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Georgie drew in a tight little breath as she met his haunted gaze. ‘What’s wrong with her?’ she asked.
‘She has cauda equina syndrome, from a nerve sheath tumour. It’s large, and it’s wrapped around most of the lumbosacral nerve roots. There’s a reasonable risk of permanent damage. She could end up with lower limb weakness or urinary or faecal incontinence.’
‘What do you think the risk is of leaving permanent dysfunction?’ she asked.
He sighed again. ‘Pretty high I’m afraid. The literature suggests no better than 50 per cent chance of avoiding nerve-root compromise.’
Georgie bit her lip. ‘That’s not good.’
The lift doors opened and, placing his hand on her elbow, Ben led her outside. ‘No,’ he said. ‘It’s at times like these that I sometimes I wonder if I should have been a dermatologist.’
She looked at him in surprise. ‘That’s totally weird,’ she said, and gave her head a little shake.
‘What’s weird?’ he asked. ‘The thought of being a dermatologist?
Think of it—no on-call, no eighty- to ninety-hour weeks and no weekends stuck in Theatre while everyone else is at the beach.’
‘I know what you mean,’ she said thinking of how much she had enjoyed being i
n the warm summer sunshine all afternoon. ‘But I meant it was weird you said that because I said the very same thing to my policewoman friend the other day.’
‘Have you spoken to her since then?’ he asked.
She couldn’t quite read his expression. ‘No.’
He blew out a tiny breath. ‘I think I should warn you things might be pretty uncomfortable for you in ICU just now. It might be best to keep your visits to a minimum until this thing with Mr Tander settles down a bit.’
‘Has he said anything to you lately?’
Ben decided against telling her of the interaction he’d had with Marianne Tander’s husband as he’d been leaving his office after seeing Emma Stanley and her parents that morning. Jonathon Tander had cornered him, demanding to know why he hadn’t yet sacked the registrar who had cast such wicked aspersions on his impeccable character. The man’s heated tirade had gone on for so long Ben had begun to wonder if Mr Tander was protesting rather too much. Ben understood the volatility of emotions, especially in ICU where lives so often hung in the balance, but something about Jonathon Tander was a little too self-righteous for his liking.
‘Not lately,’ he lied, as he opened the car door.
‘Hi, Georgie,’ Hannah said as she wriggled out of the car to make room for her on the bench seat. ‘Gosh, you look fabulous, doesn’t she, Ben?’
‘Er … yeah … she does,’ Ben answered, dragging his eyes away from the shadow of Georgie’s cleavage as she slid along the seat.
‘I love your perfume,’ Hannah said, sniffing the air vigorously as she got in beside Georgie. ‘It’s so subtle, not like the woman’s whose name I’ve been forbidden to mention. She smelt like one of those cheap toilet air fresheners,’ she pinched her nose and added, ‘Eeeuw.’
Georgie glanced at Ben’s expression and saw him frowning darkly as he shifted the car into gear. She hadn’t realised until now how terribly hurt a man could be about a break-up. She had assumed they quickly moved on to the next relationship as a couple of her ex-partners had done, but it was clear Ben hadn’t really come to terms with Leila’s betrayal. It was also very clear his sister was doing her best to matchmake them, which was rather sweet, but Georgie had a feeling Hannah’s attempt to marry her off to her big brother was likely to fail. He was undoubtedly attracted to her, as she was to him, but their backgrounds were so different and his prejudice against her father would surely cause trouble if their relationship did become a permanent one. She could just imagine the friction it would cause—maintaining a successful relationship was hard enough without other factors coming into play.
‘Have you got enough room?’ Hannah asked.
‘Um … yes …’ Georgie answered, trying to ignore the rock-hard thigh brushing against hers. She sucked in a breath to keep her upper body away from his but it was almost impossible as Hannah seemed to be leaning against her, she could only assume deliberately.
‘Is Thai food all right with you?’ Ben asked into the little silence.
‘Of course,’ Georgie answered. ‘I love Thai food.’
‘There’s a fabulous Thai restaurant in The Rocks,’ he said. ‘It’s right next to Cadman’s cottage.’
‘I know the one,’ Georgie said. ‘It’s won numerous awards.’
A short time later they were seated in the busy restaurant, with drinks in front of them, while Hannah monopolised the conversation.
‘So when are you going to bring Georgie home to meet Mum and Dad?’ she asked her brother. Before waiting for an answer, she tacked on, ‘How about next weekend?’
‘I really don’t think—’ Ben and Georgie spoke in unison.
