by Sarah Morgan
‘Yes, thank you. It’s very comfortable.’
She looked as though she’d suffered a shock or a major trauma and he wished he could read her mind.
Normally women just spilled out problems without prompting but Ella’s mind seemed to be like a password-protected computer program. There was no access to unauthorised users.
Frustrated that she was shutting him out, Nikos gripped her arms firmly and turned her to face him. ‘Tell me what’s wrong.’
Her eyes lifted to his. Sea-green eyes, swimming with secrets. ‘The last two days have been pretty stressful,’ she croaked. ‘I wasn’t expecting to see you again, and suddenly here you are, waving a ring at me, and nothing is the way I thought it was.’
It sounded logical, and yet Nikos knew it wasn’t the whole truth.
They stared at each other for a moment and then he released her, reminding himself of the value of patience.
‘We should eat. We’re due at the hospital soon.’
His staff had laid a table for breakfast and he poured her a glass of freshly squeezed juice, analysing the situation with cold objectivity. Sensing that to demand that she confide in him would achieve nothing except withdrawal on her part, he kept the conversation light.
‘What do you eat for breakfast? My staff can cook eggs in any form you like. Bacon? Sausages? Just tell me.’
‘Juice will be fine. I’m not that hungry.’ Ella pulled out one of the chairs and sat with her back to the house. ‘I—I think perhaps I’ll just have something later.’
Was she worried about the baby? The wedding? Their relationship?
Nikos drizzled golden honey onto thick creamy yoghurt and placed the bowl in front of her. ‘Eat,’ he said gently. ‘You can’t work a whole shift on an empty stomach.’
Her fingers reached for a spoon. Toyed with it. In the end she managed three mouthfuls, but Nikos let it pass, making a mental note to make sure she ate in her tea-break.
The last two days had been a dramatic white-knuckle ride of emotions. He’d give her a couple of days, and then, if things hadn’t settled down, he’d deal with it.
Her head throbbed, her heart ached and Ella felt as though she was going to fall apart.
The past week had been a nightmare.
It was that house, she thought miserably as she tried to bring some order to the chaos of the waiting room. That stupid, horrid house.
Every night she lay there wide awake, her mind in constant turmoil.
It was as if she’d been transported back to her childhood and it was clear to her now that she couldn’t stay there any longer.
She couldn’t spend another night in that place.
Exhausted and vowing to ring a letting agency in her break, Ella tidied a pile of magazines, threw toys back into the box and collected pages of discarded colouring.
‘Help me! Someone, help me!’ A young man shouldered open the door of the department, a toddler cradled in his arms. ‘She’s stopped breathing!’
Dropping the pages in her hand, Ella didn’t hesitate. ‘Bring her into Resus with me quickly.’ She pushed open the doors and called to Kelly, who was taking patient details at Reception. ‘Call Nikos—now.’
The man’s movements were jerky and panicky and the child lay in his arms, limp and lifeless. ‘We were eating our picnic on the beach and suddenly she just started to cough and then she was gagging as though she wanted to be sick but she wasn’t and now she isn’t breathing. Oh, God, do something!’
‘Lay her on the trolley—that’s right.’ Ella opened the child’s mouth to see if she could see anything obvious obstructing the breathing. ‘Do you know what she was eating?’
‘What were we eating? I don’t know. I don’t know.’ The man jabbed his fingers into his hair, struggling to think—so distraught he could barely speak. ‘She was just—I don’t know what was there, I can’t even remember. Crisps. Bread. Sausages.’ He put his hand on his forehead, almost out of his mind with worry. ‘All the usual stuff.’
With the aid of a light, Ella examined the child’s airway and saw a brownish lump lodged in the back of her throat.
Swiftly she weighed up her options.
She could attempt to remove the obstruction with a finger sweep, but there was always the chance that such a manoeuvre might push the object further down the child’s throat. The alternative was to wait for a doctor who would use the laryngoscope and a pair of Magill’s forceps.
‘Don’t let her die. Please, don’t let her die.’ The little girl’s father had his hands in his hair, almost beside himself with fear and worry. ‘I can’t believe this is happening. Do something! Please!’
Aware that each moment counted and confident that the obstruction was within her reach, Ella used a single finger sweep in an attempt to clear the child’s airway. The hard lump of food was driven forward by her finger and she carefully removed it from the child’s mouth and placed it in a kidney dish.
Satisfaction rushed through her, to be followed swiftly by concern because the child still wasn’t breathing.
Ella opened the child’s airway and gave five rescue breaths just as Nikos strode into the room.
Prepared to start chest compressions, Ella opened her mouth to give him the history just as the child gave a choked cough and drew in a shuddering breath.
‘Oh, thank God!’ The father pressed his fingers to his eyes and Nikos tilted his glossy dark head and gave Ella a faint smile.
‘It seems as though I’m not needed after all.’
‘I wouldn’t say that,’ she muttered, reaching for an oxygen mask and slipping it over the child’s mouth and nose. ‘Let’s just say we started without you.’
The father was murmuring to his daughter—kissing her forehead. ‘You’re all right, baby. Daddy’s here. Daddy’s here.’ He lifted his head and looked at Ella, his hand still stroking his daughter’s curls. ‘I don’t know what to say. You were amazing—you didn’t hesitate. You just…took over and sorted it.’ Clearly overwhelmed, the father wiped his eyes and shook his head. ‘Sorry—I’m so embarrassed…’
‘Don’t be.’ Nikos closed a hand over the man’s shoulder and then focused on the little girl. He examined her carefully, satisfying himself that all was well and that she was recovering.
‘It was this.’ Ella picked up the dish. ‘Looks like one of those mini-sausages.’
‘You did a finger sweep?’
‘Yes. Are you going to tell me off for taking a risk?’
Nikos hooked his stethoscope round his neck, a sardonic gleam in his eyes. ‘Why would I do that? Presumably you looked and decided that there was a good chance you could clear it. I call it a bold, decisive action rather than risk-taking.’
And that was his own approach, of course.
No one could ever accuse Nikos Mariakos of dithering.
‘She seems fine now,’ Nikos said to the father, ‘but I’d like her to stay here for another hour, just to be safe. When she recovers a bit you can take her into the waiting room and let her play with the toys.’
‘I can’t thank you enough.’ He stepped towards Ella and took her hands. ‘Thank you.’
‘You’re welcome. I’m pleased she’s OK.’ Ella blinked, moved by the emotion in the man’s face.
This father loved his child.
Scooping the little girl into his arms, he hugged her tightly. ‘Don’t ever scare me like that again.’ He looked at Ella over the child’s head. ‘I think I’ve aged a million years in five minutes. You don’t know what worry is until you have kids, do you? Could someone just pop outside and tell my wife everything is OK? She’s pacing outside in the car park with the baby. She’s just hopeless if one of them is ill or hurt, so I always take over. But I’m useless at it, too.’
‘You’re not useless.’ Ella had tears in her eyes, too, and it was Nikos who reassured the man and led him back out to Reception.
She understood now why he was so good with the parents.
He’d been that parent.
What had happened to his daughter?
Ella’s gaze flickered to the computer on the desk. She could look it up on the internet, but somehow that just didn’t feel right. She didn’t want to have to find out the details of his life from cyberspace. She wanted him to tell her.
She wanted him to trust her.
He’d lost a child and suddenly the enormity of that sank home.
And she was planning to take another child from him.
Guilt mixed with all the other emotions swirling in her head.
Did she have a right to deny Nikos a life with his child? Was she really protecting the baby, or was she protecting herself?
She dug her hands into her hair, tortured by indecision.
At that moment Nikos strode back into the room, his eyes narrowing as he saw her stricken expression.
‘What’s wrong?’
Ella looked at him helplessly, wishing men came with an instruction booklet and a guarantee. She wanted to take that leap, but she was just too frightened of it all going wrong. ‘Nothing. I’m fine.’
Nikos pushed the door closed, giving them privacy. ‘Don’t tell me “nothing”, Ella.’ His accent was more pronounced than usual and she sensed the depth of his exasperation. ‘You are very tired. You are working too hard.’
‘I love my work.’
‘You are an exceptional nurse.’ He strolled across to her and took her face in his hands, his fingers gentle. ‘But you have your own health to think about, too. Today you’re finishing work at four o’clock.’
Ella froze. She didn’t want to finish early. The thought of going back to the house made her heart race and her breathing quicken. She honestly couldn’t do it. She needed to find somewhere else to stay tonight. ‘I’m on a late,’ she said firmly. ‘I don’t finish until nine. And I thought I might go for a drink with the others. It’s Friday. We usually go out on Fridays.’
‘Ella, you have been working twelve-hour days to get this department up and running.’ Nikos trailed his fingers down her throat. ‘You need a rest. Both of us have the weekend off—it makes sense to leave at four.’
His touch was driving her crazy.
Suddenly she wanted nothing more than an afternoon in bed with him—but not if that bed was in the house on the beach.
‘I couldn’t possibly ask Rose if I can leave early.’ She didn’t want to leave early. She didn’t want to spend any more time at the house than was strictly necessary.
‘Rose has already agreed. She’s got cover for you.’
‘Oh…’ Running out of excuses, Ella bit her lip and searched for some plausible reason not to return to the house.
Nikos glanced at the clock on the wall. ‘If we leave at four, you’ll have time to enjoy the hotel this evening.’
‘Hotel?’ Ella stared at him blankly, wondering if she’d misheard. ‘What hotel?’
‘I mentioned it to you last week.’ Nikos frowned, and it was obvious that he’d expected her to remember. ‘I have business commitments in London this weekend. I thought we could combine it with some relaxation and shopping.’
London? ‘We’re not going back to the house?’
‘No. My plan is to go straight to London. You can buy whatever you need when you’re there.’
Ella felt weak with relief. She thought about the sheer indulgent luxury of staying in an anonymous hotel. No spooky, spider-ridden canal boat. No sleeping in that house, surrounded by hideous memories, afraid that her emotions might spill out at any moment.
Instead, she could relax in an anonymous hotel room that didn’t remind her of anything and just think. Long baths, maybe a bit of shopping. Nothing threatening.
And two days in which to plan the best way to bring up the subject of finding alternative accommodation.
‘Great.’ She smiled brightly. ‘I can’t wait.’
Nikos spread his hands, visibly perplexed by her sudden change of heart. ‘I thought you didn’t want to leave the department.’
‘Well, if it’s all right with Rose, it’s all right with me.’
She didn’t care what she did as long as she didn’t have to spend another night in the house.
Ella sat in the helicopter, feeling dazed. ‘We’re flying to London?’ When they’d set out in the sports car, she’d assumed they’d be driving all the way, but Nikos had only driven as far as the nearest airport.
‘This is a billionaire solution to Friday-night traffic.’ Nikos fastened her seat belt. ‘I have some urgent business in London and I don’t have time to spend five hours stuck in stationary traffic.’ He adjusted the strap to his satisfaction, his face close to hers, his rough jaw grazing her cheek.
She lifted a hand and stroked it into his hair. ‘Are you trying to impress me or something?’
His smile was slow and wicked. ‘I thought I’d already done that but I’m more than happy to impress you again when we arrive at the hotel.’
‘Very funny.’ Ella felt her heart flip. ‘If you’re going to London on business, why are you taking me with you?’
‘Because you want to know about my life, and this is part of my life.’ He delivered a lingering kiss to her mouth and then straightened. ‘Tonight you can rest, and tomorrow we will enjoy ourselves.’
Intensely relieved to be spared a weekend at the house, Ella leaned her head against the seat and looked at him. ‘All right. So what happens now? You give your instructions to your pilot or something?’
‘I am the pilot.’
‘You’re going to fly this thing?’ She felt a moment of alarm. ‘Do you know how?’
‘You think I’d be flying it if I didn’t?’
‘I don’t know—you have been known to take risks.’
He grinned. ‘So have you, agape mou. But I promise not to take risks when I’m in the air.’
Hoping that he was as good at that as he was at medicine, Ella gripped her seat. As the helicopter rose from the ground she held her breath and then let out a bubble of laughter because it felt wonderful to be in the air. As they flew over the beautiful English countryside, she found herself fascinated by the patchwork of green fields spread beneath her like a giant bedspread.
As soon as they landed, they were transferred by chauffeur-driven car to one of the most prestigious hotels in London.
Watching in awe as a Hollywood actress sailed past surrounded by her entourage, Ella rubbed her hands self-consciously over her jeans.
‘I feel as though any moment now someone is going to order me to use the tradesman’s entrance. I can’t stay here.’ She gave a helpless shrug, wondering what it was that he saw in her. ‘I don’t fit. I’m wearing the wrong things.’
‘You’re far more beautiful than any of their other guests.’ Ignoring her insecurities, Nikos urged her gently across the opulent marble foyer. ‘And the hotel staff are interested in my wallet, not in your wardrobe.’
‘Exactly how big is your wallet?’
‘Big enough to ensure that they smile when my fiancée arrives wearing ancient jeans.’
They were intercepted by a man in a suit who greeted Nikos so effusively that Ella assumed that they must be somehow related.
A brief conversation was followed by some frantic hand signals and then they were escorted up a flight of stairs, along a thickly carpeted corridor and into a series of rooms about four times bigger than any flat she’d ever lived in.
Ella stood in the doorway, glancing around her in disbelief.
‘I booked us a suite.’ Nikos pressed a note into the man’s hand and he discreetly melted away, leaving the two of them alone. ‘We’ll have more room.’
‘That guy at Reception—he was obviously thrilled to see you. Are you related?’
‘He’s the manager of the hotel.’ Nikos slung his jacket over the nearest chair and glanced at his watch. ‘I have twenty minutes to shower, change and get to my meeting. I’m sorry to abandon you. Will you be all right here by yourself for a few hours?’
‘Of course.’ Ell
a decided that she could happily spend the rest of her life living in this hotel suite. No insects, no cleaning. Noticing the giant plasma screen on one of the walls, she decided that a long, indulgent bath would be followed by channel flicking. ‘Is there a map or anything?’
‘Of London?’ Already in the process of unbuttoning his shirt, Nikos frowned. ‘I don’t think you should go out.’
‘I’m not going out. I wondered if there is a map of this suite.’ Ella was laughing. ‘I’m worried I might get lost finding my way around. Which of the many bedrooms am I supposed to sleep in?’
‘Mine,’ Nikos said silkily, his glance unmistakably sexual as he yanked off his shirt and exposed sleek, muscular shoulders.
Their eyes met.
Her smile faded and her heart thundered like hooves in a stampede.
The chemistry between them was hot, powerful and undeniable, and she licked her lips, wishing he wasn’t going out in twenty minutes. She stepped towards him and he lifted a hand and gave a self-deprecating laugh.
‘If I do what you want me to do, agape mou,’ he breathed, ‘I will miss my meeting and neither of us will get any sleep for the rest of the night. And you need rest. You are tired and emotional and tomorrow I want to take you shopping and have fun.’
‘Oh.’ Ella wrapped her arms around her waist, trying to calm the insistent buzz of her nerve endings.
‘Don’t look at me like that.’ His tone dry, he walked towards the far end of the suite. ‘I’m going to take a shower. An extremely cold shower.’
‘Kalimera. Good morning.’ Freshly shaved and dressed in black jeans and a casual shirt, Nikos joined Ella at the breakfast table.
He was so beautiful, she thought helplessly. What woman in her right mind would be able to resist a man like him?
For the first time in a week she’d slept soundly and she felt much better for it. No bad dreams. No bad memories.
‘Did you come to bed last night?’
‘I came in late and you were sound asleep. I didn’t want to wake you and I had work to do.’ He poured himself a coffee and glanced out of the window. ‘It’s a sunny day.’