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

In the end Georgiana made the decision for her and took the tray off her hands. ‘I want to check and make sure Mother is okay.’

That seemed enough to ease her conscience and she gave a little curtsey before scuttling off downstairs. It was difficult to get used to being waited on hand and foot after being self-sufficient for so long in the army. From the outset of her return Georgiana had done her best to put an end to that kind of attention and intrusion from the staff by insisting she be left alone. Other than those she ran into in the halls, or in the kitchen when she was on a snack hunt, she rarely had any interaction. It was her way of keeping perspective even though she was living in a palace with servants available at the ring of a bell.

She knocked lightly on her mother’s bedroom door.

‘Come in.’

Georgiana opened the door with her elbow and slowly backed into the room, careful not to upend the tray. If she made a scene here, it would only prove to her mother she was incapable of the smallest of tasks. Months ago, she could only dream of being able to balance a tea tray without spilling anything. Sheer determination and the stubborn streak she wished her poor brother had inherited had got her to this point. Hopefully, it would be enough to see her through this and back to the life she’d made for herself away from this fake reality. She believed it was better for her mental health if she was able to live independently from her parents again, where she was able to think for herself and not under pressure to live the way they wanted her to.

‘I thought I’d come and see what the consultant said.’ She couldn’t be sure if it was guilt or anger that had kept the man and his comments in her thoughts while she’d changed.

‘Georgiana, you shouldn’t be carrying that. Where did that girl go? I wish Lise had never left. At least she knew how to do her job properly.’ Her mother shifted up the bed, struggling to sit upright but somehow still managing to look regal in her nightgown.

‘I sent her away. I wanted to bring you your tea.’ She placed the tray across the patient’s knees and arranged the pillows behind her until she was sure her mother was comfortable.

‘You shouldn’t be doing that in your condition.’

‘I’m not pregnant, Mother, and I don’t have a condition. I’ve had an amputation and I need to adjust to it, not pretend it hasn’t happened.’ This was the kind of thing she usually tried to avoid—a pity party thrown in her honour. She didn’t want one and she didn’t deserve one. It was her parents’ refusal to accept what was going on before their very eyes that had resulted in Freddie taking his own life. If the family had pulled together, faced the future united and been honest to themselves and the rest of the world, he might still be here.

‘You shouldn’t be pushing yourself too hard.’

Where had she heard that one before?

‘I’m not. I’m only bringing you some tea,’ she said with a smile, trying to give her mother the benefit of the doubt that she was truly worried about her daughter’s health and not wrapped up in how her disabled daughter would look to the staff.

‘We have employees to do that, dear.’

‘So, Mr Lawrence says you’re going to be okay. That’s good news.’ Georgiana pulled over a chair and sat down, her muscles beginning to ache after her workout.

‘Oh, you saw him?’ There was a sparkle in her mother’s eyes at the mere mention of the handsome consultant. Georgiana could admit the dashing Edward Lawrence was something of a head turner because it would be a long time before she acted on any attraction to the opposite sex. If ever. Especially if it was someone so rude and pushy as the aforementioned visitor.

A memory of her attempt at having the last say popped into her head. The absolute gall of him to take her shorts with him as some sort of trophy. It went to show the difference between him and his distinguished father. He wasn’t embarrassed at all by her undressing in front of him. It certainly hadn’t hastened his exit as she’d intended.

‘Hmm... He stopped by the gym. Where did you get him from anyway? He seems very full of himself, if you ask me.’ She was still smarting after their encounter. Primarily because he seemed to think he knew her body better than she did.

‘His father retired a few years ago but he came very highly recommended. Edward has a lovely bedside manner.’

‘I’m sure he does,’ she muttered, not having had the same experience.

‘He can be very discreet, if that’s what you’re worried about, darling.’ She gave a pointed look towards Georgiana’s prosthetic. It was difficult to admit that her mother was correct in her assumption that having him see her was what had bothered her.

‘I think you might need to talk to him about boundaries. Surely he shouldn’t be free to wander around here snooping on the rest of us if it’s you he’s here to see.’ If he wasn’t intimidated in the slightest by her, admonishment from the monarch might take him down a peg or two. His ego could do with some deflating.

‘I—I’ll have a word with him. Did he say something to upset you, Georgiana?’

‘He...uh...’

It wasn’t so much what he’d said to her, more the way he’d said it. All superior and cocky. Although she knew if she said that, she’d sound like a petulant brat and her mother didn’t need more reason to treat her like a child. It was one of those things she’d simply have to deal with and move on.

‘Not exactly. He said I was welcome to use the gym equipment at his clinic. In his opinion it’s better than the stuff I’m