After giving Phoebe and Louis a couple of suggestions for cheap hotels where they might stay for a few nights, Celia left them and returned to her rooms, exhausted from emotion and being on her feet all day.
The following afternoon Celia arrived at the hospital for her shift and discovered that Archie wasn’t the one causing concern anymore.
‘What do you mean, my sister’s been admitted?’ she gasped, instinctively knowing that her worst nightmare was happening. Why had she not done as Archie insisted and persuaded Phoebe to remain in Cornwall?
‘I’m sorry, Nurse Robertson,’ the nurse said. ‘Miss Robertson seemed fine first thing today, then collapsed at Captain Bailey’s bedside when she was visiting him this afternoon.’
‘Which ward is she in now?’
Without waiting to find out her own orders for her shift, Celia rushed to the next floor up to go to the ward where her sister had been admitted.
She neared the door of the ward and spotted Louis pacing outside in the corridor. ‘What are you doing up here?’ she snapped. ‘You must leave. Now.’
‘I need to know she’s going to be all right,’ he said, a wildness about his eyes.
Celia went to argue with him, then thought better of it. ‘You can’t know that, not yet,’ she said quietly, staring at him as his eyes locked with hers. ‘I know what happened between you.’
His mouth opened in dismay. ‘What are you talking about?’
‘She told me, about the kiss.’
‘Why would she do that?’ he looked horrified.
‘Because we’re very close and she felt guilty,’ she explained. ‘Phoebe needed to share it with someone, and apart from you I haven’t, nor will I ever, share it with another soul.’
‘Thank you.’ He closed his eyes briefly. ‘It was a moment of madness and I hate myself for confusing her like I did.’
‘You’re going to have to find a way to forgive yourself,’ Celia said, resting her hand on his arm. ‘For both your sakes, and Archie’s.’
‘I know.’
‘Right now my biggest concern is my sister,’ Celia soothed. ‘I need to do my best to ensure she recovers from this dreadful virus. You being here will only put you and, in turn, Archie at risk. I think he has more than enough to contend with, don’t you think?’ Celia asked, not wishing to be unkind but aware that if her sister had been admitted, then she would be fighting for her life. She couldn’t let Phoebe die, especially not when she had only just been reunited with Archie.
Louis lowered his head and covered his face with his hands. ‘He can’t come back to us, only to lose her to this. Archie would give up if he lost Phoebe now.’ Louis lifted his gaze and settled it on Celia.
She struggled to think how to respond. ‘Listen, you really must go. I promise I’ll keep you and Archie informed about her progress and I will do everything in my power to make sure she’s fine. But I need to go to her now. You go back to your brother. Wash your hands before you go through and wear one of these masks. I can’t have you taking anything back into a ward of sick men.’
She took two masks from the container by the door and handed one to him, tying her own behind her head. ‘Go, Louis. Now.’
He nodded. ‘Thank you,’ he said, looking desolate. She closed her eyes to steady herself. Then, pushing open the ward door, she walked in and scanned the room, finding her sister almost immediately when one of the doctors pulled back a screen and left her bedside.
‘How’s she doing, Doctor?’
He shook his head slowly. ‘It’s not looking good, I’m afraid.’
Celia swallowed the lump in her throat. Damn it. No virus was going to take away her only remaining relative, not if she had anything to do with it.
* * *
Over the following three days Celia only left her sister’s bedside to return to her room to shower, change and catch several hours’ sleep. Mostly she slept in a chair by her sister’s bed, determined not to leave her side until she was recovered.
‘Come on, Phoebe,’ she whispered to her sister for the hundredth time. ‘You’ve got to fight this. Archie’s downstairs and he needs you now more than ever.’
Sister came in and threatened to have her forcibly removed from the hospital if she didn’t leave willingly, but Celia told her that was not going to happen. So what if she lost her job, she decided. Her sister’s life was worth more to her than anything else.
Finally on the fourth day, after falling asleep on the chair next to her sister’s bed, Celia was woken by Phoebe’s hand twitching as she held it. She immediately sat upright and stared at her, aware that if she didn’t get a decent night’s rest soon, then she ran the risk of falling ill herself.
The blue pallor had vanished and although her sister had a long way to go until Celia could cheerfully say that she had colour in her cheeks, she knew that Phoebe had pulled through the worst of it. She was going to be all right.