The Surgeon and the Princess by Karin Baine (ebook reader with android os .TXT) 📕

‘I’m not but thank you for caring. Late one at my parents’ last night.’ He was spending more time over at theirs doing little jobs to make sure they were safe. They seemed oblivious to the dangers around them now they weren’t as fit or spry as they used to be, but he was the only one who really visited or ran their errands for them. At the end of the day they were his family and he didn’t begrudge giving them a helping hand. Though some extra sleep would be nice.

‘No problems with your visitor, then?’ Giles was doing his best to keep the conversation casual but his continual hovering in the doorway spoke of his concern. Ed wasn’t going to jeopardise Georgiana’s nights here by confirming there’d been any sort of a problem. They’d had a small incident but he’d take steps to ensure it would never happen again. He wouldn’t want her to end up in that situation a second time.

‘Nope. Ms Ashley did her workout and I took her home afterwards. Nothing to report.’ He couldn’t quite meet Giles’s eyes but it was only a white lie to save Georgiana’s blushes. It had been nice having someone to confide in about his plans for the charity and she was doing him a huge favour in possibly securing a room at the palace for the event. If everything went to plan he’d have a venue for the gala dinner and an exclusive one at that. He couldn’t see anyone turning down an invitation to the palace. Including Giles.

‘Good, but if you’re planning on doing the same this evening you might want to try and wake yourself up a bit. Bags under the eyes don’t make a good impression.’ Ed couldn’t blame him for wanting to cover the clinic’s back as well as his concern for his workload. In the past Giles had suggested getting his parents into some sort of community housing to ease his burden but Ed wouldn’t hear of it as long as he was able to keep them in their own home. The family home he’d grown up in with his brothers and sisters.

‘If you were that bothered you would’ve brought an extra cup of coffee with you.’ Ed crumpled up a piece of paper and lobbed it in his direction. Giles dodged it, spilling only a drop of his precious liquid cargo.

‘I thought I’d encourage you to move and make your own to wake you up.’ Giles flapped his hand across the steam, wafting the aroma across the room, then walked away chuckling to himself.

Despite the teasing, Ed could see his point. He still had a few hours to put in before Georgiana’s session, then he’d be calling in on his parents to see what they needed. This drowsy state he was in wasn’t going to be conducive to the rest of his working day.

He gave himself a mental shake and got up out of the chair he’d been too comfy in for most of the day.

‘If the pool isn’t busy, I’m going to jump in for a dip,’ he informed Giles as he passed him in the corridor outside his office.

‘Good man. All I ask is for you to remember to put on a pair of swim shorts. It’s not adults-after-dark time just yet.’

‘Ha-ha. Very funny.’ It was unnerving to have Giles making jokes at his expense when it was usually the other way around. More than that, he was unused to this fizzing in his veins with the reminder he was going to see Georgiana again tonight. He couldn’t remember acting this way around any visitors to the clinic before. As Giles had said, he’d had more caffeine than was good for him today. Perhaps he needed to detox.

It was such a different atmosphere around the pool in the afternoon compared to the evening. All business and work, despite the happy faces of patients and staff and constant chatter. The bright glare of fluorescent light felt intrusive when being here with Georgiana had given him a new perspective of the place. With only two of them under minimum lighting it had been intimate, no room for all these people here now.

She would’ve hated to have been surrounded by all this toing and froing and not only because she was hung up on her appearance. Ed knew she remained in denial about what had happened to her. It wasn’t unusual for someone who’d had their life and possible future wiped away from them out of the blue. Being surrounded by other people at different stages of their recovery with their trainers would’ve been too much reality for her to deal with all at once. Yet Ed knew she needed support as much as every other person here. It was simply going to take a different approach to get her to accept that. She’d do much better with a one-to-one than being faced with anything more confrontational. He was picking her up in a few hours so he’d have to come up with something quick before then.

His recreational swim wasn’t important compared to the therapies being offered to those using the facilities. Ed was happy to wait his turn at the edge of the pool watching his patients’ progress. They all knew him to see and most waved or shouted over at him, unbothered by his presence.

Lots of people were happier to come here than the gym or the physio rooms so there was a positive vibe. Except for whatever commotion was going on in the corner of the pool closest to him.

‘Look, Hannah, I’ll come in with you. All you have to do is let go of Mummy.’ Ellie, one of their young trainers, had immersed herself in the water, uniform and all, in an effort to get her little patient in with her.

‘No!’ Hannah crawled further up into her mother’s embrace, clinging onto her neck like a baby monkey.

The exasperated parent tried to