Undercover At City Hospital. Carol Marinelli

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       CHAPTER THREE

      CELIA was inconsolable.

      Sobbing in a chair, a massive overcoat over a fluorescent nylon nightdress, pulling tissues out of a box, she stood up and let out a wail of terror as Heath and Bella walked in.

      ‘Please, don’t tell me…’

      ‘He’s not dead,’ Heath said quickly, taking her elbows and lowering her back into the chair. Bella could only admire him. Instantly he’d quelled Celia’s greatest fear without giving false hope. How many other doctors would have walked in and quickly said that Charles was OK, that the drama was over when, in fact, it had barely started.

      ‘This is all my fault.’

      ‘It’s no one’s fault.’ Heath attempted to soothe her. ‘Charles has had a heart attack, and unfortunately these types of events often occur afterwards. He suffered another cardiac arrhythmia,’ Heath explained. ‘His heart effectively stopped again. However, we got it started.’

      ‘And he’s OK?’ Celia begged, but Heath held back.

      ‘He’s critically ill, Celia, but we’re moving him up to the coronary care ward and we’ve given him some drugs which we hope will calm his heart down. The next forty-eight hours will be—’

      ‘Critical,’ Celia whispered through chattering teeth. ‘I’ve read all about heart attacks on the internet.’

      ‘Quite.’ Heath flashed a brief smile, clearly not impressed with her cyber-knowledge. ‘For now, though, I need you to tell me what happened.’

      ‘It’s all my fault,’ Celia said again. ‘I should have listened to him when he said he wasn’t well enough—’

      ‘Did Charles have chest pain last night?’ Heath asked, but Celia shook her head.

      ‘He was fine last night. I made him a special dinner. I told him to forget his diet for a night, we had a bottle of nice red wine and everything was fine until this morning. Oh, God, what have I done?’

      ‘This isn’t your fault,’ Heath said firmly, then softened it with a smile. ‘Some doctors actually recommend red wine for cardiac patients and I can assure you, Celia, nothing in last night’s meal would have caused this…’ Clearly he’d said the wrong thing as her sobbing grew louder. Bella pulled out another wad of tissues as Heath struggled to say the right thing, his eyes meeting hers over the woman’s heaving shoulders in a silent plea for help.

      ‘It’s OK, Celia,’ Bella said soothingly. ‘I’m just going to have a word with the doctor and we’ll be right back.’ Gesturing to the door, she walked outside and waited till he joined her, a quizzical look on Heath’s face, clearly surprised that Bella had pulled him out at such a sensitive time.

      ‘She’s very upset.’

      ‘Very,’ Bella agreed, nibbling on the skin around her thumbnail. ‘Extremely upset, in fact.’

      ‘Well, I guess that’s to be expected.’ Heath shrugged, his frown deepening as Bella’s eyes met his. ‘Why did you call me out?’

      ‘Because I think you were making things worse in there.’ She heard him suck in his breath, clearly irritated that this very new nurse was pulling him up. But as a tiny smile wobbled on her lips as she tucked back a strand of hair behind her ear over and over, Heath finally joined the party, a smile of his own starting, eyes crinkling around the edges as he waited for her to elaborate.

      ‘What am I missing, Bella?’

      ‘The sexy night attire under her coat for starters.’ Bella grinned, blushing as he did, too. ‘The romantic dinner for two, the fact she’s feeling impossibly guilty…’

      ‘They’re allowed to have sex,’ Heath said gruffly. ‘Just because they’re in their seventies—’

      ‘He’s a cardiac patient,’ Bella broke in.

      ‘So? Just because he’s got a heart condition it doesn’t exclude him from having a healthy sex life.’

      ‘Of course not,’ Bella agreed, ‘but you’ve seen the medication he’s on at home. It wouldn’t be surprising if he was having some difficulties with…’ Clearing her throat, Bella attempted to squash her embarrassment. ‘Maintaining an erection.’

      ‘I’m not with you, Bella.’ He gave her a rather wide-eyed look and made to go back to the room, but Bella stilled him with a sentence. ‘She’s an internet junkie!’ Heath was frowning now, two vertical lines appearing on the bridge of a very nice nose as Bella continued. ‘I’d suggest that Celia’s guilt has nothing to do with the eggs she put into his soufflé or the wine she served, but more to do with the little blue pill she served up instead of after-dinner mints.’

      ‘No!’

      ‘Yes.’ Bella nodded, her smile widening as Heath blushed to his impossibly blond roots. ‘If you ask me, there’s a very good reason Celia’s feeling guilty, and you insisting that it wasn’t her fault isn’t exactly helping matters.’

      ‘Do you think she drugged him?’

      ‘Oh, please.’ Bella laughed. ‘I’d say she just nagged him to death more likely!’ As Heath opened his mouth, Bella got there first. ‘Pun entirely intended. Look, it’s just a hunch, but if I am right, maybe you need to alter your line of questioning a bit.’

      ‘Line of questioning!’ Heath gave her a slightly startled look. ‘We’re in Emergency, Bella, not down at the local police station!’

      ‘Of course,’ Bella responded quickly. ‘I meant—’

      ‘I know what you meant.’ Heath gave a grateful nod. ‘And you’re right, if Celia’s been ordering drugs from the internet, then my line of questioning was way off track. How the hell am I supposed to broach this with her?’

      It was more a statement than a question, and Bella watched as he raked his hand through his superbly cut hair.

      Danny was blond.

      At a totally inappropriate moment the thought popped into her head.

      There was absolutely no comparing the two.

      Danny had been the surfy, sporty type, with shaggy blond hair that had always been in desperate need of a cut, living his life in bathers and board shorts, whereas Heath was the epitome of cool sophistication. No doubt his wardrobe was full with variations on the superbly СКАЧАТЬ