‘Rico.’ Catherine smiled at Dr Sellers politely before turning to him. ‘I can speak for myself.’
She couldn’t be certain, but she was almost sure a dusting of colour crept up Rico’s cheeks, and he snapped his mouth closed, reverting to the surly pre-adolescent manner he assumed when he didn’t get his way.
‘My period is late, Doctor.’
‘And you’re usually regular?’
It was Catherine flushing now, the boldness of before leaving her as she attempted to discuss her monthly cycle with this difficult audience. ‘Well, I wouldn’t set my watch by it,’ she said quietly, scuffing at the floor with her foot. ‘But I am definitely a few days late. Though I know it’s probably too soon to tell.’
‘Not these days.’ Dr Sellers’s voice was kind. ‘Though I should warn you there can be a down side to finding out too soon.’
‘Such as?’ Rico asked, and Dr Sellers shot him a rather irritated look.
‘Rico, I’m going to need to examine Catherine. Perhaps you could wait outside?’
Rico’s eyes darted to Catherine’s and he blinked a couple of times when she nodded.
‘It might be better.’
Rico clearly wasn’t used to being asked to leave, and Catherine half expected him to protest, but surprisingly he agreed, shrugging his shoulders in a curiously nonchalant gesture before strutting outside.
‘Someone’s getting a bit over-excited.’ Dr
Sellers smiled as the door closed none too gently behind him.
Catherine didn’t respond. ‘Furious’ would be a more apt description. ‘Trapped’ might be another. Dragging her mind away from Rico, she concentrated on the issue in hand.
‘You said there was a down side to finding out too soon. What is that?’
‘A very long nine months, for one thing,’ Dr Sellers said dryly, but then his expression turned more serious. ‘This is a very fragile time in a pregnancy, Catherine. Sometimes I suggest that my patients come back in a week or two if nothing has happened.’
‘I understand what you’re saying, Doctor,’ Catherine answered, equally serious. ‘But I don’t really need the test to tell me I’m pregnant.’
She didn’t. From the moment their stars had collided Catherine had felt different. From the second Rico had cruelly suggested the possibility it was as if she had known the outcome—had almost envisaged the moment in her mind. ‘This is really just a formality.’
‘So the test is for Rico’s benefit?’
Catherine didn’t answer. Instead she handed over her specimen bottle as Dr Sellers opened his drawer.
‘I can’t imagine he’d be one to settle for feminine intuition. Even as a teenager he questioned me on everything.’
‘Rico?’ Catherine was smiling now, enjoying the small talk, grateful not to have to listen to the ticking clock as her fate was decided. ‘I can’t imagine him as a sickly child.’
‘He’s never had a sick day in his life; it’s taken all my powers of persuasion just to get him to have his cholesterol checked. Disgustingly normal, of course.’ He gave a smile, glancing at his watch, then back to the tiny strip of blotting paper before him. ‘No, I’m talking about when his mother died. Rico grilled me for hours, sure there must have been something I could have done, should have foreseen.’
‘How did she die?’
For a second she thought he wasn’t going to answer, but after a brief pause he gave a tight nod. ‘She had a stroke. I’m not breaking any confidences by telling you—it was all over the papers, much like now. Rico wanted answers, and unfortunately there weren’t many I could give him. No one could have foreseen it. It was especially hard for Rico. Carlos’s English wasn’t very good, and Marco was so much younger. It was Rico who had to deal with the press, the paperwork—Rico who dealt with it all, really.’
Tears were pricking her eyes now. This was another side of Rico she had never envisaged—a young man trying to do the right thing, terrified, but having to be strong.
‘It’s a shame he’s not being so pedantic where his brother is concerned.’ Doctor Sellers’s voice forced Catherine’s attention, and he caught her eyes and held them. ‘I really think Rico should come and see me regarding Marco’s results. As I said, Bella’s death couldn’t have been foreseen, but…’ His voice trailed off and it was Catherine who filled in the gap, the hairs on the back of her neck suddenly standing to attention. There had been something in Dr Sellers’s voice that unnerved her.
‘What did the autopsy show?’
‘Catherine, I’m sorry. I cannot discuss this any further with you. Marco was my patient; Rico is his family…’
She nodded her understanding. ‘Do you know anything about Janey?’