‘Well, I’d better make a start. I don’t want to create a backlog so early in the day.’
He gave her a quick smile then left and she heard his footsteps echoing along the corridor. Ellie went and sat down at her desk, refusing to let herself think any more about that kiss or its whys and wherefores. It had happened. Period. Pressing the button, she summoned her first patient, determined to put the incident behind her. However, in her heart she knew it wouldn’t be possible to do that. That kiss had changed things, changed her, even though she wasn’t sure how.
Her first patient was Nigel Walsh. A good-looking man in his forties, he cut an imposing figure, somewhat belied by the anxiety on his face as he sat down. ‘So what can I do for you today, Mr Walsh?’ Ellie asked, smiling at him. It was surprising how nervous even the most confident of people could become when they needed to consult a doctor and she wanted to put him at his ease.
‘I’ve not come about me.’ Nigel Walsh leant forward, looking even more strained. ‘It’s my wife, Madeleine. I’m extremely worried about her and that’s why I’ve come to see you.’
‘I’m afraid I can’t discuss another patient with you, not even if it’s your wife,’ Ellie explained gently.
‘What if I tell you that I’m afraid she’s going to really harm herself?’ Nigel Walsh ran his hand through his perfectly groomed hair. ‘I’m at my wits’ end, Doctor. I have no idea what to do or how to help her.’
Ellie frowned. This definitely wasn’t what she had expected to hear. ‘Why do you think she may harm herself?’
‘Because her behaviour is getting worse. At first it was just cutting herself, but in the last few months it’s been spiralling out of control. She threw herself down the stairs last week and then, yesterday, I found her in the kitchen, holding her arm over the gas ring...’ He broke off and gulped. ‘I don’t think I can take much more. And then there’s Alice. What’s it doing to her to see her mother doing all these things to herself?’
‘Does your wife have a history of self-harm?’ Eleanor asked, feeling in a real quandary. Patient confidentiality meant that she shouldn’t discuss Mrs Walsh’s behaviour even with her husband; however, if what he said was true, it appeared the woman urgently needed help.
‘Oh, yes. According to her parents it started when she was a teenager but she had counselling and she was all right after that. Then, after we had Alice, it started up again, just little things at first—cuts and bruises—clumsiness, Madeleine claimed. However, it’s gone way beyond that now and I’ve no idea what to do for the best.’
‘Have you tried to get her to see someone?’ Ellie asked.
‘Of course I have!’ Walsh sounded angry now. ‘I made an appointment for her to see a psychotherapist but she refused to go. That’s why I’ve come today, to see if you can talk some sense into her.’
‘I can certainly ask her to come in and see me,’ Ellie said carefully. ‘But if what you say is true, she really needs specialist help.’
‘Of course it’s true!’ the man exploded. ‘Why would I make up something like this? Oh, I get it. You think I’ve been abusing her and that’s why she keeps turning up with all those injuries.’ He leapt to his feet. ‘Well, I am not a wife-beater, Doctor. Far from it!’
He stormed out of the room before Ellie could stop him. Jumping up, she ran after him but he had already left. She went back to her room, wondering what she should do. She couldn’t leave it like this, not when there was the risk of Mrs Walsh doing herself serious harm. No, she would have to speak to Daniel and see what he thought was the best course of action. Her heart lurched at the thought of them working together to resolve this issue. Even though she knew it was foolish, she couldn’t deny that the idea appealed...
Ellie sighed as she pressed the buzzer to summon her next patient. She had to stop thinking like that. Maybe she did like Daniel but it wouldn’t progress beyond liking. She had made her plans for the future and love and all the rest of it didn’t feature in them.
CHAPTER SEVEN
ELLIE WAS SURPRISED to find Daniel in the office when she went to file some requests for hospital appointments. It was gone six and the rest of the staff had left. He glanced round and she couldn’t help noticing how tired he looked.
‘I didn’t know you were still here.’
‘Snap.’ She shrugged when he looked blankly at her, regretting her flippancy. She had decided that the best way to handle this situation was by maintaining a strictly professional demeanour whenever she was with him and remarks like that wouldn’t help. Last night she had overstepped the boundaries by telling him about Michael and she needed to redress the balance. ‘Actually, I’m glad you’re still here,’ she said more formally. ‘I wanted to speak to you about something that happened this morning.’
‘Oh, and what was that?’ he asked, turning to face her. Ellie felt her heart give another of those unsettling little lurches as she suddenly found herself the subject of his attention. It was an effort to concentrate on what she wanted to say.
‘I had a man come to see me this morning, not about himself but about his wife. Apparently, she’s been self-harming and her behaviour is spiralling out of control.’
‘Really?’ Daniel frowned. ‘I take it that she’s a patient here?’
‘Yes. Madeleine Walsh—do you know her?’
‘I do. In fact, she came in only last week because she’d hurt her arm falling down the stairs. Turned out that it was just badly sprained but it could easily have been broken.’ His expression darkened. ‘I take it her husband is claiming that she did it to herself?’
‘Yes. That’s right. Why? Do you think he was lying?’ Ellie asked, in surprise.
‘I think it’s possible. Walsh wouldn’t be the first to lay the blame for his actions on his victim. It’s an old trick, I hate to tell you.’
Ellie bridled when she heard what sounded very much like condescension in his voice. That Daniel believed she was too gullible to recognise the excuses some people used to cover up their behaviour stung. Michael had displayed the same high-handed attitude towards her at times, but she was nobody’s fool and it was time Daniel understood that.
‘I am well aware of that,’ she said curtly. ‘However, I don’t believe that was what Mr Walsh was trying to do. He’s genuinely worried about his wife, in my opinion, and I feel that I should take his concerns seriously. It’s not just Mrs Walsh I need to think about, after all. They have a young child and I intend to ensure that she isn’t put at risk. However, I apologise for involving you. I’ll sort this out myself.’
Ellie spun round, refusing to stand there and beg Daniel to believe her. He would accept that she was right or he wouldn’t, but it was up to him. No matter what he thought, she intended to do something about this situation.
‘Wait!’
She stopped reluctantly when Daniel called her back, hating the fact that she felt so upset. Why should it matter if he thought she was wrong? It didn’t make sense, or not the kind of sense she was willing to accept. Admitting that she cared what he thought about her was too dangerous; it hinted at a closeness she didn’t want to foster. She’d had her chance at the happy-ever-after and it had failed. Miserably. She’d be a fool to dip her toes into that particular water again!
Daniel could have bitten off his tongue. It was obvious that he had upset Eleanor and that was the last thing he wanted to do. Nevertheless, he knew it would be wrong to let her carry on believing Walsh’s claims when the man was undoubtedly playing her for a fool. The thought cranked up his anger another notch so that his tone was gruffer than it otherwise might have been.
‘Why do you believe that Walsh was telling you the truth?’ he said brusquely.
‘It’s obvious that you’ve made up your mind about him so I can’t see any point in discussing it,’ she shot back.
‘Maybe not, but indu
lge me.’ He stared at her, watching the angry colour flood her cheeks. Despite the fact that she gave off that aura of coolness, there was passion bubbling beneath the surface. The thought sent a flash of heat through him and he cleared his throat, afraid that he would give himself away. Knowing that Eleanor felt such passion was strangely erotic.
‘I’ve never met Walsh so I’m basing my opinion on what Madeleine Walsh told me,’ he said flatly, determined to get a grip on his emotions. He held up his hand when she went to interrupt. ‘Just hear me out, will you? She seemed frightened when I suggested contacting her husband so he could drive her to hospital to have her wrist X-rayed. She was also deliberately vague at first about how she came to fall down the stairs. Then, when I pressed her, she went into all kinds of detail about how it had happened.’
‘All classic signs of someone suffering abuse.’ Eleanor sighed. ‘There were a couple of cases where I worked before, a man and a woman who were being abused by their partners. It was hard to get them to admit what was happening so I could set things in motion and try to help them.’
‘Exactly,’ Daniel agreed, regretting his earlier comments more than ever. It appeared that Eleanor had experience of this type of situation so maybe he should listen to what she was saying and not jump to conclusions.
The thought that he was guilty of that hit him hard, especially coming on top of the guilt he already felt about what had happened the night before. Maybe that kiss had been no more than a token but it had aroused a lot of emotions inside him, guilt being the biggest one of all. How could he have kissed Eleanor like that? How could he have forgotten, even for a moment, about Camille? She had never even entered his head and he knew that the fact he had forgotten about her would continue to upset him.
‘The situation is very similar with people who self-harm, though, isn’t it? They go to great lengths to hide what they’re doing too.’ Eleanor’s voice roused him and he nodded, relieved to think about something else.
‘Yes, that’s true. They’re ashamed of their actions, even though they feel compelled to continue hurting themselves.’
‘Then can’t you see that Madeleine Walsh could fall into that category...that she’s self-harming rather than being abused?’
‘I’ll admit you could be right, although I’m still not convinced. Apparently, Nigel Walsh is a solicitor, a very good one from all accounts too. He must be adept at presenting his case,’ Daniel observed, flatly, reluctant to concede that she was right. Maybe he was holding out as a kind of defence mechanism, refuting Eleanor’s claims because he didn’t want to side with her. He sighed, knowing he was wrong to allow his personal feelings to skew his judgement this way.
‘Look, Eleanor—’ he began, then stopped when the phone suddenly rang.
Lifting it off its rest, he listened intently to what the caller was saying. ‘Right. I’ll meet you there...’ He stopped and listened again then glanced at Eleanor. ‘I’ll sort something out. Leave it with me.’
‘Has something happened?’
Daniel turned when Eleanor spoke, doing his best to find a level. Maybe that kiss had knocked him for six but he had to put it into perspective. It had been just one moment out of his life, one tiny episode that would soon be forgotten if he didn’t keep thinking about it. He had to let it go and not keep on poking at it like an aching tooth.
‘There’s been an incident,’ he said, deliberately confining his thoughts to the present.
‘An incident?’ Ellie repeated, confused by the swift change of subject. One minute they had been discussing the Walshes and the next—this.
‘Yes. A party of teenagers doing their Duke of Edinburgh Award left the hostel where they’re staying just before eight this morning and they haven’t been seen since.’ Daniel sounded worried, as well he might, Ellie realised, glancing at her watch. Twelve hours was a long time for the youngsters to be out on the hills. She had no difficulty focusing on what he was saying as he continued.
‘The staff who’ve accompanied them have checked the route they should have taken and they’re nowhere to be found. We can only conclude that they’ve got themselves lost, which is why the mountain rescue team has been called in. I’m part of the team so I’ll be going along but we need another doctor. Is there any chance that you’d come along, Eleanor?’
* * *
Daniel watched as one of the rescue team spread an Ordnance Survey map across the bonnet of the vehicle and weighted it down with stones. The wind was howling across the hills now, heralding the arrival of the storm that had been forecast that night. Quite frankly, the teenagers couldn’t have chosen a worse time to have gone missing. He glanced at Eleanor and could tell that she was thinking the same as him. For some reason the thought sent a little thrill of pleasure coursing through him.
‘Right, guys, gather round.’ Joe Thorne, leader of the local cave and mountain rescue team, called them to order. Daniel hurriedly cleared his head of any more such foolish ideas as Joe pointed to a red line that had been marked on the map. He needed to focus rather than allow his mind to run off at tangents.
‘That’s the route the kids were supposed to take,’ Joe explained. ‘We know they followed it for several miles as one of their teachers found a water bottle belonging to the group. However, it appears that they wandered off course, probably around here.’
Daniel frowned when Joe pointed to the Witch’s Cauldron, so-called because the deep depression in the land was shaped like a gigantic bowl. Although the view from the surrounding cliffs might be spectacular, it was also one of the most dangerous places around. Rock falls were rife and many a walker had been caught out when the ground had given way beneath him.
‘It’s not going to be easy to get there let alone find them in this storm but we can’t wait until the morning,’ Joe continued. ‘Although the teachers are adamant that the group are properly kitted out, I doubt if any of the kids has experience of being outside in weather like this. We need to find them and find them fast.’
There was a murmur of agreement from the team. Daniel knew they were all aware how quickly hypothermia could set in under these conditions. He turned to Eleanor, wanting to make sure that she understood the dangers too. ‘Hypothermia is going to be our biggest problem, for us as well as for those kids. Your body temperature can drop before you’re aware of it.’
‘I understand.’ Eleanor pulled the collar of the waterproof jacket around her neck. She didn’t possess any waterproofs so Daniel had called at his house and collected an old set of Nathan’s. The trousers were far too long for her but she had rolled them up and used string to tie them around her ankles. A pair of Nathan’s outgrown walking boots, worn with several pairs of socks, had solved the problem of her footwear too. Daniel was as sure as he could be that she was suitably protected against the elements but he still intended to keep a watch over her. The last thing he wanted was her coming to any harm.
The thought made his stomach churn and he turned away, not wanting her to suspect how worried he felt. Not for the first time that night he found himself cursing Bernard Hargreaves for refusing to come along. He didn’t believe the other man’s claim that he wasn’t feeling well. Bernard had been doing the bare minimum for months now and Daniel knew that he would have to do something about it. He had let it slide because he’d had too much else to think about, what with Nathan and his exams, and Beth going on maternity leave. Nevertheless, there was no way that the situation could continue indefinitely. No way he would let it!
Once again, Daniel was surprised by the strength of his reaction. He hadn’t realised how flat he had felt for the last few years. His concern for Nathan had used up every scrap of energy he’d possessed and there had been nothing left for anything else. Now, all of a sudden, he felt different, more alive, more in touch with his feelings. It was as though he had surfaced from some dark place and stepped back into the light. Was it a good thi
ng? He wasn’t sure. In that dark place he’d not had to think about himself, about his needs and his desires; he’d only had to exist.
It was an unsettling thought so it was a relief when Joe started to divide the group into teams. They could cover more ground if they split up, although Daniel wasn’t happy at the idea of Eleanor being sent off with someone else. She had no experience of this kind of terrain and he would never forgive himself if she got hurt when he was responsible for her being there. He drew Joe aside, wanting to make the position clear.
‘I’m not happy about Eleanor wandering around in this storm,’ he said bluntly, not wasting any time. The sooner they found the missing teenagers the better and there was no point beating around the bush. ‘I’d prefer it if she stayed here at base.’
‘I understand your concerns but surely the whole point of her coming along was to act as back-up if more than one of the group is injured,’ Joe pointed out. ‘OK, we’re all trained in first aid, but with Alan in hospital we don’t have the medical know-how to deal with any serious injuries.’
Daniel knew he was right. Alan Hunter, a former paramedic and mainstay of the team, had suffered a heart attack a couple of weeks earlier and they hadn’t found a replacement for him yet. It was the reason why Daniel had asked Eleanor to come along after Bernard had refused, and he could hardly go back on his decision. He sighed. ‘All right, but can you keep an eye on her? She’s no experience and I don’t want her coming to any harm.’
‘Don’t you worry—she’ll be perfectly safe. We’re going to stick to the main path so it shouldn’t be too difficult for her to keep up.’
Joe didn’t say anything else but Daniel saw the look the other man gave him and felt himself colour. He turned away, refusing to speculate about what Joe was thinking. He would be equally concerned about anyone who had so little experience, he assured himself as he swung his backpack over his shoulder. However, even to his ears the claim had a hollow ring. He was concerned because it was Eleanor and, like it or not, she was special.
The Boss Who Stole Her Heart Page 7
