‘Thanks...’ Helen seemed to be breathing a little more easily now.
‘That’s okay. I get extra points on the emergency doctor scale for carrying someone, you know. I’m just glad you aren’t too heavy.’
Helen smiled, even though the joke wasn’t really so much of a joke. Ben had just done his job, what he needed to do to keep Helen quiet and safe. But somehow, that lost feeling of being able to make a difference had filtered back into the equation. Maybe because of Helen, but more likely because Arianna Petrakis was just five minutes away now, and she’d known him when he could make a difference.
Ben saw a light blanket draped across the bottom of the couch and pulled it up over Helen’s legs. She was beginning to recover now, although the smallest thing could leave her struggling for breath again. The door to the surgery opened quietly and Ben turned.
Arianna. He’d know her anywhere. Dark curls, cut to frame her face. Liquid brown eyes, and flawless olive skin. There was something about the way she carried herself that reminded him of the bravery of the little girl who had clung so tightly to him, and...there was no getting away from it...she was beautiful.
‘Hi, I’m Dr Petrakis.’ Her manner was perfect, assured and relaxed, even though the pink in her cheeks suggested that she might have been running to get here. ‘You’re Helen?’
Helen nodded, and Arianna put a large paper pharmacy bag onto her desk. ‘I’ve got a selection of inhalers, but Dr Marsh says that the blue one with Albuterol is the one you usually have.’
‘Yes, that’s right.’ Helen seemed much better now, and managed to get three words out without gasping for breath.
‘That’s good; I have the one you need.’ Arianna reached for the bag, taking a box out and reading the Greek lettering on the side, before opening it and taking out the inhaler.
Her English was flawless, and spoken with a slight London accent, the kind you didn’t get from just learning the language. The thought that maybe she’d lived in Ben’s home town and he’d never known how close she was took Ben’s breath away, and then Arianna turned her gaze onto him.
‘Thank you, Dr Marsh.’ He thought he saw some spark of recognition, but maybe it was just in his imagination. ‘I’ll examine Helen now. Corinna will make you some coffee, if you still want to wait?’
Yes, of course... He was a tourist who’d just helped out in an emergency, and it was time for him to leave.
‘Thanks. I’ll wait.’ He turned to Helen with a smile. ‘You’re looking much better now.’
Helen gave him a smile and a thumbs up, and Ben returned the gesture before walking back out into the reception area. He didn’t really want coffee, but Corinna insisted on making him some, putting a selection of biscuits on a plate next to his cup. He sipped his drink as he waited, before Arianna appeared again.
‘Claire, you can go and see Helen now.’ She spoke to Helen’s friend, who’d been sitting miserably in the corner, despite all of Corinna’s attempts to cheer her up. ‘She’s much better, but she needs to rest a little. Andreas, our paramedic, has just arrived and he’s sitting with her. Be calm and quiet, yes?’
Claire nodded. ‘I’m sorry...’
Arianna batted the apology away with a flick of her hand. ‘It’s frightening to see someone taken ill like that, isn’t it? Now that she’s here, we can look after her and she’ll be fine. What she needs right now is to see you smiling.’
Arianna was being kind. The hurried rush through the streets to the health centre couldn’t have done Helen any good; it would have been better to keep her sitting down and get help to come to her. Maybe she’d explain that at some point, but Ben had little doubt that her firm, gentle way would make it sound like a bit of advice for the future rather than a condemnation.
Claire wiped away her tears and tried out a smile, and Arianna gave her an approving nod. Corinna took Claire’s hand, leading her towards the surgery, and then Ben’s heart started to beat a little faster as Arianna turned to walk across the reception area towards him.
CHAPTER TWO
MAYBE IT WAS the last dregs of her dream. It had been so clear, and Arianna had struggled to break free of it as she’d showered and made breakfast this morning. But when she’d walked into her surgery, the handsome English doctor had made her catch her breath. There was something so familiar about him.
She’d managed to quell the feeling as she examined and treated Helen, but now that Andreas was back from his afternoon visits and would sit with Helen while she recovered it had started to nag at her again. And when she caught sight of Dr Marsh again, sitting in the waiting room, she was even more convinced she knew him. From a day years ago, when a blond-haired, blue-eyed boy had saved her from the sea.
It was impossible. That kind of coincidence just didn’t happen, even if it had occupied her daydreams for much of her teens. And her dreams as an adult. Dr Ben Marsh was probably here for...something else. Someone else.
He got to his feet as she approached him, all hard lines and male beauty. Maybe that was why he seemed so familiar. He was definitely the kind of man that any woman would want to know.
‘Dr Petrakis...’
‘Arianna, please. Since we’ve already put you to work. You’re on holiday here?’ His casual trousers and shirt didn’t indicate that he was here on business.
‘I came to Ilaria to see you.’
Okay. Maybe she did know him from somewhere. But that still didn’t mean Ben Marsh was the man a part of her hoped he was. Although it really shouldn’t be necessary to search her memory for someone as strikingly attractive as Ben. Maybe Arianna’s resolution to have nothing more to do with any man who looked capable of sweeping her off her feet had worked a little too well.
‘I’m sorry... Have we met before?’
‘If you’re the Arianna Petrakis I think you are, then yes. It was a long time ago, though...’