Sheltered by Her Top-Notch Boss. Joanna Neil

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      She began to take blood for testing and quickly labelled up the samples for the lab. She was handing them to a porter a few minutes later when Lewis came to join her.

      He smiled. ‘Hi, Ellie. It’s good to see you. You have a patient for me?’

      ‘Yes.’ She returned his smile. ‘I’m glad you’re here, Lewis. It’s reassuring to know you’re around to look after our pregnant ladies.’ She handed him the patient’s file. ‘Phoebe has placenta praevia. I’ve arranged for her to be admitted.’

      He glanced at the woman’s notes. ‘Okay, I’ll go and have a look at her.’

      He came back to Ellie a few minutes later as she stood by the central desk glancing through reports.

      ‘We might have to do a Caesarean,’ he said, ‘but I’d prefer to leave it until it’s absolutely necessary to give the baby the very best chance. In the meantime, we’ll put her on steroids to help the foetus’s lungs to mature.’

      ‘I’ll organise it,’ she said. Remembering her neighbour, she said quietly, ‘Have you admitted a new patient this morning—Lily Harcourt? She’s my neighbour. She would have come in by ambulance, suffering from pre-eclampsia? I wondered how she was doing. With any luck I’ll be able to look in on her some time today, but I’m a bit concerned about her. She didn’t look too good this morning.’

      ‘She’s your friend?’ Lewis’s dark eyes clouded. ‘I’m sorry, I didn’t know. Yes, she came to my ward. We have her on oxygen, and we’re monitoring her heart and blood pressure. Unfortunately, she had a seizure when she first arrived, but we’re giving her medication to control her blood pressure and also to try to prevent any more convulsions. It’s too early for her to deliver this baby at the moment, so we need to get her condition stabilised.’

      Ellie frowned, disturbed by his account. ‘It doesn’t sound good, does it?’

      He laid an arm lightly about her shoulders. ‘You shouldn’t worry, Ellie. We’re doing everything we can for her.’

      ‘I know, I’m sure you are. Thanks, Lewis. Will you keep me updated?’

      ‘Of course.’ He gave her a quick hug and then headed back to the maternity ward. Ellie watched him go and then glanced across the room and saw James standing by the doorway, his eyes narrowed as he watched her.

      How long had he been standing there? He must have seen Lewis put his arm around her, and for some reason he didn’t look at all pleased. Was he bothered in some way about her friendship with his cousin?

      She turned away. Why should she be concerned about what he was thinking? He may not have the same temperament as his father, but he obviously had the Birchenalls’ way of taking control and keeping a check on everyone. He’d only been in the job five minutes and he was making sure he knew everything there was to know about the staff. She’d seen him looking at others in that calm, assessing way that seemed natural to him.

      She looked in on Lily before she finished her shift, and reassured her that she would take care of her little boy. Her friend still looked slightly flushed and seemed a bit restless, but that was probably because she was worried about her son.

      ‘We’ll come and see you as soon as the doctor says it’s okay,’ Ellie promised. ‘In fact, I could get him to talk to you on the phone if that will make you feel better?’

      ‘Oh, it would. Thanks, Ellie.’

      ‘You’re welcome.’

      Ellie drove home, soothed by the beautiful Cheshire countryside, with its wooded hillsides and rolling plains. It helped put her in a relaxed frame of mind, so that for a little while she could forget that James Birchenall was a thorn in her side.

      She stopped to pick up Jayden from his friend’s house, and from then on any illusion of peace was shattered.

      ‘Can we make play dough?’ the four-year-old asked. ‘I liked it when we did that before when I comed to your house.’ He looked at her with shining grey eyes, full of eagerness and expectation.

      ‘Okay. That sounds like a good idea.’ Ellie remembered the last time, when loose bits of brightly coloured dough had escaped and gone off in all directions. She’d kept on finding bits of it all over the place for a couple of hours afterwards, mainly thanks to it being trampled underfoot by eager young feet. He’d even managed to get it tangled up among the curls in his dark hair.

      ‘I thought we’d have spaghetti for tea. That’s your favourite, isn’t it?’

      ‘Mmm. Yes. I always have s’ghetti. Every day.’ He gave her a big-eyed look and she hid a smile.

      ‘Do you? Really?’

      ‘Yes.’ He looked away uncertainly, as though he thought she might stop believing him if he held her gaze for too long.

      ‘Well, we’ll see what we can do. Let’s go and collect your things from your house first and get you settled in.’

      ‘All right.’

      Some time later Ellie helped him to get ready for bed. They’d had a busy time, having fun with play dough, followed by a baking session, and by now she was worn out even if he wasn’t.

      ‘Mummy always tucks me in,’ he said with a quiver in his voice, as he climbed into bed and looked around the strange room.

      ‘I know, sweetheart, and I know she wishes she could be here with you now, but you talked to her on the phone, didn’t you? Remember, she said she’ll see you when we go to the hospital?’

      He nodded solemnly, his eyes overbright.

      ‘How about I read you a bedtime story?’ Ellie said. ‘Give teddy a cuddle and slide down under the duvet, and we’ll see what Noddy’s getting up to in his little red car.’

      ‘Yeah.’

      He’d fallen asleep before she finished the story, and Ellie switched off the bedside lamp and crept out of the room.

      Downstairs, she cleared away Jayden’s toys and tidied the kitchen, and just as she was thinking about making herself a well-earned cup of coffee, the doorbell rang. She frowned. She wasn’t expecting anyone. Could it be Noah, in more trouble? Feeling apprehensive, she went to the door and found James standing there.

      ‘Oh … I … um …’

      He’d changed out of his suit, into casual, stylish clothes, stone-coloured chinos and a navy long-sleeved shirt, but there was still that air of authority about him. Somehow she sensed he wasn’t there for a social visit. ‘Is something wrong?’

      ‘In a manner of speaking. Would it be all right if I come in? I don’t mean to disturb you, but I need to talk to you about something and I’d prefer not to do it at the hospital.’

      ‘Yes, of course.’ He seemed serious, and she was troubled now, wondering what was so important that he’d come to see her at home. ‘We’ll go through to the kitchen and I’ll put the coffee on.’

      She led the way and waved him to a chair by СКАЧАТЬ