it be some kind of lupus, do you think?’
‘I really don’t know. None of the blood tests showed indications it could be that, and her urine analysis was clear, but I’ll keep looking.’
She sighed.
‘Sometimes I wonder if she’s just homesick, but she always talks quite happily about the school and all she’s doing.’
Ellie sounded so depressed by the thought Andy wanted to hug her.
Damn it all, why shouldn’t he?
He gathered her in his arms, holding her close.
‘We’ll work it out, I promise,’ he said, then bent and kissed her, a feather brush, nothing more, on the lips.
Startled blue eyes looked into his as Ellie shuffled back, turning towards the door, already on her way…
Escaping?
‘I’ll get her to the hospital. Should I ask for half-hourly obs? Quarter-hourly?’
She paused, looking up at him, doubt clouding her eyes.
Andy shrugged, then he remembered the light-hearted dinner they’d shared, the hug, the almost-not-there kiss, and swore softly.
‘No, damn it all! Why should either of us be running all over town after her? I’ll phone the ambulance to pick her up, and ask someone to call me as soon as she’s settled, then I’ll pop up and see her there. If there’s any doubt, I can repeat the X-rays and scans we’ve already done, just in case there’s something we’ve missed.’
‘Are you sure? I’m happy to go.’
‘No, let’s get her to hospital, then tomorrow, when we’ve both had a good night’s sleep, we can sit down with your notes and have a think about what the symptoms could indicate.’
‘You’ve got soccer tomorrow,’ she reminded him, and he was surprised she’d remembered.
‘We’ll do it after soccer.’
Andy phoned the ambulance and then the hospital, assuring them he’d be up to have a look at Madeleine, and ordering the X-rays of her head and neck.
He was about to leave when he thought of something, tapping on Ellie’s door before going in. She’d had a shower and was wrapped in a towel, her wet hair hanging straight down by her face.
How could he not remember times he’d have ripped off that towel and tumbled them both onto the bed? His voice was croaky when he said, ‘If we can’t find anything maybe we should send her to the city. They have the facilities—not to mention the budget—to run tests we couldn’t attempt.’
Ellie smiled at him, exacerbating all the reactions going on in his body.
‘You’d have to hope they find something—some of those tests cost a mint—and maybe it is nothing more than hypochondria.’
Andy didn’t respond but Ellie knew he would be grumbling and growling under his breath.
Could it be hypochondria? Ellie wondered when Andy left, fixing her mind on her patient to try to still the excitement Andy’s kiss earlier had left in its wake.
Unfortunately, there was a strong possibility there was something wrong with Madeleine, in which case both she and Andy would regret it if they didn’t do all they could for her.
Andy wandered off, probably to walk up to the hospital so he could meet the ambulance when it arrived.
Ellie shed her towel and pulled on pyjamas, glancing with a little regret at the pretty lingerie that occupied the other end of the drawer.
She laughed at her own stupidity. As if seducing her husband in sexy night attire could mend a marriage that harsh and hurtful words had ripped apart.
Ripped…
It was the strange word—describing well the seismic shift between them—that made her look through the more attractive negligees, down to the bottom of the pile where a dark blue, lacy, thigh-length piece of apparel still showed clearly that it had been ripped apart.
By passion, excitement, and a fiery need that could not be delayed…
And for a moment, holding it, she closed her eyes and remembered, awakening memories in her body as well, so she ached for Andy in a way she hadn’t since they’d split apart…
Could they heal the rift—cross the abyss between them?
Had she been so wrapped up in her own pain she’d not considered his?
If so, wasn’t it up to her to at least try to sort things out?
But where to start?
Determinedly putting aside such thoughts, she went in search of Chelsea. The teenager appeared to be coping well—talking enthusiastically about school and soccer—but the future of the child she would produce had hardly been mentioned.
Might she want to talk more about it?
And if so, should Ellie bring it up?
Doing so now, it would be as a friend. Or would it be better to do it at an appointment, as a doctor?
‘Come and see,’ Chelsea called to her as she dithered on the veranda, and Ellie entered the room, the soft green walls making it seem bigger somehow.
‘Do you like it?’ Chelsea asked, her face alight with so much joy Ellie could hardly find fault.
Not that she did.
‘It looks great,’ she said. ‘But you don’t want to sleep with the paint fumes tonight, so take one of the other rooms, then, in the morning, Andy will give us a hand to move the furniture back in. Unless…’
She hesitated.
‘You might like to paint the furniture as well. I’d say the bed and desk and dressing table were painted white years ago, but they might look shabby in here now. There’s probably white paint in the shed. What do you think?’
Chelsea settled on the bottom rung of the ladder she’d been using for the top of the high walls. She studied Ellie for a while before she spoke.
‘Are you this kind to all the strays who land on your doorstep?’ she asked softly, her eyes now bright with tears.
‘Not all of them,’ Ellie said gently. ‘Only ones who know how to paint, and can help Andy with his soccer team, and bring a lot of pleasure to our house with your smile and enthusiasm—especially your smile!’
She went to squat beside Chelsea as the tears that had shone in her eyes now trickled down her cheeks.
‘Besides,’ she said, hugging the girl, ‘you’re family and if there’s one thing Andy and I feel very strongly about, it’s family.’
Her heart felt heavy as she said the words,
