his eyelashes long and glorious. His slumberous gaze on her lips was like a physical caress and Katya swayed closer before he pulled back and turned on his heel and exited, chatting to Lupi as he went.
She drew in a ragged breath and watched him walk away. She was too speechless to talk and too boneless to move so she stood and stared, trying to work out everything that had just transpired.
Who in the hell was Benedetto Medici?
She was so positive she’d had him pegged. With MedSurg he had been every bit the playboy Italian count. Flirting and oozing sex appeal. Flashing his sexy smile and his diamond signet ring and managing to pull a packet of expensive chocolates or a tin of exclusive caviar out of thin air at the bleakest of times.
And yet this Ben was the opposite. He wasn’t flashy or showy. He hadn’t blown his own trumpet over the Lucia Trust and had cuddled Lupi to his chest like he had ten of his own children. She’d come to Italy to find out his suitability as a father. It was supposed to have been easy. But she was more confused than ever.
***
The theatre list got under way and right from the start Katya was aware of the differences between this and her MedSurg job. MedSurg dealt with major trauma. Big, ugly injuries. It was about saving lives, not delicate, intricate operations. It was fast, furious surgery. Patch ’em up and fly ’em out and start all over again. It was high-octane surgery.
This theatre was the exact opposite. There was no urgency, no sense of lives hanging in the balance, no adrenaline buzz. It was calm and ordered and relaxed, and Katya was surprised how nice that was for a change. She hadn’t realised how much of an adrenaline junkie she’d become or how soothing a slower pace could be.
Maria, the nurse in charge of the operating suites, had put her on two days of scout nurse duty to ease her into the routine and familiarise her with the layout. Watching the preparations, Katya was surprised at how much she’d missed working. She’d been away from it now for a couple of months and she was itching to gown up again.
Ben winked at her over the top of his mask and heat bloomed beneath her own mask, still embarrassed by her gaffe. So, now he felt superior to her, he was back to being flirty again? Well, at least she felt on firmer ground with this Ben. Flirty Ben she was used to.
Serious, humanitarian, Lupi-cuddling Ben she wasn’t.
‘Do you want to have a closer look, Katya?’
Ben’s words broke into her thoughts and she slowly met his gaze. That’s why I’m here, Ben — to get a closer look.
‘Katya?’
She blinked. ‘Sure,’ she said, ordering her legs to move.
In fact, this operation had really piqued her interest. Not just because the little girl in question must have suffered so much with her disfiguring condition but because she was so relieved it wasn’t someone voluntarily mutilating themselves, chasing some crazy beauty ideal.
She moved closer to the table opposite Ben, taking care to leave a little distance between her and the sterile drapes so she wouldn’t contaminate them with any body contact. She wouldn’t make herself popular if they had to redrape the patient.
‘As you can see, Lupi’s cleft is quite extensive,’ Ben said, making his initial incision. ‘She’s lucky that her palate’s not involved and that she only has a nasal deformity unilaterally on the left.’
‘What’s her story?’ Katya asked.
‘She comes from a remote village in her country that doesn’t have access to health care. When she was born her mother and father thought she would die. When she didn’t the village thought she was cursed. The villagers were too frightened to ostracise the family in case Lupi cursed them, too. But Lupi’s mother has kept her hidden away in their dwelling for six years. The other children are very cruel.’
‘Poor Lupi,’ Katya said, a touch of anguish in her voice. She thought about how much Sophia, her own sister, had been through with her disfiguring injuries and how heartbroken she’d been whenever a kid from school had teased her.
Katya’s heart went out to this poor little girl. No wonder she seemed to be thriving with the attention she was getting here.
Ben flicked his gaze up from what he was doing. He’d heard the genuine distress in her comment. The little girl’s plight had affected him, too. He couldn’t imagine