got undressed but they’d blown it out and now there was only the pale shimmer from a sickle moon to see by as Meg made her way to the door. She peered out across the clearing in the centre of the village and felt her skin prickle with alarm when she saw shadowy figures moving about in front of one of the huts. What was going on? Who was out there? And, more importantly, should she go and find out?
Meg hesitated but the feeling that something was wrong wouldn’t go away. Her legs felt like lead as she stepped from the relative safety of the hut and began to cross the clearing. It was a relief when she spotted Moses among the crowd of people gathered by the hut.
‘Is something wrong?’ she asked, going straight over to speak to him.
He turned to her and his face looked grey and drawn in the moonlight. ‘It is Leah, Dr Meg. The baby is coming but there is something wrong and he cannot be born.’
He gave an expressive shrug which said more than any words could have done. Meg felt her heart sink as she wondered what the problem might be. There were so many things that could go wrong during a birth, although thankfully most could be dealt with in the safety of a hospital. However, this was the middle of the African bush and she had no idea what she was letting herself in for as Moses eagerly accepted her offer of help. At that moment, it seemed a very long time since she’d done her stint on the maternity unit.
The hut was lit by candles, and as Meg went inside she could see several women gathered around the low pallet that Leah was lying on. It was obvious that they were the local midwives and she was conscious that she might offend them if she offered her help. However, they made no objection when she knelt beside Leah, simply moved aside to make room for her. She had a feeling that they believed they’d done all they could and her heart sank even further at that thought, although she tried not to show any trace of concern.
‘Hello, Leah. It’s Dr Meg,’ she said softly, noting the lines of pain that bracketed the girl’s mouth. ‘Can I just check how your baby is doing?’
Leah nodded mutely. She was obviously too exhausted to speak. She arched upwards as another contraction began, a keening wail coming from her as the pain tore through her body. Meg was shocked by how strong her contractions were because there had been no sign that she’d been in labour when she’d served their meal a few hours earlier.
She placed her hand on the young woman’s abdomen and gently palpated it, feeling the hard form of the baby beneath her palm. She couldn’t be certain but she suspected that it was lying in the breech position and that was what was causing the problem. Turning the baby was beyond her because she simply didn’t have that kind of expertise. However, it was obvious that something had to be done—and quickly—otherwise both mother and child could die.
She patted Leah’s hand, trying to sound a lot more confident than she actually felt. ‘Don’t worry, Leah. I’ll go and get another of the doctors and we’ll help you deliver your baby. All right?’
She wasn’t sure that the girl had even heard her as Leah stared at her with pain-glazed eyes. Meg hurried from the hut and ran across the clearing. Whether it was professional courtesy or pure instinct which made her go straight to Jack’s hut, she wasn’t sure, but she didn’t stop to debate it as she ducked under the low lintel. Leah needed help and, in her view, Jack was the best qualified to give it.
‘Jack, wake up!’ Pushing aside the mosquito netting, she put her hand on his bare shoulder, ignoring the frisson which shot up her arm as she felt the heat of his skin. He was naked from the waist up, a thin white sheet covering the lower half of his body and outlining the narrowness of his hips and muscular power of his long legs.
Meg quickly averted her eyes and focused on the task of waking him rather than letting her mind go wandering off. All right, so Jack was superbly fit but now certainly wasn’t the time to be thinking about it. She tightened her grip on his shoulder and shook him. ‘Wake up, Jack!’
He came to in a rush, grabbing hold of her and rolling over in one swift movement. Before she knew what was happening, Meg found herself flat on her back with Jack looming over her.
‘What the devil…?’ For a moment he looked as stunned as she felt before a slow smile spread across his face. Meg felt her heart go into overdrive because it wasn’t a nice sort of smile by any means. Wolfish. Mocking. Sexy, certainly, but definitely not nice!
‘Well, well. What have we here? Don’t tell me that you’re hoping to improve my opinion of you that way, Ms Andrews?’
‘I…YOU…Let me go!’
Meg rolled to her feet as soon as Jack had released her. Pushing back her tumbled hair, she glared at him. ‘What the hell do you think you’re doing?’
He lay back against the pillow, a thin smile curving his mouth. ‘I think I got my question in first, don’t you?’
Meg felt a rush of colour wash up her face and was glad that it was so dark that he couldn’t possibly have seen it. Did he honestly believe that she would have tried to influence him by offering to sleep with him?
The thought sent another surge of heat through her veins which she decided owed itself to anger. It had nothing to do with the remembered feel of his powerful body as it had pressed hers into the mattress, no connection whatsoever to the fact that just for a moment she’d found herself actually enjoying the contact. She was angry because never in her life had she been so…so insulted!
‘If you imagine that I shall dignify that question with an answer then think again!’ she snapped back.
‘In that case, you’ll understand if I don’t answer your question, won’t you? Anyway, I suppose there must have been a reason why you saw fit to wake me even if it isn’t the one that sprang to mind. Is something wrong?’
She very nearly turned round and marched right out of the hut. She had sensed all along that Jack had a low opinion of her but she hadn’t realised before just how low it was. It was only the thought of Leah which helped curb her temper and remember what she was doing there in the first place.
‘Leah’s in labour but there seems to be a problem,’ she explained through gritted teeth. ‘I might be wrong but I think the baby could be breech. Can you come and take a look at her?’
‘Of course.’ He was out of bed before she could blink, stepping into his trousers and dragging on his shirt as he headed for the door. Meg hurried after him as he strode across the clearing, answering the questions he shot at her to the best of her ability. She felt a trifle stunned by the speed of the transformation as he’d switched back to total professionalism in the blink of an eye. Obviously, work came first on Jack’s list of priorities and everything else came a very poor second. Why didn’t that surprise her?
Jack went straight to the bed. Kneeling down, he smiled reassuringly at the young woman. ‘Dr Meg tells me that you’re having trouble, Leah—may I see?’
‘Yes…’ Leah’s voice was weak with exhaustion and Meg found it difficult to hide her concern as she knelt beside the bed and took her pulse. It was so thready and faint that Meg’s heart plummeted because she knew Leah wouldn’t survive if something wasn’t done soon to help her.
Jack looked up and his eyes reflected her concern as he looked at her across the bed. ‘The baby is lying horizontally rather than breech from the feel of it. There’s
