The Italian Doctor Read online

  ‘Buona sera, signorina. Signora Di Marco, per favore.’

  The man who stood on the step was light years away from the pitiful soul she’d been expecting. He was so fantastically good-looking, in fact, that Maggie’s mind seized up. It wouldn’t go forward or back, but stayed right where it was, enjoying what it was seeing.

  Tall, dark and handsome was such a cliché yet it fitted him to a T, she decided, dizzily taking stock. However, it was when her eyes met the aloof blue ones that were studying her with far less enthusiasm that she realised he was waiting for her to say something.

  ‘Come in. I mean, um…’ She spoke fluent Italian normally but for the life of her Maggie couldn’t think of the words she needed at that moment.

  ‘Don’t worry. I speak English.’ The man gave her a smile that was on the chilly side of polite as he stepped into the hall. ‘The name’s Luke Fabrizzi, by the way.’

  ‘Maggie Carr,’ she responded automatically. She shut the door then took a deep breath and quickly marshalled her thoughts. She was twenty-five years of age and held down a responsible job so it shouldn’t be beyond her to manage a few polite words of greeting!

  ‘Which part of the States are you from?’ she asked as she led the way to the salon where her grandmother was waiting.

  ‘Boston. My parents moved there soon after they married and I was born there.’

  He leant past her to open the door and she jumped nervously when his arm brushed hers. He was wearing perfectly cut black trousers and a white silk shirt; the silk felt so cool against her bare skin that she shivered then found her eyes winging upwards as she tried to gauge whether he’d noticed.

  She looked away in embarrassment when she saw that he had. It made her feel decidedly unsettled to realise it and her voice became huskier than normal. ‘I see. Nonna told me that she has known your grandmother for some time and that they’re great friends. I got the impression that she considers you to be almost part of the family.’

  She cleared her throat and hurried on, not understanding why his eyes had seemed to narrow when she’d said that. All she’d been trying to do had been to make him feel welcome. ‘I take it that you’re in Italy to visit your grandmother?’

  ‘That’s right. Quite a coincidence, isn’t it?’ His tone was so silky that Maggie just managed not to shiver once again when she felt the vibrations from it dancing across her skin.

  ‘Coincidence?’ she repeated, trying to get a grip on herself.

  ‘That we should both be in Italy at the same time, visiting our grandmothers, of course.’ He gave the slightest shrug but his eyes were cold. ‘Although I’m not a great believer that things happen purely by chance, I’m afraid.’

  He opened the salon door, leaving her no opportunity to question what he’d meant. However, several times throughout the evening Maggie found her thoughts returning to that comment he’d made. She had her suspicions as to why Luke Fabrizzi had been invited that night, but surely he couldn’t have guessed that there might have been an ulterior motive to the invitation?

  Frankly, it was a relief when dinner was over and Nonna announced that she was going to bed because it meant that the evening could be brought to a close. However, the old lady insisted that Luke should stay for coffee so Maggie had no choice but to play hostess even though she was becoming increasingly uncomfortable with the role. There was just something about Luke Fabrizzi that put her on edge.

  ‘Right, now that the formalities have been observed, perhaps it would be best if we got down to the real reason why I was invited here tonight.’

  Luke didn’t even glance at the cup of coffee she’d placed in front of him. His gaze was so sharp as he speared Maggie with it that she had difficulty not squirming. It was only a deep reluctance to let him know that he had the ability to affect her that kept her still.

  She put down her own cup and clasped her hands together to keep them steady. ‘And that is?’

  ‘Well, I’m glad you aren’t going to pretend that you don’t know what I’m talking about.’ Luke’s tone was as glacial as the smile he treated her to and Maggie felt a chill invade her. She had a horrible feeling about what he was going to say but she’d be damned if she’d let him see how uneasy she felt!

  ‘Why pretend? It only wastes time and I’m sure neither of us wants to do that.’ She shrugged, feeling rather pleased with how that had sounded. ‘If you have something to say, please, get on with it.’

  ‘Fine, I’ll do just that. To put it bluntly, Maggie, I’m not interested. Oh, you’re a very beautiful woman and I’m sure you ring a lot of bells for a lot of men, but I’m not one of them.’

  He regarded her thoughtfully. ‘Of course, I blame myself for not realising what was going on when I accepted this invitation. I must have been more tired than I thought I was. But I want you to know that whatever plans you and your family have hatched with my grandmother aren’t going to amount to anything.

  ‘I’m not looking for a wife—full stop. I’m not interested in home, family and all the other things everyone thinks I’m lacking in my life. I’m perfectly happy the way I am. To put it bluntly, I’m not the marrying kind. So if you have set your sights on me then I suggest that you think again because I’m not interested.’

  Maggie didn’t know which bit of the statement to reply to first. Should she first of all deny that she’d been party to her grandmother’s machinations or leave that until she’d told him exactly where he could get off? The sheer arrogance of him took her breath away, but not for long, mercifully enough.

  ‘This may come as a shock, Dr Fabrizzi, but I had no idea what Nonna had planned. If I had done then, believe me, I wouldn’t be here now!’

  Luke shrugged as he got up. ‘Whatever you say. I don’t intend to argue the point. So long as we both know where we stand, that’s fine by me.’

  He walked to the door but Maggie got there ahead of him. Her dark eyes blazed as she glared into his face. ‘Well, it isn’t fine with me! I’ve met some arrogant people in my time but you’re in a league of your own. Do you honestly believe that every woman you meet is so smitten with your charms that she’s longing to snare you into marriage?’

  She laughed scornfully and was pleased to see a flicker of annoyance cross his face. Good! It was about time that someone took Dr I-love-me Fabrizzi down several large pegs.

  ‘Sorry, handsome, but you leave me cold. I like my men to have a bit more going for them than mere good looks. Personality is a definite plus factor, humility another wonderful attribute, and then, of course, there’s intelligence.’

  Her scornful gaze swept from the tips of his elegantly shod feet to the top of his well-groomed head before she smiled. ‘I’m afraid you score a big fat zero on all those important points.’

  His face hardened. Maggie felt her breath catch when she saw the fire that blazed in his eyes all of a sudden. She stood stock-still, afraid that if she moved she might precipitate a reprisal. How did she know that he was within a hairsbreadth of kissing her until she was forced to retract every word?

  Luke took a deep breath and even as she watched the fire faded from his eyes. He smiled at her, that coolly taunting smile she was starting to dislike intensely. ‘Then it seems we have both got what we wanted from this encounter after all, Maggie. You’ve checked me out and found me lacking and I have made my position clear.’

  Before she could object he bent and brushed her cheek with his lips. ‘Ciao, cara. It’s been a pleasure meeting you…’

  The telephone rang. Maggie snapped back to the present with a jolt. She quickly dealt with the query then hung up. Glancing at her watch, she realised with a start that only a few minutes had passed since Luke had left the office. It felt much longer than that…

  She left the office, determined not to waste any more time by daydreaming. Hurrying into the ward, she went straight to Alice Bradshaw’s bed. The curtains had been drawn around it and Luke was sitting by the bed, holding the old lady’s hand. He looked round when she ap
peared.

  ‘I’ve just been telling Mrs Bradshaw that there’s a bit more of a problem with her hip than we’d first thought,’ he explained quietly.

  Maggie smiled reassuringly at the old lady. ‘I told Dr Fabrizzi that you’d prefer to know exactly what was wrong, Alice.’

  ‘That’s right, dear. I can’t see much point beating about the bush.’ The old lady smiled at Luke. ‘Although I wouldn’t mind spinning it out just so you could sit there holding my hand a bit longer!’

  He laughed. ‘Now, that’s what I call a compliment. It’s taken me years to perfect my bedside manner so it’s good to know that it’s appreciated.’

  ‘Oh, it’s appreciated all right!’ She turned to Maggie and winked. ‘I think most of us ladies enjoy having a handsome man paying us attention, don’t we, dear?’

  Maggie’s smile was a trifle forced. She steadfastly avoided Luke’s eyes because she knew what she would see in them…

  Her heart performed that irritating little manoeuvre once again—seeming to curl up and roll over inside her chest. Why did the thought of his amusement at her being put on the spot make her feel all shivery inside? Surely she should have found his conviction that any woman would delight in his attentions more irritating than anything else? Yet for some strange reason it wasn’t irritation she felt right then.

  ‘I expect most women enjoy a bit of flattery once in a while,’ she said as calmly as she could. ‘However, I think we’re basically too level-headed to be swayed by it.’

  ‘Speak for yourself!’ Alice retorted. ‘This young man could turn my head if I was thirty years younger, and I don’t mind admitting it!’

  The old lady’s tone was so wry that Maggie had to laugh. ‘You’re shameless! Whatever will Dr Fabrizzi think?’

  ‘That if we could magic away those thirty years then I would be having to get to the back of the line. I can’t imagine that the guys around here are slow to spot a good-looking woman,’ Luke replied dryly.

  ‘Well, I had my share of admirers in my younger days, I have to admit.’ Alice’s lined face broke into a delighted smile so that Maggie had a glimpse of the lovely young woman she must have been in her prime.

  She felt her heart warm when she realised how much the compliment had meant to the old lady. Far too often doctors failed to think of the elderly as anything more than a set of medical conditions, but not Luke. He saw the old lady as a real person with real feelings, not just as an illness that needed treating. It surprised Maggie how pleased she felt to know that.

  ‘I bet you did.’ Luke’s smile was warm as he squeezed the old lady’s hand. ‘And I’m sure you’ll have more in the future once we get this hip sorted out.’

  Alice sighed. ‘Will you be able to fix it though, Doctor? The thing that scares me most is the thought of ending my days in a wheelchair. Oh, I know I can’t do half the things I used to do when I was younger, but I value my independence. I don’t want to end up being a burden to my family.’

  ‘I’m not going to lie to you, Mrs Bradshaw, and claim that this is going to be easy. And I’m not going to assure you that you’ll be back to normal in a couple of weeks either.’

  His tone was uncompromising yet Maggie saw the old lady smile. ‘Then what are you going to tell me?’

  ‘That with care, plus a lot of determination on your part, you will be back on your feet. It isn’t going to happen overnight nor will your hip ever be as good as it was when you were younger. As I explained, you’re suffering from osteoporosis, which means your bones are far more brittle than they used to be, so we are going to have to take that into account.

  ‘I’m going to replace the worn-out joint but you’re going to have to be very careful not to put too much pressure on it afterwards. It’s going to take a lot of hard work to regain your mobility, but I’m convinced that you’ll be able to get around unaided eventually,’ he stated firmly.

  ‘Then that’s good enough for me. Thank you.’ Alice’s eyes swam with tears of relief. ‘I know you’ll do your best and that’s all that matters. I was so afraid that nobody would bother, you see. You read all those dreadful stories in the newspapers and I thought that as I’m in my seventies everyone would think it was a waste of time and money to bother with me.’

  ‘No way!’ Luke’s tone was grim. Maggie was surprised by the vehemence it held. ‘Giving people the chance to lead a happy and pain-free life at whatever age isn’t something that can be counted in terms of dollars…or pounds.’ He gave the old lady’s hand a final squeeze. ‘I’ll see you in surgery in about an hour, Mrs Bradshaw. And that’s a date!’

  He left the cubicle and Alice sighed softly. ‘I think I’ve been very lucky, don’t you, my dear? In fact, I’d say Dalverston is lucky to have a man like that working here. You don’t get many doctors like your Dr Fabrizzi.’

  Maggie smiled but the word seemed to be buzzing inside her head. ‘Your Dr Fabrizzi…’

  She took a deep breath when she realised that once again her mind was running off at tangents. Maybe there was an explanation for the way it had been behaving of late but she wasn’t going to waste any more time that day looking for one.

  ‘I’m sure you’re right,’ she said briskly as she straightened the old lady’s bed. ‘Now, try to have a little rest. One of the theatre staff will be up shortly to give you your pre-med.’

  She moved away from the bed as the old lady closed her eyes, and glanced around the ward, automatically checking that everything was in order. The surgical ward was one of the busiest in the hospital and there was always something that needed doing.

  Her eyes alighted on Luke, who had been waylaid by one of the male patients. The ward was a mixed one, although male and female patients were placed at opposite ends. Now Maggie watched with interest as he stopped to speak to David Garner, a young rugby player who’d been admitted the previous day with a shattered kneecap.

  David was due for surgery that afternoon and was very worried about the after-effects of his operation and whether he would be able to play rugby again. Maggie couldn’t help wondering if Luke would have the same rapport with this patient as he’d had with Mrs Bradshaw. In her experience, men who got on well with women rarely related well to other men so it was interesting to observe what was happening.

  A burst of laughter rang around the ward and she shook her head in amazement when she saw David Garner slap Luke’s hand in a high-five. To her mind, the two men shouldn’t have had a thing in common yet they looked as though they were the best of friends!

  ‘He certainly has a way with him, doesn’t he?’ Doreen paused on her way to fetch one of the patients a fresh jug of water. She gave Maggie a teasing look. ‘There’s a lot more to our Dr Fabrizzi than just a handsome face, isn’t there? Admit it, Maggie, he’s one heck of a doctor.’

  ‘I never said that he wasn’t!’ Maggie heard the snap in her voice and quickly moderated her tone. ‘It’s obvious that he’s highly skilled.’

  ‘But it’s going to take more than his expertise to win you over?’ Doreen shook her head. ‘I’ll give it a month and then I bet you’ll be as smitten as the rest of us, Maggie Carr. In fact, I’m so sure I’ll be proved right that I’m willing to put my hard-earned money on it. A fiver says that you’ll be a paid-up member of the Fabrizzi fan club by this time next month.’

  ‘You’re on!’ She shook Doreen’s hand to seal their bet. ‘A fiver will come in very handy, thank you. It will be easy money, too.’

  The older nurse just laughed. ‘Oh, I don’t think so. It seems to me that our Luke has already got under your skin, Maggie. You could be in for a big surprise!’

  Doreen went on her way, still smiling. Maggie rolled her eyes. Under her skin indeed? What rubbish!

  Another burst of laughter had her gaze winging back down the ward and a shiver danced along her nerves. How could she explain the strange way she reacted around Luke? She could deny it until she was blue in the face but there was no doubt that she was unusually aware of him. Far too
often in the past weeks she’d found her thoughts straying to him. Was it because they’d got off to such a bad start that she felt she had to be on her guard around him?

  She sighed as she realised that she had no idea what the real answer was. She quickly headed for the office and a mound of paperwork that needed her attention. Maybe Doreen hadn’t been so far off track after all because it was obvious that Luke Fabrizzi was fast becoming a veritable thorn in her flesh!

  CHAPTER TWO

  THE morning passed in fits and starts. There was the usual rush to get patients ready for Theatre, followed by a lull while they waited for them to be returned to the ward. Maggie completed her paperwork then decided that as there were three new admissions scheduled for that afternoon she would take an early lunch.

  It was a trek to the bowels of the hospital where the makeshift canteen had been set up, and once there the surroundings left a lot to be desired. Maggie stared glumly at the sage-green-painted walls and murky brown ceiling. ‘Not very cheering, is it? Roll on when they get the renovations finished.’

  ‘Amen to that!’ Rachel Hart, a sister on Children’s Medical, picked up a plate of limp-looking sandwiches and stared despondently at it. ‘If this is the best we have to look forward to for the next six months then heaven help us!’

  She plonked the sandwiches on her tray as Maggie laughed. ‘It should be good for our figures if nothing else. We certainly won’t be rushing back for second helpings.’

  She selected a plate of the uninspiring sandwiches for herself, added a cup of tea to her tray, then followed Rachel to a table in the corner once they’d paid for their meals. There were quite a lot of staff taking early lunches and the sound of their voices echoed in the cavernous room.

  ‘What a din!’ She winced as she drew out a chair from the table and its legs made a horrible screeching noise as they dragged across the concrete floor. ‘Oops, sorry.’