‘I’ll do you a rhythm strip,’ Lara said, programming the ECG machine and then standing to one side so that he could see the printout.
Ellen gave a sigh. ‘I’m feeling a bit better. But my face feels really hot.’
‘That’s a side effect of the drug we just gave you. Nothing to worry about.’ Christian’s gaze flickered to the monitor. ‘I’m going to refer you to the cardiologists, Ellen. They’ll want to do some more tests.’
‘Do you know what’s wrong?’
He looped the stethoscope back around his neck. ‘The electric currents that control your heart aren’t working properly. Put simply, they’re taking a short cut.’
‘I’m a lawyer. I don’t need the simple version.’
Christian studied her for a moment. ‘All right. Do you know anything about normal conduction pathways in the heart?’
‘No, but I’m a fast learner.’
Christian pulled a piece of paper and a pen out of his pocket and swiftly drew a diagram. ‘In the normal heart, electrical impulses start in the sinoatrial node in the right atrium—the atria are the chambers at the top of your heart—’ his pen flew over the page to illustrate his point ‘—and pass through the atrioventricular node to the ventricles in the bottom of your heart. The atrioventricular node limits the electrical activity that passes through to the ventricles and acts as a break on the heart rate. That’s what happens in the normal heart.’
Ellen looked at the drawing and gave a hollow laugh. ‘And that’s not me, right?’
‘Sometimes there’s an extra electrical pathway that bypasses the normal process and conducts electricity at a higher rate—there’s no filter, if you like. The result is that the heart can beat very quickly and that causes the symptoms you felt today.’
Lara studied the ECG again. ‘If she has an accessory pathway, why does the QRS complex look normal?’
‘Because ventricular depolarisation can occur through the normal pathway. It’s a combination of pre-excitation and normal conduction.’
‘You’ve lost me.’ Ellen sighed. ‘So how did I get this extra pathway? Was I born with it?’
‘Yes, it’s congenital. Some people have more than one. Basically it happens when the atria and the ventricles fail to separate completely.’
‘But why hasn’t it been picked up before?’
‘Because the majority of the time the normal pathway is used.’
‘And can it be fixed?’
‘Extremely successfully.’ Christian folded the ECG strip and attached it to the notes. ‘We’ll refer you to the cardiologists and they’ll carry out electrophysiological studies—basically, looking at the conduction of your heart.’
Ellen frowned. ‘And then?’
‘If they think you’re an appropriate candidate, then they may do something called radiofrequency ablation—to put it simply, they destroy the extra electrical pathway by sending an electric current through it.’
‘Sounds scary.’
‘Actually, it’s a very successful procedure. It takes a few hours and requires an overnight stay in hospital, but no more than that.’
Ellen gave a wan smile. ‘I’m not allowed time off in my job. Even sleeping is banned.’
‘Sounds familiar,’ Lara murmured, watching as Christian scribbled on the notes. Over the past two months, she’d developed enormous respect for him. No matter what the situation, he never lost his cool. He was focused and skilled and didn’t let emotion cloud his judgement.
Lara studied him for a moment, wondering whether he was even aware of Ellen’s advances.
As if to test the theory, the woman gave him a smile that was pure invitation. ‘If I’m in hospital, will you visit me? I never get to meet anyone except boring lawyers in my job. I bet you only ever meet boring nurses.’
‘That’s me,’ Lara said lightly, slipping the tourniquet back into her pocket. ‘Boring nurse.’
Ellen turned her head and looked at her, as if only now noticing that there was someone else in the room with Christian. Her eyes widened as she stared at Lara. ‘Boring maybe, but beautiful,’ she muttered with a faint smile. ‘How do you manage to look so good in that shapeless blue thing? I dress in designer wear from head to foot and I don’t manage to look as good as you. Who does your hair? It’s fabulous.’
‘My hair?’ Taken aback by the question, it took Lara a moment to answer. ‘No one. Most of the time I don’t even do it. I mean, I wake up with it looking like this. That’s when my job allows me the luxury of sleep, which isn’t often.’
Ellen gave a wry smile. ‘Your job sounds a lot like mine. Except that I don’t look a fraction as beautiful as you even after eleven undisturbed hours of sleep. Someone must do your colour. Those blonde streaks are gorgeous. So natural.’
‘That’s because they are natural,’ Lara muttered, wondering why she was discussing her hair with a patient. In the circumstances it seemed utterly bizarre. Any moment now they’d be talking about shoes. Bracing herself for a sharp comment from Christian about her lack of professionalism, her eyes slid in his direction and she found him studying her with a curiously intent look in his eyes.
As if it was the first time he’d seen her.
Awareness shimmered between them, as powerful as it was unexpected, and then he turned back to his patient, leaving Lara to cope with a frantically pumping heart and shaky knees.
It would have been hard to guess who, out of the two of them, was more shocked.
She didn’t gaze at married men.
And even if he wasn’t married, she still wouldn’t be interested. She had no interest in a relationship at this point in her life.
Ellen was concentrating her attention on Christian again. ‘So is that it, then? I see a cardiologist now?’
‘That’s right.’ His voice suddenly clipped, Christian picked up her chart and started to move away from the trolley, but she caught his arm.
‘Let me give you my number. If you’re at a loose end over Christmas, you can call me. I hate the festive season.You and I could console each other.’
Give the man a bodyguard, Lara thought wearily as Christian carefully extricated himself from Ellen’s grip.
‘I have your number on the notes in the event that the hospital needs to contact you about something,’ he said smoothly, and Ellen’s laugh was resigned.
‘You’re giving me the brush-off, but I suppose that was inevitable. Are you married? Well, of course you’re married, the truly gorgeous ones always are. Oh, well, my loss, handsome.’
Christian stilled and Lara held her breath, wondering if he was going to finally lose his cool and say something cutting. Or perhaps he’d produce a picture of his stunning wife and Ellen would spend the rest of Christmas feeling nauseated with jealousy. And it would be no more than she deserved for being so pushy. Just because the guy looked like a sex god, it didn’t mean he had to be harassed.
But Christian said nothing. In fact, the only suggestion that he’d even heard the question was the faint flicker of a muscle in his jaw. He lowered his head, scribbled something onto the chart and placed it with the rest of the notes. ‘The