Page 40 of Prognosis Incompatible

‘I’m pleased he was there for you,’ Marcus said, and meant it. Maddy had been through a lot of tragedy in her life. It just didn’t seem right that one person had to shoulder so much. He was pleased that Simon had served a purpose, even if it meant they’d developed an unhealthy codependency.

‘Sorry I came on so strong at you in the beginning. I guess now you know why. It just makes me so angry sometimes.’

‘Understandable,’ he dismissed quickly. ‘What happened to the...er...psychic guy?’

‘Nothing. A slap on the wrists. He didn’t actually operate on her, just made her think he had, so he couldn’t be charged with her death.’

That made Marcus angry. Alternative medicine struggled so hard to be recognised because people like that quack constantly destroyed their credibility.

Their meals arrived then and they were both pleased to have their conversation interrupted. They ate for a while, savouring the food, Madeline grateful to take a break from talking about herself. ‘So, now you know all my deep dark secrets. What about you?’

He chuckled as he cut into his steak. ‘Nothing too deep and dark about me, I’m afraid.’

‘Hah! Don’t believe you. What about your ex? What happened there?’

‘Ah.’ He smiled. ‘Long story.’

She smiled at him as she slowly sucked a strand of fettuccine into her mouth and watched his eyes bulge ever so slightly as her tongue darted out to lick some creamy sauce off her lips. ‘I’m not going anywhere,’ she said.

Marcus stared at her for a moment, trying to clear the lust from his brain. ‘We were twenty-two,’ he said after a moment. ‘She got pregnant, we got married. She had a miscarriage. The whole thing was a disaster. We got divorced.’

She laughed. ‘So that’s the nutshell version?’

He shrugged. ‘It was a long time ago.’

She rolled her eyes. ‘Men! I just tell you all my gut-wrenching stuff and you give me nutshell? I want more,’ she demanded with a smile.

‘All right,’ he sighed, resigned to a full dissection of a time in his life he’d rather not remember in too much detail. ‘What do you want to know?’

She looked at him exasperatedly. ‘I don’t know...’ She searched around for something to start with. ‘What’s her name?’

‘Tabitha.’

‘How long were you together before she got pregnant?’

‘A year.’

‘Did you love her?’

‘I think so, in the beginning. But I think I was more besotted with her than anything. She was the prettiest girl I’d ever seen. It wore off kind of quickly, though. I was about to call it off when she discovered she was pregnant.’

‘Ouch!’

‘Yup.’

‘But you married her anyway?’

He nodded vigorously. ‘No way in the world was a kid of mine growing up without a father. Been there, done that. Wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy. I insisted we get married.’

Madeline nodded. That made sense, knowing what she knew about his childhood and his bond with Connor. ‘How long after that did she miscarry?’

‘About a month. She was sixteen weeks.’

Madeline whistled. ‘Late. She must have been devastated.’

He nodded. It had been so unexpected. Tabitha had been well into the second trimester — it had been a shock.

‘And how did you feel?’

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