Fallen Angel (9 page)

Nathaniel grinned.
Madeline would have a pink fit if she knew Pop was a fallen angel
and that her daughter was a descendant of one.

The nurse gave Madeline a
sympathetic smile. “Once you’ve spoken to the surgeon and
anaesthesiologist, you can go and have lunch, or go home for a few
hours if you like. Just be back at three o’clock if you want to
talk to Eloise before her operation.”

“
I’ll stay
here if that’s all right,” said Madeline, fussing over the pillows.
“My daughter needs me.”

Eloise glanced over her
shoulder. “No, I don’t. My belly hurts and I’d prefer to suffer on
my own. I hate it when you fuss over me. I’m nearly eighteen, not
eight. You may as well go shopping or something. Besides, I’ll only
be a grouch all day.”

Madeline stroked Eloise’s
hair. “Okay, honey, but phone me if you need anything.”

“
I just want
this over with, so I can get out of here. I so hate
hospitals.”

As the nurse put a blood
pressure cuff around Eloise’s arm, Nathaniel went for a quick check
around nearby corridors and rooms to make sure Devlin or Lucifer
weren’t sneaking about. When he flew back to the ward, the nurse
had already placed the pulse oximeter onto one of Eloise’s
fingertips and stuck the metal heart monitor electrodes onto her
chest, but he knew what was coming next. Eloise always fainted
whenever she saw blood and she was about to experience things she
definitely wouldn’t like.

As soon as Eloise saw a
needle in the nurse’s hand, she flinched.

“
It won’t
hurt,” said the nurse. “It’s just to stop you getting a blood
clot.”

“
But I
thought the pressure stockings were for tha....”

Before Eloise had a
chance to finish her sentence, the nurse jabbed the needle into her
belly. “They are, but this is an extra precaution.”

Eloise’s face went pale,
but at least she hadn’t fainted. “Oh, you’re right. I hardly felt
that.”

“
That’s a
change,” said Madeline. “You normally pass out.”

“
Mum, stop
embarrassing me,” said Eloise, frowning at her mother.

The nurse pulled Eloise’s
ponytail back and popped a net hat on her head.

Madeline chuckled. “Now
you really do look like a granny.”

Eloise squinted at her
mother. “It’s not funny. There are some cute interns at this
hospital, you know.”

The door suddenly opened
and a tall dark-haired doctor walked in and smiled. “Good morning,
Mrs O’Connor, I’m Doctor Reynolds. I’m afraid Eloise has an acute
appendicitis, but we can’t operate on her for at least four hours
because she’s had food and medications earlier this morning and it
could interfere with the procedure. However, I’ve booked her in for
an appendectomy at four o’clock this afternoon. You may go home and
come back at three o’clock if you wish. That way your daughter can
get some rest. I can assure you, the nurses will take good care of
her.”

Madeline bit her lip.
“
Will she be all right after the operation?”

He glanced at Eloise.
“I’m sure she will. She’s a healthy young woman, so don’t worry.”
He turned to leave. “Right then, I’ll leave you with Dr Allen, the
anaesthesiologist, and I’ll see you both at three
o’clock.”

“
Okay, thank
you, Doctor Reynolds,” said Madeline.

As he left, Dr Allen
walked in and asked Madeline and Eloise some questions. After
writing his notes, he tuned to Eloise. “Okay, young lady, I’ll
leave you in the good care of Nurse Susan. She’ll look after you
and get you ready for your operation and I’ll see you later this
afternoon.” Nodding to Madeline, he headed out the room.

Nurse Susan drew the
curtain around the bed. “I think Eloise should rest now, Mrs
O’Connor. You should go and have some lunch and relax for a few
hours.”

“
Okay.”
Madeline kissed Eloise, then and waved. “I’ll see you in a few
hours, sweetie.”

“
Bye, Mum,”
said Eloise, obviously in too much pain to care about
anything.

Nathaniel felt sorry
Eloise had to wait so long for her operation, but it was better
than her getting sick from the medications and cookie she’d had
earlier. Though he knew Eloise was healthy and would probably
survive the operation without difficulty, he couldn’t help
worrying. There’d been a few wards he’d been confident about in the
past, only to lose them unexpectedly.

He glanced down at Eloise
and sighed. She seemed to be in too much pain to sleep and was
struggling to get comfortable. After a couple of hours, she managed
to doze off, but fifteen minutes later, the nurse checked her blood
pressure and woke her up.

“
Sorry to
disturb you, Eloise, but it’s nearly time to go up to theatre and
your mother is here to see you.”

Eloise’s eyes fluttered
open and she held her side and groaned.

“
You’ll be
all right, sweetie,” said Madeline. “They’re going to take you up
to theatre so the anaesthesiologist can get you ready for your
operation. I’ll be waiting here for you, so don’t
worry.”

Before Eloise had the
chance to complain, a male nurse wheeled her down the corridor
towards the theatre. Nathaniel followed and as soon as she was
pushed into the pre-op room, Doctor Allen walked in and smiled.
“Okay, Eloise, just relax while I get your IV line set up, then
I’ll give you something to relax you, Okay?”

Eloise glanced around and
scowled. She obviously didn’t like being in a room so close to the
theatre. As Doctor Allen searched for a vein to put the IV line in,
she stared up at him, watching his every move.

Uh-oh. Nathaniel knew
what was coming next. She was bound to pass out this time because
this procedure usually hurt.

As the doctor held the
needle and tube near Eloise’s arm, she squeezed her eyes shut and
clenched her fists.

Doctor Allan adjusted the
intravenous bag, ready to administer the medications and fluids
that would flow into her bloodstream through the tubes. “Don’t
worry, you’ll have no pain soon, Eloise.”

Nathaniel smirked. The
doctor didn’t need to worry about hurting Eloise. She’d passed out
as soon as she’d seen the size of the needle. By the time she came
around again, the IV line was already connected, but as soon as she
saw the little tube in her arm, she retched like she was going to
throw up.

A nurse grabbed a bowl.
“Here, use this.”

After wiping Eloise’s
face with a damp wash cloth, the nurse pulled the blanket around
her shoulders. “Try and rest. Doctor Allen will be giving you a
pre-op medication that will relax you, then before you know it, it
will all be over.”

“
Nurse, can I
please have my undies back? They’re only operating on my
stomach.”

The nurse smiled. “It’s
okay. You don’t need them.”

“
But they’re
really small.”

“
You don’t
have to worry, you’ll have a sheet over you,” said the nurse.
“Doctors operate on people all day.”

As the nurse took the
bowl away, Eloise tucked her blanket tightly around her body,
obviously afraid it would fall off.

“
I’ll be back
in a little while,” said the nurse, heading out the
door.

Nathaniel chuckled. At
least Eloise had tried to save her modesty. When he glanced at the
clock, he realised it was nearly time for her operation. At least
then she’d be out of pain, even if it was only until she
woke.

After checking the
monitors, Doctor Allen asked Eloise her name and birthday, then
checked her vital signs. The sedative entering her bloodstream
through the IV needle seemed to be taking effect and she closed her
eyes. But as soon she was wheeled through the large double doors
into the operating theatre, she glanced around, her eyes
wide.

“
It’s okay,”
said Doctor Allen, administering the anaesthetic through the
intravenous tube. A second later, her eyelids fluttered and she
drifted off again. After checking to make sure she was unconscious,
Doctor Allen inserted a thin soft tube into her nose and pushed it
down into her stomach to suck out any fluids that might interfere
with the operation. Nathaniel had seen this done many times, but he
never liked it. Nor did he like watching the pliable tube that was
connected to a ventilator being pushed down her throat and
windpipe, but he knew it had to be done in order to help her
breathe throughout the procedure.

Though he hated the
sadness in hospitals, he loved the excitement and energy of new
births and recovering happy patients. Having the company of angels
would have been a bonus, but Eloise’s safety came first. He didn’t
think he could bear it if anything happened to her and he felt
privileged to be her guardian. Although he sometimes felt a twinge
of envy knowing other guardians got to travel and go on night
flights, there was no way he would risk her safety, especially now
that Devlin had threatened to kidnap her. Nathaniel loved guarding
Eloise more than any ward he’d ever had and he’d never risk her
safety. Gazing at her under the bright lights, he sighed. The poor
girl was going to be in pain for a while until she recovered from
the operation, and he prayed it would all go smoothly.

When all the monitors
were checked and the doctors were satisfied that Eloise was
breathing properly, the surgeon began to mark where the incision
was going to be in her abdomen. Nathaniel glanced around the room.
For some strange reason he had a horrible feeling of impending doom
and he prayed it wasn’t because Devlin and Lucifer were hanging
around in dark hidden corridors, though he couldn’t smell the vile
stench of Lucifer.

Hovering above the
operating table, he gazed down at Eloise. She seemed to be totally
unconscious, yet she was making the strangest murmuring sounds. He
tried to enter her mind to see if she was still in pain, but for
some reason he couldn’t get in, which made him worry even
more.

As the surgeon inserted
the knife into Eloise’s flesh, Nathaniel turned away and cringed.
He couldn’t understand it. He didn’t normally get squeamish during
operations, but for some reason he couldn’t bear to see Eloise’s
body being mutilated like that. Closing his eyes, he pressed his
fingers to his temples, hoping to clear his mind. Angels weren’t
supposed to have hang-ups like that and he knew he should be
watching the operation to make sure his ward was coping. Determined
to do his job properly, he glanced back at Eloise. She looked so
vulnerable, he had an urge to scoop her into his arms and take her
to his cloud to comfort her. He couldn’t do that, so he whispered
to her soul. “You’ll be all right, Eloise. Just stay strong and
fight and you’ll be back in your own bed before you know
it.”

Once the doctors had
finished the operation, Eloise was stitched up and her vital signs
checked before she was wheeled into a recovery room. Nathaniel was
relieved the surgery had gone smoothly, but he couldn’t relax until
Eloise was conscious again. Hovering over her body, he tried to
enter her mind again to see how she was coping, but when he
couldn’t reach her psyche, he began to panic. As he paced the room,
a nurse kept checking Eloise’s blood pressure and heart rate, and
from the concerned look on her face, it seemed he wasn’t the only
one that was worried. When the nurse called her supervisor in to
help, Nathaniel reached for his crucifix and prayed.

“
What’s the
problem?” she asked the Sister.

The nurse scratched her
head. “This patient seems to be taking too long to come around. Her
blood pressure is a bit low, but she should be awake by now, unless
she was given too much anaesthetic. What do you think,
Sister?”

“
She seems to
be breathing all right and her heart rate isn’t too bad. She’ll
probably wake up soon, but you’d better let the doctors know. I’ll
keep an eye on her as well.”

After the nurses left the
room, Nathaniel gazed down at Eloise. She might be eighteen, but
she looked so small and vulnerable just lying on the hospital cot
like that. He just had to get through to her psyche to see if she
was all right, but when he tried to enter her mind again, he
realised her soul wasn’t there. As he froze with shock, an image of
Devlin with Eloise in his arms flashed into his mind.

Jesus
Christ!

Nathaniel crossed himself
and stared down at Eloise’s body. No wonder she couldn’t be roused.
Devlin had taken her soul and taken her somewhere.

Clenching his fists,
Nathaniel tried to work out how he’d been outsmarted, but then it
occurred to him that Devlin must’ve found a loophole to get to her
soul while she was sedated with powerful mind-numbing drugs—but
where had he taken her?

Running his hands through
his hair, he tried to think. Then he flew out the door and shot
through an open window into the clear night sky. There was only one
place Devlin would take Eloise where his lies would be
believable—and that was to his cloud beneath Heaven.