‘You’ve done all you can, Meg.’
Jack’s tone was low but she heard the regret it held and tears welled into her eyes as she realised what he meant. The thought that the baby had died before he’d even had the chance to live was too much to bear.
She breathed into the tiny rosebud mouth once more, refusing to accept that there was nothing she could do for him…
The tiny body suddenly twitched, the baby’s arms and legs shooting out as he began to squirm. Meg’s face broke into a radiant smile as he let out a weak little wail when she raised her head. Within seconds he was crying in earnest, the sound of his irate screams ringing around the hut.
‘We did it!’ she declared, uncaring that tears were streaming down her face as she looked up at Jack. ‘He’s going to be all right!’
‘You did it, Meg, you mean. You and your determination!’ He uttered a joyful laugh while the baby continued to roar his disapproval of the new world he’d found himself in. ‘By heaven, but he’s got a fine pair of lungs from the sound of it!’
Meg stood up, aware that she was trembling as she quickly wrapped the baby in a towel. He needed bathing and checking over but all that could wait a few minutes longer. Right at that moment he needed his mother more than anything else.
Her heart contracted as she realised that she had no idea how Leah had fared. It took every scrap of courage she could dredge up to turn to Jack and ask him because she was so afraid what the answer might be. ‘Is…is Leah all right?’
He squeezed her shoulder and his grey eyes told her that he understood exactly how she felt. ‘She’s fine, or she will be once she sees that young man.’
Meg could barely contain her joy. She smiled at him and saw his eyes darken. Her breath seemed to catch tightly in her chest when she saw the glitter of something hot and wild appear in their depths before he abruptly turned away and went to speak to Rory, who was clearing up.
Meg hugged the screaming baby to her as she hurried to the bed and knelt down. It was neither the time nor the place to think about what she’d seen in Jack’s eyes just now, to wonder why he’d looked at her with such hunger. If Jack didn’t like her then why should he want her? It didn’t make sense.
‘My baby!’ Leah’s exhausted face lit up as soon as she saw her child. She held out her arms, smiling in delight when Meg gently laid the baby in them.
‘It’s a boy, Leah, a lovely little boy.’ Deliberately, Meg forced the unsettling thoughts to the back of her mind, although it wasn’t possible to erase them completely. Jack was attracted to her? Was it possible? Everything that had happened so far pointed to the fact that she must have made a mistake and yet she couldn’t quite convince herself of that.
‘A boy?’ Leah’s eyes were full of wonder as she unwrapped the towel and stared at her baby son. She looked up and there were tears streaming down her cheeks as she tried to smile at Meg. ‘Thank you…thank you!’
It was hard to contain her own emotions in the face of the young mother’s joy. In the end, Meg gave up trying. Tears poured down her face, too, as she squeezed Leah’s hand. ‘I’m so pleased for you, Leah!’
She gave a shaky laugh as she got up and dried her face on the hem of her gown. ‘What a pair we are! Now, I’m sure that Moses must be dying to see his beautiful new son so I’ll go and fetch him.’
Leah smiled as she undid her robe and placed the baby to her breast, where he immediately began to suckle. ‘My husband will be very proud. Every man wants a son,’ she said simply.
Meg turned away, knowing that the picture of the young mother and her child would stay with her for a long time to come. Rory was still busily clearing up and he patted her on the shoulder as she passed him.
‘Well done, kiddo. A first-rate job, I’d say. Welcome to the team!’
Meg smiled back, appreciating the genuine warmth of the comment. ‘Thanks.’
She left him to finish what he was doing and hurried outside. She paused when she saw Jack talking to a smiling Moses. It was obvious that he’d already given the proud father the good news so she turned to go back inside then stopped when Jack called out to her. She went to join the two men, smiling when Moses grabbed her hand and began pumping it up and down.
‘Dr Jack explained that it was you who saved my son. Thank you, Dr Meg. Thank you!’
‘It was my pleasure,’ she replied sincerely. He gave her hand another enthusiastic shake then hurried into the hut, closely followed by several members of his family who had been waiting outside.
Meg grimaced when she found Jack watching her as she rubbed her throbbing fingers. ‘I’m glad it wasn’t twins! I think I may have a couple of crushed bones from the feel of it.’
He laughed deeply, his teeth gleaming whitely in the darkness. ‘He was certainly pleased and no wonder. You did a great job just now, Meg.’
He moved away from the hut and it seemed the most natural thing in the world to go with him. They crossed the clearing, bypassing the huts on the other side and only stopping when they reached the trees which surrounded the village. The night was very dark, the moon just a slim silver curl in the velvety sky, a myriad stars scattered like diamonds across it.
Meg drew in a deep breath, tasting the unfamiliar scents carried on the night air. She was tired from all the travelling and lack of sleep yet she felt so elated that she wanted to shout for joy. As first days went it could have been worse…a lot worse, in fact, bearing in mind what had happened earlier. Had Jack’s attitude towards her improved?
It was too tempting to resist finding out so that she didn’t stop to think about the wisdom of asking the question. ‘So, do you believe now that I can cope with this job?’
He turned to look at her, although his face was shadowed by the overhang of the branches. ‘I think that you handled what happened just now extremely well.’
‘But?’ Meg laughed but there was scant amusement in the sound. She might not be able to see him clearly but she didn’t need to because she’d heard the reservation in his voice. She turned to face him, unaware of how defensive she looked as she stood there in the watery moonlight.
‘There was a definite ‘‘but’’ tagged onto that sentence, Jack, wasn’t there?’
‘Yes, I expect there was.’
He shrugged, his broad shoulders rising and falling beneath his half-buttoned shirt. He looked tired, too, Meg noticed when he stepped out from the shadows. There were deep lines bracketing his mouth and a lack of animation about his expression which made him look older than the thirty-six years she knew him to be. However, tired or not, he obviously didn’t intend to opt for the easy route. Where work was concerned, Jack would never compromise!
‘It’s fair to say that you handled yourself well tonight, Meg. However, that doesn’t change anything. I still don’t believe that this is the job for you,’ he stated flatly.
‘Because I might not pull my weight? Or because I might not be able to cope with the conditions we’re going to be working under?’ She laughed harshly. ‘Come on, Jack! You’ve just admitted that I acquitted myself well tonight so you’ll have to do better than that!’
‘Yes, you did do well tonight and I’m happy to admit it. However, one night’s work isn’t proof that you’ll be able to keep up once the pressure is on.’ His tone was unyielding. ‘It’s far more difficult trying to deal with the daily grind involved in this type of work, as you’ll soon discover for yourself.’
‘I’m sure you’re right but I know that I shall cope no matter how hard it is. So it seems that we’re at a bit of an impasse, doesn’t it?’
Meg stared back at him, wishing there was a way to make him see that he was mistaken about her. It wasn’t going to be easy, though, if Jack had made up his mind.
‘It seems like it.’ He shrugged again but she saw the irritation in his eyes. Obviously he wasn’t used to people questioning his judgement, Meg thought. Well, tough! He wasn’t going to have things all his own way if she had anything to do with it!
&nbs
p; ‘Anyway, it’s late and it’s time you got some sleep. We’ll be leaving early in the morning as we still have some distance to travel before we reach our destination.’
He turned to leave but Meg stopped him. Maybe it was pointless trying to discuss this problem he had with her being along on the trip, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t going to do the job to the very best of her ability. Was that what Jack was hoping? she wondered suddenly, that she would become so dispirited that she would make a mistake and prove him right?
She didn’t really believe that yet she refused to dismiss the idea out of hand. She couldn’t afford to overlook anything and wouldn’t give him any opportunity to take her to task. If she didn’t manage to make him change his mind about her then it wouldn’t be for want of trying!
‘What about Leah?’ she asked in her most professional tone. ‘She will need monitoring throughout the night.’
‘She will. However, don’t you concern yourself about that. I’ll get Kate to sit with her.’
‘Fine. I’ll say goodnight, then.’ Despite her determination, she couldn’t keep the hurt from her voice and she saw Jack look at her. She turned away, hating the fact that she was so vulnerable to his comments. She’d never considered herself to be overly sensitive but Jack seemed to have this ability to inflict wounds even though she had no idea why.
‘I didn’t mean it that way, Meg!’ He caught hold of her arm and stopped her when she went to hurry away. His fingers loosely gripped her arm for a moment before he let her go.
‘No?’ It was impossible to keep the scepticism out of her voice and she heard him sigh.
‘No,’ he repeated flatly. He ran a hand through his thick black hair then let it fall to his side. ‘It would be better if Kate sat with Leah for the rest of the night because you need to get some sleep. These trips are exhausting enough, without you missing out on a full night’s sleep into the bargain. Whenever it’s necessary we work a shift system as we find it’s better to get a couple of hours’ sleep rather than none at all.’
‘I see. I…I’m sorry if I jumped to conclusions,’ she muttered uncomfortably.
‘And I’m sorry if I gave you cause to go jumping to them.’ Jack’s smile was gentle when he looked at her. ‘You did a first-rate job tonight, Meg. I appreciate that.’
He turned and walked away, leaving her feeling more confused than ever. If she’d done such a good job, why wouldn’t he change his mind about her?
It was impossible to work out the answer because she was too tired to think logically right then. Meg sighed as she followed him back to the huts. Maybe things would be clearer tomorrow after a few hours’ sleep, although she doubted it. Where Jack Trent was concerned, feeling confused seemed to be the status quo!
The sun was just rising above the trees when Meg awoke the next morning. She lay quite still for a moment, trying to absorb the thought that she was actually in Africa. It seemed unbelievable that it had happened at last until she remembered the previous night’s events.
She scrambled out of bed and pulled on her clothes, grimacing at the feel of the dusty cotton sliding over her skin. She would have dearly loved a fresh change of clothes but, bearing in mind what Jack had said, she hadn’t brought all that many with her. It would be better to wait until they reached their destination—where there were bound to be washing facilities—before she got any more dirty.
The village was a hive of activity when she left the hut. Lesley’s bed was empty so Meg set about tracking her down to see what she should be doing. She certainly didn’t want the rest of the team thinking that she was shirking her share of the work.
‘Hi, there! How about a cup of tea?’ Lesley smiled when she saw Meg approaching. Picking up a well-worn metal pot from where it was nestling in the fire’s embers, she filled a tin cup with dark brown tea and handed it to Meg.
‘There’s sugar in that tin but make sure you screw the lid back on really tightly or the ants will get in. And there’s milk if you fancy it, but it’s goat’s milk so it is rather an acquired taste, I’m afraid.’
Meg laughed as she crouched down and spooned sugar into the mug. ‘You seem to have everything well and truly sorted. I never expected tea in the middle of the bush!’
‘Oh, I can do without a lot but not my morning cuppa!’ Lesley declared, refilling her own workmanlike mug with the dark brew. She sat on a log, nursing the mug between her hands while she watched Meg cautiously sniff the earthenware jug of milk before adding a little to her tea. ‘It isn’t that bad once you get used to it.’
Meg took a sip and wrinkled her nose at the unfamiliar taste. ‘Hmmm, I’ll take your word for that!’
Lesley laughed. ‘By the time we leave here you won’t even notice the difference! Anyway, what’s all this I hear about you and Jack and the exciting night the two of you had?’
‘It was rather a baptism of fire,’ Meg agreed, taking another swallow of the hot liquid and finding it more palatable this time. ‘Still, at least Leah and her baby were both all right in the end. I was so afraid that we wouldn’t be able to save them at one point.’
‘So Jack told Kate. I believe he said that it was touch and go…Ah, your ears must have been burning—we were just talking about you.’ Lesley grinned wickedly as she looked past Meg. ‘I bet that’s got you worried, hasn’t it?’
‘It has. I dread to think what you two were saying about me.’
Meg didn’t look round even though she knew Jack was standing behind her. She’d heard the mocking note in his voice and wondered if that comment had been aimed at her. Did he think she’d been discussing him with Lesley, asking the other woman why he seemed to have such a downer on her?
The thought that he believed she would be so unprofessional as to do that stung, but she didn’t say anything. Disturbing the harmony which so obviously existed within the team was the last thing she wanted to do. However, it hurt to have it brought home to her yet again how Jack viewed her. When he sat beside her, she didn’t look round, afraid that he would see from her face that something was wrong. Maybe he’d apologised to her last night and told her the truth about why he’d wanted Kate to sit with their patient instead of her, but that didn’t mean his attitude towards her had softened in any way!
‘Did you sleep OK?’
Meg barely looked up when he addressed her, keeping her eyes firmly fixed on the fire. ‘Fine, thank you. How about you?’
‘So-so.’ He smiled thinly as she shot him a questioning look, unable to resist doing so when she caught the nuance in his voice. ‘I was a bit on edge in case I got woken up again. It made me rather…restless.’
Meg buried her nose in her mug, hoping that he wouldn’t notice the flush which had turned her cheeks bright red. Jack hadn’t been alluding to what had happened when she’d woken him, she assured herself sternly. However, it was far more difficult than it should have been to convince herself.
Unbidden, her mind leapt back to those first few moments after she’d entered his hut the previous night. Suddenly she could recall how warm and smooth his skin had felt beneath her palm, how hard and heavy his body had been when it had pressed hers into the mattress…
She took a hasty swallow of tea then spluttered as it went down the wrong way. Jack took the mug from her hand and thumped her on the back, his grey eyes holding an expression of concern as he watched her struggling for breath.
‘Are you all right?’ he asked when she finally managed to draw breath.
‘I…think…so.’ Meg gave one last cough then managed an embarrassed smile, feeling like the world’s worst fool. She deserved to choke to death for letting herself start thinking like that!
‘I swallowed some tea the wrong way,’ she muttered, scrambling to her feet. ‘Anyway, I’m fine now so I’ll go and see how Leah is. I’m sure Kate could do with a breather.’
She started edging away but Jack stood up as well. ‘I’ll come with you. There’s going to have to be a few changes made to our plans so I may as well get
everything sorted out right away.’
He tossed the dregs of his tea into the fire then put the cup on a nearby log. Meg frowned but there was no excuse she could think of to avoid walking with him.
She squared her shoulders, reminding herself how silly it was to start looking for excuses for such an everyday situation as this. She and Jack would be working together over the coming months so the sooner she got used to the idea the better it would be. However, that didn’t mean she wasn’t deeply aware of him as they crossed the clearing side by side. It was a relief to enter Leah’s hut, and be able to concentrate on their patient, in fact. Like him or loathe him—and she wasn’t sure yet which it was—it certainly wasn’t easy to ignore him.
Leah looked tired but radiantly happy when they crouched down by her bed. She smiled at them, although Meg could tell that she was in some discomfort. She made a note to ask Jack if Leah was having any analgesic drugs to minimise the pain from her operation, although she was sure he would have prescribed some already.
She frowned as she found herself wondering what was going to happen after they left. Leah would need pain relief for a couple of days at least, not to mention the fact that the wound would need dressing, and she wasn’t sure how they would deal with that problem.
‘You want to see my son?’ Leah asked, proudly offering Jack the baby.
He took the tiny bundle from her and Meg was struck by how gentle he was as he unwrapped the brightly coloured shawl in which the infant was swaddled. Jack’s hands looked so large compared to the child’s limbs as he carefully examined the little boy, yet there was an innate tenderness about the way he did it.
It was obvious to Meg that he really cared about this child and that saving its life had meant an awful lot to him. This wasn’t just a job to Jack—it could never be just that when he cared so much about the people he treated. The thought simply increased her admiration for him.
Touched by Angels Page 5