on it.
“So you always intended to settle down and have a family?” He slowed his pace to a halt so that he could take a proper look at the attractive woman beside him.
She smiled up at him, relieved that he’d called a halt. “I never actually made any firm decisions about anything in my early career. Things just sort of happened and I went along with the flow. I always wanted to be a doctor but…what kind?” She spread out her hands in front of him. “That changed as I went along, always becoming enthusiastic about the project I was on at the moment and…”
“That’s good! To be enthusiastic about your job, I mean.”
He couldn’t help admiring the way her clear blue eyes shone when she found a subject that interested her.
“Not unless you end up as a kind of jack of all trades, master of none.”
“I think you underestimate your career progress so far,” he said quietly as he decided he really should make the effort to move on.
“You’ve got a wealth of experience, which will come in useful in a hospital like ours. Here on the island we have a certain amount of autonomy. In emergencies we have to take decisions whether to operate on a dangerously ill patient or to have him or her transferred over to the bigger hospital in Rhodes. If time is against us or if, due to adverse weather conditions, the helicopter ambulance is grounded, we have to go ahead with the necessary surgery here.”
A couple of nurses had just passed by, giving them inquisitive glances. He didn’t want to give any cause for tongues to start wagging. “As far as I can see, you’ve steered a steady course since you qualified, gaining a great deal of valuable experience. And this was to achieve your aim to become a GP, you say?”
“I figured it would make sense if I were to find my life partner and settle down to have a large family.”
“Your life partner?” His brown eyes were searing into hers. She held her breath, mesmerised by being the centre of his attention. “Do you believe there is a designated person who is meant to be your life partner, your soul-mate?”
Oh, heavens! She wished she hadn’t started opening up to him like this.
“Possibly,” she said softly, her eyes searching his face. “At least, I did when I was much younger, before I became… disillusioned.”
“Oh, you must never become disillusioned about love,” he said in a husky, deeply sensual voice.
Looking down at Cathy now, he was trying hard to remind himself that he’d already experienced what it was like to have a soul-mate. His hand moved as if by someone else and gently touched her face, her skin so soft, her expression so vulnerable.
“You’ve just been unlucky,” he finished off quietly. “But don’t give up hope.” He put his hand under her elbow. “We’d better get on. I’m expected to in Theatre shortly.”
As they walked along together again, he was telling himself that he would like to see Cathy settled with a life partner. It would suit her. She was obviously a devoted and competent mother, running a career and parenthood at the same time with no help from a partner. He swallowed hard. How ironic it was that he’d lost his partner and his unborn child and here was a young woman with a child and no man to love her.
He was bound to Maroula even though she wasn’t there. And Cathy, with her unfortunate, if mysterious, experiences in the past making her wary of forming another liaison certainly wouldn’t want to take on a grieving widower.
They were reaching the surgical suite. He gave Cathy a whistle-stop tour of Theatre number three which he knew to be empty. It would be easier to look around without having staff members there.
She was nodding. “It’s very well equipped!”
He smiled. “Oh, yes, we’re equipped for general surgery and most specialist procedures.”
A nurse pushed open one of the swing doors. “We’re ready for you now, Dr Yannis.”
“Is the anaesthetist here?”
“Yes, he’s waiting for your instructions.” She paused. “I’m afraid your assistant hasn’t arrived yet. The morning boat from Rhodes is late due to the high wind that blew up during the night. Sister is trying to arrange for someone to take his place but—’
“Tell Sister not to worry. I’m sure Dr Meredith would assist me, wouldn’t you?” He turned to Cathy. “They’re well staffed in Outpatients this morning. You’d be more use up here in Theatre. What do you say?”
“If that’s where you’d like me to work,” she said evenly.
“Just for the first operation. It’s an appendectomy so shouldn’t take long. The patient has been having tests to check why she experiences occasional pain in the area of the appendix. After studying the results of the tests and scans, my conclusion is that it would be best to remove it. I put her first on the list and set the wheels in motion after you called in to see me this morning.”
He turned to look at the young nurse. “You’re sure our patient has been fully prepped? She’s been starved long enough, hasn’t she?”
“Yes, sir. She’s had nothing to eat since midnight, hoping that you would decide to operate this morning.”
“Excellent!”
Cathy scrubbed up at the next sink to Yannis. She held her hands out. A nurse was waiting with a sterile gown to Velcro down her back. Gloves were peeled over her hands. Yannis glanced down approvingly. “Let’s go.”
She followed behind, noting that Theatre one was exactly like the one she’d just checked out. The surgical team looked alert and focused. Yannis raised an eyebrow above his mask as he looked across the inert figure towards Cathy.
“Scalpel, Cathy.”
As she handed him the required instrument she was feeling relieved that he’d chosen to call her Cathy. He’d already introduced her as Dr Cathy Meredith to the assembled team. But it made her feel special, that she was some kind of friend with the surgeon. A kind of friend; that was a good description that she should try to remember if she could.
For the next half-hour she was totally committed to the task in hand. Yannis quickly cut through the patient’s abdominal muscles to expose the angry-looking appendix. Yes, the patient would certainly feel much better when that infected organ was disposed of. Yannis was checking other organs in the vicinity.
“It’s just the appendix that’s infected,” he told the assembled team. “No other organ has been affected. Have the biopsies checked out, Sister. Let me know the results as soon as you get them back from the lab. I took a biopsy of this ovary as a precaution. It looks healthy enough but it’s in very close proximity to the infected area.”
The swing doors opened as a young, harassed-looking young man already swathed in surgical gown and mask arrived.
“Ah, Nikolas! Good of you to join us! Problem with the boat, I hear… Thank you, Cathy. You were a great help. You are free to go back to Outpatients now. I’ll see you later.”
Cathy smiled at the young man as she went out. From the greenish colour of his skin
