The Italian Doctor's Perfect Family

‘Why the cultures?’ Pip queried. ‘Wouldn’t Alice be running more of a temperature if this pain was caused by infection?’

Toni nodded. ‘We still need to rule it out. We’ll do a dipstick test on her urine as soon as we can as well.’ The quick smile was almost a grin this time—faintly conspiratorial. ‘I like to be thorough,’ he confessed.

Thorough.

And gentle.

Pip watched Toni’s hands as he carefully examined Alice’s abdomen. She had watched him doing this once before and, unbidden, the memory had already returned more than once.

If only Alice hadn’t planted that absurd suggestion of Toni as potential boyfriend material. If only Pip hadn’t found herself remembering those hands and their touch in the middle of the night. Wondering how it feel to have them touching her.

It had been all too easy to imagine. And highly inappropriate, given the current setting, so it was easy to dismiss. It evaporated more than convincingly as Alice cried out in pain. Toni’s voice was now as gentle as his touch but excited no odd tingles in Pip. Her focus was firmly on her daughter as she stepped forward to take the small, outstretched hand.

‘It’s OK, hon,’ she said. ‘I’m here.’

‘I know it hurts, cara,’ Toni added in an equally soothing tone. ‘We’re going to do something about that very soon. It’s a bit mean, isn’t it, but we need to try and find out what’s causing it before we take the pain away.’ He turned to the registrar who was adjusting the flow on the IV line attached to a bag of fluids. ‘I think we could get some pethidine on board now.’

‘Why not morphine?’ It was the standard analgesic to use in situations such as this.

‘There’s some evidence it can cause sphincter of Oddi spasm.’

Graham nodded. He eyed Alice thoughtfully and Pip could tell he was trying to assess how much she weighed in order to calculate a dose of the narcotic. Toni picked up the hesitation as quickly as Pip did but showed none of the impatience some consultants might have displayed. Instead, he smiled at his young patient.

‘Do you know how much you weigh, Alice?’

‘No.’

‘I’m sure Mum knows.’

There was a tiny pause as Shona blinked at being the focus of attention. ‘Ah…’ She flicked a puzzled gaze at her daughter. ‘Actually, Pip’s—’

‘She’s about thirty-two kilos,’ Pip interrupted quickly. This was hardly the time or place to correct Toni’s assumption about her relationship with Alice, was it?