Meet Me Under The Ombu Tree by Santa Montefiore

Author:Santa Montefiore [Montefiore, Santa]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, azw3, epub
ISBN: 9781471132124
Amazon: B00DF58G08
Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK Ltd
Published: 2015-03-17T18:30:00+00:00

Chapter 23

Eduardo Maraldi was tall, lanky and intellectual. He had a long sensitive nose and grey eyes that betrayed his every emotion. If it had not been for his small, Trotsky-style spectacles, they would have declared his feelings to anyone who got close enough to look into them. When he first visited Maria she was immediately struck by the soft voice that belied his tall frame, and the gentle way he placed his hands on her when he examined her.

Tell me, where does it hurt?7 he asked her and she found herself playing down her pain for fear of upsetting him. She was used to doctors who were coolly detached, doctors who didn’t get too involved with their patients.

By the second visit she was telling him all about Facundo. Things she hadn’t even told her mother. Like how he’d force himself on her when he was drunk -he had never wanted to have sex with her, he had wanted to save her virginity for their wedding night, but he had run his hands over her body and when he had been drunk he had hurt her. She told Eduardo how he had made her touch him in a way that she had found distressing. How he had made her do things she didn’t want to do. How he had frightened her and won her love at the same time. Encouraged by Eduardo’s unassuming smile and kind expression she told him things she never thought she’d tell anyone. Suddenly, responding to his sympathy, she started to cry. He placed his arm around her and without overstepping that fine line that separates doctor from patient, he did his best to comfort her.

‘Seinorita Solanas,’ he said after she had calmed down a little, ‘physically your wounds will heal until they disappear altogether and no one would ever know you had been hurt. That is not the problem.’ She looked up at him quizzically. ‘It is your mental scars that I worry about. Is there anyone you can talk to at home?’

‘I haven’t talked about it really with anyone.’

‘What about your mother?’ He recalled the slim, affectionate woman whom he had met on his first visit to her house.

‘Oh, I talk to her. But not like I talk to you,’ she replied and blushed. She lowered her eyes.

‘You need to be looked after and loved,’ he said. She flushed a deeper red and hoped he hadn’t noticed. He had and he also felt hot under his collar.

‘Oh, I have a very loving family, Dr Maraldi.’

Those mental scars will take a long time to heal. Don’t expect miracles. You may suddenly get depressed for no apparent reason. You may find it difficult to start a new relationship. Just be patient and remember that you have been through something that will have affected you more than you realize.’

Thank you, Doctor.’

‘If you need to talk, you can always come and see me,’ he suggested. He hoped that she would.

‘I will. Thank you.’

When she left his surgery, Eduardo splashed his face with cold water.

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