Sheltered by Her Top-Notch Boss Read online

  ‘Be my guest,’ she said.

  It was probably a good thing that she was no longer going to be alone with him. She wouldn’t put it past him to wheedle her into believing that she was mistaken in everything she knew about him and that he was actually a saint. Of course he hadn’t wanted to prise her away from Lewis. That would have been the furthest thing from his mind. Yeah, right. She had deluded herself into thinking he really wanted her and instead it had simply been a ruse.

  Lord Birchenall walked slowly towards her. ‘May we sit here?’ he asked, and she nodded.

  ‘Please, do.’

  ‘Are you sure we won’t be intruding?’

  ‘Not at all. I’ll have to leave soon anyway, to go and talk to one of the producers.’

  ‘Thank you.’ It was clear that walking had taken the stuffing out of him. She heard the breath wheeze in his lungs, and he paused for a moment to gather strength before saying, ‘This is Sophie. She’s the daughter of a family friend. She was kind enough to bring me here today.’

  ‘Hello, Sophie.’ Ellie tried a smile. Okay, so she might be James’s girlfriend, but that didn’t matter to her any more, did it? Her stomach churned at the lie, but she had to accept that James was no longer on her radar and, besides, wouldn’t Sophie be upset to know that he had been kissing another woman? Another reason why Ellie had to steer clear of him. What kind of man was he who could do that?

  Sophie nodded acknowledgement, her gaze moving over Ellie from head to toe. Ellie had the feeling she was being thoroughly assessed. Thank heaven she’d dressed carefully that morning, in a cream-coloured skirt with a matching jacket that nipped in at the waist to flatter her figure. Beneath the jacket she wore a pretty, lace-trimmed top.

  Sophie was truly beautiful, a slender girl with honey-gold hair held loosely with a clip at the back. She had deep blue eyes, a perfect, oval face and a full, rose-pink mouth. No wonder James had chosen her.

  Sophie sat down, and once she was settled, Lord Birchenall took his seat next to her.

  ‘Would you like something to eat?’ Ellie enquired, turning her attention to James’s father. ‘I could get something for you.’

  He shook his head. ‘Not for me, thank you. I’ll just have a drink. A coffee, perhaps.’

  ‘I’ll get it for you,’ James said. He stood for a moment by his father’s chair. ‘It’s good to see you, but I can’t think what possessed you to come here today. You know I warned you that it might be too much for you.’

  ‘Yes, but...’ Lord Birchenall paused, his breath coming in short gasps. ‘I wanted to watch the recording. After all, it was our heritage that you were talking about.’

  James patted his shoulder. ‘I know how much it means to you, but I don’t want to see you struggling. I could have shown you the recording later.’

  His father smiled. ‘Ah, yes, but it wouldn’t have been quite the same. And Sophie offered to bring me, so I jumped at the chance.’

  ‘And was it worth it?’

  ‘Oh, yes. It will be a good programme.’

  ‘I’m glad you think so.’ James smiled and went to fetch food and drink for Sophie and his father, leaving Ellie to chat with them for a while.

  ‘Did you enjoy the show, Sophie?’ she asked.

  ‘I did. I thought James was wonderful and he chose the best video footage that shows the manor in all its glory.’ Her gaze drifted over Ellie once more. ‘I take it James invited you to come and watch the show?’

  Ellie shook her head. ‘Actually, no. I came here to make a recording of my own. I do a medical programme that’s airing once a week at the moment. Perhaps you’ve heard of it—it’s called Your Good Health?’

  ‘No, I’m afraid not.’

  Lord Birchenall was intrigued, his face lighting up with recognition. ‘So that’s it. I thought I knew you from somewhere, other than when you lived at the lodge. I watch that series. You should be pleased with yourself. It’s very well done.’

  ‘Thank you.’ She was surprised he was being so generous, given the way he’d reacted to her when she’d visited the house, but perhaps James was right when he’d said the shock of the newspaper article had made his father more tetchy than usual. ‘I can’t take the credit, though—there’s a whole team who helps put it together.’

  She sipped her wine and glanced at him once more. He seemed to be breathing a bit better now that he was sitting down. ‘Have you fully recovered from your upset the other day? It sounded as though you were very ill.’

  ‘I’m much better, thank you. It’s a sad fact that my health is not good these days, but I’m fortunate in having James to watch over me.’

  James came back just then with a plate of food for Sophie and two coffees.

  Sophie was deep in thought. ‘Is it right, that you lived at the lodge?’ she asked, turning to Ellie.

  Ellie nodded, and Sophie reclined back in her seat. ‘Of course,’ she said. ‘I remember hearing something about that. Your father worked for Lord Birchenall, but he left, didn’t he?’

  Lord Birchenall gave her a sharp look and shifted uneasily in his seat. ‘Ahem,’ he said, but Sophie ploughed on.

  ‘Wasn’t there some sort of problem?’

  Once again, Lord Birchenall tried to intervene. ‘I don’t think we need to go into that,’ he said. ‘It was all a long time ago.’

  ‘Oh, but—’ Sophie continued, and this time James interrupted.

  ‘As my father said, Sophie, I don’t think we want to delve into the past. Ellie’s worked hard to make a career for herself. She works in A and E, as well as doing a TV series.’

  ‘Really. How interesting.’ She frowned and looked at Ellie once more. ‘You’ve done well for yourself, haven’t you, considering your troubles over the years? I heard a little about the family who lived in the lodge.’

  ‘As James said, I’ve worked hard to overcome all that,’ Ellie responded. ‘As to my father, we didn’t know it at the time, but he was actually quite ill. Later on he had to go into hospital for a few weeks.’

  Sophie delicately sliced the meat on her plate. ‘I’m sorry to hear that. What was wrong with him?’

  ‘He had Addison’s disease. It’s an endocrine disorder that makes the patient very ill.’

  Lord Birchenall looked shocked. ‘I’m so sorry, my dear. I didn’t know that.’

  She nodded briefly. ‘None of us did at first.’ Even now it haunted her that she hadn’t seen what had been happening to her father, that she hadn’t realised he was ill. She’d been angry with Lord Birchenall for the way he’d treated him, but wasn’t she just as guilty for not recognising that something was wrong?

  She said carefully, ‘It’s quite rare, and it was some time before his condition was properly diagnosed.’

  ‘I recall you told me something of this last time we met, when you came to the house.’ He frowned. ‘I’m afraid I wasn’t myself that day, what with all that business of our family splashed over the Sunday papers.’

  Sophie laid down her fork. ‘It was very distressing that you had to go through all that,’ she said. ‘It’s no wonder you weren’t yourself.’

  Ellie pushed her chair back carefully and stood up. ‘If you’ll excuse me,’ she said, ‘I can see my producer’s just arrived. I’d better go and join him.’

  James stood up with her. ‘I’m glad we met up today,’ he said, moving with her away from the table. He laid his arm lightly beneath her elbow. ‘You mustn’t take any notice of Sophie. She doesn’t always think before she speaks. She’s one of these people who say what’s on their minds without considering the effect on other people.’

  ‘Like your father said, it was all a long time ago.’

  ‘How is your father these days? Is the disease under control?’

  ‘I believe so. Of course, if he gets an infection o
r if he’s stressed, his symptoms flare up and he becomes very tired and doesn’t cope so well. When I spoke to him last week, he was feeling fine.’

  They’d almost reached the bar, where her producer was ordering a drink, and Ellie stood still, ready to part company with James.

  ‘Do you ever think about making a new start with your mother?’ he asked. ‘After all, you said she was in hospital for a time. Perhaps her illness affected her and made her distant and unable to cope.’

  ‘It’s possible, I suppose, though I think you’re being ultra-kind about her. She chose to leave us, after all. I’m afraid I’m not like you. I find it hard to be generous in those circumstances.’

  He lightly ran his hand over her arm. ‘It’s understandable. I don’t know how I would have reacted in that situation.’ He smiled. ‘The same way you did, probably.’

  She thought about the way she had responded when her mother had gone away. Over the next few years she’d turned to drink and wild parties in town that had sometimes spilled out onto the street. Her picture had ended up in the local paper when the rowdiness had annoyed the nearby residents. She gave him a wry smile. ‘And risk bringing your family into disrepute?’ She shook her head. ‘I don’t think so somehow.’

  ‘Oh, I don’t know. I think I’d quite like the opportunity to be disreputable with you,’ he said, amusement glimmering in the depths of his eyes.

  ‘Chance would be a fine thing,’ she murmured. ‘Anyway, I think you have other obligations right now.’ She glanced at the table by the window where Sophie and his father were chatting.

  Every now and again Sophie would shoot a look in their direction, and Ellie began to feel uncomfortable. Whatever James’s feelings might be, Sophie was definitely interested in him.

  He followed her gaze. ‘You’re right,’ he agreed, bracing his shoulders. ‘I just felt that I needed to put your mind at rest over Sophie. She’s very forthright, but she’s not bad at heart. She genuinely doesn’t realise she might be upsetting people.’

  ‘No, but she might be quite upset if you don’t go and join her at the table very soon,’ she said.

  He nodded. ‘Maybe I’ll see you later?’ he suggested.

  ‘Possibly.’ But she knew she wouldn’t. As soon as she’d finished talking to her producer, she would slip away and drive home. She needed to put some space between herself and the Birchenalls...and Sophie.

  CHAPTER SIX

  ELLIE DROPPED THE letter into the wire tray. So the second meeting with Amelia Holt was to take place in another six weeks’ time. Six more weeks of waiting to find out if her career was going to be safe.

  She hadn’t voiced her thoughts out loud, but James must have guessed what she was thinking.

  ‘Don’t let it get to you,’ he said. ‘No sensible person could see her getting anywhere with such a complaint. She’s just not thinking straight. Losing her aunt must have shaken her really badly and turned her mind.’

  ‘Perhaps you’re right.’ She gave a rueful smile. ‘Maybe she’ll come to her senses before too long.’

  ‘I’m sure she will.’

  But that wouldn’t happen any time soon, Ellie reflected, if the email she’d received from Mel that morning was anything to go by. She wasn’t going to tell James about it. ‘Why don’t you face up to things and accept you were in the wrong? Why prolong the inevitable for another six weeks?’ Mel must have been informed of the date of the next meeting at the same time she had been.

  The phone rang in A and E and Olivia went to answer it. ‘There’s an emergency coming in,’ she said. ‘It’s a woman complaining of chest pains and difficulty breathing.’

  ‘Okay. Room Two is free, so I’ll see her in there as soon as she comes in.’ Ellie left James to go and look after his own patients and went to make preparations. Then she hurried down to the ambulance bay to receive her patient.

  The woman was very distressed and fearful, and Ellie hurried to reassure her. ‘We’ll take good care of you, Angela,’ she said, checking her name from the notes. ‘I’ll take you in to the examination room and then we’ll do what we can to make you feel more comfortable.’

  ‘Thank you.’ Angela struggled to say the words, exhausted by her struggle to get air into her lungs, and Ellie could see that she was gravely ill.

  When they were in the treatment room, she gave her oxygen through a mask to help her breathing and gently questioned her about the events leading to her illness.

  ‘I had a...chest infection,’ Angela said in a halting voice, moving the oxygen mask briefly away from her face. ‘Everything feels...so tight in my chest. It’s such a...sharp, stabbing pain. It feels really...bad.’

  ‘Perhaps you’ll feel a bit better if we sit you up,’ Ellie said, noticing how the woman tried to lean forward to relieve the pain. She raised the bed head while Olivia brought more pillows to prop her up, and Angela gave a small sigh of relief as she sank back against them.

  Ellie examined her, and became increasingly worried. ‘You’re feverish,’ she said. ‘I’m going to order some blood tests and a CT scan so that we can find out what’s going on in your chest. In the meantime, I’ll give you a painkiller and start you on antibiotics, because I suspect you have a nasty infection.’

  Angela nodded, restless with pain and discomfort, too ill to say much more, and Ellie set about preparing the injection.

  She was writing out the lab forms when James came into the room a little later. ‘Is everything all right in here?’

  He introduced himself to the patient, putting her at ease, and then moved away from the bedside so that he could talk to Ellie.

  ‘How’s it going?’ he asked, and she turned away so that the woman wouldn’t see or hear what she said.

  ‘I’ve examined her, and the heart sounds are very faint. There’s a rubbing sound, too, and I think there’s fluid in the pericardium and around her lungs.’

  ‘So you’re thinking...?’

  ‘Pericarditis.’ Her heart began to thump heavily as she said it. ‘The same as Grace Holt,’ she added, ‘though maybe with a different cause.’ Memories rushed to fill her mind, and all at once she was starting to feel shaky inside and chills were shooting up and down her spine.

  She knew the colour had drained from her face. Was she up to dealing with this? Had she gone wrong before somehow when she’d treated Mel’s aunt? Was she to go through it all again and finish with the same outcome?

  James studied her pale features, his dark eyes giving nothing away, but she knew he must be weighing up her response to the situation. ‘You’re doing tests?’

  She nodded. ‘It’ll be a while before we get the results from the lab, but I’ll do a scan and go from there. I have her on anti-inflammatory medication and diuretics to reduce the fluid volume.’

  ‘Okay. Let me know as soon as you hear.’

  ‘I will.’

  He touched her arm briefly as he left the room, and that small act of encouragement helped her to feel a tiny bit better. She wasn’t alone, he was silently telling her, and she was grateful for his support. Even so, she was worried sick.

  The CT films made her even more anxious when she brought them up on screen some time later. She’d been right about the fluid around the heart and lungs. This was beginning to look exactly like Grace Holt’s illness.

  ‘I’ve looked at your scan,’ she told Angela, ‘but we’re going to do another test, an echocardiogram, so that we can see how your heart is working. It’s nothing to worry about and it’s a painless procedure—the technician will glide a device over your chest and a picture will come up on the monitor.’

  James came to look at the films with her later on when some of the lab reports had also come through.

  ‘You were right,’ he said. ‘It is an inflammation around the heart. The infection is stopping the heart from
pumping properly. We need to prep her for a pericardiocentesis.’ He sent her a quick glance. ‘Are you okay with that?’

  ‘Yes.’ She wasn’t, but she had to prove to herself that she could do it, and for Angela’s sake they had to drain the fluid from around her heart as quickly as possible. It would have been more usual for James to take over at this point, being the senior doctor, but she guessed he saw this as a way of getting her to face her demons. ‘I’ll get the equipment ready.’

  He helped her to prepare the patient for the procedure, and when they were finally ready, and Angela had been given a local anaesthetic, Ellie ran the ultrasound probe over her chest, glancing at the computer screen to make sure she had the right location.

  ‘I’m going in through the fifth intercostal space,’ she said, checking the point of entry between the ribs. Then she inserted a long spinal needle into Angela’s chest, checking to see that the woman was coping with the procedure.

  Ellie had to take the utmost care to avoid puncturing vital organs and arteries, and she positioned the needle carefully so that it entered the pericardial space around the heart. She could see it all on the screen. ‘Are you all right, Angela?’ she asked again.

  The woman nodded and slowly Ellie began to draw off fluid into the syringe.

  ‘Her vital signs are improving a little,’ James said. To Angela, he commented, ‘You should start to feel more comfortable as the pressure eases off your heart.’

  Ellie handed him the filled syringe and exchanged it for a new one.

  ‘We’ll send that for analysis,’ James said, and added in a low voice, ‘You’re doing great. Keep going.’

  She nodded, glad of his encouragement. A faint film of perspiration dampened her brow and James said quietly, ‘I’ll wipe that for you.’ He gently dabbed her forehead with a cloth.

  ‘Thanks.’ When she had drained as much fluid as possible, she put a catheter in place and connected a drainage tube and bag.

  ‘How does that feel?’ she asked her patient.