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Zan turned to see Mike coming up behind them, his arms full of soft toys, a huge smile on his face.
‘How is he?’
‘He’s great.’ Kelly smiled at him and Zan was relieved and delighted to see them so happy together.
The death of Mike’s brother had obviously been the cause of many problems between the couple. It was fortunate that things with the baby had turned out so well.
She wished them goodnight and then glanced at her watch. Time to go back to Kim’s.
On the way past the nurses’ station she stopped and spoke to the sister.
‘Eddie is doing well.’
The sister nodded. ‘Unbelievably well.’ She gave a gentle smile and looked across at the couple who were bent over the cot. ‘Nice to have a happy story at Christmas.’
Zan walked back to the staffroom, pulled on her coat and made her way down the stairs to the front of the hospital. A huge Christmas tree dominated the foyer and she looked at it briefly, wondering why Christmas Eve seemed so long ago.
She was longing to go home, but as they still hadn’t caught the men who were threatening Carlo she wasn’t allowed to.
She slipped a hand into her pocket to check that she still had Kim’s keys safe and then pushed through the revolving doors and into the cold night air.
Lights exploded in her face and she blinked and lifted a hand to shield her eyes, trying to work out what was happening.
A group of people swarmed around her, most of them with cameras, some with recording equipment. There was a furious sound of camera shutters and blinding flashes and suddenly everyone seemed to be calling her name, jostling for her attention.
‘Miss Wilde?’
How did they know who she was?
Bemused by the attention, she backed away slightly but they closed in tightly, pelting her with questions before she could escape.
‘Is it true that you’re having a relationship with Carlo Santini?’
‘Did you see the men that broke into your flat?’
Zan looked round, desperate for some help, but there was no one around. How had this gaggle of press managed to congregate outside the hospital without anyone noticing?
One reporter, a small man with a nasty expression on his face, elbowed his way past the others. ‘Is it true that they’re after him because he let a baby die?’
Outrage exploded inside her. ‘Mr Santini is the best obstetrician I’ve ever worked with,’ she said, her voice shaking. ‘There are all sorts of reasons why babies are stillborn but I know that Carlo wasn’t responsible for that death.’
‘How long have you known him?’
The questions came all at once and she shook her head, looking for an escape.
Poor Carlo.
If this was the sort of hassle that he encountered then no wonder he found it hard to lead a normal life.
Another reporter wriggled to the front of the crowd. ‘Did you know that a woman in Italy has filed a paternity suit against Carlo?’
Zan froze.
Carlo had a child?
For a moment she felt numb, and then snatches of conversation came back to her.
The press print something different about me almost every day. Some of it is total fabrication, and some of it comes from people with a grudge.
