Heart Surgeon, Prince...Husband!

‘So it wraps round and acts like a support, say like when my knee’s playing up and I have to strap it up?’ Maia asked.

‘Yes. The idea is that it’ll keep your aorta at the size it is now, so it won’t get any wider in the future—and that reduces the risk of a tear or the valve leaking. The procedure’s not as invasive as replacing the root or the valve-sparing surgery, though I’ll still need to open your chest under a general anaesthetic. And it means it’ll be more appropriate if you do want to have a baby, because it’ll keep your aorta at this size and reduce the risks during pregnancy. But it’s still a very new procedure,’ Luc warned, ‘so not that many have been done.’

‘So how do you do it? Wrap it round?’

‘We give you a CT scan and we make a 3D computer model of your aorta from the scan, print it, and we use that to make a fabric mesh support tailored exactly to your aorta,’ Luc explained.

‘3D printing? That sounds cool,’ Maia said. ‘I know you said it’s new, but have you done many?’

‘You’ll be my second patient—and the first at this hospital,’ Luc said. ‘Though, if you decide to go for that option, I’ll ask one of my former colleagues to come over and assist, because he’s got more experience than I have. Or it might be that we end up doing the operation at my old hospital.’

‘Can I talk the options over with my husband?’ Maia asked.

‘Of course,’ Luc said. ‘I’ll want to see you again anyway, and maybe he can come with you if he has any questions. Though I’ll give you some leaflets to take away with you—it’s a lot to remember and it’s always good to have things written down so you can refer back.’

‘Thank you,’ Maia said. ‘I know there are risks, but I’m leaning towards that 3D support thing. I like the sound of that much more.’

‘Let’s book you in my clinic for next week,’ Luc said, ‘and you can talk it over with your husband in the meantime and bring all your questions with you to clinic.’

After clinic, he managed to catch Kelly. ‘Are you free for lunch? I could do with your opinion on something.’

‘Sure.’ She smiled at him.

‘Maybe we could grab a sandwich and head over to the park,’ he suggested. Where it would be quieter and more private than the hospital canteen and he could sound her out.

‘That sounds good,’ she said.

‘Thanks for doing that echo on Maia Isley for me,’ he said when they’d found a quiet bench in the park.

‘Her aorta’s quite a bit bigger than last time. Are you planning surgery?’ she asked.

‘She’s talking it over with her husband, but there’s a fairly big chance she’ll opt for PEARS.’

‘Aortal support?’ Her eyes gleamed. ‘If she does, I’d love to sit in on the op. I’ve heard about it but not seen it done.’

‘Given that you’re her cardiologist,’ he said, ‘if she takes that option then you’ll be involved in the CT scans and you can definitely sit in on the op. We might need to print the 3D model of her heart elsewhere, but I’m sure Sanjay will be happy for you to be involved, and maybe do a presentation to the rest of the team. I need to talk to one of my old colleagues as well as Sanjay, so we might end up doing the actual op at the Royal Hampstead Free instead of here, or it might be that my colleague comes here to help out.’

‘I am so up for that,’ she said. ‘I’ve never done anything like that before.’

He smiled. ‘That’s important to you, isn’t it? Being able to make a difference.’

‘Yes. And I’m pretty sure it’s the same for you.’

‘It is.’ Should he ask her now? He’d been thinking about it ever since Elle had called him. He took a deep breath and said carefully, ‘I think you and I could make a difference for each other.’

‘Job enrichment? Absolutely,’ she agreed. ‘We’ve got a new F1 doctor starting next week. I’m responsible for her training, and it’d be great if she could do some observation or even some work in the operating theatre as well as in the cath lab. And your trainee surgeon might enjoy doing some stent work with us.’

‘That’s fine, but actually I was thinking on a more personal level.’ He paused. ‘What you were saying the other week about inventing a boyfriend.’

She frowned. ‘What about it?’

‘I need to get married. So if you married me, it would solve a problem for both of us.’

Her green eyes widened in apparent shock. ‘What? That’s crazy!’

He winced. He’d been thinking about this for a while; for her, this was completely out of the blue. ‘Sorry. I could have put that better. I’m not hitting on you, Kelly. I mean a marriage in name only.’

‘You’re the heir to the kingdom of Bordimiglia,’ she said. ‘Surely you’ve got to marry someone of royal blood? And why do you need to get married? And why me?’

It was a fair list of questions. ‘This is in confidence, yes?’

‘It’s a little late to be asking that now,’ she said. ‘I might be the heart of the hospital gossip machine.’

‘I’m pretty sure you’re not,’ he said, ‘though you have a point.’

‘OK. In confidence.’

‘Trust you, you’re a doctor?’ he asked wryly.

‘You started this,’ she reminded him. ‘And you haven’t given me any answers yet.’

‘From the top—my parents expect me to get married to someone who’d be suitable as a queen. So, yes, you’re probably right about the royal bloodline. The problem is, someone who wants to be queen doesn’t want to be married to a cardiac surgeon.’ He knew that from bitter experience. ‘A cardiac surgeon is who I am and who I want to be.’

She frowned. ‘But you’re a prince. Don’t you have to take over from your dad?’

‘Technically, yes. But he’s the king and he can change the rules of succession if he wants to,’ Luc explained. ‘I told you I have two sisters, Eleonora and Giulia. Elle’s the oldest and she’d make an absolutely brilliant queen. Apart from the fact that she’s good with people and everyone loves her, she’s astute—she’s got a real business mind, and she’d do a lot for our country.’

‘Would she actually want the job, though?’ Kelly asked.

‘We’ve talked about it, and she agrees that she’d make a better ruler than I would. She already does a lot of royal duties and she advises our father on ecology issues. I don’t believe I should get the job just because I’m the son. And I’m a much better doctor than I am a politician. I know I’ve had a really privileged life and I appreciate that. I’m not shirking my duty—I want to serve my country in a different way, to make it a leading research centre for cardiac health. In a couple of years’ time, I want to go back to Bordimiglia with everything I’ve learned here and set up a new cardiac centre. All our father has to do is change the rules of succession, so then his oldest child instead of his son will take over when he decides to step down. Elle deserves her chance to change our bit of the world. All I’m suggesting is pushing a little bit harder to give her that chance.’