Sheltered by Her Top-Notch Boss. Joanna Neil

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ procedures, her confidence had been badly shaken by Mel’s outburst. It was difficult getting back into the fray, but after an hour or so she had more or less settled into the routine and her anxiety eased a little.

      From time to time she caught sight of James, working with the most seriously ill patients, and she did her very best to steer clear of him. In a way she was regretting her outburst the other night, because he hadn’t done anything to deserve her wrath. It was just his family connection that had thrown her into a state of shock.

      But she had to put all that aside if she was to do her job properly. Just now she was tending a young woman who’d fallen from a horse. Until the accident the girl had been enjoying a holiday at a pretty lakeside resort nearby, but her fall meant she’d ended up in the emergency unit, being treated for a broken arm.

      ‘That was unfortunate, wasn’t it, Natalie?’ Ellie murmured. ‘But the good news is that the X-ray shows a straightforward break. We’ll re-align the bones for you under anaesthetic and then immobilise them with a cast. We should soon have you feeling more comfortable.’

      ‘Thanks.’ Natalie pulled a face. ‘I guess that’s put an end to my horse riding for a while.’

      ‘I’m afraid so. It’ll probably take six or eight weeks to heal, and you should be careful with it in the meantime. So …’ she smiled ‘… I’d avoid abseiling or water-skiing for the time being.’

      The girl laughed. ‘I’ll bear that in mind.’

      Ellie left her with a nurse while she went to type up her notes on the computer. After a moment or two as she sat at the desk, she became aware of someone approaching, and looked up to see James coming to stand beside her. Her whole body tensed.

      He was immaculately turned out, having discarded the scrubs he’d been wearing earlier and replaced them with a dark, expertly tailored suit and a crisp linen shirt that gave him an aura of authority. He wore a subtly patterned tie that picked out the colour of his smoke-grey eyes.

      Maybe he was dressed this way because he had a meeting to attend. Either way, Ellie found his nearness extremely distracting. It unsettled her. She didn’t want to be aware of him, especially not as a virile, energetic and powerful man.

      ‘How are things going?’ he asked. His expression was serious, his eyes cool and watchful. ‘Are you getting back into the swing of things? I know it must have been difficult for you. I noticed you were a little hesitant at first when you were dealing with patients.’

      Her eyes widened. Had he feared she wouldn’t be able to cope? She stiffened.

      ‘I’m fine,’ she answered. ‘There’s no problem, none at all.’

      ‘Hmm. You must tell me if things change.’ He looked doubtful, and she guessed he thought she was covering up. ‘After all, it’s my job to see to the welfare of the staff, as well as the patients. I don’t want you to feel that you must struggle on your own.’

      ‘As I said, I don’t foresee any difficulties.’ If she’d known who he was the other night, she would never have admitted her worries to him. It had been a bad mistake. No doubt from now on he’d be watching her like a hawk.

      She turned her attention back to the screen in front of her. With any luck, he might take the hint and leave her to get on with her work.

      But things definitely weren’t going her way. Instead, he sat down on the edge of the table and out of the corner of her eye she caught a glimpse of his long legs, the material of his trousers stretched tautly over his strong thighs. Disconcerted, she quickly averted her gaze.

      Her fingers tapped jerkily at the keypad, and she realised straight away she’d made mistakes so that she had to delete what she’d just typed.

      ‘Um, was there something else?’ she queried. Having him so close jangled her nerves.

      He inclined his head. ‘I think you and I have some unfinished business,’ he said quietly. ‘I know you feel a lot of resentment towards me and my family, and I’m concerned that might be a problem for us at work.’

      ‘I … I’m sure we can both act in a professional manner towards one another,’ she said. ‘Perhaps I was wrong in extending your father’s actions to you, but I can’t simply forget what happened, as you suggested. My parents’ marriage fell apart because of it. My mother blamed my father for losing his job and making us all homeless.’

      ‘Your mother felt that way, and yet you still put the blame on my father for letting him go?’ His gaze was quizzical, those dark eyes studying her and taking in the slightest hint of vulnerability.

      Her chin lifted in defiance. ‘I think there were reasons why my father acted the way he did. He’s a good man, and he always took a lot of pride in doing his job well. When things started to go wrong, your father should have talked to him a bit more and tried to get to the bottom of what was going on with him.’

      James was sceptical. ‘It doesn’t seem as if your mother had much faith in her husband, so why should my father have been any different?’

      Her eyes narrowed. ‘My mother suffered from depression. She was always a difficult person to live with. She was so wrapped up in her woes that she left me and my brother to fend for ourselves. We took care of one another, and did pretty much as we pleased, but through all that my father was the cement that kept us all together. That is, until he …’

      ‘Until he lost the plot.’ He stood up. ‘I’m sorry, Ellie. I know how much you must love him, but you’re making excuses for his behaviour and taking your resentment out on my family. You need to get things straightened out in your head.’

      ‘Do I?’ Her gaze was frosty. ‘I believe my father was ill. That’s why he appeared to change and became lax in his work where before he had been a perfectionist. But nobody seemed to care enough about him to find out what was going on.’

      She stood up as her pager bleeped. ‘I’m afraid you’ll have to excuse me. I have a patient coming in.’

      She was annoyed with herself as she walked away. How could she have lost her temper that way? Surely she could have handled things better? And now, instead of smoothing the way towards a better working relationship, she’d probably set them off on a course of downright antagonism.

      She had to force that to the back of her mind, though, and concentrate on answering her pager. She couldn’t let her personal life interfere with her work.

      Her patient was a pregnant woman who was bleeding heavily. ‘She was out shopping when she collapsed,’ the nurse told her. ‘She’s very shaken up. She’s thirty-three weeks. Her heart rate is very fast and her blood pressure’s dropping way too low.’

      ‘Thanks, Olivia. Let’s get a couple of intravenous lines in before she goes into shock—and we need to set up foetal monitoring.’

      ‘I’ll do that right away.’ The nurse hurried to fetch the equipment while Ellie did an ultrasound scan to find out what was causing the problem. ‘I know this is upsetting for you, Phoebe,’ she said gently, ‘but try not to worry.’

      Phoebe nodded faintly. Small pearls of perspiration had broken out on her brow, dampening her dark hair, and Ellie gave her a reassuring smile. ‘We’ll take good care of you and your baby.’

      A СКАЧАТЬ