Millionaire's Secret Love

Chapter Five

Since she returned to London, she had found a job working in a hospital. On the night shift, she was surprised that the reception area of the hospital always had a calm atmosphere. It was often still after visiting hours were over. The one thing she could never get used to be the smell of the hospital. Disinfectant and other odours mingled creating a malodorous scent which tickled her nose and she screwed up her face.

Working as a nurse in a hospital in London, she was always busy. It did not matter if she was working the day or the night shift.  There was no sitting around. Not only was her job draining, but it was also exhausting as well, which was why when she could take her break, she always left the ward they assigned her and went to the front of the hospital to get fresh air.

 She would often stop at the coffee shop nearby and indulge in a hot chocolate.

It was close to four in the morning when she was walking back from the coffee shop that she saw her brother walking down the long corridor which connected all the wards on the ground floor.

They made eye contact as they came towards each other from opposite directions. “What are you doing here so late?” she asked, before her brother came within an arm span of her.

She surveyed him, looking for signs of injuries. There was none that she could see.

 “I didn’t know you were working tonight,” he said, his gaze sweeping her uniform.

Elizabeth bobbed her head. “This is my last week here before I take on my new job.”

He was quiet. Much too quiet and she wondered what was troubling him.

When had the conversation between them become so uncomfortable she wondered? Was it before she moved to Jamaica?

            Shoving her hands in her blue tunic pockets, she fiddled with her phone. “I was going to ring you later”.

Ross nodded.

He appeared distracted and kept looking over her shoulder.

Observing his anxiety, she examined his body in more detail. What looked like blood covered the blue jeans he wore.

“Whose blood is that?”

He frowned at her and she could see him hesitate, as if he were wondering what to tell her.

He grabbed her by the elbow and towed her out of the reception and into the corridor.  Ross checked to make sure there was no one coming down the corridor before he leaned closer to her.

“I was on a job and someone got injured.”

The way he said someone got injured alerted her to the fact Ross was close to this person.

 “Who is it? Is it someone I know?” she asked.

For a split second, she could see him contemplate not telling her anything, but he changed his mind.

“It’s George,” he said. His voice was low, as if he said the words too it would become reality.

Elizabeth’s entire body went still as stone.  “Which George are you talking about?”

He gave her a significant look. “It’s the George we know,” he replied, eyeing her with eyes that were filled with pain.

Speechless, Elizabeth stared at him. There were no right words to say.

Gripping her phone tighter in her pocket she tried not to show any outward signs the news affected her.

Elizabeth had always been good at hiding her feelings. She always kept her genuine emotions hidden beneath a façade of not caring, which often rubbed people up the wrong way.

“He’s not dead, is he?” she asked bluntly.

 Ross flinched at her words and shook his head. “If the ambulance had been a few minutes later he would have been.”

For the first time, Elizabeth realised her brother was shaking. It was not the first time they had injured someone close to him, but it was the first time she had seen him this broken up.

“Thank God,” she breathes. Unsure why it was that this news made her whole world shift. It was because he was Ross’s bestie, she told herself.

She was not unshaken by the news.

“What happened, were you two together, why are you covered in his blood?” Elizabeth could not stop the questions from falling out of her mouth.

Ross straightened his posture and gave her a blank stare. “I can’t tell you why we were together, but I can tell you this, whoever did this I will find them.” His voice was hard and filled with promise.

He had not become a Detective Inspector at his age without having some balls; she thought.

Her brother was a man of his word. He was a protector; Working with the police was such an outstanding job for him. He could excel in the role. And he had done so.

She knew he would follow through on his promise; He always did.

Elizabeth thought of the time she had been bullied by two of her former friends after school and how he had stepped in and made the girls apologise to her instead of beating her up. Ross was always like this, he looked after those he cared about.

His eyes watched her. “Lizzie, I want to ask you a favour,” he said.

Shifting from foot to foot, she avoided his gaze. “What’s the favour?”

“I’m on a case and I need to get back to work,” he said.

She lifted her head and met his eyes. “You want me to check on him?” she asked.

He bobbed his head a few times. “Yeah, he may have to be in here for a few days.” Ross paused and held her stare. “He doesn’t want his parents to know what happened.”

Elizabeth blinked at him in confusion. “Is he in some kind of trouble with the police?” she asked.

Shaking his head, Ross gave her a small smile. “I know you think little of him, but he’s not that type of person.”

Yeah right, what good person brandishes a weapon and threatens other people, she thought, suppressing the urge to roll her eyes.

Elizabeth had a million questions.  What had George got into? Why was he injured?

Why was her brother involved? She knew her brother would not tell her anything.

Taking her phone out of her pocket, she checked the time, then put in back. “I will see him when I finish my shift in a few hours, will that make you feel better?”

A smile split his face. “Thank you, sis. I know I could count on you.” He paused. “I know you both don’t get on, so I’m pleased you’ll help me with this. It will put my mind at ease, knowing he will have someone familiar around him.”

She was quiet. “I’ve got to go back on shift,” she told him.

He nodded, and they said their goodbyes.

As Elizabeth walked down the corridor to the Ward where she worked, she could not help but think about George.

 Only the day before he had been so hale and hearty.

Her opinion of George was not something she had formed by herself. She thought of the time they suspended George and some of his cronies from school for smoking weed on the playground of the high school. Or the time he had gotten involved in a fight with three other boys and had to spend time in jail.

These events have cemented in her mind that George was someone who was a bad boy, and it did not matter to her if people grow up and change. In her heart, she still felt as if he was not too good, yet she couldn’t deny the attraction she felt to him.

An image of her ex-boyfriend popped into her mind. She believed her ex was a good person and yet, what did he do to her. How could she say no to those words? Her brother never asked for help.  It was an opportunity to help pay him back for all he did for her. The most significant of which was helping to persuade their parents how important it was for her to follow her dreams and not theirs.

Ross was the same age as George. He saw it as his duty to take care of everyone in the family, and he did an admirable job.

She could not disappoint him.

What did the men and women who chose a career to protect the innocent feel? she thought. How did they cope living in the world where crimes and people never seemed to learn from their mistakes? Elizabeth was certain a police officer’s job was the worst job to have. They protected the people, yet they are enemies.

Elizabeth caught the lift to the fifth floor, which had the men’s Ward.  She still had a few minutes before she went back on shift. If she went to see him now, she could see what he needed and bring it to him, she thought. It was because Ross asked her to help; she told herself, but deep down she knew it was because she wanted to make sure he was still alive.

On the fifth Ward, she went to the small reception area and enquired about him. She found him in a private room.

It did not surprise her to see he was getting the best treatment.

Like her family, his family were of the middle class.

Yet when they were growing up, George had not followed the straight and narrow path. He had been a bit of a rebel. Even as an adult, she could see his rebelliousness. It was in the way he carried himself with confident masculinity.

At school he had been on the football team and this meant he could get away with a lot compared to other normal kids. He could skip class and go to matches, and still the teachers would treat him like a superstar.

            It was unfair, but unlike many other kids who did the same thing George was still incredibly good academically and for someone like Elizabeth it always made her jealous.

She always felt she had to work harder to achieve anything, even the good grades she received whilst he had breezed through school.

A dunce she was not, neither had she been the brightest spark in the box, but her efforts paid off when she had taken her exams and had passed with enough grades to enrol in college and subsequent University.

Ross was like George, he excelled and in their parents’ eyes; he was the best.

It was why she tried so hard to be independent of her parents. She knew they cared little for the fact she became a nurse. To them, she would have been better off married with at least three children instead of wasting her time in a career which was too draining.

As always, she was a disappointment to them. Since the past year, she has learned how to cope with their disappointments and her own personal failures.

She liked her job. Elizabeth enjoyed looking after people, which was why when she opened the door and saw George laying on the hospital bed with a bandage over his shoulder and hooked up to IV’s her training took over.

He looked like dire.

His eyes were closed, but the moment she came to stand next to his bed, his eyes snapped open, and he stared at her with a surprised frown.

For long seconds, she could see his eyes trying to focus and she waited until he could focus on her.

“Why is it every time I see you, you’re injured?” She spoke. “Do you like pain?” she scolded.

He stared at her.

 “Can’t you take better care of yourself?” she muttered, giving him the once over.

He studied her. “How come you’re here?”

“I’m not here to pull out your IV, if that’s what you’re wondering,” she grumbled. “Ross asked me to come see you.”

“Oh”, he said, closing his eyes.

It gave her an opportunity to examine him. His healthy skin appeared sallow beneath the light of the room.

An ache gripped her heart.

            She could tell he was not his normal self. He was self-assured and confident but seeing him in a hospital bed somehow made him appear more human and less of an ogre in her eyes.

George opened his eyes and gave her pointed stare. “Now you’ve seen me, you can leave,” he said.

Rather than let him see how his words affected her, she gave him a false smile.

“You don’t have to ask me twice,” she replied, glancing at the watch on her left wrist. “I have to get back to work anyway, my tea break is over.”

She did not wait for him to ask her to leave a second time. She left the room with the soft click of the door.

Outside the door, Elizabeth lent on it. Closing her eyes, she mentally patted herself on the back.

It rattled Elizabeth, these feelings. Unwanted tears burned the back of her throat.

The feelings which rose to the surface mystified her. She had wanted to embrace him. Elizabeth did not need a doctor to tell her his shoulder injury could have been fatal.

As she shoved her body away from the door and walked towards the elevator, it occurred to Elizabeth she may not be as immune to him as she told herself many times before.