Hug people?’ she finished.

‘Something like that.’ But he wasn’t ready to let things go. ‘Are you sure I can’t take you to dinner tonight?’

‘I’m sure. Thank you for the offer, but no.’

And yet there was a hint of wistfulness in her face. He was sure he wasn’t just being a delusional, self-absorbed male; but why did she keep turning him down whenever he asked her out? If she’d said that she was married, or in a relationship, fair enough. He’d back off straight away. But she hadn’t said that, which made him think that it was some other reason why she kept saying no. But he could hardly ask anyone else on the ward without the risk of becoming the centre of hospital gossip, and he loathed gossip.

Maybe he’d just keep trying and eventually he’d manage to wear her down. Because he really liked what he’d seen so far of Rosie Hobbes, and he wanted to get to know her better. And he wanted to work out why she attracted him so strongly, what made her different from the usual women he dated.

* * *

‘Thanks for the coffee and sympathy,’ Rosie said. ‘I’d better get on.’

‘See you later,’ he said.

The problem was, Rosie thought, Leo Marchetti was actually nice. She’d been on ward rounds with him a couple of times now and she’d seen that he was lovely with both the kids and their parents. A couple of the mums had tried to flirt with him, but he’d stayed totally professional and focused on the children. And he’d been especially good with the more worried parents, explaining things in a way that stopped them panicking.

She was tempted to take him up on his offer of dinner out. Really tempted.

Except she wasn’t in the market for a relationship, and it wouldn’t be fair to date anyone until she was ready to trust her heart again. And nothing could really happen between her and Leo. He was a duke and moved in the kind of social circles that would never see her as his equal; and, after her experiences with Michael, she refused to put herself in a position where anyone would treat her as second class. It couldn’t work, so there was no point in thinking about it. Besides, she already had the perfect life: two gorgeous children, a brilliantly supportive family and a job she adored. Wanting more—wanting a partner to share that with—was just being greedy.

Plus, her judgement was rubbish when it came to men. She’d fallen hook, line and sinker for every lie that Michael had told her.

So she needed to keep thinking of Leo as just another colleague. Yes, he was attractive; and she was beginning to like him a lot. But that was as far as it could go.

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