Kate Hardy - The Spanish Consultant's Baby

‘Not for me, thanks.’

‘Then I’ll see you back to your car.’

‘Ramón, it’s very sweet of you, but there’s no need. It’s perfectly safe.’

‘Even so, I’d prefer to see you safely to your car. Humour me? You could always tell me about the buildings on our way back. Teach me about your city.’

She nodded. ‘Let’s get the bill.’

He was careful to let her pay her way—he knew that if he ignored her feelings now, she’d refuse to come out with him again—and they walked back through the quiet streets to the hospital car park. Jennifer pointed out buildings of note on the way—the church in the market place with stunning stained-glass windows, an art deco shopping arcade, the old toll-house which had once been where the citizens had paid their taxes but was now the tourist information office.

If anyone had asked him what she’d said, he would have just shrugged and said he had no idea. What he’d really noticed had been the way her eyes changed colour, more blue than grey when she was interested in something. The fullness of her lower lip, so promising and so tempting. The way little lines fanned from the corner of her eyes when she smiled. He’d never been so aware of a woman before. He wanted to pull her into his arms, bend her back slightly and kiss her until they were both breathless.

And yet…there had been that panic in her eyes. Jennifer Jacobs was a challenge. A challenge he wanted to meet. To win. Which meant that he had to take it slowly. Softly. Gently.

When they reached her car, he smiled at her. ‘Thank you, Jennifer, for a lovely evening.’

‘That’s OK. Do you want a lift back to your flat?’

He shook his head. ‘It’s a five-minute walk at most. The exercise will do me good.’ He took her hand and drew it to his mouth. Her eyes widened but he held her gaze—he needed her to know that he wasn’t going to hurt her and she was safe with him. Right now, yes, he wanted to kiss her properly. Mouth to mouth. Sliding his fingers into her hair, his tongue against hers, pulling her close against his body so she could feel how much she turned him on. But she wasn’t ready for that and he wasn’t going to force her. He kissed the tips of her fingers, then folded them down into her palm. ‘Goodnight, cariña,’ he said softly.

Jennifer was shaking when she got into the car. She was still shaking as she drove home. Ramón had barely touched her and yet her whole body had reacted to him, reacted to the promise in his dark, expressive eyes. Reacted to the amber sparks of passion he’d let her see, just for a moment, then damped down again as he’d kissed her fingertips.

It was all show. He probably did this to every woman he came into contact with.

Hell, hell and double hell. She really couldn’t let anything happen between them. It would make life too complicated at work. And she didn’t want to be a holiday romance, a brief affair. She didn’t want for ever either. She’d already done that, worn the T-shirt and paid a heavy penance. She wasn’t going to give up her freedom again.

So she’d just have to stay away from him as much as she could.

Friday was easier, as Meg was back and Jennifer managed to avoid Ramón. She was off over the weekend; and although she half expected that Ramón would track her down to her bolthole, he didn’t. She wasn’t sure whether she was more relieved or disappointed.

On the Monday morning she was busy dealing with the handover when he came on duty, and he was already examining a new patient when she’d finished, leaving her free to carry out her normal duties without interruption. But although her mind was definitely concentrating on her job, her body wasn’t. It was too aware of the handsome Spaniard sitting a few metres away in his office.

‘There’s some good news, Mr Garrett. The X-ray results are clear,’ Ramón said.

‘So what’s wrong with Tim?’

‘It is something called Osgood-Schlatter disease.’

‘Disease? It can’t be.’ Garrett shook his head. ‘He only had a knock on the football field. I told him there was nothing broken and he was being a wuss about it.’

Just what he could do without: a pushy parent who wouldn’t put the child’s needs first. Ramón bit back the scorn he would dearly have loved to express, and gently examined the teenager’s leg. ‘Is this painful, Tim?’

‘Not too bad.’

‘Hey. No bravado. On a scale of one to ten, with one being just a little bit and ten being unbearable?’

Tim glanced at his father, then back at Ramón. ‘One.’

That glance told Ramón everything. If only there was some way of getting Mr Garrett out of his office, so Tim had the space to tell the truth. He’d just have to do the best he could. What was it Jennifer had said? You had to sum up the parents, find out how they handled things. Garrett was a know-all. So Ramón would blind him with science.

‘There’s a soft tissue swelling over the tibial tuberosity. This often happens in young athletes during a period of rapid growth. It’s caused by the pull of the quadriceps, which join with the patellar tendons running through the knee into the tibia. When the quadriceps contract, the patellar tendons start to pull away from the shinbone. That causes the pain.’

‘I’d prefer that in English,’ Garrett said cuttingly.

Ramón just about stopped himself scowling. Don’t say the man had something against doctors who weren’t English, too? ‘All right. You see this bump on his shinbone, just below his knee?’

‘It’s just a bump.’

‘It’s inflamed. It hurts when Tim bends or straightens his knee. The muscles in the front of his thigh join to the tendons which connect the muscles to his knee.’

‘So he’s pulled a tendon.’

‘No. It’s partly to do with the growth plates in his bones. When he stops growing, the tendons will become stronger and the pain and swelling will go away.’

‘So what are you saying? That he can’t play football?’

‘Not for a while.’

Garrett made a noise of disgust. ‘That’s impossible. There’s a talent scout coming to the club next week. If Tim doesn’t play, he’ll miss his chance.’

‘If he plays, he could end up with permanent damage to his knees. There will be other chances to see this scout.’

‘Not like this, there won’t! I’ve worked hard for it and I’m not having it ruined by you. I want a second opinion.’

‘By all means you can see Dr Burroughs, but he will tell you exactly the same.’

‘In it together, are you? Well, I want to see someone at the top.’

Ramón gave him a wintry smile. ‘You already are. I’m the consultant.’

‘Then I’ll see your boss.’

Just as Ramón was about to ask Garrett what was more important, his son’s health or football, there was a rap on the door. ‘Dr Martínez? I believe you wanted Tim’s radiography results.’

‘Thank you, Sister Jacobs. I was just explaining to Mr Garrett that Tim has Osgood-Schlatter disease.’ He glanced at the film. ‘There’s calcification within the patellar tendon and irregular ossification of the proximal tibial tuberosity.’

‘Doctors!’ Jennifer rolled her eyes. ‘If you want a translation, Tim, that means the bump at the top of your shinbone isn’t growing properly. But I guess you already knew that.’ She looked at his leg. ‘How long has it been like that?’

‘A month.’

‘A week, tops,’ Garrett cut in.

Ramón and Jennifer exchanged a glance.

‘I’ll refer you to an orthopaedic specialist, Tim,’ Ramón said. ‘For now you need to put ice on your knee for twenty minutes every three to four hours for the next two days. I can give you some anti-inflammatory tablets which will help to deal with the pain. But no sport.’