Sheltered by Her Top-Notch Boss Page 13

  ‘I guessed you must be feeling low after what’s been going on,’ Ben said when she showed him into the sitting room a bit later on. ‘We’ve had a lot of emails and calls at the studio.’

  ‘You have? I’m sorry about that.’

  He smiled. ‘Don’t be. You have a lot of really steadfast fans out there—a lot of them are male, it has to be said, but there were a good many letters from female viewers, too. They think it was wrong for them to have printed articles about events that happened when you were still in your teens.’

  ‘That’s good to know.’ She brightened a little and then said, ‘But how do we go on from here? Does it mean an end to the next series you were planning?’

  ‘I’m not sure,’ he said. ‘We’d need to find a way of ensuring that the viewers are all on your side, one hundred per cent. It means they’d need to know what went on back then to cause you to go off the rails. Perhaps if you start by telling me what happened?’

  She told him and gave him a few minutes to let him absorb what she’d said. She made coffee and brought it into the sitting room on a tray.

  ‘How are we going to let people know?’ he mused. ‘Do we put out a statement to the press, or maybe deal with it in a separate programme?’

  ‘I can’t tell them about my past and what happened to my family. It would be too much like a betrayal.’

  ‘Even though, in a way, you were betrayed? After all, you lost your home and your mother left you and your brother. That must have been a terrible blow when you were so young, and it had to have played a big part in sending you off track.’

  ‘Maybe.’ She thought about it, trying to make sense of her chaotic emotions. ‘It was really hard for us to come to terms with what was happening at the time, but when I look back on it now I realise that both of my parents were suffering, too. After all, my mother was ill with depression and simply couldn’t cope with the situation and the responsibilities of a family. Everything must have overwhelmed her and my father. But, of course, I didn’t see that then.

  ‘I was bitter and resentful and reacted by doing exactly as I pleased, regardless of the consequences. No matter what’s happened now, I can’t dismiss my own failings by putting the blame on my parents and throwing it all back in their faces.’

  She tried to think of some way she could put things right. ‘I suppose I could apologise for my behaviour and explain that it all happened when I was young and immature. Perhaps say that I’ve managed to turn my life around.’

  ‘Unfortunately, I don’t think that will be enough,’ he said with a shake of his head. ‘It seems we have a problem.’

  They talked for a while longer, trying to think of ways around the situation, and eventually he stood up to go, saying, ‘I’ll give it some more thought and see if I can come up with something. Maybe we could do a series of programmes about children’s problems, psychological worries, teenage angst and so on.’

  That sounded encouraging, unless, of course, he decided to choose another presenter to do these programmes. That would be a bitter blow after she’d worked so hard to establish a career for herself.

  She’d had to drag herself out of that downward spiral of recklessness that had threatened to destroy her, and instead put her energy into doing something worthwhile.

  When she had been at her lowest ebb she had realised she was throwing her life away. After yet another all-night party her friend had fallen and injured herself and Ellie had been horrified to see blood pouring from a head wound.

  She had hardly been in a fit state to help her. She’d managed to call for an ambulance and had held a towel to her friend’s head to try to stem the bleeding, but the whole incident had been a wake-up call.

  After her friend had recovered, Ellie had decided she would sort herself out once and for all. That’s when she’d made up her mind that she would study medicine.

  Now, though, her TV career was in jeopardy, and all she could do was wait and see whether it would fail completely.

  It would have cheered her to see James this evening, but there had been no sign of him. Even though she’d suggested he might want to stay away, she was saddened and disappointed by his absence. A part of her had hoped he would want to be with her.

  But perhaps he had chosen to be with Sophie instead. After all, Sophie was a regular visitor to the manor house, and she would want to sympathise with him over his father’s heart attack. It was only natural that they would be together.

  CHAPTER NINE

  ‘WE’RE GOING TO need ice packs and cooling blankets, Olivia. Her temperature’s way too high. She’ll need paracetamol every four hours to keep it down.’

  ‘I’ll see to it.’

  ‘Thanks.’ Ellie frowned as she wrote out the prescription form. Her patient, a woman in her late thirties, was very ill. The ECG showed an abnormal cardiac rhythm and she was feverish and sweating profusely. She could scarcely get her breath and was being given oxygen through a mask.

  ‘I’m going to put her on a dextrose drip. Her body’s gone into overdrive and is making way too many demands on her system. Her heart’s racing, her blood pressure’s off the scale—if we don’t act quickly, she’s heading towards seizures and heart failure.’

  Olivia pulled a face. ‘Perhaps it’s no wonder she’s irritable. She told me to stop fussing around her and to leave her alone. She must be feeling awful.’

  Ellie nodded. ‘I think the irritability is part of the illness. I won’t know for sure until the test results come back, but I think we’re dealing with a thyroid storm here. Too much thyroid hormone in the bloodstream.’

  Ellie set up the drip while Olivia went to fetch the ice packs.

  ‘Jenny,’ she said gently, trying to reassure the woman, ‘I’m going to give you some medication to calm your heart’s activity down a bit and we’ll do what we can to make you feel more comfortable while we’re waiting for the lab results to come back. In the meantime, I’ll make arrangements for you to be admitted to one of the wards.’

  ‘Okay. Whatever.’ Jenny was too exhausted to say anything more.

  Ellie recognised that her agitation was simply a part of her condition, and she went on trying to explain things. ‘When you’re more settled, I’ll ask a nurse to take you along to Radiology for a chest X-ray so that we can see what’s going on.’ If the heart had been overworking for any length of time, there was a possibility of heart failure, leading to a build-up of fluid on the lungs.

  Ellie made sure that everything possible was being done for the woman, and then she went to check up on her other patients. She glanced around to see if James was working in one of the treatment rooms, but there was no sign of him. In fact, she hadn’t seen him all morning and that was puzzling—but perhaps it wasn’t altogether unusual if he had a meeting to attend.

  Even so, she missed him. She’d looked for him first thing, and when she’d discovered he wasn’t here, she’d half expected him to ring her and say something about last night. Instead, there had been silence, and that was odd, especially when he knew she’d been concerned about the meeting with Ben.

  There must be a reason why he hadn’t come to see her or tried to get in touch.

  Those two days she’d spent with him on the boat had been wonderful. They’d made her realise that she wanted to be with him all the time—that he was the only man who could make her truly happy. It had been just a couple of days, but it had been long enough for her to know that she’d fallen in love with him.

  And that was a foolhardy thing to have done, wasn’t it, because she had no way of knowing if he would eventually lose interest in her. She would be devastated if that happened...and yet he had warned her. He’d said all he wanted was a casual relationship, but the tragedy was she’d discovered that she wanted much more than that.

  ‘I rang up and enquired about the two patients you wer
e asking about,’ Olivia said, breaking into her thoughts as she came over to the desk where Ellie was checking the computer for test results.

  ‘You did?’ She pulled herself together. ‘Thanks, Olivia. I haven’t found a minute to do it myself. What’s happening with them?’

  ‘The lady with the heart inflammation is beginning to respond to the antibiotics, and is generally much better. The consultant has removed the drain and is positive about her recovery.’

  Ellie smiled, relieved by the news. ‘That’s brilliant. I was so worried when she came in.’ Then she frowned. ‘What about Mr Langley, our patient with pancreatitis? Did you manage to get an update on him?’

  Olivia nodded. ‘He’s had surgery to remove the obstruction, and he’s being resuscitated with fluids. He’s on antibiotic therapy, too, and seems to be doing well.’

  ‘I’m glad about that. Thanks for chasing it up for me.’

  ‘You’re welcome.’

  Ellie glanced at her watch. ‘Time’s gone a lot faster than I realised. I’d better go and take my lunch break.’

  ‘You’re a bit late with that, aren’t you?’ Olivia raised a brow. ‘I went for mine ages ago.’

  ‘It happens that way sometimes when we’re busy. Anyway, I’m going to have a quick bite to eat, and then I’ll go over to the cardiac unit.’

  ‘Is that where James’s father’s being treated?’

  ‘That’s right. I have some audio tapes for him.’

  She went off and helped herself to a quick snack in the cafeteria and then headed over to the cardiac unit. With any luck, Lord Birchenall would be feeling much brighter by now and would enjoy listening to the tapes.

  He was receiving treatment in the private wing of the hospital, and Ellie needed directions to his room, but the nurse on Reception seemed cautious about letting her see him.

  ‘I don’t think...uh...I mean...uh...his son is in there. I don’t think he should be disturbed.’

  Ellie frowned. ‘Has he taken a turn for the worse?’

  ‘Um...yes, I’m afraid so. In fact...he died just over an hour ago.’ She frowned. ‘I’m very sorry.’

  Ellie put down the bag of tapes she’d been holding. She stood for a moment, taking it in, and then she said quietly, ‘Is his son alone in there?’

  The nurse nodded. ‘He said he wanted to be on his own for a while.’

  ‘I understand that but I wonder if he might want to see me? I’d like to let him know I’m here.’

  If he still wanted to be alone, she would leave, but she couldn’t bear to think of him grieving and without comfort of any kind.

  The nurse was doubtful, but after a bit more persuasion she reluctantly agreed, and Ellie went along the corridor to find the room. She knocked lightly on the door and waited.

  ‘Ellie?’ James pulled open the door. His face was ashen, his whole manner distracted, as if he was having trouble gathering his thoughts, and for a moment or two she wondered if she’d done the wrong thing in coming here. His gaze was blank. Perhaps he really did want to be alone.

  Then he reached for her and she wrapped her arms around him, holding him tight as he told her what had happened. ‘He had another heart attack yesterday evening,’ he said in a taut voice. ‘And after that he never recovered. He just...faded away...’

  ‘I’m so sorry, James. I really thought he had a chance.’

  He shook his head. ‘I just never thought... I mean, I’ve been half expecting it for months, but now it’s happened it feels all wrong. He should have been at home where I could care for him.’

  ‘You did everything you could for him. No one could have done any more.’ She gently stroked his back, soothing him as best she could. ‘Anyway, he was frustrated by his illness. He was a strong man and even I guessed he hated being held back by his frailty. Perhaps he’s at peace now.’

  ‘Maybe. I hope so.’

  He straightened up, and stepped out into the corridor, shutting the door behind him. ‘I need to make some arrangements,’ he said, but she shook her head.

  ‘Not now, James. It will all wait. Let me take you home.’

  He sighed. ‘Okay. You’re right, of course.’ He gave a shuddery sigh. ‘But I can drive myself home, and anyway you’ll be needed in A and E.’ He paused, trying to bring his chaotic thoughts under control. ‘Why don’t you come over to the house straight after work? I’d really appreciate it if you would do that.’

  ‘All right. I’ll be there.’

  ‘Thanks, Ellie.’

  She went out with him to the car park and watched him drive away. His expression was bleak, his eyes dark and empty, as though his emotions were all wrung out.

  Somehow Ellie managed to get through the rest of her shift, though she had to force herself to concentrate.

  ‘A few of the thyroid test results are back,’ she told Olivia. ‘I think we need to arrange for an endocrinologist to take a look at Jenny Soames.’

  ‘I’ll give Dr Mason a call,’ Olivia suggested. ‘Have you any idea what the treatment will be?’

  ‘I imagine he’ll put her on anti-thyroid medication, along with glucocorticoids. And of course he’ll try to find out what caused the problem in the first place.’

  ‘She’s looking a bit better than she did earlier, anyway. She’s cooler now and not quite so agitated.’

  ‘That’s good.’

  Ellie handed over to the other registrar on duty a short time later and set off for the manor house. It had been heartbreaking to see James in such a sorry state that afternoon, and she could only hope that he might be feeling less battered by now.

  ‘Hi,’ he said, coming out to greet her when she parked her car on his drive some half an hour later. ‘Come into the house.’

  ‘Are you all right?’ she asked him. ‘How are you holding up?’

  ‘I’m okay.’ He led the way to the kitchen, where he pulled out a chair for her at the table before filling the kettle with water and switching it on. ‘I’d rather not talk about what happened. I’d sooner keep busy, occupy my mind with something else. Does that sound bad?’

  ‘No, not at all. It’s probably understandable. It’s hard for the mind to take in something like this.’

  ‘You want tea or coffee, or maybe something stronger?’

  ‘Tea will be fine, thanks.’

  ‘Okay.’ He put tea bags into the teapot and added boiling water. ‘So, how did things go with your producer last night?’

  ‘It wasn’t too bad,’ she answered. ‘It was better than I expected, but I’m still not sure what’s going to happen. It all depends on whether we can restore my image in the eyes of the public. After all, who wants to take advice from someone with a dubious background?’

  ‘I think a lot of people will be able to identify with teenage rebellion,’ he said quietly. ‘I wanted to be there with you but...’ His voice trailed away. ‘I had a call from the hospital...and you know the rest.’

  ‘Yes. I’m sorry.’

  ‘I’d not long left there. He seemed to be recovering. He was cheerful and making plans for when he was to come home.’ He shook himself, as though trying to clear his head. ‘Have you had any more trouble with the press?’

  ‘It’s not been too bad. A couple of men were waiting outside for me this morning, but I told them I didn’t have anything much to say. Except that I would always try to make good programmes and I wanted to help viewers understand more about their health and enable them to make wise decisions about their lifestyles.

  ‘I said I would be sorry if all that came to an end because of some stories about my youthful indiscretions. And I told them there came a point when I’d realised I had to pull myself up from the downward spiral and stop seeing myself as a victim. I had to take responsibility for myself and make something of my life.’

 
; ‘Good for you.’

  She gave a rueful smile. ‘Well, I decided I wasn’t going to hide away any longer. I’m going to face up to whatever’s out there.’ She shrugged lightly, sloughing off the burden that had been weighing her down. ‘Apparently I’ve had quite a lot of fan mail supporting me. That makes me feel a lot better.’

  He poured tea and slid a cup towards her. ‘Help yourself to milk and sugar.’ He frowned. ‘I ought to offer you something to eat. Come to think of it, I haven’t had anything today.’

  ‘You haven’t eaten all day?’

  He shook his head. ‘I haven’t felt like it. But I suppose...’

  ‘What do you have?’

  ‘I’m not sure. Harriet does most of the cooking. She’s away at the moment, though, and won’t be back for a few days. She’s taking a holiday and she’s gone to be with her daughter and her family in Wales.’

  Ellie stood up. ‘Do you mind if I have a look at what’s in the cupboards?’ She’d have to take over. It struck her that he wasn’t in any state to make the simplest of decisions right now.

  ‘No, go ahead.’

  She had a look around and after a minute or two she said, ‘I can make spaghetti Bolognese. How does that sound?’

  ‘Fine. What can I do to help?’

  They worked together, chopping onions, carrots and celery and then tossing these into a pan. Ellie added minced beef to the mix, cooking it for a while, and then added a broth along with a dash of red and white wine. She showed James how to make a sauce with tomatoes and herbs, and they left all of that to simmer for a while. Finally, James placed spaghetti in a pan of hot water, and within a few minutes the meal was ready to serve.

  ‘I think I’d like to have you around all the time,’ James murmured as they sat down to eat, and he wound spaghetti around his fork. ‘This is the best spaghetti Bolognese I’ve ever tasted.’

  ‘Oh, really! You just want me for my cooking abilities?’