Arrhythmia (5 page)

Chapter 7

The next day, just when I thought I had finally gotten Desiderio’s face out of my mind, there it was again.

I ran into him as I hurried into the consulting office to drop off some patient files. He was standing in front of the large monitor on the wall, studying an X-ray of an ankle joint. Worse, he was blocking my way.

When I saw him, I stood glued to the spot. My eyes automatically wandered to his butt to see if it looked as hot in his hospital clothes as it had in the faded blue jeans.

Lord have mercy, it did!

I immediately felt like an idiot. I straightened my shoulders and tried not to look as nervous as I felt.

Why the hell was I so nervous anyway?

I proceeded as inconspicuously as possible. I confidently strode in, uttered “Hello,” and squeezed past him to the desk.

Phew!
I mentally wiped my brow with relief for successfully squeezing by without touching him.

I swiftly dropped the files into the right tray and started my retreat.

But Desiderio had taken a small step back, making it impossible for me to get by him, no matter how much I sucked in my stomach.

Had he done that deliberately?

Although he was still studying the X-ray, I thought I was able to detect the beginning of a mischievous grin in the corner of his mouth.

Just incredible!

I pulled myself together. “May I please pass?” I asked, and even sounded rather polite.

“In a moment,” he said without looking away from the X-ray.

What?

I narrowed my eyes and took a deep breath.

“I’m in a hurry,” I said with some urgency.

“Just a moment.”

Irritated, I crossed my arms. “Weber B fracture, slightly dislocated. Should be treated surgically. What else are you trying to see, Dr. DiCastidi?”

I knew his name, of course. It had been etched in my brain since the first day, and the mispronunciation was merely an attempt, albeit a pitiful one, to annoy him.

Desiderio slowly turned around and had the nerve to wink at me.

“Perfect diagnosis and treatment recommendation, and made in passing as well. Well done!” he said cheerfully. “And the name is DiCastello.”

Was he trying to make fun of me?

“Such a clear diagnosis doesn’t take much,” I grumbled. “Now may I please get by?”

“Are you really in such a hurry, or do you just want to get away from me?” he asked.

Annoyed, I bit the inside of my cheek. “Both.”

Desiderio smiled his crooked smile, raising just one side of his mouth. Something about that smile made me want to tear his clothing off his body.

Damn it, Lena, pull yourself together!

“Have you reached a decision?” he wanted to know.

“You mean a decision about whether I should just shove you aside or beat you until you get out of the way?” I asked with a sinister look. “At the moment, I’m more inclined to the latter.”

He opened his eyes wide in mock dismay. “Why on earth are you being so aggressive?”

“Don’t know. Why are you being such a pain?”

Desiderio laughed. “All right, you win.”

Win? Were we playing a game now?

With one elegant gesture, he stepped aside and showed me the way with his arm.

As I strode past him with my chin extended and my cheeks red, he added, “For today anyway.”

I responded with a disparaging grunt and marched out of the consulting room.

What was that supposed to mean, “for today”? Was that a threat?

Apparently, I was going to have to expect these encounters. He clearly enjoyed provoking me, so I had to learn how to immunize myself against him. Somehow, I would have to teach this little snot how to accept rejection.

Let the games begin!

There were no further incidents the next few days. Desiderio was scheduled for surgery most of the time, so he wasn’t around the ER very much. I liked it that way and hoped it would stay like that.

Still, I remembered our last encounter vividly and was working on a plan for dealing with his unnerving attacks in the future. Well, I didn’t actually have a plan, exactly, but I swore to myself that I would not let him make me nervous or let that obnoxious smile get to me.

Unfortunately, this was easier said than done.

I was preparing to treat a minor hand wound. The patient—I’ll call him Meier—had tried to build a birdhouse but had succeeded only in sawing into the back of his hand. For a man, he was surprisingly calm about it. He only flinched briefly when I mentioned the numbing injection I’d need to administer before a doctor could stitch him up.

I was just drawing this injection when a friendly hello floated into the treatment room.

Perfect.

Dr. Heimer had mentioned that he would send a resident, but he’d failed to mention that it would be this particular one.

Desiderio approached the patient in a good mood while my own mood plummeted at record-breaking speed.

Darn it!
Had I known that he was going to suture the wound, I would have sent another nurse to deal with this.

Then again, it was only a question of time before we would be forced to work together again.

Oh well, I just had to deal with it.

Desiderio did not pay any undue attention to my presence. He gave Mr. Meier’s wound an expert examination and explained the same procedure I’d already described.

“Well now, Mr. Meier. This wound needs to be sutured. No worries; I’ll give you a local anesthetic. That is a little unpleasant, but it sure beats the alternative. Do you have any allergies?”

“No,” I answered for the patient and handed Desiderio the anesthetic. “Ten milliliters local anesthetic. Patient is immunized against tetanus. I hope a three-oh suture is OK.”

He nodded and took the syringe. “Yes, of course.”

I was relieved that he was managing not to flirt in front of the patient. He was as professional and casual as any colleague. Still, I braced myself. You never knew.

I watched his movements with eagle eyes, having seen too many young doctors make beginners’ mistakes to trust a new resident blindly.

In Desiderio’s case, my caution seemed unfounded. I could see immediately that he knew what he was doing and had quite a bit of experience.

I had to admit: his work was skillful.

He acted quickly and with assurance and had Mr. Meier patched up in no time. I was almost as pleased as the patient when he was swiftly discharged with a thick bandage on his hand.

Yet the door had no sooner closed behind him than I felt a tingling in my back, which could only mean that Desiderio was watching me.

I’m still in his crosshairs.

I stubbornly tried to ignore the tingling and silently cleaned up. Once I had thrown everything in the garbage bin, disinfected the area, and replaced the paper covering on the exam table, I would have to face my tormentor one way or another.

With pointed insouciance, I turned toward Desiderio and raised one eyebrow.

He was leaning with crossed arms against a cabinet and did not even pretend he hadn’t been eyeing me the entire time.

“Have you ogled my ass long enough?” I demanded. He didn’t need to know that I was calling the kettle black.

“Hm.” He pretended to have to consider the answer to my question. “No, I could absolutely prolong the experience.”

The nerve!

“Does the term ‘sexual harassment in the workplace’ mean anything to you?”

He chuckled. “Yes, of course, though I must say that you would be the first to have made the accusation.”

“Ha! I can well believe that,” I huffed.

“Such a serious accusation needs to have more substance, though. After all, it’s not a crime to admire a beautiful flower, is it?”

I beg your pardon?

For a moment, I was speechless. Was that a compliment?

Lena, be careful and don’t let your guard down.

I quickly donned my pissed-off look again. “Of course not, but I’m a person, not some inanimate weed. And, as it happens, women can absolutely feel molested by being ‘admired.’”

“Well, I would never compare you to a weed,” he said, grinning mischievously and leaving me to wonder what he did compare me to. Probably a Venus flytrap. “Say, Lena,” he asked. “Do you have any plans this evening?”

“Well, Desire . . .”

“Desiderio.”

“Whatever. As it happens, I’m booked solid for the next five months.”

“How fortunate, then, that I’ll be here for six months.”

“OK, in that case, I’m booked for the next—”

“That’s a shame,” he interrupted me. “Because in September, Pink is giving a concert in Munich, and I’m still looking for a date.”

Once again, this infuriating man had me at a loss for words.

Had he just asked me to accompany him to
the
concert?

He seemed to read my mind and added, “Yes, I’m serious about that invitation.”

I mentally went through the list of the options I now had:

Say no.

Say yes, feign interest, and promptly lose interest after the concert.

Say yes, have sex with him, enjoy the concert, and possibly have sex again.

Say no and still have sex with him.

It took a while before I found my way back to reality and decided on the only right answer.

Even though it was a bit too late to sound convincing, I said “No!” loud and clear.

Desiderio lowered his head appreciatively. “Wow, you really are stubborn.”

Just a second here . . .

“Was that a test?” I hissed furiously.

“Not at all. I would be genuinely pleased if you would accompany me to the concert.”

I uttered a growl that expressed a general skepticism. Desiderio heaved a deep sigh.

“Well, you have plenty of time between now and September to reconsider . . .”

“Pff, forget it. You’re better off asking someone else. I’m sure there’s no shortage of women who would accept without hesitation!”

He pushed himself casually away from the cabinet and put on his crooked smile. “Exactly. That’s why I have time enough to wait for your decision. I can always find an emergency date the day before.”

I rolled my eyes. “You really are incredibly full of yourself, aren’t you?”

“That must be in my genes,” he explained. “Mediterranean types are known for their big egos. I’m Italian, you know.” He said it as if he was trying to impress me.

Little did he know, the Italian thing didn’t work on me!

“Uh, yeah. I am aware that DiCastello is an Italian name,” I said flatly.

“Do you know Italian?”

“I took it ages ago in school, but it’s still good enough for tourist purposes.”

“Interesting!” Desiderio raised his forefinger. “But what is even more interesting is that you can remember my name after all.”

Damn, damn, damn.

Irritated, I clenched my teeth and cracked my knuckles.

He was greatly amused by my state. “Sometimes you seem quite dangerous,” he said, smirking.

With that, he walked by me, and it was all I could do to refrain from growling at him like a wild dog.

Stupid jerk!

“He really invited you to the concert?” Vera repeated, wide eyed.

We were sitting on her patio under a huge umbrella. After my shift, I’d gone straight over to her place to fill her in on the dilemma with the ticket thief. I had no idea what I had hoped to achieve. I probably just wanted to complain to someone about it. I should have known Vera was the wrong person for that.

She had listened to my report with growing enthusiasm and even laughed about Desiderio’s pickup lines. Somehow, she was unable to understand the reason for my fury, and I bitterly regretted having confessed it all.

“Yes, he did,” I said and grimly drummed my fingers on the table. “Unbelievable, isn’t it?”

“What I find unbelievable is that you said no.”

“Excuse me? I cannot be bought! All the guy wants is to get me into bed!”

Vera leaned back and pensively stroked the armrests. “Don’t you think that was a major move just to get someone into the sack?”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Have you ever considered that he wants to go out with you because he finds you interesting?” she asked. “Or that perhaps he really likes you?”

I was furious. “Are you crazy? You’ve seen that playboy with your own eyes. He just can’t stand being rejected for the first time in his life. That’s why he upped the ante!”

Vera swayed her head slowly. “Still, the concert isn’t until September, and—”

“Bullshit. He knew I’d say no,” I interrupted her.

“How can you be so sure?”

I pursed my lips and glared at Vera. “You weren’t there!”

“That’s true, but unlike you, I’m approaching the subject without prejudice.”

“I don’t have any . . . Fine, I’m prejudiced. But you know exactly why that is.”

My fingers had stopped drumming on the table and were now drawing imaginary circles on the tabletop. Vera gently wrapped them in her hands and looked at me with compassion.

“Sweetie, of course I know. But it’s about time you left the past behind you and trusted someone.”

I avoided her eyes. “Trusting people means risking getting hurt.”

“But only people who trust can allow true happiness into their hearts. Isn’t that worth risking a few psychological bruises?”

“Bruises, yes, but with a player like Desiderio, I would be risking something more like psychological polytrauma,” I countered with conviction.

“You don’t know that. You don’t even know him!” Vera argued. “Not every hot man is necessarily an asshole.”

Sebastian’s head suddenly appeared in the patio doorway. “Exactly. Just look at me. I’m insanely attractive and still the nicest guy in the world!”

I gasped. “What the hell, Sebastian? How long have you been eavesdropping?”

“I was not eavesdropping!”

“We’re having girl talk,” I scolded. “This is none of your business, so get lost!”

“Hey, you can’t just throw me off my own patio!”

“Uh, darling?” Vera tried to intervene diplomatically. “Lena is right. We are in the middle of a serious heart-to-heart here. Do you think you could leave us alone for a little while?”