The Doctor's Forbidden Fling (9 page)

‘What's happened?' The whole idea had been to make this a casual visit but he was well versed in emergencies too.

‘He's angry about me being here...about our meddling in his affairs...and he's saying such morbid things. It's as if he's upset he's still here.' Violet was hanging on to his arm as she rambled. There was absolutely no danger of him leaving now.

‘Okay. We knew he wasn't going to react well when he found out we'd been digging into his financial status. As for the rest, depression or anxiety isn't uncommon in heart-attack survivors. He'll be feeling weak and vulnerable. Something which your father definitely won't be used to. He might need to start a course of anti-depressants. I'll have a chat with him and see if I can get a handle on his mental state.' Another reason Nate would've preferred he'd prolonged his hospital stay. There were so many possible after-effects, and not all of them physical, aftercare was a vital part of recovery. He'd been denied giving that and Violet was the one suffering as a consequence.

‘That would usually be where I come in.' Violet sighed as she stepped aside to let him in, looking as dejected as she was describing her father.

‘Hey, it's not your fault. You're too close to see this objectively and you're doing your bit simply by being here.' He hooked a finger under her chin to lift her head up and was tempted to kiss her worried mouth to bring them both some comfort.

It seemed an age since they'd last done that, their night together almost nothing more than an erotic fantasy now. He'd wanted that intimacy again, even for the briefest moment, to remind him it had been real, that she'd wanted him once as more than someone to bail her out when the going got tough.

‘Who is it?' The dulcet tones of a crotchety Earl soon put paid to any romantic notions, reminding Nate of his professional responsibilities.

The medical stuff was within the remit of his normal day-to-day life. Whatever this was with Violet certainly wasn't. He let his hand fall down to his side again and took a deep breath. ‘I guess it's time to face the music.'

Violet led the way towards the dining room with no real urgency in her step and he could see her steeling herself before she went in. It had never been the homely environment he'd been lucky to have even before his strained relationship with his parents, but the atmosphere here was so tense and thick with resentment it wasn't conducive to anyone's health.

‘Hello, Lord Dempsey. I was just down visiting my parents and I thought I'd see how you were settling in.' It was a little white lie to soften the idea of his trespassing where he wasn't wanted. In all these years he'd never just ‘popped in' for a visit, even when he'd been only a stone's throw away.

Samuel Dempsey eyed the offer of a handshake with a suspicious glare. ‘I don't need to settle in.
I
live here.'

‘I know Violet has been very worried about you—'

All concerns were brushed aside with an ungentlemanly snort.

‘Worried about her inheritance more like. Is that why you're
really
here? Violet tells me you've both been helping yourselves to things while I've been fighting for my life.' He leaned back in his chair, arms folded across his chest, giving the impression he was enjoying this power play. It was as though he saw this as a game, where they were competing for the title of top dog and there could only be one winner. Nothing could be further from the truth. Nate wanted them to work together to make sure he was still fit to rule his kingdom.

‘That's not what I said. We were simply trying to get things organised for you coming home.' Violet made a futile attempt to clear their names. Futile because her father wouldn't even look at her while she was talking, keeping his beady eyes firmly tableside on Nate.

‘I've got your number. You're teaming up to snatch this place from under me. I see you riding around in your fancy car pretending you are somebody. Well, let me tell you, class isn't something you can buy.' The blue veins were pulsing beneath his flushed skin as he raged against his imagined foes.

Nate had to count to ten in his head to keep his own temper in check. It wasn't his place to make this any more personal than it already was by pointing out the Earl's faults in turn. Class didn't always equate to decency and it was entirely possible to have one without the other.

‘Please don't do this again, Dad.' Violet's small plea was so full of fear it instantly made Nate think of her caught in the middle of her parents' battles. He didn't want to put her in that position again and he certainly didn't want to inflame the situation any further.

‘It's okay, Violet. Your father's entitled to say how he feels in his own home.' It was a shame he'd never let his daughter do the same. Still, it wasn't his family, or his battle.

‘Damn right I am. Just as I'm entitled to some privacy. I shouldn't have to put my personal correspondence under lock and key every time I leave the house.' For a man so predisposed to dramatic outbursts, he was doing a good job of making his near-death experience sound like a trip to the shops. Painting Nate and Violet as a pair of opportunistic burglars in the process.

‘Perhaps I should leave.' Nate made eye contact with Violet. Her father wasn't showing any signs of having given up on life, at least not to him. If anything he seemed to be fighting to hang on to everything he had.

‘Good idea. I've been perfectly capable of taking care of myself for the past I-don't-know-how-long. I don't need anybody's help now.' The Earl was clinging desperately to his independence.

Nate could sympathise to some extent with his stubborn stance against them. They were essentially trespassers who'd taken it upon themselves to get involved in his affairs. But he could also see that Violet was simply doing what she thought was best for him. This had moved so far beyond the professional excuses he'd made for coming here tonight he was in danger of having his say on the matter. Something that probably wouldn't please either side and would only drag him in deeper.

‘Everyone in this room knows that's not true. You have no money coming in and nothing to cover the debts you already have. I've managed to cover a few of the most urgent bills but you need to generate some sort of income.' Whether it was because she'd found strength in numbers or she was so exasperated, Violet was starting to find her voice. She didn't need him; she hadn't done for some time. Nate imagined it was a case of reverting back to type because she had so much unfinished business with her father. And him.

‘I didn't ask you to pay for anything. I suppose the money came from Dr Flash here? Well, the Dempseys don't need anyone's charity. Especially not from domestic staff.'

‘I paid with my own money. I sold Mum's necklace, if you must know. One of us had to get our priorities straight.'

Nate could only stand and watch as Violet threw herself under the bus to save him from further abuse. Now she had her father's full attention.

‘How could you?' He visibly paled and sat up straighter in his chair with her full disclosure, acting as though it were a betrayal rather than the huge sacrifice Nate knew it had been for her.

‘What's the alternative? Wait for the bailiffs to seize it anyway in lieu of payment? Or do you have a Swiss bank account somewhere you've forgotten to mention?'

Violet was in full flow now. There was no reason for Nate to intervene when she was managing so beautifully without back up. She needed to have her say. It had been a long time coming.

‘Does her memory mean so little to you that you can sell it for a few pieces of silver?'

‘If you knew Mum at all you'd realise she hated those gaudy baubles you insisted on buying her. It was sentimental things like the clay bead bracelet I made at primary school she wore every day, not expensive statement jewellery.'

Not unlike the bracelet she'd worn on her own wrist for over a decade. There was a flutter of something he didn't want to recognise in his chest at the thought he'd held the same special place in her thoughts. It felt a lot like hope.

‘Your mother was a good woman. She deserved the best.'

‘But at what price, Dad? She knew you couldn't afford that kind of expense and worried herself to death over it. I think she'd be only too happy at the idea of using it to make a difference here.'

It was the first time Nate had witnessed something approaching shame on the Earl's face before he hung his head. ‘I know you blame me, Violet, but your mother was a sick woman. I can't change what happened in the past.'

Violet dropped to her knees and reached for her father's hand. ‘But you can do something about the future. We can open Strachmore to the public and bring enough money in to cover all your outgoings here. Nate's been looking into the idea of hiring part of the place out as a wedding venue.'

Just when it seemed as though they were making progress, Samuel Dempsey got to his feet, almost knocking his daughter to the floor in the process.

‘Over my dead body! This is my home. It's not for sale or rent and neither is my pride.'

Nate immediately went to Violet's aid and helped her up to a more dignified position. It was too much of an insult against her good intentions to simply let him get away with this one. He turned, fully prepared to wade in and add his voice to Violet's cause, only to find the Earl had his eyes closed, refusing to entertain further discussion. He truly was the most infuriating man to try and get through to.

Then Nate noticed his hand move to his chest, then grab his left arm before he fell to the floor with a sickening thud.

‘Dad!'

His expletive was drowned out by Violet's shout.

Along with the Earl's sickly pallor and clammy skin, all the signs pointed to another cardiac arrest. Nate should've seen this coming but he'd been too caught up in other people's emotions to keep his doctor head in the game.

Although the Earl had dropped like a stone he'd thankfully avoided hitting the table on the way down and there was no indication of any head injuries. Nate loosened the shirt around his neck and tilted his head back to check his breathing. Nothing.

‘He's not breathing. Phone 999.' He delegated phone duties to prompt Violet into moving. He couldn't afford to have her in shock too. Far from helping, his meddling had simply caused more catastrophe. He should've left well alone and they might all have carried on down their own paths they'd chosen a dozen years back. Oblivious to each other's emotional dysfunction.

If he hadn't still been hung up on Violet and insisted on getting involved in her father's treatment in the first place this could've turned out differently. The Earl might've accepted help easier or sooner without all of this added stress.

Leaving the past unresolved now seemed a better option than being directly responsible for his death. If the worst happened there was no chance Violet would ever forgive him, never mind love him.

CHAPTER SIX

V
IOLET
STAMMERED
OUT
the address and the details of what had happened to the switchboard operator. It was difficult to focus on what was being said on the other end of the phone when she was watching Nate pump life back into her father's chest for a second time. The difference now was there was no defibrillator to shock the heart back into rhythm. He was literally the only thing standing between her father and certain death.

‘The ambulance is on its way.' Sooner rather than later, she hoped. Every second counted now in bringing her father back.

Violet was helpless in the fight, watching her father's body jerk with every violent chest compression needed to keep the blood circulating around his body. It was her fault they were all in this situation. If she hadn't come back in the first place, or dragged Nate into their family politics, her father might still be recovering in his hospital bed. Not lying here on his dining-room floor literally heartbroken because of the accusations she'd thrown at him. This was what happened when she finally stood up to him.

He'd never forgive her for this. If he made it through. She'd never forgive herself if he didn't.

‘Did they say how long on that ambulance?' Nate was breathing heavily, sweat beading on his upper lip, with the continued effort of CPR. It was easy to forget how physical a task it was doing the heart's job when it was out of commission.

‘Five minutes. Apparently there's one not too far from here.'

Nate nodded and turned his attention back to his patient.

Watching him work, his hair falling over his forehead as he tried to prolong life, was impressive and mesmerising. She, on the other hand, was standing here like a spare part with no active role in saving her father's life.

‘Do you want me to take over for a while?' Her mouth was dry at the mere thought of undertaking such a crucial task but Nate needed a break and she needed to do something useful.

‘Are you sure?' His serious face told her he wasn't going to leave his post unless she was confident she could do this.

‘Yes.' She knelt down beside him on the floor, not giving her brain time to start overanalysing everything that could go wrong.

‘Remember, you need to be forceful to be effective. Ready?' He scooted over so she could move closer for the transfer.

‘Yes.' No.

She'd never performed CPR on an
actual
person, only synthetic dummies whose fate didn't affect anyone. If she screwed this up she'd have her father's death on her conscience for ever as well as Strachmore's fate.

She locked out her arms and linked her fingers in preparation, throwing her weight into the first compression when she took over.

‘One, two, three...' She counted out each chest pump to keep the timing regular and her brain occupied.

‘That's good. Nice and steady.' Nate laid a hand on her back to support her and used the other to grab his phone from his pocket.

Her father's skin was cold beneath her fingers and she tried desperately not to convince herself it was already too late but Nate wouldn't give up and neither would she.

‘Come on. We can do this,' she told him in the hope he would suddenly bat her away and tell her he could do this on his own. This was the first time she'd actually been in a position to help him and she prayed it wouldn't be the last.

‘Apparently the ambulance is coming up the drive. I'll go out and direct them here if that's okay with you?'

‘Sure. Hurry.'

Her arms were beginning to tire with the tension and repetitive movements but adrenaline was keeping them moving. She could hear the sirens, see the shadows of the ambulance lights dancing through the windows, but she didn't relax until Nate returned with the crew, giving them the lowdown on events to date.

‘We can take over from here.' Nate gave her a reprieve and took over the compressions while the paramedics set to work with the oxygen and defibrillator.

‘Stand clear.'

This time Violet was there to witness the shocks as they were delivered in between Nate's chest compressions as everyone crowded around to save her father's life. They had him hooked up to so many machines and life-saving equipment he might as well have been in the hospital.

After the second shock was administered there was a renewed flurry of activity.

‘We've got a pulse.'

‘Lord Dempsey, can you hear us?'

‘Open your eyes for us, Samuel.'

‘Dad?' Violet held her breath, waiting for confirmation there was still a chance he could make it. Nate came to her and put her mind at ease with a squeeze of her hand.

‘He's breathing on his own again. You did an excellent job, Nurse Dempsey.'

‘We made a good team, Dr Taylor.' Her limbs were shaking as the tension began to ebb from her body, only to be replaced with shock at what she'd just undertaken. They were a long way from celebrating just yet but they'd done their bit to get him this far.

‘I'll ride with you in the ambulance in case there are any complications. We might have to operate this time to prevent this from happening again.' Not even Nate's warmth could prevent the cold chill that ran down her spine. They were right back at square one, with the stakes higher than ever. This time she was directly responsible for putting her father in hospital and it was down to Nate again to save the day.

* * *

Nate had been more forceful about the need to perform emergency angioplasty as soon as they reached the hospital to prevent any more attacks. This latest episode had obviously shaken the Earl as he'd agreed without much of a fight this time. Now Nate's blue scrubs were sticking to the sweat on his back. He performed this procedure as a matter of routine but not usually on people who thought he'd somehow forged his qualifications, and not with old girlfriends sitting outside waiting for news.

With the Earl awake and aware of everything going on around him, Nate was under pressure more than ever to prove himself. He'd never been more aware of the small risks involved in this minimally invasive treatment, or his responsibilities during it, as he stood over Violet's father.

‘Okay, Lord Dempsey, you'll be awake during the procedure but you shouldn't feel anything with the local anaesthetic we've given you. You can even watch what's happening on the monitor beside you.' He usually tried to make his patients more at ease by remaining on first-name terms but he didn't want to antagonise his patient before they started.

‘Thanks.'

They'd administered a mild sedative along with a local anaesthetic but Nate was still pleasantly surprised at how co-operative the patient was being, considering his earlier mood. Well, at least less combative than he'd expected. He'd had visions of having to strap him down to stop him taking a swing at him for bringing him back to the hospital.

‘We're just going to insert a catheter into the small incision we've made in your wrist. That will allow us to inject X-ray dye into the arteries so we can get a clear picture of what's going on in there.' He could make a better assessment of how to proceed when he could see the problem for himself instead of guessing.

Once he had the nod, Nate carried on as he would normally do. There was nothing out of the ordinary about this case if he could set personal history aside and stop thinking about how much was riding on this being a success. Potentially this was his chance of winning the Earl's approval, essential in making his and Violet's lives a little easier. It mattered to him to be accepted when he was spending so much time at Strachmore. With Violet. There was also the matter of professional pride when this was his patient who'd been readmitted only a matter of hours after leaving.

With the help of the monitors, he concentrated on feeding the thin, flexible tube through the blood vessels until it reached the coronary arteries on the heart. It was an intricate process, one which he'd honed over the years. Hence, his continued irritation when people dismissed the skills he'd worked hard to perfect.

‘You can see on the screen that your right coronary artery is almost completely blocked, preventing blood flowing to that particular section of the heart.' It was clear now exactly what was causing the problem and, providing there were no objections, he could repair it.

‘What's next, Doctor?'

If the Earl's co-operation had taken him by surprise, being referred to respectfully in his professional capacity was nearly enough to knock him off his feet.

‘The best thing to open the artery is to insert a tiny balloon and inflate it to let the blood flow. I think in your case we'll also need to use a stent too. It's a small mesh tube that helps support the inner wall of the artery to make sure it remains open once we remove the balloon.'

‘Whatever you think's for the best.' He deferred to Nate with his eyes closed, either too tired to argue or too squeamish to watch.

It enabled Nate to relax a tad without being scrutinised as he threaded the guide wire into the affected artery. The balloon was inflated to widen the artery and squash fatty deposits against the artery wall, the stent expanding with it. Once the stent was open, he was able to deflate the balloon and remove it.

‘And that's us finished.' The whole thing had taken just over an hour, a typical time for the procedure but, under the gaze of Lord Dempsey, it had felt like a never-ending test of his abilities.

‘Already?' Lord Dempsey was straining to make sure he'd been true to his word.

‘Yes. We'll send you back to CCU to monitor you overnight but with any luck you should be back home again tomorrow.' He removed the catheter and the lab nurse applied pressure to the site to prevent any bleeding. Job done with a great degree of satisfaction and relief.

‘Thank you, Nathaniel.' The Earl reached out to shake his hand and Nate stood a little taller in his comfy Theatre shoes.

‘I think you need to thank your daughter too. She was very much part of the team keeping you alive until you got here.' She deserved some positive recognition from him for once too.

‘Violet?'

‘She helped me perform CPR until the ambulance reached you. That is one lady determined to keep you around for a while longer.' Nate wanted to put to bed the ridiculous idea that she wanted him out of the way. No devious gold-digger would have worked so hard to bring him back from the dead.

‘I'll talk to her.'

‘I think it's about time you did but, please, hear her out this time. She only wants the best for you, and the estate.' He'd held his counsel too long and in his eyes both he and Violet had proved their true intentions over the course of the evening. Despite their resistance to Strachmore and all it stood for, they'd both made a commitment to them in their own way.

He stripped off the lead apron that he'd worn to protect against the X-rays and tossed his surgical gown aside, keen to report back to Violet and share this feeling of after-surgery euphoria with someone for once.

* * *

Violet was biting what was left of her fingernails. She inspected her once-beautiful nails, now raggedy, the candyfloss-pink varnish starting to flake. It was funny how quickly frivolous things such as her weekly manicure became insignificant in the grand scheme of things. Nate had reassured her that her father's was a relatively straightforward procedure and she had every faith in him, but her father's health was so precarious she couldn't relax until she saw them both coming out of Theatre.

‘Did everything go okay?' Her father was awake, Nate was smiling, but she wanted confirmation all had gone to plan.

‘Like clockwork. We're just taking your father back to CCU, if you want to come with us?'

He was so handsome in his scrubs, made even more so with his amazing life-saving skills, Violet was liable to follow him anywhere. Overcome with relief and gratitude, she launched herself at him for a hug. She found solace in the smell of sweat and soap, which told her everything about how hard he'd worked over the course of the last hours. Now the drama was over she wished they were able to take time out in one of their old haunts to decompress and simply enjoy each other's company. Somewhere she wasn't constantly faced with reasons she shouldn't want to be with him.

From the corner of her eye she saw her father struggle to sit up. She instantly let go of her hold around Nate's neck and stepped away from the hunky cardiologist. Even though she was proud of him, it was her natural response to back off, knowing her father would never approve of such a public display no matter what the circumstances and especially with someone he deemed beneath him.

‘How are you feeling, Dad?'

‘Sore.'

If she'd expected Nate to flick on her father's humility switch while he was in there, she was sadly mistaken. She couldn't bear for him to take umbrage against Nate for any residual pain after all his hard work.

‘I'm sure Nate did everything he could—'

‘I didn't dispute that. From what I saw in there Nathaniel is a very, very skilled physician but I think I'm entitled to express my discomfort after everything I've been through. Now, if you don't mind, I need some rest.'

Violet could only stand open-mouthed as he was wheeled away.

When she finally regained control of her paralysed body parts she turned to stare at Wonder Doc. ‘Did I imagine that or did my father just pay you a backhanded compliment?'

If so, it was a breakthrough of epic proportions. She'd never heard him praise anyone for anything. It was probably the closest thing to an apology they'd ever hear from him. Violet was pleased on Nate's behalf that he was finally being recognised for his achievements even if she wasn't likely to receive that honour herself.

Nate gave her a wry smile to warm her frozen limbs. ‘I told you I was good at what I do.'