The Greek Children's Doctor(32)

Andreas had maintained a constant presence on the ward when the child  had first been admitted, but once Max was out of danger he'd visited  less frequently, kept busy by the other considerable demands of his job.

He made no attempt to seek Libby out and she wondered if it was intentional.

Was he giving her space?

Did he realise that she was desperate to speak to him?

In the end she came up with a plan and waited nervously for him to appear on the ward.

It was almost the end of her shift when he finally arrived, looking grim-faced after dealing with a tough case in A and E.

'I wanted to check on Max before I went home,' he said, walking past her into the room and smiling at the little boy.

'Well, someone's looking better,' he murmured, watching as Max played  happily with some toy cars that Libby had found for him in the playroom.  'He is one lucky boy.'

Libby nodded, watching while he checked him over. 'I wonder why the GP didn't give penicillin?'

Andreas straightened. 'Who knows? But the sooner your brother Alex gets out there the better, if you ask me.'

Libby smiled. 'Alex won't be working in London. He's found himself a  practice in Cornwall so that he can sail and windsurf and indulge in all  the other hobbies he loves.'

Andreas looked at her. 'What will you do about the flat?'

She blushed slightly. 'I don't know yet. His job doesn't start until the  end of August.' She took a deep breath. 'Andreas, I wanted to give you  something.'

She reached into her pocket and pulled out the envelope she'd been carrying with her all week.

He took it with a frown and was about to open it when Bev stuck her head  round the door and announced that he was wanted in A and E urgently.

'Again?' Andreas rolled his eyes and pocketed the envelope. 'I'll see  you later. Maybe.' His dark eyes were weary. 'Unless it turns out to be a  long one.'

It was a long one and Libby was at home, making herself a hot chocolate  in her oldest jeans and a skimpy pink strap top, when the doorbell rang.

Libby opened the door, her heart pounding when she saw Andreas standing there.

He waved the envelope in her face, his expression wary. 'You gave me a cheque for £1000.'

She nodded and stood to one side so that he could come in, but he didn't move.
                       
       
           



       
Instead, he frowned ominously. 'You don't owe me any money. I paid for a date and that's what we had, Libby.'

'And now it's my turn,' she croaked, wishing that she was wearing heels.  She was standing in bare feet and he towered above her. 'I want a date,  Andreas, and £1000 seems to be the going rate. A bit steep, but I  happen to think you're worth it.'

There was a long silence and then he finally stepped inside her flat and closed the door firmly behind him.

'What are you saying?' His Greek accent was suddenly very pronounced and  she fiddled with the hem of her top nervously, wondering whether he was  going to walk away once she'd said what she had to say.



'I want a date, Andreas, and as you're obviously not going to ask me again, I thought I'd better ask you.'

'Why do you want a date?' His voice was hoarse and she took a deep  breath, wondering why they were having this conversation in the hallway.

'Because I want to be with you,' she said simply. 'And the reason I want  to be with you is because I love you. And I know that what we have is  too special to throw away.'

He closed his eyes briefly. 'I never thought I'd hear you say that.'

'And I never thought I'd say it,' Libby admitted. 'But then I met you and you changed the way I felt about everything.'

Andreas was very still. 'I thought you didn't trust me.'

'I was wrong. I do trust you. And I'm sorry I overreacted about that  letter. It was just that everything between us was so new-so special-I  just couldn't believe that it wouldn't go wrong.'

He still didn't make a move towards her. 'Don't you want to know about Eleni?'

Libby shook her head. 'All I need to know is that you love me,' she said softly. 'That's all that matters.'

He gave a groan and hauled her into his arms. 'I love you but I'd given up hoping that you'd ever believe me.'

Libby buried her face in his chest. 'I know. I'm sorry. I'm a hopeless  case. The truth is I've never been in love before, and when it finally  happened it all seemed too good to be true.'

He slid his hands round her face and forced her to look at him. 'I was  at fault, too. I underestimated just how hard it is for you to trust  people. You've built this huge wall around yourself.'

'It seemed the only way to survive.'

He stroked her cheek gently. 'Tell me about your parents. I want to  understand why you feel the way you do,' he said quietly. 'You hardly  ever talk about them.'

Libby pulled a face. 'That's because they're not my favourite topic of  conversation.' She took a deep breath and pulled away from him slightly.  'Let's just say that when I was growing up they weren't like everyone  else's parents. Alex always says that the only reason the three of us  have turned out remotely normal is because they had the sense to send us  to boarding school.'

Andreas frowned. 'It was that bad?'

'Worse. For the first twenty-eight years of my life there was absolutely  no evidence that my parents loved each other,' Libby said bitterly.  'They argued, Dad drank too much, and when he drank … ' She broke off and  Andreas looked at her.

'What happened when he drank? Was he violent?'

'Sometimes.' Libby rubbed her fingers across her forehead. 'I suspect it  was more than sometimes but we were at school so we didn't really see  it. It only happened once when we were at home and Alex went for him  with a cricket bat. I called the police and I don't think Dad ever  really forgave me for that. But it wasn't just the violence. It was the  fact that they showed no affection towards each other and Dad had one  affair after another.'

'But they're still together?'

'Amazingly, yes.' Libby gave a wry smile. 'Years ago Dad ruined Katy's  relationship with Jago because he didn't approve, and when they met up  again years later Mum was so furious about what he'd done that she stood  up to him for the first time in her life. I think the prospect of  losing her brought him to his senses.'

'Well, in the circumstances it's hardly surprising that you don't think relationships can work.'

'It wasn't just Mum and Dad,' Libby confessed. 'Apart from Jago, all the  men I meet seem to be utterly faithless and without morals. Even Alex,  who I adore, is a real bastard to women.'



'And Philip?'                       
       
           



       

Libby laughed. 'I was never serious about Philip, but all the same it  was a real blow to my ego. I only ever seem to be everyone's second  choice. That's why I couldn't quite believe what was happening between  us. It was too good to be true.'

Andreas nodded. 'I understand now why you were so upset about the letter  you found. Your confidence was so fragile that you couldn't risk  trusting me.'

'That's true.' Libby flushed and bit her lip. 'And it's also true that  you're so gorgeous and eligible I just couldn't understand what you were  doing with me, apart from amusing yourself.'

'Would you like me to spell it out?' Andreas smiled and then gave a  sigh. 'I'm going to tell you about Eleni, Libby, if only to prove to you  just how much I love you.'

'There's no need-'

'I want to,' he said firmly. 'I met Eleni when I worked in Boston. She's  a lawyer and we knew each other vaguely from functions in Athens that  we'd both attended. We started dating, I suppose because we were both  Greek as much as anything else.'

'And you were in love with her?'

'No. And that was the problem.' He gave a wry smile. 'She was desperate  to get married. At the time I thought she loved me but I think the truth  was probably that she just wanted to achieve the degree of  respectability that marriage gives you if you're Greek. She was  thirty-two and that's old to still be single in our culture. She saw me  as a useful way out of her predicament. That was when she wrote me the  letter. I didn't know it was still in the drawer. I hadn't been to the  villa for six months.'

'So what happened?'

Andreas pulled a face. 'Adrienne was what happened. My mother was  becoming concerned that I might marry Eleni and she knew that she was  totally unsuitable for me. So she suddenly decided that Adrienne should  live with me.'

'But how did that effect your relationship with Eleni?'

'The minute Eleni knew that I had responsibility for Adrienne she lost  interest in me,' he said dryly. 'Eleni is not remotely maternal and the  thought of being saddled with a moody teenager quickly destroyed any  plans she might have had about marrying me. And also my mother knew I'd  never marry a career-woman.'

Libby rolled her eyes. 'I'm in love with a raving chauvinist.'

He grinned. 'I'm Greek, agape mou, and Greek men are very traditional. I want a woman who's happy to raise children with me.'

Libby raised an eyebrow. 'Barefoot and pregnant?'