A small laugh escaped her friend’s lips. “Do you honestly know a man who wouldn’t be thrilled to get near you if he could?”
“Mia—”
“Stop pretending when you know it’s true.”
“The good doctor didn’t seem to care that I left the room. I could have been wearing a quarantine sign for his lack of interest.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. You’re the daughter of King Victor, that’s why he played it cool. He doesn’t want to presume. Felipe is the same way when it comes to you.”
“I know.” Dr. Felipe Peletti, a friend of Dr. Barsotti’s in the same medical group, had been dating Mia. The two were in love. “There are certain lines they won’t cross.”
“I’m afraid most ordinary people, men in particular, have the same problem when it comes to your royalness,” Mia teased.
Fausta’s friend had never had that hang-up. They’d met in high school with no secrets between them. She was one of the few nonroyals who’d treated them like equals and Fausta loved her for it. “You mean my untouchableness.”
“If only the masses knew what a fun, easy person you are to be with.”
“Ditto. Now I’d better let you go. I know you have to be at the hospital first thing in the morning. See you for lunch at Babbo’s.” It was a trattoria around the corner from the hospital.
“Absolutely.”
“Ciao.”
* * *
Wednesday after office hours, Nico was elated to find the princess comforting his ten-year-old patient Gina. The girl suffered from a form of childhood absence epilepsy. Each seizure lasted ten to twenty seconds and ended abruptly. Two out of three children responded to treatment and the seizures usually disappeared by midadolescence.
He’d had her brought in for tests before he ordered medication for her. She was holding on to a new stuffed animal for dear life.
The princess looked up at him when he entered the room. She was a vision in a soft orange blouse and skirt beneath her lab coat.
“Here’s Dr. Barsotti, Gina.”
The girl looked frightened. “Are you going to give me a shot?”
He shook his head. “No. I just came in to see how you are doing.”
“Her mamma will be right back,” her visitor said with an entrancing smile.
Nico nodded before checking his patient’s vital signs. “In the morning you’ll be able to go home.”
“You see?” the princess assured her, patting her other arm.
“Am I going to die?”
“Of course not,” Nico answered her. “I believe this condition is going to go away by your midteens. Don’t be frightened by things some kids say to you. They don’t know what I know.”
A small smile broke out on her cute face. “Fausta brought me this white Lagotto hunting dog.” Fausta again. “She says her father has one.” That didn’t surprise Nico. The king was known to hunt. “I love him.”
The princess’s compassion and generosity impressed him. “I’d like to be a patient so she’d bring me one just like yours, Gina.”
“I might be able to arrange something,” their royal guest drawled without looking at him. She stood up as Gina’s mother came back in the room. “I loved spending time with you, Gina. Do everything the doctor says and I know you’ll get well too.”
“Do you have to go?”
“There’s another patient I have to visit, but I’ll keep you in my prayers.”
“Thank you for the dog.”