The Midwife and the Millionaire (9 page)

Gravity would help bring the baby down and hopefully all would happen quickly before the baby's cord became too squashed by the after-coming head.

With Pearl upright her labour did seem to progress more quickly. First the baby's knees and the thighs appeared with just the change of position and then Pearl pushed until a swollen black scrotum appeared and the women broke into voluble noise and exclamations at the evidence of a new male for the family.

The elder woman gestured to Sophie to grab the baby but Sophie shook her head emphatically.

This was where “hands off the breech” was most important. Sophie knew the natural curves of the mother's pelvis shaped the baby into having his chin tucked into his chest and the arms by his side. If they pulled the baby downwards, his head would tip back into a bigger diameter and his arms might drag behind his head to create a complication that should never have happened.

‘No touch,' Sophie said and waved her hands in a negative sign. ‘Baby knows.'

Little skinny buttocks followed by hips, back and umbilical cord all came through next, and Sophie resisted the urge to feel the cord and check the heart rate of the baby. She'd bet it was slower than her own thumping heart was, but the less she touched, the less spasm the cord would endure.

There certainly wasn't anything else Sophie could do except prevent people pulling on the baby as he descended. She'd just ensure Pearl's baby came out with his back facing Sophie, so his head could lift from his chin-on-chest position to birth, just like a head-first baby did.

Grandmother clutched her hair and moaned, and gestured to Sophie at the paleness of the baby, and Sophie could tell she wanted to help make the baby come quicker. ‘Soon,' Sophie soothed. ‘All over soon.'

Sophie tried another prayer and slipped her wrist between the baby's legs so that when the chest was through and first one shoulder and then the other was born the baby was hanging all out with only the neck and head to come. Sophie's heart was thumping so
loud in her ears she didn't doubt the aunties could hear, but she was strangely calm.

She allowed the weight of the baby to hang a little to ensure the head stayed deflexed until the last moment. Sophie's bent legs ached from squatting in almost under Pearl.

Now. Time to deliver the head. She placed one hand on top of the baby's shoulders and back of the neck and the other underneath on the baby's cheeks so when the head birthed it didn't spring out suddenly. The hardest part.

The baby's head had been rushed through the pelvis. To ease a baby slowly out of the constriction of the birth canal was less risky than a head being forced out quickly into sudden expansion.

‘Here he comes,' Sophie muttered. She achingly raised herself from her own squat to lift the baby slowly, holding shoulders and cheeks between her hands as the baby made an arc in front of his mother's belly. His head was born with chin, mouth and nose, then eyes and finally the whole baby was out.

Pearl sagged back onto her heels and then onto her back, and Sophie wiped the still-flaccid baby over with the shawl until his little limbs contracted in reflex and he breathed. She pulled Pearl's T-shirt up and lay her son directly skin to skin across her chest.

At the first touch of his mother's skin he gasped and cried—which by this point was exactly what Sophie felt like doing herself. But there was no time for that.

Grandmother tied the twine where Sophie indicated, and the baby was totally separated from his mother by the lethal-looking knife they cut the cord with, and finally she could back away a little as the aunties crowded in.

Her hands shook and she wiped the sweat from her face with her forearm. Cord and placenta followed shortly and a gush of bright blood seeped and began to form a pool. ‘Pearl—' Sophie leant in to catch the young woman's eye ‘—I need to rub your tummy.'

Sophie nudged the grandmother and showed her how rubbing the now-grapefruit-size uterus in Pearl's belly stopped the flow of blood until the uterus was a hard nub beneath their fingers. The grandmother nodded and brought her gnarled hand in over Sophie's. Sophie wondered if one day another woman would be as lucky if the grandmother remembered this part.

Another aunty put Pearl's baby to her mother's breast and Sophie sat back and drew a deep breath. Baby whimpered and then cried again before he latched and began to suck. They didn't need her any more and she had to get out of here before she fainted from the heat.

I
T SEEMED
hours since she'd disappeared. Levi paced himself a worn strip under the tree as he watched the opening of the humpy.

Even hand signals with the children as he attempted to take a health stock of those he could see hadn't passed the time. Eventually he'd found an elder who conversed more easily, immunisation status not something he'd normally have pursued, but Sophie wanted to know. And there was only so much washing and drinking in the creek he could do when all the time he slaked his own thirst he knew she'd be parched. At least he'd soaked a cloth and filled her bottles for when she came out.

But he should have told her earlier about his qualifications, or at least discussed where he could help. The longer she'd spent inside with the women, the deeper his guilt. An uncomfortable feeling he could have done without.

Not that he had a lot of experience with obstetrics,
except for Odette's pregnancy and one small obstetric rotation that had him back-pedalling away from something with too much emotion attached to it, but he hadn't forgotten how helpful it could be to have another medical person to discuss things with.

His own career path had opted for something he could achieve on his own, something technical he could master and something he'd decided on when his brother went blind, and he'd been very successful. Though the past two years had been hard since Darla's death, where he'd driven himself to work outrageous hours—and he'd almost burnt out, he realised now—which must be why it felt so different to smile around Sophie so often.

Then again, perhaps a near-death helicopter crash could enliven one too.

But that didn't help his guilt about Sophie. Apart from his sister, he'd been accountable to no one since his brother died. He'd disliked his father, but that was moot now. Women had been in and out of his life, but none had left him with doubts about his behaviour like this outback dynamo did.

When Sophie finally unbent herself from the humpy Levi felt the air whoosh out of his lungs as his shoulders dropped with relief. Now he could watch her draw a deep breath and gather herself. He remembered she did that a lot and it said volumes for her stamina and inner strength. Another thing he admired about her.

He'd bet the air outside seemed sweet and cooler, es
pecially as it approached sunset. The sound of a very new baby roaring his lungs out followed her. This woman continued to amaze him.

For the briefest moment he thought he recognised something in her eyes when she looked at him that made the stress of waiting worthwhile—and brought back the guilt tenfold.

For Sophie, the sight of Levi made her want to throw herself into his arms for comfort. But she needed to wash and she needed a drink and she needed not to think about all the things that could have gone wrong that hadn't.

‘Sophie?' Levi took her arm and sat her down under a tree. ‘Sit.' He handed her a water bottle and she took a long drink with her eyes closed. It felt so good to be outside.

‘Another amazing job?'

She opened her eyes, glanced around at the plains surrounding them and sighed. ‘Footling breech. We were all lucky.' The exhaustion hit her as she sagged back against the knobbly trunk behind her.

Levi gave her a searching look. ‘I'll get your other drink.' He handed her some damp cloths. ‘Here's something to wash with until you're up to a walk to the creek.'

He'd torn both sleeves off his shirt and soaked them. Brilliant. Amazing. Just what she needed. When he offered them to her she could have hugged him or, for a brief, mad second, run her hands over the bulge of his
upper arms that were very nicely displayed without sleeves. There was something about a man in a shirt without sleeves that called to her, not that she'd noticed that fetish before—no doubt it was especially true when that man supplied what she desperately wanted most.

It must have shown in her face because he gave her a lopsided grin. ‘I've been to the shop. Maybe you'd like a Kakadu plum?'

The giggle surprised her. Probably hysteria but the release of emotion actually felt good. A little out of control, but good. He was cosseting again and she wallowed in it for a few indulgent seconds while she wiped her hands and, with a clean corner of the damp material, her face. The coolness against her forehead was worth a hundred facials Sleazebag Brad had insisted she have.

In fact, she was growing to appreciate this man more and more, though she wouldn't fall for him. But it was hard. He made her feel crazily alive and special. A safe harbour to come into. Strong arms when she needed them. But she wasn't in love. Not going there! She was very glad he was here with her though.

‘There's hope for you yet.' She looked across at him but he only grimaced and her euphoria dimmed. He didn't look as happy as she felt.

Levi looked away and rubbed his neck and, to Sophie, the afternoon suddenly seemed stifling again. ‘I'm glad,' he said, ‘because there's something else I have to tell you.'

Lightly spoken but determined, and her stomach
sank as she wondered how much bad news a person could take in one day.

‘The good news.' She was too weary for bad at this minute. ‘Please.'

‘From what I gather, our tracker was on his way back when he found us and the Flying Doctor is coming for your girl. We'll be able to use their radio when they land.'

Her shoulders dropped in a heartfelt sigh. Not just good. ‘That's great news.' The day would work out. This whole draining adventure would end. She could get home in the not too distant future, shower and have a cup of tea, and maybe she and Levi—and the others of course, she hastened to remind herself—could share that steak she'd kill for. She didn't want to hear the bad news. She glanced around for something to divert him.

Barefoot, dark-eyed children huddled into a little giggling group to one side and darted mischievous glances across to where Sophie and Levi sat. ‘Have you been making friends while I've been busy?'

He smiled at the children and pulled a silly face which sent them off into a new fit of giggles. ‘So it seems.'

So he was good with kids too. She sucked her breath in and felt the warmth expand in her stomach. He really did have qualities she admired, and of course he was different to that man in her past. She shied away from the comparison, although it did Levi no disservice against Brad. It was far too early to think about the future.

She looked from him to the little brown bodies that had begun to poke and wriggle amongst themselves. These children looked lean, but full of energy. ‘I wonder if the kids are up to date with their immunizations?'

‘Apparently,' he said a little smugly, and she had to smile. ‘I asked. And they look well.'

He'd asked? Why? Because she'd said once she wanted to know? More warm and fuzzies buzzed in her belly and she smiled up at him. ‘You've been busy. Anyone I need to look at?'

He hesitated. ‘There's an elder here almost blind with cataracts. He'd benefit from surgery.'

Sophie looked around the camp. Lean-tos, red dust, a couple of shady trees and the creek. ‘It's hard to encourage elders to leave their home for something they've learnt to live with.'

Levi shook his head. ‘He's sightless. The results would be brilliant.'

Sophie nodded. ‘I know. But he has to have the money to travel to the doctor.'

‘What money?' Levi looked at her. ‘The operation is free in public hospitals.'

Sophie shrugged, only giving half her concentration as she began to relax. She watched the children. Sipped more water. Exhaled. The baby was fine. She'd done the right thing. And now the Flying Doctor could take over the care. She could unwind. ‘He'd have to leave here, travel, live away from his family. And for these
people the thought of an operation is beyond frightening.'

‘It's a minor operation.' Levi was like a terrier and his intensity began to intrude on her equilibrium.

Something in the way he persisted made her look away from the children to him. She spoke slowly as the implications sparked a question, and then a creeping disquiet that maybe she'd missed something. Been blind. More blind than an elder with cataracts? And stupid? ‘Do you have much experience at diagnosing cataracts?'

His eyes searched hers and she knew. Felt the red dusty world fall away from under her feet. Felt the heat in her cheeks as she flushed with embarrassment and not a little anger.

‘I could have,' he said.

Her eyes narrowed as she looked into his face. The same wary expression as the first time she'd met him. The face of a liar. All the boxes slid into place in her mind—the comments, the looks between his sister and himself, his ‘first aid.' She tried to keep the hurt out of her voice. ‘What sort of business did you say you had?'

‘I didn't.' Still he looked at her so she had to break eye contact.

‘And…?' She gazed at the children across the camp.

He paused, waited until she met his eyes again. ‘I'm an ophthalmologist specialising in microsurgery. I have a very successful practice in Sydney.'

‘You're a doctor?' Quietly. ‘You said first aid.' Her voice dropped even lower. ‘You lied again.'

His voice was low too. ‘I didn't lie.'

‘You didn't deny.' It hurt; actually, it crushed her that she'd been fooled again. ‘Liar by omission.'

‘That was the bad news.'

What did he want? A pat on the head? It was bad all right. She'd started to like him. Like him a lot. Please God, not love him. She'd certainly begun to lean on him more than a little. And he was a doctor. A rich doctor. And a liar. Just like Brad. The man who'd stripped her heart, and taken a part of her that had been precious and new and untarnished, and stamped on it.

And she'd ordered Levi around because she'd been the only medical person. Did he understand how hard it had been to wear that responsibility, and now he tells her he's better qualified? Even if he was a surgeon he'd started as a generalist.

He could have put Smiley's shoulder in. The weight of unshed tears made her face feel heavy. Like a big rock tied to her cheeks, pulling her whole face down. She blinked her stupid stinging eyes and gritted her teeth. No way was she wasting water on this creep.

‘I'm struggling to think of a reason you wouldn't make this all easier on me. Was this some kind of test to see how much I'd take before I broke?'

He shook his head and reached his hand out. She looked at his fingers as if they were covered in slime. He must have seen it because his hand dropped. ‘Look. Sophie. I think you're amazing.' He dragged his hand through his hair. ‘You didn't need my help.'

Holy cow. How dare he? She so didn't want to do this now. Or ever. She climbed wearily to her feet and with her eyes fixed past his shoulder she took off down the hill to the creek to gather herself, almost tripping in her haste to get away from him.

The water splashed cold against her fingers and she plunged her hands and forearms in to shock herself out of the stifling blanket of cotton wool she felt smothered in. She'd been so close, had almost fallen in love with exactly the type of man who could crush her—again—and in just a few short days. Didn't she learn from her mistakes?

She washed her face, washed the trickles that weren't creek water and then washed it again. Damn him.

Slowly composure returned, or at least her hands stopped shaking and her tears dried. Her head ached with a dense weariness that seemed to wrap around her bones, and she forced tired feet to carry her back to the camp. But she walked straight past him to the humpy to check the mother and baby.

By the time she emerged she had control again and an impenetrable barrier around her higher than the escarpment they'd nearly flown into. The sound of an aeroplane droned in the distance, and Sophie searched for the sight of it over the hills like she needed it to breathe.

Anything instead of looking at Levi.

The sooner that plane landed, the better. She wasn't even worried about flying out of here.

She had to think of Odette, still out in the scrub, unaware that help was coming, and the possibility of her labour. Once she was safe Sophie could release all responsibility. And she would. Posthaste.

When they made town he could worry about the disaster of the helicopter and she and Smiley could go home. With just a little luck she'd never see him again and she could forget what a fool she'd almost been.

Finally the noise of the plane dominated the sky and the shadow crossed the ground in front of them as the pilot circled to land on the area the men had cleared. Bring it on, Sophie said under her breath.

When the twin-engine aircraft landed, surprisingly smoothly on the rocky soil, the plane held three people—the doctor, Jock McDonald, a Scottish larrikin who raised his eyebrows at the sight of Levi and Sophie; the nurse, who strode purposefully towards them; and the pilot, who waved but stayed to shut the engine down.

‘There'll be a story there, I'm noo doubting,' Jock said to Sophie, whom he'd met at the clinic. He waved at Levi. ‘I'll talk to you in a wee moment.'

The nurse hailed Sophie and the two women accompanied Jock into the humpy, suddenly critically crowded until the doctor shooed away all except the grandmother, then checked Pearl and scolded her in such a broad accent there wasn't a hope she'd understand what he said. But he smiled and patted her head when he'd finished and again when he'd checked the tiny but vigorous baby over with obvious admiration.

‘You're verra lucky. You'll both still come to the hospital so we can keep an eye on you for a day or two,' he said to Pearl and again to the grandmother, ‘In case baby goes off his food. He's only a wee thing.'

Then he left the humpy and he raised his eyebrows at Sophie. ‘I'd like to hear your side of it. You did well, lassie.'

Sophie didn't feel anything but tired. ‘Everything went right. Hands off the breech until the head. Baby fine by a minute after birth. We weren't unlucky but we would have been up the creek if it hadn't panned out as well as it had.'