Dr Constantine's Bride

‘No. I prefer not rush into a situation without considering the pros and cons first. It was a while before I agreed to go out with Petros, in fact.’

‘Ah, I see. Now I understand.’

‘Understand what exactly?’

‘The pros of accepting an invitation to go out with Petros, of course. What was the biggest incentive? Was it the fact that his family is extremely wealthy that helped you make up your mind?’

‘No! I knew nothing about Petros’s family when I agreed to go out with him.’

‘Of course not,’ he agreed gravely, his tone making a mockery of the claim. Out of the corner of his eye he saw her open her mouth to say something else until she thought better of it. As he turned in through the gates of the hospital, he found himself wondering what she’d been going to say. Had it been another protestation of her innocence, perhaps?

In a way he wished that she had argued with him because then it would have been so much easier to shoot her down. He could have dealt with her anger far better than he could deal with the unhappiness he could see on her face. Maybe Katie Carlyon deserved her comeuppance after the way she had behaved, but he couldn’t derive any pleasure from her discomfort. All he felt was a deep sadness that a woman as beautiful as this should use her beauty to such ugly ends. With her soft blonde hair curling around her face and her green eyes dulled with pain, she really did look like an angel—one who had fallen from grace.

Katie could feel tears welling in her eyes and quickly blinked them away. She wouldn’t give Dr Constantine the satisfaction of knowing that he had hurt her. Oh, she knew that he had done it deliberately but even that didn’t take the sting out of those horrible words. She wasn’t interested in Petros’s money! It was Petros she loved, not what he could give her.

She had barely managed to get her emotions under control when the car stopped. Christos switched off the engine and turned to her. ‘I need to check with my registrar to see how our patient is doing. I suggest you wait in my office and we can talk after I’ve finished.’

‘I really can’t see what we have to talk about,’ Katie said bluntly as she opened the car door. ‘This problem has nothing to do with you, as I told you on the phone.’

‘And as I told you, that’s where you’re wrong.’ He turned to look at her and she shivered when she saw the chill in his eyes. ‘Petros enlisted my help and I have every intention of doing what I promised him I would do.’

‘And what exactly did you promise him?’ she said sharply, her heart aching at the thought of Petros asking him to intervene, if, indeed, that was what had happened. She only had Christos’s word for it and there was no reason why she should believe him.

‘I promised him that I would make sure you didn’t cause any trouble. He and Eleni are looking forward to their wedding and I won’t allow you to ruin the occasion for them.’ He got out of the car and waited until she got out as well. ‘I’ll take you straight to my office and I expect you to stay there. If you are harbouring any hopes of trying to find Petros while you’re here, you can forget them. He’s on leave until after his honeymoon is over.’

Katie didn’t know what to say. Was it really true, then? Was Petros really getting married? She didn’t want to believe it yet she couldn’t imagine why Christos would have made up such an elaborate story.

In silence she followed him into the building. The hospital was obviously brand-new; everywhere was gleaming with fresh paint. Wide corridors fanned out from the main foyer like the spokes of an enormous wheel, the huge tinted-glass windows that ran along them giving glimpses of the grounds. It was a world away from the grimness of the inner-city hospital where she’d worked so that it was hard to take it all in. However, it was when they reached the trauma unit that the real differences immediately became apparent.

Katie stopped and stared around in genuine wonder. ‘I’ve never seen such marvellous facilities. Is that for the radiography equipment?’ she asked, pointing to the tracks running along the ceiling.

‘Yes.’ Christos stopped as well. ‘We have a dedicated radiography unit attached to the department, along with our own theatre suite plus a haematology lab.’ He shrugged when she gasped. ‘It means we’re virtually self-sufficient.’

‘It must be wonderful not to have to go begging to other departments for help.’ She sighed. ‘The number of times I’ve had to go, cap in hand, to the surgical department doesn’t bear thinking about. Just getting a slot in Theatre is a minor miracle some days.’

He smiled faintly. ‘I’ve done my share of begging, too. That’s why I insisted on us having our own theatre when the plans were drawn up. It’s made a huge difference, not only for the patients but for the staff as well. Morale is higher than it’s ever been.’

‘I can imagine,’ she agreed wistfully as they carried on. They came to the nursing station and she waited while he spoke to the nurse on duty. She could see a row of cubicles on her left and swing doors leading to the resuscitation area on her right. There were other doors leading off from the reception area and she could only assume that they must lead to the various departments he’d mentioned.

She had to admit that she was impressed by what she’d seen. In fact, if circumstances had been different, she would have had no hesitation in applying for a position here. However, she doubted if Dr Constantine would be keen to have her on his team. From what he had said, he seemed to have a very low opinion of her.

The thought was deeply upsetting. Normally, she got on well with people and it was a strange feeling to know that this man disliked her so much. It was difficult to hide how hurtful she found it to be on the receiving end of his animosity when he turned to her.

‘There’s been a problem with the patient we resuscitated at the airport. He’s had a second MI and my registrar is having trouble stabilising him. I don’t have time to take you to my office right now so can you wait here?’

‘Of course,’ Katie agreed, because she could tell he was anxious to attend to the old man. She looked around after he left, wondering where would be the best place to wait. She could see a sign pointing to the waiting room but before she could head towards it the nurse intervened.

‘The relatives’ room is through there,’ she explained, pointing to a door opposite the desk. ‘You’ll be more comfortable in there than in the waiting room, plus there’s tea and coffee in there so help yourself.’

‘Thank you.’

Katie quickly moved away from the desk when she saw the curiosity on the other woman’s face. The nurse was obviously wondering who she was and she doubted if Christos would appreciate it if she told her. She had a feeling that the less people who knew what she was doing there, the better he would like it.

Despair welled up inside her again. She had no idea what she was going to do if it turned out that he had been telling her the truth. When she had left England that morning, she had left behind everything to do with her old life. Once she and Kelly had decided to move abroad they had given up the lease on their flat and sold all their furniture. There was nothing left in England to go back for now, not even her sister.

Katie felt a lump come to her throat as she checked her watch. Kelly’s flight had been due to leave after hers but she would be on her way to Sardinia by now. Kelly had been through a lot in the past two years and a new job was what she needed to put her life back on track. But if she went back to England then Kelly might feel that she had to go back too. Was that really what she wanted? Did she want to spoil Kelly’s chance of finding happiness because her own plans hadn’t worked out the way she’d hoped they would?

Katie took a deep breath then pushed open the waiting-room door. No matter what happened, she wasn’t going back to England. And if that didn’t please Dr Christos Constantine, it was hard luck.

‘Sinus rhythm,’ the nurse announced.

Christos nodded. ‘Good. I didn’t think we were going to get him back at one point.’ He turned to Yanni. ‘He’s going to need bypass surgery urgently. There are at least three separate sites where the arteries are almost completely blocked. I’d like Alexis to assess him so can you give him a call, please?’

‘You’re recommending that he has the surgery here rather than at home in England?’ Yanni asked.

‘Yes. I don’t think he would survive the flight home and I am not prepared to take the risk.’ He shrugged. ‘His insurance should cover the costs, but if there’s a problem then we shall do it as an emergency procedure. I’ll speak to his wife while you sort things out with the surgical team.’

‘Of course.’

Stripping off his gloves, Christos left Resus. Once he had spoken to the patient’s wife, he would be able to get on with the business of sorting out this other mess. The only viable solution he could see was to send Katie Carlyon back to England. If she stayed in Paphos there was always the chance of her running into Petros. Although his cousin had claimed that Katie had been hounding him, Christos didn’t doubt that he had been happy to spend time with her in the beginning. Katie Carlyon was a very beautiful woman and few men would be able to resist her allure.

Christos wasn’t sure why it bothered him to think about all the men who must have passed through Katie Carlyon’s life. He tried to put it out of his mind as he made his way to the nursing station to collect her. There was no sign of her when he got there and he frowned.

‘If you’re looking for the young woman who came in with you, she’s in the relatives’ room,’ Maria, the nurse, informed him. She smiled archly at him. ‘Is there something you want to tell me, Christos?’

‘No, thank you.’ Christos knew what Maria was really asking. She wanted to know if he was romantically involved with Miss Carlyon. It never failed to amaze him how interested in his affairs—or rather the lack of them—his staff appeared to be.

He sighed as he made his way to the relatives’ room. The fact that he had taken time off work then reappeared with a beautiful young woman in tow was bound to excite a lot of speculation. It was his own fault, of course, for not giving his staff anything better to talk about, but he couldn’t help it if he rarely dated. He’d been too busy with his work to worry about his private life. He’d also learned his lesson after what had happened between him and Eleni. If he hadn’t been able to make a go of it with Eleni, what hope did he have of sustaining a relationship with anyone else?

It was easier if he accepted that he would remain single. Maybe once upon a time he had dreamed of having a family of his own, but the likelihood of that happening now was virtually nil. He would need to invest a lot of time and a lot of effort into a marriage and he wasn’t sure if he could do it if it meant his career would suffer. It was far more sensible to settle for what he had.

Pushing open the door, he stepped into the room then stopped dead when he spotted Katie sitting next to his patient’s wife. As he watched, she put her arm around the old lady’s shoulders and hugged her. Christos frowned. There was such compassion in the gesture that it made all his preconceived ideas about her seem ludicrous. He simply couldn’t equate this kind and caring woman with the manipulative harridan whom Petros had described at such length.

Which was the real Katie Carlyon? All of a sudden, he realised that he needed to find out the answer to that question even though he wasn’t sure why it mattered so much.

CHAPTER THREE

‘I’M SURE there will be some news soon. Try not to worry.’

Katie hugged the old lady again, wishing there was something more she could say to reassure her. She glanced round when she heard the door slam and flushed when she saw Christos coming towards them. He stopped in front of them and her heart skipped a beat when she saw the look he gave her. Why did she have the strangest feeling that he was studying her?

‘Mrs Briggs? I’m Dr Constantine, the head of the trauma unit.’

He pulled up a chair and sat down, his expression softening when he saw the fear on the old lady’s face. ‘Your husband is alive, Mrs Briggs. He had a second heart attack but we managed to stabilise him. You’ll be able to see him very soon.’

‘Oh, thank heavens!’ Marjorie Briggs clutched Katie’s hand. ‘I thought you were going to tell me that Frank was dead. I couldn’t have stood that, really, I couldn’t.’

She broke into a storm of weeping again. Katie patted her hand as she waited for her to calm down. Dealing with distraught relatives had been part of her job for so long that it was second nature to her now. Reaching into her bag, she plucked out a tissue and handed it to her.