then?’ he asked.
She shook her head. ‘On Nick’s side—her husband. Oscar and Jacob have just turned five, and I think she’s hoping for a girl this time so she gets to do ballet as well as football. Do you mind if I just send her a quick reply?’
‘Of course not.’
She tapped in Great news, love you. X—and then her phone pinged to signal another message from Susie. Kelly didn’t bother reading beyond the first line because she knew exactly what her sister had in mind.
‘Answer that as well, if you need to,’ he said.
‘It can wait.’ Kelly grimaced. ‘I love my sister dearly, but I swear since she’s been pregnant...’
‘Older sister bossing you about?’ he guessed.
‘Trying to.’ She sighed. ‘Actually, you might as well hear it from me, than from someone else in the department who means well. My husband died two years ago, at the age of thirty. He was cycling to work when he had a cardiac arrest. The paramedics couldn’t save him, and the coroner’s report said he had HCM. It was a complete shock because he’d had no symptoms whatsoever.’
‘But, as a cardiologist, you think you must’ve missed something?’ Luc guessed.
Kelly swallowed hard. ‘I’ve been over and over it in my head, trying to see what I missed, and he really didn’t have any symptoms. His dad died young from a heart attack, but his dad had a high-stress job, plus he smoked and drank too much; everyone assumed his heart attack was because of all that and they didn’t bother doing a post-mortem. I guess because of what happened to his dad, Simon was more aware of heart health than the average person, even before he met me. He didn’t smoke, he drank in moderation, he ate sensibly, he cycled to work and exercised regularly. He did everything right.’
Yet still he’d died. And how she missed him. Why, why, why hadn’t she joined the dots together and made him go for that all-important check-up that would’ve spotted his unusual heart rhythm? Why hadn’t she made the connection about his father? Why hadn’t she thought there might be more to his father’s heart attack than his lifestyle?
‘My sister, my mum and my friends have all decided that I’ve been on my own for long enough and they’re forever trying to fix me up with a suitable potential partner,’ she continued. ‘That’s why Susie’s asking me to go over to dinner tonight. She says it’s so she can show me the scan pictures, but I know she’ll also have invited someone that she thinks is perfect for me.’
‘And you’re not ready?’
‘I’m not ready,’ she confirmed. ‘I know they all mean well, but it drives me crazy and I can’t seem to get them to back off. I loved Simon and I know he wouldn’t have wanted me to be alone, but...’ She sighed. ‘Sorry. I didn’t mean to dump all that on you. What I was really going to ask was if the rumours are true about you running a trial for HCM patients, and if so whether you were looking for people to join the trial?’
‘Because you have a patient who might be suitable?’
She wrinkled her nose. ‘Not my patient, but I do know two people. Simon’s younger brother Jake, and his daughter Summer—she’s four. After Simon’s PM, I nagged Jake to get tested just in case there was a faulty gene involved, and unfortunately I was right. Which also makes me think they inherited the condition from their dad—except obviously there aren’t any medical records to back that up.’
‘And Summer has inherited the gene too?’ Luc guessed.
‘Yes. With a family history that spans at least two generations—and I’m pretty sure if you went back there would be more—they’ll be good candidates. And you’ll get a spread of age and gender.’
* * *
Even though Kelly was clearly devastated by her husband’s loss, she was still thinking about his family and trying to help them, putting their needs before her own, Luc thought. He could certainly talk to their current medical practitioner and see if they would be suitable candidates for his trial.
But something else Kelly had said struck a chord with him. Maybe, just maybe, they could help each other out. He’d had a crazy scheme percolating in the back of his head for a while now, but he hadn’t found the right person to help him. Maybe Kelly was the one; she was in a similar kind of position, so she might just understand his problem.
He was normally a good judge of character and he liked what he’d seen of Kelly Phillips so far; her colleagues had spoken highly of her, too. So maybe it was time to take a risk—after he’d had the chance to check out her background and got to know her a little more, because he wasn’t reckless or stupid enough to ask her right at this very second. ‘If you can ask their family doctor to contact me, we’ll go through all the prelims and see if they fit the criteria,’ he said.
‘Thank you. I really appreciate that,’ she said.
‘It’s not a promise that it will definitely happen, but it’s a promise that I’ll do my best to help,’ he said.
‘That’s fair.’ She smiled at him. ‘So did you train at the Royal Hampstead Free?’
‘Yes, and I loved working with the team there. But then this opportunity came up, so I applied for the role,’ he said. ‘How about you?’
‘I trained here,’ she said, ‘and cardiology was my favourite rotation. I love the area, too, so I stayed. What made you become a cardiac surgeon?’ she asked, sounding curious. Then she grimaced. ‘Sorry. Ignore me; that was a bit rude and pushy. You really don’t have to answer.’
‘It goes with the territory. Given who my family is, most people expect me to be part of the family business rather than being a medic.’ He shrugged. ‘That’s what probably would have happened—but my best friend, Giacomo, died when we were fifteen.’ He winced slightly as he looked at her.
‘From a heart condition?’ she guessed.
He nodded. ‘I’m sorry if this opens any scars, but yes—the same one as your husband.’
‘HCM.’ Three little letters that had blown her world apart.
‘It wasn’t genetic, in Giacomo’s case. His family doctor thought the chest pains were just teenage anxiety because Giacomo was worrying about his exams.’
She blinked. ‘Chest pains in a teenager and the doctor didn’t send him for tests?’
‘No. Knowing what I do now, I wish he had. His condition would’ve shown up on the ECG, and then medication or an ICD might’ve saved him. But hindsight is a wonderful thing.’ He shrugged. ‘Giacomo was playing football at school with me at lunchtime when he collapsed and died. The teachers tried to give him CPR but they couldn’t get his heart started again.’
She reached across the table and squeezed his hand for a moment, conveying her sympathy. ‘I’m sorry. That must’ve been hard for you.’
‘It was. He was the brother I never had.’ And it had shocked him profoundly to come face to face with his own mortality at the age of fifteen. Giacomo had been the first person he’d ever known to die, and the fact it had happened in front of him had affected him deeply. Not wanting to feel that way again, he’d put up a slight
