She read the story twice.
“That was a brave thing you done to save him.”
Brave? It was stupid. If I had had time to think, I would have saved myself. That was the dumbest thing I ever did Why, I could have been killed!
Milo Scott came to see Ellen later that morning. He was carrying another bouquet of flowers.
“These are for you,” he said awkwardly. “The doctor tells me you’re going to be fine. I—I can’t tell you how grateful I am to you.”
“It was nothing.”
“It was the most courageous act I’ve ever seen. You saved my life.”
She tried to move, but it sent a sharp pain through her arm.
“Are you all right?”
“Sure.” Her side was beginning to throb. “What did the doc say was wrong with me?”
“You have a broken arm and three broken ribs.”
He couldn’t have given her worse news. Her eyes filled with tears.
“What’s the matter?”
How could she tell him? He would only laugh at her. She had been saving up for a long-awaited vacation to New York with some of the girls from the factory. It had been her dream. Now I’ll be out of work for a month or more. There goes Manhattan.
Ellen had been working since she was fifteen. She had always been fiercely independent and self-sufficient, but now she thought: Maybe if he’s so grateful he’ll pay part of my hospital bills. But I’ll be damned if I’ll ask him. She was beginning to feel drowsy. It must be the medication.
She said sleepily, “Thank you for all the flowers, Mr. Scott. And it was nice meeting you.” I’ll worry about the hospital bills later.
Ellen Dudash slept.
The following morning, a tall, distinguished-looking man came into Ellen’s suite.
“Good morning, Miss Dudash. How are you feeling this morning?”
“Better, thank you.”
“I’m Sam Norton, chief public-relations officer for Scott Industries.”
“Oh.” She had never seen him before. “Do you live here?”
“No. I flew in from Washington.”
“To see me?”
“To assist you.”
“To assist me in what?”
“The press is outside, Miss Dudash. Since I don’t believe you’ve ever held a press conference, I thought perhaps you could use some help.”
“What do they want?”
“Mainly, they’re going to ask you to tell them about how and why you saved Mr. Scott.”
“Oh. That’s easy. If I had stopped to think, I’d have run like hell.”
Norton stared at her. “Miss Dudash—I don’t think I would say that if I were you.”
“Why not? It’s the truth.”
This was not at all what he had expected. The girl seemed to have no idea of her situation.
There was something worrying Ellen, and she decided to get it out in the open. “Are you going to see Mr. Scott?”
“Yes.”
“Would you do me a favor?”
“If I can, certainly.”
“I know the accident’s not his fault, and he didn’t ask me to push him out of the way, but—” The strong independent streak in her made her hesitate. “Oh, never mind.”
Ah, here it comes, Norton thought. How much reward was she going to try to extort? Would it be cash? A better job? What? “Please, go on, Miss Dudash.”
She blurted it out. “The truth is, I don’t have a lot of money, and I’m going to lose some pay because of this, and I don’t think I can afford all these hospital bills. I don’t want to bother Mr. Scott, but if he could arrange a loan for me, I’d pay it back.” She saw the expression on Norton’s face, and misread it. “I’m sorry. I guess I sound mercenary. It’s just that I’ve been saving up for a trip, and—well, this screws everything up.” She took a deep breath. “It’s not his problem. I’ll manage.”
Sam Norton almost kissed her. How long has it been since I’ve come across real innocence? It’s enough to restore my faith in womankind.
He sat down at the side of her bed, and his professional manner disappeared. He took her hand. “Ellen, I have a feeling you and I are going to be great friends. I promise you, you’re not going to have to worry about money. But the first thing we have to do is get you through this press conference. We want you to come out of this looking good, so that—” He stopped himself. “I’m going to be honest. My job is to see that Scott Industries comes out of this looking good. Do you understand?”