Fallen Angel (8 page)

Things were turning out
much worse than Nathaniel expected. He shouldn’t have become too
complacent over the years just because Devlin hadn’t showed up. Now
he was even more afraid for Eloise’s safety, especially now she was
no longer a child. And he couldn’t help but fear for Devlin’s
future. The way he was going he’d end up as one of Lucifer’s
demons, and though he might enjoy a happy life on Earth in return,
eventually he’d spend eternity in Hell.

Nathaniel covered his
face with his hands. It was a good job angels didn’t usually cry
for he would surely shed many tears. He felt empty like he’d lost
something special. Though he was happy he still had Eloise to
guide, the dream of having his best friend back one day was gone
forever, and the thought of Devlin suffering infinitely at the
hands of Lucifer was tearing him apart.

Shaking himself from his
deliberations, he glanced around. There were no breakfast dishes in
the sink, so her guessed Eloise must be still in her room. Though
he knew she liked to sleep late on Saturdays, he decided to check
on her.

When he wandered into her
room, he scowled. Eloise was still in her bed, but she was wide
awake with a pained look on her face. Worried Devlin might have
been in her bedroom, he moved closer to her to try and read her
thoughts. Before he had a chance, Madeline tapped on the door and
poked her head in. “Sweetie, I’m going shopping today. Do you want
to come?”

Eloise glanced up and
frowned. “Not today, I don’t feel good.”

Madeline walked into the
room. “Why, what’s the matter?”

“
I have a
sharp pain in my stomach.”

“
Maybe you’re
just hungry, love. I’ll make you some blueberry
pancakes.”

“
No, thanks,
I feel nauseous.”

Madeline headed out the
door. “Okay, I’ll bring you some tea.”

Nathaniel moved closer to
the bed. It wasn’t like Eloise to refuse her favourite breakfast.
She usually had such a good appetite. He rubbed his chin. He didn’t
like the sound of this. Eloise rarely got ill. As he was about to
connect with her mind to see how bad the pain was, Madeline came
back in with a steaming mug and a plate of cookies. “Here, drink
this. It’s herb tea, so it might make you feel better.”

Eloise sat up and sipped
on the tea. “Thanks, Mum, but I don’t want the
biscuits.”

Madeline put her hands on
her hips. “You’re not on some silly diet, are you? I see you’ve
lost weight lately.”

Eloise rolled her eyes.
“No, Mum, I’m not. I feel really sick and I have for weeks now. I’m
probably gonna die.”

“
Oh, don’t be
so melodramatic, Eloise.” She placed her hand on her daughter’s
brow. “Hmm, you feel a bit warm. You might have a
temperature.”

Pulling the covers back
around her, Eloise shivered. “Well, how come I’m cold?”

“
You’ve
probably got a chill, so maybe I should take you to the medical
centre.”

Eloise scrunched her face
up. “I’m not going anywhere. I can’t even stand up to go to the
bathroom.”

Nathaniel gazed down at
her. This didn’t look good and her father was away with his work
again. He’d seen wards with symptoms like this before and it turned
out they had appendicitis. He prayed Madeline would get Eloise to
the hospital for tests because if she did have appendicitis, her
appendix could burst. Looking at Madeline, he zapped a message into
her mind to prompt her to call for an ambulance.

She patted Eloise’s
shoulder. “I’ll bring you some painkillers, honey, then I’ll call
the doctor and make an appointment for you.”

Nathaniel shook his head
in despair. What was wrong with the woman? Why didn’t she just call
for an ambulance?

Eloise held her side and
groaned. “Please hurry, the pain is really bad. There’s something
wrong with my stomach, Mum.”

“
Oh dear.”
Madeline rubbed her chin. “Listen, I’ll bring you some medication,
then I’ll phone for an ambulance.”

As she rushed out the
door, Nathaniel glanced at the ceiling. Thank goodness she’d
finally listened, but he wished she’d call the hospital before
administering pills to her daughter.

Rushing back in, Madeline
handed two pills and a glass of juice to Eloise. “Here, baby, take
these with a cookie. It will help the medicine go down. The
ambulance is on its way.”

After swallowing the
tablets with the juice, Eloise nibbled on a sweet biscuit, then
laid back on her pillow. “I hope those tablets work soon because
the pain is getting worse.”

“
Just hang in
there, sweetie. The ambulance will be here in ten
minutes.”

“
Thanks, Mum.
You’ll come with me, won’t you?”

“
Of course,
honey.” Madeline wiped Eloise’s face with a damp washcloth. “I’d
better hurry and get dressed so I can follow in the car.” As she
rushed out the door, Nathaniel sighed with relief. At least Eloise
would get the best treatment at Creed Valley Hospital.

As Eloise curled up in
her bed, Nathaniel paced the room and peered out of the window, but
there was no sign of the ambulance. After fifteen minutes, he
sighed with relief when it pulled into the driveway. When Madeline
opened the front door, two burly paramedics rushed in with a
stretcher.

“
Where’s the
patient?” asked the older one.

“
She’s in
there,” said Madeline, pointing to Eloise’s bedroom. “Please hurry.
She’s is in excruciating pain.”

“
She’ll be
right,” said the younger man. “We’ll have her at the hospital in no
time.”

After checking Eloise’s
blood pressure and temperature, and getting all her medical
information, the medics fastened Eloise onto the
stretcher.

“
I’m sorry,”
said the older man. “I know it hurts with movement, but we’ll be at
the hospital soon.”

As soon as the paramedics
had secured Eloise into the ambulance, Nathaniel hopped in next to
her. The young medic climbed into the driver’s seat and the older
one sat in the back with Eloise.

“
Don’t
worry,” he said. “We’ll go slowly so you don’t get bumped about too
much.”

“
That’s
impossible on these bumpy roads,” groaned Eloise. “It hurts more
when I move.”

“
It won’t be
long,” he said, checking her blood pressure again.

Her face looked quite
pink and Nathaniel guessed she had a raging temperature, but she
was still shivering as if she had a chill. As the paramedic wrapped
a blanket over her, she held her stomach and groaned. “I feel
sick.”

As they rumbled out the
driveway, the medic gave her a bowl. “Don’t worry. We’ll be on the
highway in a minute, then we’ll have a smoother run.”

“
Is my mother
following?”

The driver glanced out
the rear vision mirror. “Yep, she’s right behind us.”

Nathaniel sent comforting
messages to Eloise, but as he watched her suffer, he wished he was
able to physically communicate with her to put her mind at ease.
Although Eloise had lost weight lately, he was pleased she was
healthy. Hopefully that would help her to recover quickly. So far,
she’d only had the usual childhood illnesses, other than having a
tonsillectomy when she was seven. He gazed down at her. He hoped if
she did need an operation that it would go as smoothly as that one
had.

When they arrived at the
hospital, Eloise was wheeled into Emergency and checked by one of
the doctors. After tests, he came out to speak to
Madeline.

“
I’m afraid
your daughter has appendicitis and will need an urgent operation,
Mrs O’Connor. I’ve booked her in to have an appendectomy this
afternoon with one of our surgeons.” He handed her some forms.
“Once you’ve filled in these and handed them back to the desk
clerk, a nurse will take Eloise to her room.”

“
Okay, thank
you, Doctor.” With a worried look on her face, Madeline filled in
forms and handed them back to the receptionist.

After checking them, the
lady smiled. “Just follow the nurse and she’ll take your daughter
to her room.”

When the nurse wheeled
Eloise into a lift, Nathaniel followed. So far there’d been no sign
of Devlin, but knowing how sneaky he was, he couldn’t afford to
take any chances. After Eloise was settled into a private room,
Nathaniel became even more edgy. Although he would’ve liked to go
and chat to other angels in the hospital, he decided against it. It
would be just like Devlin to turn up as soon as he left the
room.

The nurse smiled at
Madeline. “Doctor Reynolds will be here shortly to talk to you and
your daughter, Mrs O’Connor, but it looks like Eloise won’t be able
to have her operation until later this afternoon.”

Madeline frowned. “But
she’s in a lot of pain. Why does she have to wait?”

Obviously embarrassed,
Eloise glared at her mother. “Mum, there are other people here as
well as me.”

“
It’s not
that,” said the nurse. “They can’t operate for six hours because
she’s had medication and food this morning.”

“
Oh, I see,”
said Madeline, not looking at the black look her daughter was
throwing her way.

The nurse handed Eloise a
white hospital gown and bottle of yellow liquid. “Can you take a
shower and wash your hair and body with this antiseptic soap, then
put the gown on and hop into bed so I can check your vital
signs.”

Eloise scrutinised the
garment, then curled her nose up. “There aren’t any buttons on this
ugly-looking thing. Do I have to wear it?”

“
I’m afraid
you do,” said the nurse. “It has a tie at the top and one at the
side, so it can be easily taken off when you have your operation.
Oh, and take your bra and pants off too.”

“
What?”
Eloise glared at her. “You mean I won’t be wearing
any
clothes? Not even my underwear?”

“
That’s
right,” said the nurse, “But don’t worry. Someone will cover you up
with a sheet.”

“
But that
means everyone in the theatre will see me.”

Madeline patted her
shoulder. “It’s okay, honey. No one will see you but the nurses and
doctors.”

Eloise frowned. “Well,
that’s bad enough.”

The nurse strapped a
plastic ID bracelet on Eloise’s wrist. “Can you check your details
are correct? We don’t want staff mixing you up with another
patient.”

Eloise stared at her.
“You mean that actually happens?”

“
Not if we
make sure you have the correct information on your ID bracelet,”
said the nurse.

After scrutinising the
label on her arm, Eloise sighed and walked into the bathroom. “OK,
it’s my info so you better not mix me up with anyone.”

While Eloise had her
shower, Nathaniel looked out the window to make sure Devlin wasn’t
lurking around. He wouldn’t put it past him to turn up now. Word
quickly got around when there were angels about, especially in
hospitals.

With her face scrunched
into a scowl, Eloise padded out of the bathroom and pointed at the
gown. “Mum, just look at this sack. It’s so gross, I can’t believe
I have to wear it.”

The nurse pealed back the
bed covers. “Just hop into bed, so I can put your pressure
stockings and socks on.”

“
Pressure
stockings?” Eloise’s jaw dropped. “You’re joking?”

The nurse held out the
long, white stockings. “Nope.”

Eloise climbed into the
bed. “Jeez, I hope no one I know sees me.”

Madeline rolled her eyes.
“Elle, how old are you, twelve?”

“
It’s alright
for you to say,” said Eloise. “You wouldn’t like to look like a
granny. I mean, what if someone from school sees me.”

“
That’s
highly unlikely,” said Madeline.

As soon as the nurse had
finished, Eloise pulled the covers over her legs. “It’s going to be
a long six hours with this pain in my stomach.”

“
It’s less
than five hours now,” said the nurse. “Oh, and you’d better take
that necklace off. You’re not allowed to wear jewellery in
theatre.”

Holding the crucifix,
Eloise scowled. “You’re kidding me, right? This isn’t just
jewellery. It’s my protection.”

“
Give it to
me,” said Madeline, holding her hand out. “It’s only for a few
hours.”

Eloise shook her head.
“No, Grandpa gave it to me. He said I should always wear it. And
whenever I’ve taken it off, something bad has happened.”

The nurse sighed. “Well
you can’t have an operation if you don’t take it off.”

Madeline rolled her eyes
and began unfastening the chain around Eloise’s neck. “That’s just
superstition, Elle. You shouldn’t take any notice of Pop. He’s a
silly old man.”

“
He’s so
not.” Eloise snatched the crucifix from her mother’s hand. “Dad
wouldn’t like you saying that about his father. Anyway, if I can’t
wear
my gold cross, I want to hold it.” Keeping it in her
hand, she turned on her side away from her mother and the
nurse.