Page 19 of Twin Surprise for the Italian Doc
Perhaps the most astonishing thing she’d learned about herself during those intense few days of the competition was that she was actually capable of falling in love at first sight...
‘Next on the right,’ she called. ‘And then second on the left. ETA two minutes.’
‘Roger. Hold onto your hat. And it’s your turn to lead.’
With a nod, Georgiafocussed on what lay immediately ahead. It would be a long shot, saving someone who had been found in cardiac arrest, given that it had been an unwitnessed collapse so they didn’t know when it had happened, or whether effective bystander CPR was currently being performed, but she would give the effort everything she had.
Probably a little bit more, even, because this was her life and she wantedto love it again with the same passion she’d had before she’d gone to that damn competition.
* * *
The battle hadn’t been won.
The resuscitation effort had been protracted, messy and, in the end, very sad. The victim had only been in his early fifties and his first grandchild was due to be born next week. His wife had been distraught and then his pregnant daughter had arrived at the house asthey had been clearing away their gear and waiting for the doctor to come and sign the death certificate.
Georgia was not going to allow herself to dwell on this case, however. If she did, she knew she would sink even further into a space she knew was there but didn’t recognise.
A dark space where the hovering cloud of bone-deep fatigue with those shards of misery would come down and block outany remaining light in her life. Where she might start to feel so sorry for herself that it would become too hard to pick herself up and make things better.
It wasn’t going to happen.
Georgia Bennett had faced worse things than this in her life and she had learned that she could not only beat them, she could become stronger.
Her share of the best things in life were just around the corner.
Maybe she couldn’t see exactly where that corner was just yet but if she didn’t stop moving forward, she would never find it.
So she put the distressing end to her shift firmly into the part of her brain reserved for work hours and made every effort to enjoy being home. She loved this little stone cottage that she shared with Kate, with its pretty garden and cosy kitchen and the steep, narrowstaircase that led to their attic bedrooms.
She loved Kate’s company, too. And her cooking. It was no hardship to tackle the dishes after eating the dinner that her flatmate had prepared tonight and their conversation offered an opportunity to think of someone other than herself for a while.
It was way past time that Kate and Luke got together—the way they had promised they would when they wereboth back in Scotland. How good would it be if she could look back on that competition and realise that it had been the catalyst for something amazing instead of the dark cloud that was making life so much less bright for herself? If something wonderful came from the interest she knew that Kate had in Luke?
‘Make it happen,’ she urged Kate. ‘You never know—it could change your life.’
When theywent into the sitting room to finish their evening by relaxing in front of the television and Kate discovered a text from Luke on her phone, Georgia was dismayed to find herself feeling...envious?
How would she feel if she found a text from Matteo onherphone?
It wasn’t beyond the realms of possibility, was it? He could easily get access to her phone number by asking Luke to get it from Kate.
She could gethisnumber by reversing the route.
And say what? Admit that there was no boyfriend that had been waiting for her back in Scotland so she hadn’t been cheating on anyone?
By doing that, she would be admitting that she’d lied to him. Only by omission, but Georgia knew instinctively that a boundary like that would mean nothing to Matteo. Playing by the rules and, above all, being honestwas an unshakeable foundation for the character that made him who he was.
Someone genuine. Trustworthy.
Luke was genuine, too, but Kate was shaking her head over a proposed date that wasn’t going to fit with her hospital shifts. Saying that maybe it was never meant to happen.
‘Don’t be ridiculous.’ Georgia was in danger of losing patience. ‘What were the odds of you two meeting up again ona mountaintop in the Czech Republic? It was totally meant to happen.’
Kate’s smile was endearingly shy. ‘It was certainly unexpected.’
And then her smile widened. ‘And it was you who had the mad idea of hooking up with someone while we were there. It was the last thing I was planning on doing.’
Oh... God...talking about that crazy plan she’d had for the competition was the last thing Georgiawanted to do. Trying to dismiss this conversational track, Georgia shrugged and turned away.
