Surgeon in a Tux

by Carol Marinelli

  It was the serious bonking time of a new romance, Lizzie told herself. That time when you just can’t bear to be apart.

  And they used every minute.

  It was dizzying, enlightening, freeing, and between steamy encounters as they waited for rancour to hit and for both of them to admit to it all being a terrible mistake, sometimes they actually managed to talk.

  ‘You were at the airport?’

  Leo was watching her get ready for birthday drinks with Brenda. It had meant another trip to her flat to get more of her things and very soon she would have spent more nights at Leo’s than her own home. He had suggested they go to Paris for Valentine’s Day, which was looming, and Lizzie was explaining why she didn’t like to be too far away.

  ‘Yes,’ Lizzie said, pulling down her lower eyelid and applying black kohl on the inner rim. ‘We were going to travel for a year—see the world.’ They had spoken about exes and, as innocent as Lizzie was compared to Leo, it had come as a surprise to both that neither had lived with another person. Not that they were living together, both had hastily agreed, it had been just little while after all.

  But it was heading into record time for Leo.

  The lack of condoms was already a new record.

  So too making plans that fell into next month.

  He lay on the bed, half listening, half thinking, as Lizzie spoke on.

  ‘My neighbour called and said that Mum had fallen,’

  ‘What did Peter say?’

  ‘Not much,’ Lizzie admitted, putting down her eyeliner, remembering that awful time. She had been so excited about her trip but also so nervous to leave her parents—sure that something would go wrong. And it had. She hadn’t even made it onto the plane. ‘Mum had fractured her hip and was going to Theatre. Peter seemed to think I should ring and see how she was doing when we landed …’

  ‘Clearly, Peter didn’t know you very well.’ She turned and gave a pale smile at his comment because in the short time they had been seeing each other Leo seemed to understand her more than anyone else ever had.

  ‘He said that it was him or them. That if I didn’t get on the plane …’

  ‘Hadn’t he heard of rescheduling?’ Leo drawled. ‘Didn’t you have flight insurance?’

  ‘It was a bit more complicated than that,’ Lizzie said, but he did make her giggle about even the most serious thing.

  ‘So you chose your parents?’

  ‘Of course,’ Lizzie said. ‘I could never have gone away knowing my mum was about to have surgery. Now do you see why I don’t want to go to Paris?’

  ‘No.’ He came over and looked at her. She was all dressed up and ready to go out and her freshly painted lips really begged to be made naked by his mouth. ‘If anyone should have a hang-up about going to Paris then I win—my mother died in a helicopter crash, coming back from a party there.’ He took her cheeks in his hands as she gave a shocked gasp. ‘Does that mean I’m supposed to boycott France?’ Despite the dark subject matter, he still made her smile. ‘Only take the Euro Tunnel just so that history never repeats itself?’

  ‘I don’t know,’ Lizzie admitted. ‘I just remember the guilt, how awful I felt. I don’t expect anyone to understand but I’m all they’ve got. Even my moving to London was so massive to them …’ She was truly shocked at what he had just told her. ‘Do you miss them?’

  ‘I’ve never really had the time to miss them,’ Leo said. ‘I’ve been too busy cleaning up after their mistakes.’

  Lizzie looked at him for a long moment. No wonder he dreaded the thought of commitment—he was still bearing the cost of his parents’ lack of commitment to anything other than themselves.

  ‘Not all relationships are like your parents’, Leo.’

  ‘Of course not,’ Leo quipped. ‘Take …’ He pretended to think for a moment then gave a very wry smile. ‘I can’t think of too many shining examples. Think about Paris …’

  ‘I already have.’ It was getting late, she had to go. ‘The answer’s no.’

  It wasn’t a row, it wasn’t even close to one, but as Lizzie sat in the taxi on her way to visit her friends she felt as if the clock was ticking towards the end of them. They were both so completely different. Leo often said his only responsibility was to his patients and he intended to keep it that way. She had been born responsible.

  ‘Where have you been?’ Brenda scooped her into a hug. ‘Have you dropped off the planet or something?’

  ‘I’m here now.’ Lizzie grinned, handing over her present and ordering a drink.

  ‘You’re seeing someone.’ Haley was straight onto it. ‘Come on, Lizzie, who?’

  And she almost told them but changed her mind, because that would make what she and Leo had more real—maybe in a few weeks she could tell them about her crazy time with Leo Hunter, maybe she could sob into her margarita with friends, but for now all Lizzie wanted to do was protect whatever she had with Leo, instead of handing it over to others for discussion.

  It was the same with her parents.

  Lizzie walked along Brighton beach at the weekend, trying to come up for breath after a dizzying time with Leo.

  It was so cold that her teeth were chattering as she looked out to the grey churn of the sea. Lizzie had always loved this time of year in her home town—the summer tourists were long gone, the Christmas shoppers had left and it was just bare and beautiful and recovering, getting ready to start all over again.

  She wanted to share it with Leo, she wanted to walk along the pier and go on rides that would be almost empty now. She wanted to take him to her favourite coffee shop and share this part of herself with him.

  She missed him and it was just a weekend, Lizzie thought. Soon she’d have to miss him for the rest of her life.

  How are they?

  A text from Leo maybe meant he was missing her at this moment too but as she answered Lizzie kept the details sparse. Leo was out with some prominent people tonight and he was being interviewed on television tomorrow about the hazards of cosmetic surgery and people who went overseas for cheap procedures. She didn’t share that her mum had broken her watch again and kept forgetting it was being repaired and so was frantically searching for it, or that her father kept asking questions about the ball and Leo. Lizzie knew as she fired back a suitably upbeat reply that Leo didn’t need to hear it and she also knew something else—he’d been right about Paris.

  Her world really was too small.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  ‘WE COULD JUST keep it simple—red roses and chocolates.’ Leo only briefly looked up as Lizzie walked in. It had been a couple of weeks since she’d visited her parents and she was going again this weekend for her mother’s birthday. ‘Shan’t be a moment,’ he said to Lizzie, then resumed his conversation with Lexi.

  ‘Won’t it be an issue if their partners don’t know that they’re coming to the clinic?’ Lexi said.

  ‘They can always say no,’ Leo commented. ‘I’m not having gifts sent to their house or anything.’ He looked at Lizzie. ‘We’re discussing Valentine’s Day,’ he explained, and Lizzie gave a wry smile, because Leo had no problem giving his heart to his patients. ‘Lexi’s worried that I’m going to upset a few husbands.’

  ‘Well, it wouldn’t be the first time.’ Lexi smiled and stood. ‘I’ll have a think and get back to you.’

  ‘Would you have liked flowers and chocolates on Valentine’s Day if you’d had your surgery scheduled then?’ Leo asked when Lexi had closed the door.

  ‘Keep trying, Leo,’ Lizzie teased as he resumed their game. ‘I’m never going to tell you.’

  ‘Tonight.’ Leo’s blue eyes turned black as he looked at her, lust turned on like a laser that in an instant made her burn. His voice was very matter-of-fact as he told her exactly what he was going to do. ‘All lights on, I’m going to strip you naked and I’m going to explore every inch of you, and this time,’ unlike the countless other times, ‘I won’t get distracted. I am going to find out.’ He opened a desk and pul
led out his ophthalmoscope. ‘I haven’t used this in a while.’ He pressed the intercom on his desk. ‘Gwen, could you bring me some batteries for my ophthalmoscope, please?’ He gave her a wicked smile. ‘Every inch,’ he said, and Lizzie stood there, heat washing through her at the thought of Leo exploring every inch of her skin. ‘So, what do you want to do for Valentine’s Day—or do I have to surprise you?’ Leo asked.

  ‘Actually …’

  ‘I assume Paris is still out of bounds?’

  ‘Leo …’ She tried to get back to the reason she had come into see him in the first place. ‘I actually came into say that I needed that afternoon off. My mum’s having a small procedure and it’s scheduled for four p.m. on that day …’

  Leo just looked. He wanted to say ‘It’s Valentine’s Day’ but he knew it wasn’t his place, that would sound like a ten-year-old whining. It was her mother, for God’s sake, but he certainly wasn’t used to spending Valentine’s Day alone.

  ‘I can pick you up from Brighton.’

  ‘Leo, she’ll be confused. I’ll probably spend the night there …’ It was actually a tiny procedure her mother was having—the removal of a tiny basal cell carcinoma on her forehead—and in truth Lizzie probably didn’t even need to be here. Yes, she was hiding because she didn’t want the hearts and roses and to be made love to, didn’t want the perfect Valentine’s Day to happen because every one after that would be a pale comparison.

  With each passing day and certainly with each passing night, Lizzie was becoming more aware that every single Valentine’s Day, no matter her future, would not compare to one spent with Leo.

  ‘Lizzie.’ Leo was struggling, he wanted her in a way he never had another woman, and that unnerved him too. An ever-efficient Gwen came in with the batteries for his ophthalmoscope and a message for Lizzie, and he registered Lizzie’s rapid blink as she read it.

  ‘Is everything okay?’

  ‘I’m not sure,’ Lizzie said, as she read the brief message. ‘I’d better get on.’ She saw his concern and moved to reassure him. ‘It’s nothing to with the clinic.’

  Which should reassure him, but this time it didn’t.

  He shouldn’t be getting so involved, Leo told himself, but he sought her out a little while later and found her hiding in her office, trying to pretend everything was okay, though it was clear to Leo she was close to crying.

  ‘It’s nothing too major,’ Lizzie said when pressed. ‘They think Mum’s got a UTI.’

  ‘A urinary tract infection can be serious in the elderly,’ Leo said. ‘How bad is she?’

  ‘More confused than ever,’ Lizzie said. ‘They’ve got a nurse specialling her and they’ve started antibiotics, but if she gets worse they’re going to have to transfer her to hospital.’

  ‘Are you going to go and see her?’ He didn’t understand the shrill laugh that came out of her mouth. ‘Lizzie, if your mother’s not well …’

  ‘She’s never well,’ Lizzie said. ‘Yes, maybe I should go and see her now or do I wait till she’s worse and see her in the hospital or do I …?’ Her shoulders were shaking as he took them in his hands, glimpsing the never-ending quandary she was in. ‘I can’t drop everything all the time but the one time I don’t dash to see her I know it will be the time …’

  ‘Get your coat,’ Leo said.

  She gave a weary nod. It was almost four. If she left now she might miss the worst of the traffic and if she left really early tomorrow she could be back in time for work …

  ‘What are you doing?’ Lizzie asked, as Leo came back, his jacket on, telling Gwen he was going on a house call and wouldn’t be back, and then he led her to his car. ‘I live two minutes away.’

  ‘I’m taking you to see your mother,’ Leo said. ‘You’re upset, I don’t want you driving.’

  ‘No.’ Lizzie shook her head. ‘I was going to stay the night and drive back in the morning. You wouldn’t want …’ She couldn’t imagine him at the Hewitts and she couldn’t imagine the Hewitts if she and Leo shared a bed! ‘I stay at a bed and breakfast, they’re old family friends.’

  ‘Why don’t we just see how she is first?’ Leo was practical. ‘If you need to stay you can make a booking; if not, we’ll come back. We can stop at home and get our things just in case …’ He pulled out into the heavy London traffic and, realising what he had just said, corrected himself. ‘Do you want to go to your place first?’

  ‘No.’

  There wasn’t any point—everything she needed for an overnight stay was already at Leo’s.

  It was a long, slow drive but they were chatting so much that a traffic jam didn’t really matter. She showed him the bed and breakfast they might be staying in that night and forewarned him about the nylon sheets and the rules of the kitchen.

  ‘Last booking is at seven-thirty,’ Lizzie said. ‘I always want to tell them that I’ll eat out but they take it so personally.’

  ‘So you eat there to please them?’ Leo grinned.

  ‘No,’ Lizzie corrected. ‘I eat there so as not to offend them.’

  They pulled up at the nursing home and Lizzie hesitated as Leo turned off the engine and went to get out.

  ‘You don’t have to visit.’

  ‘I know.’

  ‘It might just …’ She didn’t know how to put it delicately. ‘Dad might have some questions.’

  ‘I’m a friend,’ Leo said. ‘I’m also your boss. Won’t your father be pleased to know that you didn’t have to drive yourself? Won’t it help him to know that you’ve got people who care about you?’

  He did care, that much he was more than willing to admit.

  ‘Of course,’ Lizzie lied.

  Leo simply didn’t get it. The only person he answered to was himself and his mere presence would set off a whole load of questions—not tonight but in the future.

  ‘Lizzie!’ Shelby, the nurse, gave her a beaming smile as Lizzie and Leo walked in, and went a little bit pink when she saw Leo. ‘Your mum’s actually picking up a bit. The antibiotics seem to be kicking in and we’ve been giving her lots to drink. I’m so sorry for scaring you …’

  ‘Don’t be,’ Lizzie said. ‘I’d far rather you rang and let me know what’s happening than not. Is the nurse still specialling her?’

  ‘No. Your dad’s in there with her. She’s a lot more settled and her temperature has started to come down.’

  A little bit more gingerly than usual, Lizzie went in.

  ‘Lizzie!’ Her dad stood, clearly shocked at the sight of a man with his daughter, but, then, Lizzie reasoned as she made the introductions, her dad would be shocked if she’d had her hair cut—he simply loathed any change in routine.

  He always had, Lizzie thought as she approached Faye.

  ‘Hi, Mum.’

  ‘Have you got my watch?’

  ‘I’m trying to find it,’ Lizzie answered patiently. ‘I hear you haven’t been feeling well.’

  ‘Who are you?’

  Even the ten thousandth time hurt and Leo saw the brief flicker of pain in her eyes.

  ‘It’s me, Lizzie.’

  ‘And who are you?’ She looked at Leo. ‘Have you got my watch?’

  ‘I haven’t got your watch, Mrs Birch,’ Leo said. ‘I’m Leo, a friend of Lizzie’s.’ He could see the tension in her father’s face. ‘She was upset so I offered to drive her.’

  ‘Are you staying at the Hewitts’?’ her father snapped to Lizzie, but it was Leo who answered.

  ‘Lizzie was going to stay if her mother wasn’t well but I have to get back tonight.’

  ‘Oh,’ Thomas huffed, only slightly appeased, but then he turned to his wife when she surprised everyone.

  ‘Lizzie!’ Faye’s smile was wide.

  ‘Hi, Mum.’ Lizzie went over and kissed her again as if she’d just walked in. ‘How are you feeling?’

  ‘Not so bad …’ She looked at Leo. ‘Who’s this?’

  ‘I’m Leo,’ Leo answered again. ‘I’m a friend of Lizzie’s.’

&
nbsp; ‘It’s lovely to see you with someone …’ Faye said to her daughter, and Lizzie cringed. She usually craved her mother’s rare moments of near-lucidity—the times when Faye actually recognised her daughter, and they could have an almost normal conversation, but did she have to do her reminiscing in front of Leo? ‘Better looking than that Peter,’ Faye said. ‘He was no good for Lizzie,’ she told Leo. ‘Lizzie has wanted a husband and children since the day she was born and all Peter wanted …’ Her voice trailed off as she lost her train of thought. ‘Have you seen my watch, Lizzie?’

  Leo was actually fantastic with them but, then, naturally he would be, Lizzie reminded herself. He had a fantastic bedside manner. He chatted with her father about the traffic and it was a relief for Lizzie not to have to go over and over every detail of the journey down to Brighton for once. She left it to Leo and sorted her mum’s hair and encouraged a couple of drinks of lemonade into her.

  ‘Has she got any cranberry juice?’ Lizzie asked, because she always brought some with her but yet again it had gone missing.

  ‘I’ll go and get some,’ Leo offered.

  ‘The shop will be closed.’

  ‘I’ll find somewhere.’

  He did. Leo was back ten minutes later.

  ‘The garage had some.’

  Lizzie could only smile. Leo would have no idea how much cranberry juice cost, let alone care that it was double the price at the garage.

  It was all these tiny things that constantly rammed home to Lizzie that their worlds were completely different.

  The drive home was a slightly strained one. Leo might not know much about the cost of cranberry juice but he did know the cost of other things. The home her parents were in would cost a small fortune and, as they chatted, he soon worked out that, no, it hadn’t all been covered by the sale of their house and Lizzie was paying for a lot of things.

  ‘It must be a strain.’

  ‘It is.’ Lizzie could now admit it. ‘But growing up they gave me everything—it’s the least I can do.’

  Her selflessness unnerved him. That she would give everything she had to ensure her parents’ comfort, that she would drop everything for what had turned out to be a simple UTI.