to set by the time the last patient had been seen. Cassie was taking a few moments to admire the reddening sky when she sensed, rather than saw, Leith come to stand next to her. To her dismay, her heart rate went into overdrive.
‘Finished for the day?’ he asked with a smile. His white, short-sleeved cotton shirt emphasised the dark hairs on his chest and his muscular forearms. Why on earth was she even noticing?
‘Yes. Apart from ward rounds before bed.’ Cassie turned her face upwards, enjoying the feel of the early evening breeze on her overheated skin. ‘What about you?’
He rubbed his stubbly chin. ‘Me too.’ They stood together in silence as the sun flared, turning the soil pink.
‘Such a beautiful country,’ Cassie said softly, ‘despite its problems.’
When he looked at her, her pulse upped yet another notch. His eyes were the colour of summer grass, she thought distractedly. She gave herself a mental shake and glanced away. What was wrong with her, for heaven’s sake? Never before had she felt such instant attraction and it scared her.
Just then she noticed that a woman from the village was standing a couple of feet away, waiting patiently.
‘Doctor—come with me. Please?’ she said.
‘What is it?’ Leith asked. ‘Is someone in trouble?’
The woman glanced around anxiously. ‘Please. Just come. You both.’
Leith raised an eyebrow at Cassie. ‘Are you up for it?’
It was as if every nerve in her body was screeching at her to run—to keep her distance from this man. Which was ridiculous. Someone needed their help and of course she wouldn’t—couldn’t—say no.
When she nodded the woman smiled with relief. ‘My name is Precious,’ she said. ‘It is my sister, Maria, I want you to see.’
They followed Precious in the failing light along a narrow track. The cicadas had started chirping and the sounds of Africa permeated the night air. As the path entered a small stretch of trees the sun disappeared completely. Soon it was too dark to see properly, although the woman leading the way appeared to have no difficulty. Cassie stumbled over the root of a tree and Leith caught her hand. A spark shot up her arm and she had to resist the urge to pull away.
Still holding her hand and close on the heels of Precious, he guided Cassie along the path, pointing out intruding thorns from acacia trees and other obstacles for her to avoid.
A short while later they came to a cluster of huts. The villagers, lit only by the glow of the evening meal fires, were making preparations for the night.
But instead of stopping at one of the huts, the woman led them through the village and back into the darkness. Cassie had a moment’s doubt. This was a poor country and it was possible that the woman was leading them into a trap. But they couldn’t turn away now.
The thought clearly hadn’t crossed Leith’s mind as his footsteps never faltered. About two kilometres further on, with the village left far behind them, the woman stopped. At first Cassie could see nothing but then, as the woman pointed, she could make out a small hut in the shadows. This was unexpected. The villagers lived in close proximity to one another. Who could be living so far away from the comfort and help of others?
Precious led them inside. A young woman was crouched over a small fire, mixing a pot of mielie meal with a stick while a small child, no more than two, sat on the bed, watching her.
‘This is Maria,’ Precious said, before turning back to the woman and speaking rapidly in the vernacular.
Cassie couldn’t understand a word but it sounded reassuring. When Precious had finished talking, the mother looked at them with a mixture of hope and despair.
‘Maria has been sent away from the village.’ Precious said.
‘Why?’ Cassie asked.
When Precious hesitated, Leith’s brow knotted. ‘I suspect I know the reason.’ He turned to their guide. ‘Has Maria been wetting herself?
‘Will she allow me to examine her?’ Leith asked.
Precious translated and, blushing deeply, Maria lay down on top of the bed after lifting the child and placing him on a rush mat. He stared silently with big, brown eyes.
‘I will go and fetch some water,’ Precious said, and slipped outside.
In the silence the little boy continued to watch them. Then he slid off the mat and toddled over to Cassie, lifting his hands. Instinctively Cassie reached down and picked him up. The child snuggled into her, peeping out at his mother.
‘Seems he’s taken a liking to you,’ Leith said with a smile.
‘Children seem to like me—which is an advantage given my line of work,’ she responded lightly. Without warning an image flashed into her head. She couldn’t have been very much older than this child—perhaps three or four. She’d fallen over and scraped her knee and had gone crying to her mother and held up her hands, wanting to be lifted, to have her hurt made better.
To her bewilderment her mother had turned away, saying it was only a scrape and not to make a fuss. But before she’d turned away, Cassie had seen something in her eyes that had made her forget about the pain in her knee and feel pain in her chest instead. Later she’d come to realise it had been dislike she’d seen.
When the time had come to choose which medical speciality to pursue, she’d been drawn to paediatrics. Perhaps because she wanted to rescue all the little Cassies out there. But she would never risk becoming a mother herself—experience had taught her that too often the worst parents were those who had been badly, or inadequately, parented themselves. Nevertheless, just because she wasn’t going to have children herself, it didn’t mean she didn’t love having them as her patients.
‘Cassie? You okay?’ Leith’s voice pulled her back to the present. She forced a smile and tightened her hold on the little boy in her arms. ‘Sure. A little hot—that’s all.’
Looking puzzled, Leith continued to hold her gaze, but when she returned his stare steadily he gave his head a little shake and focussed his attention back on Maria.
Leith examined the woman discreetly and gently, before straightening. ‘As I thought, she has a fistula from her bowel into her vagina, which has led to her being incontinent. I’ve treated a few women with this condition since I’ve been here. They tend to be ostracised by their fellow villagers and rarely come for help, although I suspect that finally word is getting around that we can often do something for them.’
‘Poor thing,’ Cassie said. ‘And can you? Help her?’
He smiled. ‘Yes, I’m confident I can fix her problem.’ He turned to Precious. ‘She must come to the hospital ship. Tomorrow. Tell her I will have to operate, but it is a simple procedure and after she will be much better.’
Precious broke into a wide smile. ‘She will be so happy. It has been hard for her here, all alone with her child. I can only help a little—I have my own family to care for.’ She turned to her sister and spoke rapidly. With tears in her eyes, Maria reached out for Cassie’s hand and said something Cassie couldn’t understand.
‘She
