The Italian's New-Year Marriage Wish Read Online Free PDF Page B

if we send her home, you will be worried.’ He gave an expressive shrug that betrayed his Latin heritage. ‘And you have already had enough worry for one day. So, we will send her to the hospital and then they can do the worrying. That will leave you free to give some attention to Lizzie.’
    â€˜I don’t know what attention to give her,’ Carol said flatly. ‘It’s like communicating with a firework. One minute she’s inanimate, the next she’s exploding in my face. I find it easier coping with toddlers than teenagers.’
    Marco listened and then gave a lopsided smile. ‘Being a mother is the hardest job in the world because your skills have to change all the time. You are a good mother and good mothers always find a way—remember that.’
    Amy saw the gratitude on Carol’s face and turned away for a moment, struggling with a painful lump in her throat. Why couldn’t Marco have been careless and unfeeling? Even in a crisis he could see the bigger picture. He didn’t just deal with the small child—he also handled the teenager and the worried mother.
    She’d needed him to be unskilled and insensitive.
    It would have made everything so much easier.
    As it was, just ten minutes in his company had confirmed her biggest dread. That two years of self-enforced absence had made no difference to her feelings. She would love Marco Avanti until she took her dying breath.
    Â 
    Marco picked up the phone and spoke to the paediatrician at the hospital, keeping one eye on Michelle. He was concerned that her breathing didn’t seem to be improving as much as he would have liked.
    Had he missed something?
    Was there something else he should have done?
    He didn’t usually have reason to question his medical skills but neither was he usually expected to handle an emergency while dealing with the unexpected appearance of his wife. Or was she now an ex-wife? It was obvious that she considered their relationship dead. And so had he. Until she’d walked into the room and asked for a divorce.
    Seriously unsettled for the first time in his adult life, he ground his teeth, under no illusions that his concentration had been severely tested by Amy’s sudden and unannounced arrival. Given that she clearly had no intention of leaving until she’d said what she’d come to say, he needed to somehow forget that she was there.
    Forcing his mind back to Michelle, he ended the phone call and then mentally ran through the algorithm for handling an acute asthma attack in a toddler and assured himself that he’d done everything that should be done.
    The child needed to be in hospital. And his wife was watching him, waiting for the right moment to ask him for a divorce.
    Why now? Why did she have to pick what must be the busiest week of the year? And not only that, but they were a doctor down. He didn’t have the time to argue with her. Their relationship was in its death throes and he didn’t have the time to try and save it.
    Which had presumably been her intention. Why else would she have picked this particular moment out of all the moments that might have presented themselves over the past two years? Was she hoping that the pressures of work would make him easier on her?
    Was she hoping that he’d just sign on the dotted line and sever all ties? Kill everything they’d ever shared?
    The door opened and Kate bustled in. ‘Carol, your husband redirected the ambulance and he’s holding on right now on the phone. I have a paramedic in Reception, wanting to knowif they’re still needed. Are you planning to send Michelle to the hospital, Dr Avanti?’
    Carol looked at Marco. ‘You really think she should go in?’
    Pushing aside his own problems, Marco gave a decisive nod. ‘Definitely. I called the paediatrician and she’s expecting Michelle. They’ll admit her overnight, monitor her breathing and then assess her in the