Read Online Fallen Angel by Patricia Puddle - Free Book Online Page B

“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