report for headquarters, though, Sam.’
That was to be expected, but even so her heart sank.
‘Shall I make some enquiries about getting you back to civilisation?’ the sister asked gently now.
‘I suppose you should.’ Samantha nodded. ‘As you say, I can’t stay here.’
She watched as the sister walked away across the ward. At least her baby was all right, she told herself positively. Ben—had he been here—would probably have been disappointed by that news.
Across the ward she could see Josh leaning indolently against the doorway, listening intently to something Joanne was telling him.
He was very handsome. His very presence seemed to dominate the small ward, radiating powerful, vital waves of strength.
What was Joanne talking so earnestly to him about? Samantha wondered. Josh seemed very interested, his eyes serious, watching her with complete absorption.
She sighed and turned on her side, away from them. She was grateful to Josh for rescuing her but she still didn’t like him. He was too arrogantly sure of himself. He was probably a womaniser into the bargain. A man who enjoyed breaking hearts.
Ben had broken her heart. She stared at the wall and tried not to think about her husband. There was no point in analysing their relationship any further. If the truth were known their marriage had been a terrible mistake from the beginning. She had tried very hard to make it work, but Ben had killed her feelings for him with his cold, almost indifferent attitude.
She remembered his reaction when she had told him she was pregnant. ‘Get rid of it,’ he had said stonily, with no hesitation. The memory made her shudder.
Ben was dead, and she grieved for the tragic waste of his life. But her respect for him had gone. Now her priority was her unborn child.
CHAPTER TWO
A WEEK later they let Samantha out of hospital. In one way she was relieved to be out of the ward. It had been frustrating to have to lie there when she knew the nurses around her could use some help. However, going back to the room she had shared with Ben would be hard.
She was making her way out of the hospital when she saw Josh Hamilton walking towards her.
‘Almost didn’t recognise you with your clothes on.’ He grinned as he stopped beside her. ‘I’ve only ever seen you in a uniform or a white nightshirt.’
Samantha tried not to look embarrassed by the remark, or by the way his eyes were assessing her in a light-hearted manner. She was wearing a cotton summer dress which had a faded floral print in blues and pinks. It was not a sophisticated dress but it was pretty, or rather it had looked pretty before she had lost so much weight. Now it hung on her slender frame in a way that was not exactly flattering. Not that she cared about her looks, and she certainly didn’t give a damn what Josh Hamilton thought of her.
‘I thought you might have left by now,’ she said crisply, pointedly ignoring his remarks.
‘If you can’t drive, getting out of here is not so easy,’ he said, indicating his wrist, which was still bandaged. ‘Believe me, I’ve explored all the options.’
‘I know what you mean.’ Samantha nodded. ‘I was hoping to be able to catch a plane to Salanga, but unfortunately none of the air relief has been able to get in.’
She turned to continue walking and he fell into step beside her. ‘You’re leaving?’ He sounded surprised.
‘Yes... I’ve been given my orders to go home. Apparently I need peace and quiet so as to heal my emotionally traumatised body.’ She made a joke of the subject, her lips curved in a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes. ‘What about you? Are you going back to England?’
‘No, I’m not due to leave Nuangar for a while yet.’
They walked out into the heat of the day. The sky was a perfect dazzling blue which contrasted sharply against the brown mud huts and the dusty red earth. People were going about their work as usual. The sound of children’s singing drifted up from the school at the far end of the compound.
The hospital was the only brick building among a collection of mud huts huddled together at the edge of the African bush. Chuanga had once been a thriving little community, but since the war conditions had become unbearable. They were surrounded by hostile terrain, where the warring factions allowed very little to come in or out. Except for the radio, they were cut off from the outside world.
It was early afternoon, and quiet for once. She realised suddenly that the gunfire had stopped. The calm, tranquil sound of silence was like a blessed balm to her stretched nerves.
‘It amazes me how the people of Chuanga seem to remain so cheerful, even under the worst of conditions,’ Josh remarked idly.
‘Yes, I know,’ Samantha agreed. ‘I used to wander down to the school sometimes and talk to some of the children who had lost their parents. When I heard about some of the hardships they have had to endure before getting here, it made me think my own childhood was paradise. People in the West forget how well off they are sometimes... We tend to take things for granted.’
‘I presume you are talking about little things—like food, running water and medical aid?’ Josh enquired, raking a hand through the thickness of his hair and grinning. ‘Let me assure you that I will never take a juicy steak, a hot shower or a beautiful nurse for granted again.’
Samantha felt her cheeks growing pink at the seductive, drawling words. ‘Being out here certainly changes your perspective on things,’ she agreed, injecting a prim, disapproving note in her voice.
‘It does indeed.’ He watched as she came to a halt beside a large thatched rondavel—the name given to the mud huts which served as living quarters.
There was a look of uncertainty on her face as she paused by the door, then she looked up at him. ‘Well, it was nice talking to you, Mr Hamilton,’ she said briskly.
‘Josh,’ he corrected her quietly, his eyes never leaving the pallor of her skin, the darkness of her eyes. ‘I feel we know each other well enough to leave formalities behind... don’t you?’
‘Well...’ She struggled for some polite answer, but could find none. The truth was that she didn’t want to drop formalities where this man was concerned. For some reason she wanted to keep every single barrier she possessed well and truly in position.
‘Can you drive, Samantha?’ he asked suddenly.
She frowned, flicking her hair out of her eyes to look up at him with curiosity. ‘Well...yes... Why do you ask?’
‘Open that door, invite me in and I’ll tell you,’ he said firmly.
She hesitated. Part of her wanted to invite him inside, but she didn’t want to give this man the wrong idea...she didn’t want him to think she might be interested in him, because she certainly wasn’t.
‘I’m not going to take advantage of you,’ he drawled impatiently. ‘For one thing you’re not my type...for another I might look like a chauvinistic, insensitive brute but I’m not really. It’s a disguise I’ve had to adopt
