St Piran’s: Italian Surgeon, Forbidden Bride. Margaret McDonagh

But you can trust Mr Corezzi. He might be new to St Piran’s but he’s a very skilled and highly respected consultant neurosurgeon and he’s come to us from London with a tremendous reputation,’ Jessica explained to the anxious woman, her glowing endorsement of him taking Gio by surprise.

      ‘Cody looks so still and small. Are you sure everything is all right?’ the tearful mother asked, and although Gio wanted to reassure her, he was keen to hear what Jessica would say.

      ‘He’s doing very well,’ she replied, her tone conveying sympathy and authority. ‘It’s standard procedure for him to be in Intensive Care following the operation.’

      Gio was impressed. He was also intrigued by the depth of Jessica’s knowledge. She seemed too assured and informed for someone with no medical training.

      ‘Ally’s gone to get something to eat. The nurses want us to go home, but I can’t bear to be away from Cody,’ Elsa fretted.

      ‘There’s a cot in a room nearby for parents to use, and I’d advise you both to get what sleep you can there. But after tonight it would be best to get back into a normal routine. You and Ally need to keep strong so you are fit and ready to take Cody home,’ Jessica urged, her common-sense approach pleasing him. ‘I’ll see you again tomorrow, but you can ring me if you need anything.’

      There was a pause in the conversation and Gio waited a moment before making a sound and entering the bay. Elsa Rowland gave him a weary smile as he greeted her, but his attention immediately strayed to Jessica. She tensed, her gaze skittering to his and away again, a delicate flush of colour staining her cheeks.

      As he checked Cody, who was sleeping peacefully, and looked over his chart, Gio was attuned to Jessica. What was she doing back at the hospital? Had she misled him when she’d said she was leaving for the day? He hoped to find answers as soon as Cody’s father returned and, after a few pleasantries, Gio was able to escort Jessica out.

      ‘I was surprised to see you,’ he told her once they had left the unit and were in no danger of being overheard. ‘I thought you had left for the day.’

      Once more a tinge of colour warmed her smooth cheeks. ‘I had to rush home to meet the insurance company’s assessor. I said I’d be back,’ she added defensively, refusing to meet his gaze.

      She had said that but he’d assumed she had meant the next day. Apparently unsure what to do with her hands now that she was no longer carrying the assorted paraphernalia he’d seen her with before, she pushed them into her skirt pockets.

      ‘What about you? Why are you still here?’

      Her questions cut across the electrically charged atmosphere that hummed between them.

      ‘I was called in after a young woman was knocked down by a coach.’ He gave her a brief summary of the events and the unsuccessful struggle in the operating theatre. ‘Her injuries were too severe… there was nothing we could do.’

      Jessica’s expression softened, understanding and sympathy visible in her olive-green eyes, and in her voice when she spoke. ‘What a rotten end to your first day.’

      ‘It could have finished on a better note,’ Gio admitted with a rueful shrug, running the fingers of one hand through his hair.

      Leaning back against the wall, Jessica met his gaze, and he witnessed her first real smile for him. Dio, but she was beautiful! The heavy weight settled back on his chest, making it difficult to breathe, and he felt each rapid thud of his heart.

      ‘If it’s not too late and you still want to talk about your patient…’Jessica’s words trailed off and she bit her lip, looking hesitant and unsure.

      ‘That would be good, thank you.’ He’d take any opportunity to spend time with this elusive and most puzzling woman. ‘Shall we go to the canteen? I’ve not eaten and the now congealed ready meal waiting in my microwave holds no appeal.’

      Gio thought she was going to refuse and he found himself holding his breath as he waited for her answer. That it meant so much to him and he wanted so badly to be in her company should have worried him—would have worried him even one day ago. But in the short hours since he had met Jessica he felt changed somehow. Where this inexplicable but intense attraction was heading he had no idea, but he was keen to find out.

      ‘All right.’

      However reluctantly given, her agreement cheered him, and as he walked by her side down the deserted hospital corridor he felt as if he was setting out on one of the most important journeys of his life… with no map to help guide him and no clue as to the final destination.

      CHAPTER THREE

      ‘THAT wretched woman!’

      Jess looked up in surprise as Brianna Flannigan, a nursing sister from the neonatal intensive care and special care baby units, banged a plate down on the canteen table and sat down, joining Megan and herself.

      ‘What woman?’ Jess and Megan asked in unison, concerned that the gentle, dedicated and softly spoken Brianna was so upset.

      ‘Rita.’

      Rita was the ward clerk in NICU/SCBU and renowned for nosing into other people’s business, making her opinions, and often her disapproval, known. Few people took notice of her, but none wanted to fall under her spotlight. Both Brianna and Megan had suffered when Rita had picked on them in the past, and news she was hassling Brianna again brought out Jess’s protective instincts.

      ‘I’m sorry.’ She sent her friend a sympathetic smile. ‘What brought this on?’

      Brianna idly pushed her salad around the plate. ‘Now Diego and Izzy are no longer occupying Rita, she’s refocused on me,’ Brianna explained, frustration and displeasure in her lilting Irish voice.

      ‘Tell her to mind her own business… that’s what I do,’ Megan riposted, stirring a sugar into her mug of tea. ‘Not that it stops her. She’s started making comments about me again, too.’

      Jess knew Rita wasn’t easily diverted once she set her mind on something. She suppressed a shiver. The idea of anyone probing into her past and her secrets was too awful to contemplate.

      ‘She’s always been nosy and judgemental. I thought she’d given up on me, but now she’s asking where I came from and what I did before I joined St Piran’s,’ Brianna continued.

      Jess recognised the dark shadows in her friend’s brown eyes and couldn’t help but wonder what had put them there.

      ‘She’ll never change,’ Megan predicted. ‘If she’s not prying into someone’s business, she’s having a go about single mothers… or teenage ones. And don’t get her started on her daughter.’

      ‘What’s wrong with her daughter?’ Jess queried with a frown.

      Megan dunked a biscuit in her tea. ‘Nothing. That’s the point. Marina’s been happily married for twenty years and has several children—I’ve treated some of them for the usual childhood accidents and illnesses. They’re a great family. Noisy and loving. Maybe that’s what bugs Rita. She claims Marina married beneath her and shouldn’t have had such a big family,’ Megan finished, brushing crumbs from her lip.

      ‘It’s true she picks on Marina,’ Brianna agreed. ‘She finds fault with her grandchildren, too.’

      The talk made Jess even more grateful that she had managed to avoid Rita’s attention and speculation. Megan and Brianna were the closest she had to friends, yet they knew no more about her than she did about them, even after the years they had known each other. Which was probably why they got along so well. The mutual trust was there and they guarded each other’s privacy, sharing an unspoken agreement not to ask personal questions, yet they could turn to one another should they need to, knowing their confidence would be respected.

      ‘Rita’s also asking questions about Gio Corezzi,’ Brianna added, snapping Jess from her thoughts.