Feels Like Home (27 page)

‘His family. Can you really see the Carltons being happy with their son married to some Hollywood starlet? You were the perfect match for Zach in so many ways. Young, pretty, respectable and unknown. No rehab or jail stints in your past. No trailer-trash relatives in your closet. My guess is they had you picked as good breeding stock.'

Acid rose in Jo's throat as she let out a bitter laugh. ‘Like a prize cow.'

Lydia sighed. ‘I'm sorry, Jo. Are you okay?'

Okay? No she was definitely not okay, but it had nothing to do with Zach and his philandering ways. Sure, she felt foolish for having believed the lies he'd fed her. And she was pissed off at all the wasted guilt and remorse she'd felt after breaking off the engagement. But she'd get over that.

There was far more at stake right here in Linden Gully. Any hope of a proper reconciliation with Ryan would be off the table the minute he saw that stupid photo. And the only reason the photo was making a splash online was because of her relationship with Zach. Now it turned out it had been a game all along. She was just a pawn being used by a man and an industry that didn't give a toss about her.

Enough. She was done with the whole damn thing. Zach, the movie, even her next publishing contract if it came down to it. She didn't want to live in a world where she had to schmooze the right people to get her books published. Hell, she'd been doing okay before she met Zach, and she could start again if she had to. She wanted no more part in this whole pathetic celebrity charade. Zach could make what he liked of the photo, say what he liked, paint her any way he wanted to. She simply didn't care. She wouldn't march to the beat of his drum anymore. And he could forget any scenario that had him walking hand in hand with her on a red carpet. That simply wasn't going to happen.

Jo caught a glimpse of Ella's curly hair streaming in the wind as she rode past the kitchen.

Everything she cared about was right here in this little town. Maybe, if she did everything right, if she explained everything the right way, if she spent time with Ella and earned her trust, then just maybe Ryan would get over having his face plastered all over the internet. Maybe one day he'd let her back into his heart. Maybe they could make things work, just like Steph had said. But even if they couldn't, she wasn't going to leave Linden Gully with Ryan hating her. She had to fix this.

‘Jo? Are you still there?'

‘Sorry. I'm here. Just lost in thought for a second, that's all.'

‘Honey, try not to worry. I've left a message for Kendra at the PR place and I'm sure she'll get back to me first thing. In the meantime my advice is sit tight and say nothing.'

‘Okay, thanks, Lydia. I really appreciate you handling all this. I know it's not strictly in your job description.'

‘Anything for my favourite client. You take care of yourself now and I'll be in touch as soon as I know more.'

Jo put the phone back in her pocket and stood staring aimlessly out the window for a moment. Surely things had to start looking up. She laughed at the thought. It wasn't as if they could get much worse, right?

CHAPTER

27

To tell Ryan or not? That was the question. Of course she would have to tell him eventually, but was now really the right time? She didn't want to add to his troubles while he was worried about his mother's condition.

There was a chance he would never even hear about it. Ryan wasn't a social media user. He wasn't on Facebook — she knew this from years of surreptitious searching for his profile after she'd had a few wines — and she'd heard him remark to Steph that Twitter was ‘for twits'. He didn't read gossip magazines either, so the only way he would find out was if someone told him.

Which would happen in about five minutes flat around here.

There was no getting out of it. She'd have to tell him when he came to collect Ella.

Where
was
Ella? Jo peered out the kitchen window and realised she hadn't seen any bicycle action for quite a few minutes. Maybe Ella was exploring the back garden, which was fine. A little adventure on her own wouldn't do her any harm, but Jo had forgotten to tell her not to go into the old chook shed. It hadn't been used for years and had fallen into a state of disrepair. Last thing she needed was the kid stepping on a rusty nail or cutting herself on an old bit of corrugated iron.

Jo swung open the kitchen door and stepped out onto the back verandah. She had a clear view of the front yard, the driveway and the home paddock, but Ella was nowhere in sight. ‘Hey, Ella,' she called as she descended the verandah steps. ‘Where are you?' No answer came and Jo called again as she followed the gravel path that wound its way behind the house and led to the veggie patch and chook shed. ‘Ella. El-la. Where are you?'

And then she saw her.

Ella was on the ground, the bike beside her, and she wasn't moving.

All the way in the ambulance Jo prayed to a god she hadn't believed in since she was twelve years old. Ella was falling in and out of consciousness and Jo's gratitude that the child was alive was tempered by the fear of what sort of damage she may have sustained. What if Ella died? Or if she had permanent brain damage? How could she live with herself? How could she ever face Ryan again? The ambulance officers were noncommittal, saying only that it was ‘possibly' a bad concussion, but Ella would need scans to rule out a more serious head injury. The fact that they'd immobilised Ella, strapping her tiny body to a back board, was also concerning. The ambos insisted it was routine procedure, but their expressions were grim and Jo feared they knew more than they were letting on.

She tried to call Ryan over and over without any luck. The signal was poor in patches and then, when it picked up and she managed to get through, her call went straight to voicemail. Maybe he had his phone turned off inside the hospital.

Jo fought back tears, trying to put on a calm, brave face for Ella in the moments when she was lucid. She'd already failed this little girl spectacularly. The least she could do was keep herself together enough to provide the child with a modicum of comfort.

‘Hey sweetie, how are you feeling?' she asked when Ella opened her eyes, but Ella didn't respond. She stared off into the distance as if Jo wasn't even there. And then her tiny body began to jerk unnaturally.

‘Oh god! What's happening?' Jo cried.

‘She's seizing,' the ambulance officer in the back called to his colleague driving. He turned his attention to Jo. ‘You need to calm down and be quiet. Stay in your seat.'

‘Are you okay back there, Steve?' the driver called.

‘Yeah.'

‘Let me know if we need to pull over.'

‘She's coming out of it already,' Steve replied. He looked at Jo. ‘Is the patient epileptic?'

Jo shrugged. ‘I'm sorry, I really don't know. I was just babysitting her for a couple of hours.'

‘Well, it will be helpful for the doctors to know that information. They'll need to know her history, if she's on any medications, that sort of thing. Have you been in contact with the parents at all?'

Jo shook her head. ‘No, her dad isn't answering his phone, but he'll be at the hospital. His mum is having surgery.'

Steve nodded without taking his eyes off Ella. He was monitoring her pulse.

Jo went back to her silent prayers, which were probably futile. Why on earth would God listen to her? But hopefully he had a soft spot for Ella.

After what seemed like an age the ambulance finally pulled up out the front of Bellington Hospital. ‘We're taking her in through Emergency,' the young ambo said. ‘You said her dad was here at the hospital, right?'

Jo nodded.

‘Best go find him then. There'll be paperwork to fill in. Medicare details and the like.'

‘Yes,' Jo said, her heart sinking. Imagining Ryan's reaction to the news of Ella's injury was making her feel queasy. She gave Ella's hand a squeeze. ‘I'm just going to get your dad, Ella. Won't be long.'

Ella didn't appear to hear her, or maybe she didn't understand what Jo was saying.

Oh God, please let her be okay.

Ryan was in the patient lounge, making himself a much-needed cup of tea when he saw Jo walking towards him. For a split second his mood lifted — she'd come to be with him, to cheer him up — and then he remembered she was supposed to be caring for his daughter. ‘Where's Ella?' he asked.

Jo's mouth was unsmiling, her eyes glassy. ‘She's here. In Emergency.'

‘Did you leave her there unsupervised? God, Jo, she's only a little kid. You can't just leave her to her own devices.'

‘No, Ryan, you don't understand.' Jo's face drained of all colour.

And then he knew.

He broke into a run, barking at Jo as he pushed past her. ‘What happened?'

Jo ran after him. ‘She had a fall. I think she must've hit her head.'

‘You think? What do you mean you think? Why weren't you watching her?'

‘I'm sorry. I didn't think…Ryan, honestly she was only on her own for a minute. I'm so, so sorry.'

Ryan glanced at the elevator bank briefly, before deciding to take the stairs. The old lifts in this place were notoriously slow. Jo trailed behind him. He could hear her panting through her sobs. ‘Is she conscious?'

‘Sort of. She keeps drifting in and out.'

Ryan cursed under his breath. Why the hell had he left Ella with Jo? She'd said she was hopeless with kids but he didn't want to believe that. Now his daughter, his beautiful precious little Ella, was paying the price for his lack of judgement. Again.

When he reached the ground floor he began to run again, not caring whether Jo was keeping up or not. He pushed through the Emergency doors and rushed to the triage desk. ‘Ella Galloway,' he said. ‘Where is she?'

‘Are you a relative?' the triage nurse asked.

‘I'm her father.'

‘Right.' The nurse clicked on the keyboard for a moment. ‘Mr Galloway is it?'

Ryan nodded.

‘I need to take a few details before I can let you see your daughter.'

‘Can't that wait? I just want to see my little girl.'

‘Mr Galloway the best way you can help Ella right now is to give me as much information on her medical background as possible. It will only take a few minutes and as soon as we're done I'll call one of the nurses to take you through.'

Ryan exhaled impatiently. He knew he had no choice but to play by the hospital's rules. ‘Okay.'

‘Is there anything I can do?' Jo's voice came from behind him.

He glanced back at her tear-stained face and a tangle of emotions — pity, anger, disappointment — fought to make their way to the surface. There was no time to deal with this now. ‘Just go home, Jo. You've done enough for one day.'

Jo stood shivering outside the hospital entrance. The darkness took her by surprise and she checked the time on her phone. It was just after six-thirty. Great. The last bus to Linden Gully left hours ago. Not that it mattered, because she didn't have the money for a ticket anyway. When she'd jumped in the back of the ambulance she'd given no thought as to how she'd be getting home. She had no money, no wallet and no coat. All of which would have come in handy right about now.

Hot tears stung her eyes as she contemplated her options. She had no choice but to call Steph or Jenny to collect her. But they'd want details and she didn't know if she was up to relaying what had happened. If only Ryan had chosen one of them to care for Ella instead of her. The anger — no, it was worse than that,
contempt
— in his voice had shaken her. Not that she blamed him, of course. He had every right to feel that way. She wished there was something she could do, some way she could support him, but right now she was the last person he wanted to see.

She realised that someone should contact Nate. With Beth in hospital and Dan still away, Nate was the closest thing Ryan had to family. There was no other option. She'd have to let Steph and Nate know what was going on. Hopefully Steph could drop Nate at the hospital and pick her up at the same time. As the fine misty rain began to dampen her hair, she swiped at the tears with the back of her hand and took a deep breath before dialling Steph's number.

When Steph answered with a chirpy, ‘What can I do for you?' Jo's tenuous composure crumbled.

‘Steph, I need your help,' she sobbed into the phone.

CHAPTER

28

‘Daddy, how come Gran hasn't been to see me?'

Ryan rubbed his temples in an attempt to dull the pounding headache that was threatening to split his skull. He'd had no sleep at all. The night had been spent waiting as Ella had been wheeled in and out of different areas of the hospital as the medical staff carried out various tests. She was stable right now, thank god, but the doctors were keeping her in under observation for another twenty-four hours. The doctor in charge was consulting a paediatric neurologist at the Royal Children's Hospital in Melbourne. The nursing staff assured him that they'd know more this afternoon and that the doctor would be in to speak to him as soon as possible.

‘Gran's in the hospital too, honey, remember? She fell over and hurt one of her bones.'

‘But's she's okay, isn't she?'

‘Yes, of course, sweetheart.' He plastered what he hoped was a reassuring smile on his face. ‘Don't you worry about Gran. She'll be as good as new in a couple of weeks. If you're better tomorrow I'll take you upstairs to see her.'

Ella pouted. ‘I feel better now. Why can't I go home? Tinker will be missing me.'

‘Tinker will be fine, sweetheart. Taylah is looking after her and all the other animals in the clinic while you're here.'

‘But why do I have to stay here? My head isn't even sore anymore.'

‘I know sweetie, but we need to be sure everything is perfectly fine before we take you home. The doctors need to double check a few things, that's all.'