Dr Constantine's Bride

A large tanned hand suddenly appeared in front of her, holding a crisp white handkerchief. Katie took it with a murmur of thanks and dried her eyes. When Christos let her go, she forced herself to smile at him even though there was very little to smile about. ‘Thank you.’

‘Feeling better now?’ he asked quietly.

‘Yes. I’m sorry. I don’t usually go to pieces like that.’

‘There’s no need to apologise. You’re upset and I understand why.’ He sighed. ‘That’s why I think it would be best if you went home.’

‘I’m not sure what I want to do,’ she admitted. ‘This has been a huge shock and I need time to think before I make any decisions.’

‘Surely it would be easier to do that in England with your family and friends around you.’

‘The only family I have is my sister Kelly and she’s in Sardinia. She flew out there this morning to take up a new job and I certainly don’t want to upset her plans by telling her that things haven’t worked out for me.’

‘I see. But what about your friends? There must be people who you are close to?’

‘Yes.’

She shrugged. ‘I have some really good friends back in Manchester but they have their own problems. It isn’t fair to expect them to help me.’

‘So what you’re saying is that you don’t want to return to England?’

‘I don’t know! My head’s in such a spin that I don’t know what I want to do. That’s why I need time to think things through. I certainly don’t want to go rushing into another decision I’ll regret.’

She brushed past him because there was no point debating the issue any more. Anyway, he didn’t really care where she went so long as it was away from the island, and far away from Petros.

A sob rose to her throat but she forced it down. They had reached the foyer and she paused. ‘I’ll find a taxi to take me into town. If you could fetch my case out of your car, I’ll be out of your way in no time.’

‘And what about Petros? Do you still intend to contact him?’

‘Of course. However, I shall decide when and how I intend to do so. It has nothing to do with you or anyone else.’

‘That isn’t good enough, I’m afraid. You have to understand the damage you could cause.’

‘What about the damage that has been done to me?’ she countered, angrily. ‘Doesn’t that count for anything?’

‘Of course it does, which is why I want you to be sensible and forget about my cousin. He isn’t right for you, Katie. Can’t you see that?’

‘At the moment I’m too confused to know what I think any more,’ she said wearily.

‘I understand, but promise me that you won’t do anything rash.’

He captured her hands and held them fast, and once again she was struck by a feeling of security. It was very strange because nothing he had said to her that day should have made her feel like this, yet it didn’t alter the fact that she felt safer with him then she’d felt with anyone, even Petros.

The thought shocked her so much that she snatched her hands away. ‘I won’t make promises I might not be able to keep.’

He shook his head in despair. ‘I don’t know what else I can say to convince you.’

‘There’s nothing you can say. I need to make up my own mind.’

‘And what will you do in the meantime? Are you going to treat this as a holiday?’

‘I’m not sure.’ Katie sighed because that was something else she needed to think about. The money she had left after paying for her flight wouldn’t last long if she had to stay in a hotel. She might be able to find somewhere cheaper—a guest house or maybe a room—but even then it wouldn’t be long before her money ran out. She hadn’t given any thought to her financial position before she’d left England. She had assumed that Petros would ask her to live with him but that wasn’t going to happen now.

Pain lanced through her again. She had trusted Petros and he had let her down. Although it wouldn’t change what had happened, she needed to know why he had treated her this way. And to do that she would have to find a way to support herself so she could remain on the island.

‘I could manage a week’s holiday, but I’ll need to find a job after that. I can’t afford to stay on here if I’m not earning any money.’

‘It might not be that easy to find work.’ He shrugged when she looked at him in surprise. ‘It’s still quite early in the season and a lot of the restaurants and bars aren’t taking on extra staff yet.’

‘I’m sure I’ll find something,’ she said, wondering if this was another ploy to put her off the idea of staying on the island.

He sighed. ‘I am not making it up, Katie. I’m merely explaining the problems you could encounter.’

‘Thank you for your concern, but I’m sure I’ll find myself some sort of a job,’ she said shortly.

‘You said that you were a nurse in the emergency department—is that right?’

‘Yes. I was a senior staff nurse in Accident and Emergency. Why? Do you have a vacancy on your team?’

The question was asked very much with her tongue in her cheek. She didn’t seriously think that he would consider hiring her, even if there was a vacancy, so it was impossible to hide her surprise when he said quietly, ‘We do have a vacancy, as it happens. If your references check out then I can see no reason why I shouldn’t offer you the job.’ He smiled thinly when she gasped. ‘Please, don’t misunderstand why I’m doing this, though. I haven’t changed my mind about you staying on here. I still believe that you should go home. But we are in desperate need of staff, and if you are intent on staying here, you may as well help us out.’

CHAPTER FOUR

‘THIS is Yanni, one of our senior registrars. And Tina and Ariadne, who are both nurses. Oh, and that’s Takis over there—he’s the radiographer. OK, everyone, this is Katie Carlyon.’

‘Kalimera, Katie!’

‘Kalimera! ’ Katie responded as everyone chorused a greeting. It was her first day at work in the trauma unit and she was still finding it hard to believe that she was actually there. However, as Christos had predicted, there had been very little other work available. She had soon realised that if she wanted to remain on the island, she would have to accept his offer. She’d felt incredibly nervous when she’d arrived, but Maria had quickly put her at her ease by introducing her to the rest of the staff. Fortunately everyone wore a name badge so that should help her to avoid any embarrassing lapses of memory.

‘That is enough for now. You can meet the others later.’ Maria linked her arm through Katie’s and briskly led her to the staffroom. ‘We shall have a cup of coffee while you tell me all about your relationship with Christos.’

‘My relationship with Christos?’ Katie echoed in bemusement.

‘Ne.’ Maria laughed. ‘Oh, I am not asking you to be indiscreet but it was obvious the other day that you and Christos were…friends.’

Katie blushed. The tone of Maria’s voice had put a whole new spin on the word. ‘Oh, no, you’ve got it wrong,’ she said quickly. ‘Christos and I only met the other day at the airport. There’s nothing going on between us, I assure you.’

‘Óhi?’ Maria looked sceptical. ‘But it was Christos who arranged for you to have this job, wasn’t it?’

‘Yes, but only because I happened to mention that I’d worked in an emergency department in the UK.’ She shrugged, doing her best to deflect Maria’s suspicions. It certainly wouldn’t improve Christos’s opinion of her if she was the cause of any unsavoury gossip.

She wasn’t sure why it should matter what he thought of her, and hurried on. ‘I expect it was easier to offer me the job than go through all the rigmarole of finding someone else.’

‘I see.’ Maria didn’t appear wholly convinced but before she could question her further, the wail of a siren warned them that there was an ambulance on its way.

Katie hurriedly followed her to the doors that led to the ambulance bay and waited while the crew unloaded the stretcher. She grabbed hold of the saline drip as the convoy swept towards Resus. Fortunately, English was widely used in the hospital and she had no difficulty following what was said as the paramedics explained that the young man had been injured while he’d been parasailing at a resort further along the coast. By the time they finished detailing the patient’s obs and the treatment he’d received, she was fully up to speed.

‘So, what do we have?’ Christos arrived just as they were about to transfer the patient onto a bed. He glanced at Katie, obviously expecting her to answer. Maybe it was meant to be a test of her skills but she didn’t waste time worrying about it.