The Vet's Secret Son
Page 15
He focussed on the cut. The wound, as predicted, was not nearly as bad as it looked. Head wounds always bled a lot and this one was no different. Seeing the streaks of red in his son’s hair was unsettling, though. As painful as seeing his father succumb to the cruel effects of Parkinson’s. Painful to see and not really be able to do anything. He was cleaning the wound and preparing it for inspection by the paramedics, but really? All he wanted to do was hold Maverick in his arms, pull him in tight and tell him how much he loved him. Apologise again and again, even though he knew it had been an accident. If he just hadn’t been so damn excited. Getting the ring had been—It had lit something up in him he had hoped was in there. Strength. Determination. A willingness to be vulnerable. A vulnerability he hadn’t expected to have to show so soon.
A car screeched into the car park.
‘What the—?’ Ellie curled herself protectively over Maverick even though the four-by-four was nowhere near them.
‘It’s Viola.’
‘Why’s she here?’ Ellie asked, though the answer was pretty obvious. No one drove at high speed into a veterinary clinic before they were open because everything was all right.
Lucas pushed himself up. ‘You stay with Mav. I’ll go and check.’
Ellie gave him a curt nod. A nod that said, I wasn’t planning on going anywhere, pal.
He jogged over to Viola’s car, reaching her just in time to help her climb out of the enormous vehicle. Her Irish wolfhound, Constanza, was in the passenger seat. Not entirely a health and safety situation to write home about, but it didn’t look like Viola was up for a lecture right now.
‘Viola? Everything okay?’
She looked more birdlike than ever. And ashen-faced.
‘What is it, Viola?’
‘It’s Wolfgang!’
The mate of Constanza, Wolfgang was Viola’s favourite, even though she’d said again and again she knew she shouldn’t have one, but she loved Wolfgang to within an inch of her life.
‘Where is he?’
‘In the back. He’s fitting. Last time it was just the once, but this time it won’t stop.’
‘Last time?’ Lucas asked as he ran to the back, trying to get a quick glimpse of Ellie and Mav. She was daubing at his forehead, even though he had been certain he’d stemmed the bleeding.
‘Yes.’ Viola was following him as he headed to the back of the large four-by-four. ‘It was on the day you were doing that fancy surgery and neither you nor Ellie were available and— Oh! I asked them to get Ellie, but they wouldn’t!’ A huge sob erupted from her small throat. ‘I knew he wasn’t getting the best treatment. Where’s Ellie? Can Ellie come out?’
He didn’t have to look to know the answer. ‘No. There’s been an accident.’
‘With Ellie?’ Viola’s legs wobbled.
‘No.’ He reached out to steady her. ‘With Maverick, but...he’ll be all right.’ He prayed with every fibre in his being that he was right. ‘Are you happy for me to treat Wolfgang?’
‘You’ll do,’ Viola said dismissively, her attention no longer on Lucas now that they’d open the back door of the vehicle. ‘I just want my boy not to be in any pain.’
Lucas knew that feeling. In spades. It felt physically painful being away from Maverick right now, but one look at Wolfgang and Lucas flew into action. From everything Viola had described about the recurring episodes, Wolfgang was in status epilepticus, a series of epileptic seizures the poor dog had no recovery time between.
He ran back to Ellie and grabbed a roll of gauze for a temporary muzzle.
‘What’s going on?’
He quickly explained the situation.
Ellie gasped and handed him a pair of scissors and a couple of extra rolls of gauze. ‘For his legs if he’s really fitting.’
‘Would you like to treat him? You know him best.’
‘Are you mad? Of course not! My son’s lying here bleeding and in pain because of you! Just go! Do your best because Viola’s an incredibly important patient. You can do that, can’t you? See to a patient without causing even more damage?’
If she’d slapped him it would’ve hurt less. She blamed him for Maverick’s fall. What was worse, she didn’t want him anywhere near Maverick.
He quietly turned to go. ‘Don’t forget to take blood samples after you get the IV in,’ she instructed.
‘I know.’ For her benefit he ran through the list. Blood glucose, electrolytes, packed cell volume. She was stressed. Emotions were getting the better of her. People lashed out when they were scared, and she was definitely scared. He was too but this wasn’t the time to show it. He changed his voice, his hand lightly touching Maverick’s hair. ‘I’m sorry, Ells. I want to be there with you. At the hospital.’
She nodded her acknowledgement but said nothing.
He gave his son’s cheek a soft brush with the backs of his fingers then ran back to Viola.
They needed to get the dog on an anti-epileptic drip and onto some oxygen fast. He quickly wrapped the gauze round Wolfgang’s muzzle, calling to one of the nurses who’d just come out to check on Maverick to get a gurney. Wolfgang weighed nearly sixty kilos. Lucas was strong. But carrying sixty kilos of fitting wolfhound would not be a wise decision.
He heard sirens approaching as he finished the wrap and tried to get a blanket under the dog so he and the nurse could do a quick transfer.
He glanced over at Ellie. Her ear was cocked. Good. She knew help was on the way. Help she’d accept, anyway.
The veterinary nurse arrived with a gurney just as the ambulance pulled into the drive.
He felt completely torn in two. One of those rock and hard place moments.
Just like he’d found himself in six years ago.
Ellie’s business meant the world to her. She’d never let an animal suffer if it was in her means to care for and protect it. He had to be the one to care for and protect her business while she looked after their son. It caused him actual physical pain to not be there by her side, but he wasn’t going to screw this up again.
While he slid the dog onto the gurney, he watched helplessly as the paramedic team slid his son onto one and strapped him in.
As they drove away and he ran into the clinic, he prayed he’d made the right decision. That Ellie would realise everything he’d done, he’d done for her.
* * *
‘Here you are, love.’ Ellie’s mum handed her a cup of tea. ‘I put some sugar in it. For the shock.’
Ellie blew on the cup. ‘Thanks, Mum.’ She leant against her mother when she sat down in the hard plastic chair beside her.
‘Any word from the A and E staff?’
Ellie shook her head. ‘Nothing different from what the paramedics said. Double fracture of his arm. They’ll put it on soft bandages tonight, a proper cast in a couple of days.’
They both looked at the empty bed where Maverick had just been. Ellie’s voice grew shakier. ‘The doctors wanted to do another head scan to make sure there wasn’t any damage to his skull. You know, danger of internal bleeding or anything. That’s where he is now.’
‘And Lucas? Have you heard from him?’
About ninety-seven times. Texts. Calls. To her phone and to the A and E.
Despite herself, she laughed.
Her mother gave her a light nudge. ‘Is that a yes or a no?’
‘It’s a yes.’ She flicked a bit of dirt off her knee. ‘He’s on his way here, actually.’
‘Good. I knew you could rely on him.’
‘What? Rely on Lucas?’ Ellie sat up, her tea sloshing over the side of her flimsy plastic cup. ‘Ow! God. Mum! Do you really think this is the time to wave the Lucas Williams fan club flag?’
Wyn looked at her appraisingly. ‘Why? You said it was an accident.’
‘It was, but—’
‘But what?’
‘I thought you said he wasn’t here because he was treating Viola’s beloved hound?’
‘No, Mum!’ Ellie whirled on her mother, spilling yet more tea. ‘Lucas should’ve been there for Maverick. Earlier. Much earlier than he was. If he’d been there when he’d said he would, Maverick wouldn’t have had to run down those bloody stairs and he’d be at school, learning something, and I’d—’ She stopped herself. She’d what? Be in Lucas’s arms? Be dithering even more about whether or not to say she’d absolutely love him to be a partner in the clinic? Getting on with a thousand other things she’d love to spend the rest of her life doing with Maverick and Lucas by her side.
‘It’s tough, isn’t it?’ Wyn said, taking the tea gently from Ellie’s hand and placing it on the floor. She handed her a packet of tissues.
‘What is?’
‘Being so very much in love.’
‘Pah! Love? This isn’t love. This is pure, unbridled fury. That’s what it is.’
‘No, it isn’t, Eleanor. You know that and you need to stop putting anger in the place of forgiveness. You should’ve asked that man’s forgiveness long ago. Then none of you would be in this position.’
‘You think I should’ve asked him to forgive me? For leaving me in the lurch? For swanning off to “help his family”?’
‘Eleanor Stone, I did not raise you to be this way. I’ve tried and tried and tried to get you to see sense through the years but now I’m going to have to be blunt. You were wrong to keep Maverick a secret from him. No matter how angry you were or hurt or heartbroken, you needed to remember that Lucas was in love with you, too. Can you even imagine how painful that must’ve been? Choosing between you and caring for a family who needed so much help? For a young man like that? It must’ve been terrifying.’
Ellie pushed her hands between her knees and pressed them tight. It was a good point. One she hadn’t fully considered. Definitely not at the time, anyway.
Her mother continued, ‘You gave birth to Lucas’s son. Anyone who breaks his own heart to look after his own family in their time of need deserves your sympathy. He should be furious with you. If you’d been in his shoes, what would you have done? Sued for custody? I bet you would have.’ Her mother was on a roll now. ‘So what if he ended up on television? So what if you saw him with some girl on his arm. You didn’t wait for facts, did you?’
Ellie bit down on her cheek. No. She hadn’t, but he’d broken her heart too and—And what? She’d not considered the fact that he might’ve had to rip his own heart out to do what he’d done.
She looked at her phone again. Ninety-seven missed calls and messages.
Well.
Ignored calls and messages.
The only reason she knew he was coming was because he’d rung the hospital and got a nurse to tell her he was on his way if she needed to take a break or wanted anything.
Lucas still loved her.
She still loved him.
The only thing that stood between them was fear of something bad happening again, and bad things happened. It didn’t mean it would break them up again.
A tear trickled down her cheek. ‘I’ve been a selfish cow, haven’t I?’
Her mother wrapped an arm around her and pulled her in for a tight half-hug. ‘No, love. You’ve been a mama bear. Same as I probably would’ve been.’
‘But...’ She blinked away her tears. ‘I thought you said—’
Her mother cut in. ‘Oh, now that I’m old and wise I can see all the mistakes I made and the mistakes you made, too. So you have that to look forward to one day. Being as wise as your old mum.’
‘Oh, Mum. I was just so scared.’
‘I know, love. Loving a child is terrifying. Trusting someone else to love them as much as you do is just as frightening. Loving a man is terrifying. You don’t think I wasn’t scared out of my wits when your father suggested we run the pub? Work with the same man day in day out for the rest of my entire life? Trust him to stand by me when I kept putting the wrong ingredients in everyone’s orders?’ She laughed. ‘I remember sending out a Cornish breakfast with Yorkshire puddings once! Imagine. Yorkshire puddings in a Cornish pub.’
Ellie gave her a strange look. ‘When did you do that?’
‘When I was pregnant with you.’
A twist of guilt tightened in her chest. She’d had some strange quirks when she’d been pregnant. Drew and her parents knew about them, but there had been others she’d silently told Lucas. Quirks only he would’ve laughed at or sympathised with. The truth was she’d missed him all along. Had picked up the phone she didn’t know how many times to ring him when she’d found out she was pregnant, but it had felt so weak!
‘The point being, my darling girl...’ her mother planted a kiss on top of her head ‘...loving someone involves a lot of blind trust. Whether you like it or not.’
‘I guess that’s my problem.’ Ellie hiccough-sobbed as she pressed a fresh wad of tissues to her eyes. ‘Of course I love Lucas. I guess in order to preserve what little pride I had after he left, I’d convinced myself that he wasn’t the kind, amazing, incredible man I’d met, and that if I told him what had happened, he wouldn’t love Mav as much as I did. Or me.’
‘Not possible,’ said a rich voice that definitely wasn’t her mother’s. ‘I love him every bit as much as I love you.’
CHAPTER TEN
WYN GAVE Lucas a warm smile, and his arm a pat as she rose from her chair. ‘I think that’s my cue to go and get some fresh cups of tea.’
When she’d left, Lucas sat down next to Ellie, his heart hammering against his ribcage. ‘Is he okay?’
Ellie nodded. ‘Broken arm and a few scrapes and bumps. They’re doing a final head scan, but it’s more precautionary than anything. They think his arm took the brunt of the fall.’
‘Ells, I am so sorry. If I hadn’t gone out—’
‘No. No. It was me. I—I thought you’d gone again. That you’d left us.’
‘What?’ He cursed his decision not to leave a note. Getting stuck behind a tractor on a narrow country lane definitely hadn’t been part of the plan. Neither had dropping by her parents’ pub for a ‘casual little chat,’ but life didn’t run by a script, did it?
Ellie threw up her hands and sighed. ‘I added two and two and got zero. That’s why I was so angry. Not because you were late. Well...’ a few more tears welled up in her eyes. ‘It was also because you were late, but mostly it was me thinking the worst when you were probably out doing something completely boring, like getting milk for the physio.’
He pressed his hand to his jacket pocket. He had been on an errand. But he’d picked up something much longer lasting than a carton of milk.
‘How’s Wolfgang?’ she sniffled.
‘All right. I was a bit worried he’d suffered some brain damage.’
‘Why?’
‘It took Viola a while to get him into the car.’
Ellie’s eyes popped wide open. ‘Viola got him into the car?’
Lucas nodded, every bit as astonished. ‘She said she knew she had to get him to the clinic as soon as possible and that it would take too long to wait for us, so...’ He laughed. ‘She called it Herculean love.’
‘What?’
‘Whatever it was that enabled her to hoist that dog into her vehicle. They must weigh about the same.’
Ellie begged to differ. ‘Wolfgang weighs more.’
‘How do you know?’
‘I was worried about her a few months back, so I had her get on the scales with him.’
Lucas grinned. ‘But you already knew what he weighed, right?’
‘Right.’
‘And you’ve been doing it ever since?’
The bashful smile told him all he needed to know. ‘You’re amazing, Ells.’
‘Why? For secretly weighing my clients?’
‘For looking after the pets and their owners so well. No wonder she thinks the world of you.’
Ellie’s cheeks pinked up. ‘She probably loves you more now that you’ve saved Wolfgang.’
‘No,’ Lucas admitted. ‘She made it pretty clear the entire time I was treating him that she trusted you far more than she trusted me.’
‘Why doesn’t she trust you?’
‘She said...and I quote... I was “too pretty to trust.”’
Ellie hooted with laughter, giggles taking over where the tears had just abated.
Damn, she was beautiful. Oh, hell. He pulled her into his arms, relief pouring through him when she leant into him and let him take some of the weight. This was as it should’ve been all those years ago when he’d wanted nothing more than to pull her into his arms when he’d been told his family needed him and he’d had to step away. What an idiot. They’d always been better together. As a team. The fact he’d managed to help his family as well as he had done had been little short of a miracle. One he would’ve rather shared with Ellie. Nothing had felt entirely right without her. A joke hadn’t been as funny. An incredible surgery not as satisfying. The pillow next to his had never been right—not without that fan of flame-gold hair spread across it. It was an emptiness he’d felt as acutely as if he’d lost a limb. And yet he’d thought he’d done the right thing, stoically ‘setting her free’. All those years gaslit by his own stupid decision-making.