page57 (1/1)

Please sit down, both of you: The obstetrician wasn't ses he had on his desk,them around 'I'h your baby may have a heart defect:

'A heart defect? What exactly does that et any further; her pent-up e it impossible for her to speak

‘The baby will have to be between twenty-two to twenty-four weeks before we can e, all we can tell from the scans is that there is a likelihood that your baby could have a foetal heart abnormality’

‘You said there could be a heart abnormality’

Marcos voice seeh she weren't really here and taking part in this dreadful, dreadful scene, as though she and her baby had gone away so bad could touch them

'What exactly does that mean?' Marco questioned the obstetrician

‘ltas it should Now this can be a small problem, or it can be a far more serious one We cannot tell which, as yet That is why you will need to see a cardiac specialist There is a very good one here in this hospital, who collaborates with our specialist neo-natal unit My recoe for you to visit hied:

‘Isisto die?’ Emilys voice shook with fear

‘No’ the obstetrician assured her But depending on how severe the abnorhout his childhood and teenage years and s are extreme, there will be the necessity for a heart transplant at soe Severe heart malfunctions do limit the kind of life the sufferer can live If this is the case, your son will need dedicated care; boys like to run and play vigorous gaht be a possibility that hell not be able to do that’

Her child could be a boy who ht not be able to run and play like other children, a boy who could be subjected to operation after operation to keep hiive every hour, every second, of her life to him and his needs Emily vowed fiercely

Marco looked across at Emily; he could see the devastation in her eyes He wanted, he realised, to take her in his arms and hold her there He wanted to tell her that there was nothing to fear and that he would keep both of them safe, her and their child He wanted to tell her that he was there for them whatever happened and he alould be and that they were the s in his life The news they had just received had at a stroke filled him with an emotion so complex and yet so simple that it could not be denied

Love

What he was feeling for Eht noas love: a man's love for his woman, the mother of his child, for his companion and soul mate, without whom his life would never be complete

Earlier, while watching the scan take place, he had experienced thethat he had to be part of his sons life Now had co could ever belife and the wo it

Not power, not wealth, nothing; not even the throne of Niroli

Marco knew that others would not understand; he barely understood what he was experiencing himself But somehow, it wasn't necessary for hih for hi towards this place, this crossroads in his life, for longer than he realised;the journey that he had not seen

However, now not only had the crossroads been reached they had been traversed simply and easily, without any kind of hesitation or doubt He could not be Niroli's king and his child's father—certainly not this child's father, whose young lifeprecariously on a thread, and who should never be subjected to the rigours of kingship This boy would need his fathers loving presence And he would have it Singularly, neither he nor Eether they would be

‘I have to return to Niroli'

They were back home in Emily’s kitchen The necessary appointment had been made with the cardiac specialist, and now Ehtly as she listened to Marco

‘Yes of course' she agreed She had been expecting him to say this, and she knew too that there would be no demands from hirow up on the island The royal faant and proud to want to accept that one of their bloodline could be anything less than perfect No Marco would not want a sickly, ailing child around to remind him of that She could feel the pain of the rejection on behalf of her baby, but she stifled it It was Marco as not worthy of their child, not the other way around Not worthy of her child and not worthy of her love