St Piran’s: Italian Surgeon, Forbidden Bride. Margaret McDonagh

had to DOA an eighteen-year-old… I was going to say man, but he was scarcely more than a boy with his whole life ahead of him.’

      Gio sympathised, recalling how he’d felt a few days ago when the young woman had died in Theatre from multiple injuries. ‘What happened?’

      ‘He was an apprentice mechanic at a local garage, driving the work van and following another mechanic who was returning a customer’s car after service,’ Josh explained, emotion in his accented voice as he told the story. ‘Some bozo going home from a liquid lunch at the golf club and driving far too fast ploughed into the van. The boy wasn’t wearing his seat belt, the van had no air-bags, and he went through the windscreen. He had horrible head and facial injuries—apparently he’d been a good-looking boy, not that I could tell—and a broken neck.’

      Gio exchanged glances with Ben and James, both of whom were listening with equal solemnity and empathy. ‘And the drunk driver?’ Ben queried, voicing the question in all their minds.

      ‘Yeah, well, there’s the rub. There’s no justice in this world.’ Josh gave a humourless laugh. ‘The boy’s colleague, who witnessed the crash, is in shock. The drunk driver hasn’t got a scratch on him. The police have arrested him and I hope they throw the book at him, but whatever sentence he gets won’t be enough to make up for that young life, will it?’