A Lesson in Passion (15 page)

Ginny didn't know what was worse,
having to execute a silly plan to make Ian fall in love with her or
the fact that she was completely incapable of coming up with a
silly plan. She would sleep on it and consider her options in the
morning. Maybe Maude would have some silly suggestions.

• * Chapter 14 *
  

“
My lady, please. Come
quickly. Roslyn is having problems with the baby. She is asking for
ya. Please,” Maude was pulling Ginny's arm to get her
moving.

“What are you talking about? Who is
Roslyn?” Ginny, who was half asleep, had no idea what Maude was
telling her. She tried to wake up, but the dream she was having was
too good to abandon. Ginny was lying in the sunshine, warmed by the
rays, surrounded by wildflowers. This was her happy place and she
didn't want to get up and out into the cold.

“Ginny, wake up. Roslyn needs ya
now,” it was Ian's voice, standing half naked and looking somewhat
agitated. Ginny could barely remember a time when he didn't look
half to fully agitated about something, so this was nothing to
her.

“Okay, okay,” Ginny was still
reluctant to give up her warmth, but as her head started to clear,
she realized both Maude and Ian were worried about
something.

Ginny dressed as quickly as
possible, mostly having Maude do the work.
God, when am I going to get used to how freakin' cold it is
here
, she thought miserably. Her hands were
like ice as she was led to Roslyn's house. Ginny looked around the
sleepy village. There were no lights, of course, but the moon was
full and bright enough to lead the way. She only stumbled a few
times on the way. Every time she tripped, she could feel Ian grab
her and set her right and hear him mumble something about her
clumsiness.

The small hut was situated along the valley to
the west of the keep. Ginny was led inside where every available
light source was being used. In a small bed was Roslyn, laying on
her side and panting. It didn't take a medical degree to see that
this woman was having a baby, and judging by her behavior, she was
having it now. What the cold didn't do to wake her up, the
situation was making up for it.

The old midwife came to Ginny's side and began
rattling off in Gaelic. “Wait, I'm not that good with Gaelic...
please slow down,” Ginny stared at Maude to translate.

“She says that Roslyn is in
trouble. The baby, it's too big. She knows ya're a healer and is
asking for help.”

Ginny stared incredulously, first at Maude,
then at the old woman. When Ginny was in school, she had done her
rotation in OB, but never delivered a baby by herself and certainly
never did it with complications. Maude looked at Ginny, imploring
her to help. Her eyes begged as if it she were the one lying
there.

“Okay, let me take a look at her.
Can someone go back and get my bag with my herbs?” Before Ginny
could finish the sentence, Ian was out the door.

Ginny walked over to the small bed and felt
the woman's forehead. Fever had already set in. “How long has she
been laboring?”

The midwife spoke softly to Maude, who
replied, “Almost two days.”

Ginny didn't want to alarm poor Roslyn, but
that was obviously not good. She concentrated on softening her face
before turning to the laboring mother. “How many kids do you
have?”

“This be my first, my
lady.”

Ginny heart broke at the sound of the
exhausted woman. She bent low down, so only Roslyn would hear her.
“I may only be able save one of you. If I have a choice, who do you
want it to be?” Ginny was nearly certain of the poor girl's answer,
but had to ask regardless.

“Save me baby, please.”

Ginny turned swiftly to the midwife and Maude.
She began shouting orders of what she needed. The three women
prepared the hut. With all the activity, Ginny was not able to be
nervous about what she was about to attempt. She knew that she
couldn't do a Caesarian under these conditions, not that any
conditions would ideal for her to do one in. Ginny was going to
have to pull the baby out the regular way and knew that Roslyn may
very well die from the experience.

Ian returned with her herbs. Ginny walked over
to him and spoke quickly, “Where's her husband?”

“He's right over there,” Ian stated
pointing at a man pacing back and forth with two other men watching
him. “Do ya need him?”

“Ian, I don't think Roslyn will
survive this. He should come and be with her for a bit to say his
goodbye,” although sounding matter-of-fact, Ginny wanted to cry.
She couldn't afford tears at this point, though, so she kept it
together.

“I'll tell him,” was all he said
and strode off to speak to the husband.

The night air was a relief to the heat inside
the hut. Taking one last breath, Ginny re-entered the hut and began
to prepare Roslyn. Not a minute later, Roslyn's husband, a man
named Angus, had entered the hut and was by Roslyn's side. Ginny
wanted to give them their privacy, but still had a lot to prepare,
so she made herself busy and ignored them as much as
possible.

Angus bent over his wife and put his hand to
her cheek. In the soft light of the candles, Ginny could see
Roslyn's fear, but she tried to be brave for her husband. There was
so much to say and no time to say it, so the couple just stared at
each other as if understanding without words. A small smile came
across Roslyn's face, like she'd been given some peace from the
pain. Angus kissed her forehead and stood up slowly.

“What do ya need me to do, my lady?
I am at yar service,” Angus spoke quietly, but with
authority.

“I may need you to hold your wife
while I retrieve the baby. Did Ian prepare you?” Ginny didn't want
to say too much in front of Roslyn, but needed to know that Angus
was aware of the possible outcome.

“Ian told me,” was all Angus said
before resuming his position at the head of the bed.

Opening her bag, Ginny looked through what she
had available. The first thing she wanted to do was block as much
pain as possible. She pulled some herbs and mixed them with hot
water making a tea. She handed the cup to Angus and told him to
feed it to his wife as quickly as possible.

The midwife began yammering again, so Ginny
turned back to see the blood coming from Roslyn. “Crap,” Ginny
began moving with speed. She had some needle and thread and the
sharpest knife she could get. Everything was sterilized as much as
possible.

“Angus, Ian, hold her arms. Roslyn,
you need to do exactly what I say. Maude, and you,” Ginny never did
get the name of the midwife, “hold her legs. Bend them and open
them wide. Now, Roslyn, with everything you have, push.”

Roslyn's face contorted from the effort. Ginny
could feel the head and knew it was a big one. Rubbing the skin to
try to get it to open further, Ginny kept ordering Roslyn to push.
The contractions were one on top of the next, which didn't help
Roslyn much since there were no breaks. The air inside the hut,
incredibly, got even hotter. Ginny forehead was covered in sweat as
was everyone else, especially Roslyn.

The head moved slowly down the birth canal and
finally seemed to be making its way out when it stopped. Several
pushes and contractions did nothing to move it along. This was the
part Ginny dreaded. She grabbed the sharp knife and made as small a
cut as possible. Roslyn barely reacted to the cut with all the
other pain. Ginny tried to get her fingers around the head to move
it out. Roslyn was screaming now, an unholy sound. Finally, Ginny
heard a small pop and the head was out

“Almost there Roslyn, just one more
big push.” Ginny looked Roslyn in the eye to try to will her just a
little more strength for the task. “Ready... Push!”

Roslyn beared down and with what little
strength she had left, she pushed. Ginny maneuvered the shoulders
out and with a sudden swoosh, the baby was out. The midwife was
there to assist with cutting the cord. “Have her breastfeed as soon
as possible. It will help with the bleeding.”

The midwife grunted and went about cleaning up
the baby. After the placenta was delivered, Ginny examined it
carefully to make sure all of it came out. The last thing anyone
wanted was another complication. Ginny repaired the cut she'd made
with the needle and thread. While Roslyn fed the baby for the first
time, the midwife massaged the belly to get the uterus to shrink.
Ginny cleaned up Roslyn as much as possible to prevent
infection.

The baby, a beautiful boy, was a
giant. He had soft brown curls and big brown eyes. He was the most
beautiful thing Ginny had ever seen. She sighed softly and realized
that she was about to cry.
I need to get
out of here,
she thought. Ginny went
outside and looked around. At the bottom of the hill was a small
grove of trees.

Dawn was breaking to the east and the clan was
already up and about. Ginny did not want to lose it in front of the
village, so she ran as fast as she could to the trees. Once safely
inside the grove, she kept running. She pushed her way past a tight
knit grouping of trees and came to a small break. Ginny stopped and
looked around quickly. No one was there.

First the tears came, streaming down her
cheeks. Then came the anger. Ginny started picking up stray sticks
and rocks and throwing them at the surrounding trees, all the while
screaming every dirty word she knew. Her hands shook violently as
she picked up objects to take her anger out on. She spotted a big
rock and turned to hurl it, only missing Ian's head by inches. She
stopped, noticing he didn't even flinch.

Ginny dropped to her knees and began to weep.
It took Ian only seconds to reach her side and wrap his large arms
around her. He was speaking softly, trying to sooth her. He wanted
desperately to take her pain away.

Finally, when there was nothing left, Ginny
calmed down and began to breath deeply. Although she was grateful
for his comfort, she was also embarrassed for her display. “I'm
sorry. I don't think I have ever been so terrified in my life. I
was never one to enjoy feeling helpless.”

“No one enjoys it, lass. Ya did
verra well. Ya saved her and the babe.”

“I guess that remains to be seen,”
Ginny looked at Ian's face. “Do you think it's fair that the man
gets to have all the fun when it comes to making babies, and the
woman gets to do all the suffering?”

“I dinna know if Roslyn had any fun
in the making of her son. I know my wife will enjoy making me sons.
As for suffering, I'm sure that Angus was suffering right along
with her.”

Ginny made a sound like it wasn't the same
thing. Ian continued to stare into her eyes. He looked impressed
and that made Ginny smile. “Yar the bravest lass I have ever met,
Ginny.” Before she could respond, Ian leaned down and kissed her
softly on the lips. After so much terror, Ginny just wanted to feel
good. She began to kiss him back in earnest.

Ian knew he should stop this before
it went too far, but Ginny tasted so good. She used her tongue,
unlike many inexperienced girls.
Maybe
she's not as inexperienced as she claims
,
he thought while continuing to assault her lips and mouth with his
own. His hands wound up along her neck into her hair, which was
coming out of its braid. As if they had a mind of their own, his
hand slowly moved further down to caress the outline of her
breasts.

When Ginny didn't flinch from his liberties,
Ian kept going. He laid her on the ground next to him and stretched
his long body beside her. With his one hand still caressing her
head, the other began to massage her breasts, her back and bottom.
Meanwhile, he kept kissing her lips, face and neck. When Ian would
pull away from her lips, Ginny would sigh so sweetly that Ian knew
he had to stop this. He could feel himself lifting her skirts to
get to the skin beneath.

Ginny was thoroughly enjoying
herself. Ian was a great kisser and smelled so good right now, like
wood smoke and outdoors. He was particularly tender, which made her
hunger for more.
If we just do it, maybe I
can go home
, Ginny thought, but realized
that the idea of leaving him made her a little sad.

Ian began to nibble at the space behind
Ginny's ear. This had always been one of those “sensitive” spots on
Ginny and had the power to completely undue her. When he began to
use his tongue, Ginny went wild and threw her one leg over Ian's,
while rubbing his arms and chest. She managed to get her hand under
his shirt and was rubbing the soft hair over his chest. She
caressed his hard stomach and was continuing to move her hand down
when Ian all of sudden jumped up and turned away from
her.

“What?!” Ginny was angry.
If he thinks to leave me hanging, I will castrate
him right here
, she thought as she listened
to her ragged breath. Suddenly it occurred to her that she should
not be behaving this way. She was a virgin, after all, and should
not be seducing him.
He probably thinks
I'm a whore.

Ginny sat with her head in her hands and her
elbows on her knees. She willed herself to calm down so she could
come up with some stupid excuse for her behavior. It was getting
very difficult to play this part and the pretense was wearing thin.
Never one for playing games with the opposite sex, Ginny found that
she wasn't very good at it anyway.