The Midwife and the Millionaire (4 page)

‘I think so.' Odette's voice cracked. ‘We need to get out. Get them out. The fuel!'

Sophie's fingers grappled with her belt clasp. The locking mechanism wouldn't open and those ball-of-flame visions returned to add desperation to her frustration. She rattled the catch.

Levi's hand came across and pushed the release and suddenly she was free. ‘It's OK. I'll do it.' Why was he whispering?

He was conscious. Thank God. ‘You were knocked out.'

‘Hmm,' he said, his voice still weak, and rubbed the
front of his head. Then he blinked and sat up straighter. ‘You OK? Out!' He turned his attention to the back seat but Odette was already on the ground and attempting to rouse Smiley.

Sophie scrambled up from her seat and climbed over the scattered wreckage at the front of the craft to help Odette. Smiley groaned but didn't open his eyes and Sophie lifted his lids to peer into his eyes. His pupils contracted with the light and she heaved a sigh of relief. No time for sympathy. ‘Wake up, Smiley. Move!'

Smiley's eyelids fluttered and he groaned. ‘What happened?'

Levi was out and beside them now too. He swayed ever so slightly and Sophie watched him with narrowed eyes. ‘Later, sport,' Levi said. ‘Let's get you out of here, though I think if the tank was going to explode it would have done before now.' He shooed both women with his hand. ‘Get away, over by those trees, you two. Now.'

Odette turned and hobbled away but Sophie stood her ground. ‘Maybe he shouldn't be moved.'

‘No choice.' Levi frowned at Smiley. ‘Can you move your fingers and toes?'

‘My leg hurts.'

‘No tingling?' Smiley shook his head, then grimaced, and tried to pull himself free but recoiled his arm back to his chest with a loud groan.

The hiss of liquid hitting hot metal made them all jump. Levi frowned. ‘I'll do the work, just brace your
arm.' He heaved Smiley sideways and onto the ground in one huge movement and then dragged him away from the aircraft with Sophie almost glued to his back. The intermittent hiss from behind hastened their steps.

Sophie looked back over her shoulder. ‘I'm glad it only just started doing that.'

Levi propped Smiley against a tree. ‘I could have lived without it. We'll give it some time to cool down and then see what's happening with the radio, as long as everyone is stable.'

He turned to his sister, who hovered over Smiley. ‘What about you, Odette? Your baby?'

‘I'm not hurt. He's moving normally. Is William all right?'

‘Fine. I'm more worried about you.' He looked at Sophie, who nodded and drew his sister to a fallen tree to sit.

‘You need to sit for a while, Odette. We've fallen out of the sky.' She shook her head. Holy dooley. ‘We're alive but it's crazily worse than a car accident and babies don't like being in those. You sure you're not contracting?'

Odette stroked her belly. ‘It doesn't hurt.'

‘OK. But sit. While I check Smiley.'

‘His name is William,' Odette said. ‘Smiley sounds like a dummy and he's not that.'

Sophie blinked. Good grief. That's all she needed. ‘William,' she said but rolled her eyes as she turned away.

L
EVI
glowered at the wreckage of the aircraft and shook his head as they all gathered their breath. ‘An engine should never do that.' His jaw clamped tight and she could see the implacable leader who highly resented mechanical failure.

Well, yes. She wasn't too impressed about it herself but even she knew the unexpected was possible.

Nobody else said anything and Sophie asked the question. ‘What happened?'

Levi ignored her and turned to his sister. ‘You saw nothing out of order in the pre-flight check, Odette?'

His sister grimaced. ‘I only started it—Steve finished it.'

Levi's face stilled. ‘It's not your fault.' He spoke very quietly, and Sophie frowned as she tried to gather the thread of undertones and make sense of it, but for some reason the hairs on her arms prickled and stood and she lifted her arms across her chest to rub them.

Levi was muttering. ‘I can't believe I didn't do my
own pre-flight check as well. You should never do anything last minute when flying. No excuses. First rule of flight.'

He glanced at the sky. ‘We're baking in the sun. We need more shade and definitely water. I'll go up the gorge to see if there's a creek or a pool.'

Levi to the rescue? She didn't think so. ‘Let me. As soon as I've checked—' she glanced at Odette and corrected herself ‘—William.'

Levi looked pale; a purple bruise had begun on his temple, and she could see him blaming himself when he'd saved them all. Sophie went on. ‘You've been knocked out. You should move to the shade and I'll find the water.' She'd avoided his eyes while she spoke and flicked a glance back to see how he took her suggestion. Not well, judging by the scowl he directed at her.

He straightened, until he loomed over her, but the effect was spoilt when he swayed slightly. ‘Who died and elected you captain? I can make my own decisions. Thanks.'

Sophie shrugged. He didn't intimidate her. Grumpy sod. ‘It's a small job. As I'm the only medical person and you look like death warmed up, I say you need to rest after your heroics earlier. You're still the captain, just concussed, so that's what you'll do.'

He blinked, didn't quite drop his mouth open, but she knew she'd surprised him. He looked about to say something but didn't and she glanced at Odette and lowered her voice. ‘Someone needs to keep an eye on
your sister and give me a yell if she complains of any pain too, though I won't be long.'

She looked at her brother. ‘But Smiley first.'

Levi hovered while she examined Smiley and it was hard to ignore him. She'd have liked to tell him to sit again but didn't want to push her luck. She doubted anyone had tried to tell him what to do since he was in school. It would do him good. Actually, thinking of him as a scrubby school boy did a lot for her confidence.

She spoke to Smiley. ‘How's the head?' She ran her fingers lightly over the swelling under his right eye and then palpated the bulge over his ear. ‘You've given it a good whack. Close your eyes for a couple of seconds and then open them.'

He did so and she watched his pupils constrict at the light. They looked equal as much as she could tell.

She checked his ears for discharge but there was none, and it made her think she should do the same for Levi. She looked at him.

‘My ears are fine,' he said quickly. ‘And I'm sure my pupils are too.'

Sophie shrugged. ‘Your choice,' she said, not eager for another clash of wills, and looked back at Smiley.

‘So you've dislocated the shoulder again?' A sister's tone.

Smiley grimaced. ‘I'd say.'

‘We can fix that. We've done it before.' But she really didn't want to think about doing that. ‘And the ankle?'

‘Pretty sore.' They all looked at it, swollen already, and she ran her hands over it but couldn't feel any blatant deviations of line.

Poor Smiley. ‘That's gotta hurt. We'll splint it, get you a walking stick and at least you'll be independent for short walks. You still wear your knife?'

He nodded and patted his hip with his good hand. ‘Good,' she said, and looked at him with sympathy for the impending pain. ‘You want to do the shoulder now before it swells more?'

Tight-lipped but still brief. ‘Quicker the better.'

Sophie looked at Levi. ‘Can you help me with this?'

Levi appeared even more dubious. ‘You sure you know what you're doing?'

Did he think she did this stuff for fun? ‘I've done it for Smiley twice before.' And hated it.

Levi opened his mouth and then closed it again. ‘If he's got faith in you, then I'm happy to help. Just tell me what you want me to do.' Deferring to her? Not what he'd said a minute ago but she didn't think it a good time to point that out.

He still looked uncomfortable and she wondered if he was feeling faint again. ‘You sure you're OK, Levi?'

‘I'm fine.' The terse man was back. He looked at Smiley. ‘What about his pain relief.'

She shook her head. ‘The sooner I line the bones up again so they'll slide back in, the better. And he's been knocked out anyway. Not a good idea.'

Sophie took a deep breath and hoped everyone
couldn't see how sick this made her. She knelt down beside Smiley and cleared the dirt in front of him of rocks and sticks for him to lie down.

She'd need a piece of material to go around Smiley's chest and under his injured armpit that Levi could pull on while she manipulated Smiley's arm. It needed to be strong like clothing. Probably her blouse would be best. Actually, it could be Levi's shirt. She thought about that and decided she didn't want to see his chest. She had a fair idea of the picture that might lodge in her brain.

‘We'll use my shirt.' She turned around before anyone could say anything and slipped it off. Businesslike, as if she wasn't really sitting there in front of them all in her lacy bra, and she refused to think about whether she had little rolls of belly as she bent over. This day just kept getting better and better.

She spread her shirt on the ground to roll the material up in a long sausage and slipped it around Smiley's body and under his armpit until the two ends met back on Levi's side.

‘Down you go, Smiley. Shuffle forward so you can stretch out on your back.' Smiley eased down with agonised slowness. She looked at Levi. ‘Just kneel down facing him on the uninjured side and hold the ends firmly like handles.'

Levi knelt beside Smiley and concentrated on the task as he gathered the ends. He should be doing this, not her, but it didn't seem the right moment to pull rank
on her. It had been a lot of years since he'd done any generalist work like dislocations. He'd bet she'd be wild when she found out.

She was directing them like an annoying but perky little conductor in her bra and shorts and he liked her more than when she'd been sexily annoying in her blue dress. Because she was bending towards Smiley her breasts were falling his way. In a gesture of respect he faded out her cleavage, which was no mean feat, and watched her hands.

She surprised him with her calmness and methodical approach to something he could probably have done but not as confidently as she was. Qualifications meant zip against recent experience, he reassured himself.

Sophie nodded. ‘Keep both ends together under his good armpit. When I take his other arm you keep the pressure on his chest so he can't follow me.'

Levi could hear his sister mumbling behind him as she agonised over William's impending discomfort. He wished she'd be quiet.

Sophie must have heard her too. ‘He'll be fine, Odette. I know we're all still shell-shocked from the crash but he'll be OK.' Sophie looked his way. ‘As long as Levi doesn't tickle him, 'cause it hurts to laugh.'

Levi blinked in surprise at her comment and compressed his lips to bite back the smile. Effective stress relief. She was a tough little cookie, though he'd begun to wonder if she really was as tough as she made out, because he could detect a tiny tremor in her hands ev
ery now and then. ‘Nurses have a dreadful sense of humour, eh, William?'

Smiley had his eyes shut. ‘Hmm.'

But the tension had lessened a little and even Odette got the hint to relax. He watched Sophie's face as she concentrated. Something made him want to reach out and touch her arm, just for support, like he had during the flight when he realized she'd started to panic, but he didn't want to interrupt her thoughts. It was almost as if she was rehearsing the steps.

He was right. She was. Sophie knelt down and after a brief stroke of sympathy she took her brother's elbow and gently bent it so that his fingers pointed to the sky they'd just fallen out of. She didn't even want to think about sky-falling. Bend arm at ninety-degree angle from his body, Sophie recited to herself.

‘Keep the pressure on now,' she said quietly to Levi, and began to pull, still gently but firmly, on the bent elbow, away from Smiley's body. Then she rotated the arm on the shoulder joint as if Smiley was trying to throw a baseball.

Sweat beaded on Smiley's forehead as she moved it slowly back and forward until the shoulder slid back into place with a click that made everyone wince.

‘OK.' Now Sophie felt like crying or heaving or running away but she couldn't do any of those things. ‘We need a sling.'

She looked at Smiley and he gave her a small wink. ‘Thanks, Sis.'

‘Don't do it again. You know I hate it.' She dropped a kiss on his forehead and Levi was there to help her stand. She hadn't even noticed he'd moved, and secretly she was glad of his support because her legs wobbled.

His hand kept hold of hers and he pulled her gently into his chest for a moment in a purely asexual embrace, though his shirt against her nose meant she could only inhale air laced with Levi. His arms rested around her back, firmly but not cloying, just for that moment so she could rest her head on him and close her eyes and regroup. Strangely, the hug wasn't an invasion of space as much as a recoup of resources and exactly what she needed.

She stepped back and his arms fell. ‘Thanks. I hate doing that for him.' She flabbergasted herself with the honesty and he looked just as surprised as she did. Normally she wouldn't let anyone know when she felt overwhelmed. She prided herself on self-sufficiency and she would have thought Levi was the last person she'd want to tell about any weakness on her end. It had to be part of the shock.

She watched his hands flick the dirt from her shirt and smooth it, and he even held it out for her to slip her arms in. She felt strangely cosseted but weepy. Not something she was used to at all. And she wasn't even sure she liked the feeling. ‘Well done, Sophie,' he said quietly. She couldn't meet his eyes in case he saw the glitter.

She looked at her shirt in his hands. ‘Umm. I need to tear a bit off the bottom to make a sling.'

He shook his head. ‘Put it on. Mine's bigger. You don't want to get a sunburnt strip around your waist.'

She took it and turned away to collect herself. A hug was OK but sympathy when she was emotional was such a pain. She sniffed unobtrusively. Men were so good at that. Twisting the knife when you were trying to gain control. She heard the rip of his shirt as he made the sling and she kept her eyes averted. She took a couple of deep breaths and turned back to face the group.

To her surprise Levi had achieved a very creditable sling. ‘Distinction in a first-aid course, eh?' she said in a poor attempt of a joke. She saw the look from Odette to Levi and Levi's shake of the head but Sophie was too mentally exhausted to go there.

‘Something like that.' He looked at Smiley. ‘So how's the shoulder now?'

‘Good as new.' They all knew it'd still be painful.

Levi gave him a crooked smile. ‘I'll bet.' He glanced at Sophie. ‘I can do splints and bandages but we'll do that after you check we have a water supply.'

‘Yes, Captain.' She couldn't resist. ‘Next time we come into land here I'll try to have a look as we approach.'

‘Good idea.' He stood. ‘There's a couple of water bottles in the chopper. I'll get them and check the radio if it's all cooled down a bit.' He rubbed his chin.
‘Though I think I'll come with you, after I discuss something with Odette.'

Sophie sighed. He was determined, then. His funeral. She had to stop saying that. It was obviously a bad omen.

Levi hadn't been keen for her to hang around the wreck so she wandered slowly towards the gully, pleased to have a moment before he joined her.

The chance to walk away from the crash site was welcome and she dawdled along the gorge, watching the ground for signs of animals. She didn't hear him come up beside her and she jumped when he spoke.

‘So you think we'll find water?'

She glanced at him. ‘Pretty confident.'

‘Fine,' he said, but raised his brow sceptically.

She frowned. ‘The wet season's not long finished, and rock pools and depressions in the gorge floor should still hold water.' She should know. She'd walked so many gorges in her lifetime apparently preparing for just such an occasion.

Hopefully, the water wouldn't be too old either, but there'd be enough to keep them until help arrived. Which shouldn't be long if the distress call went through.

As they walked, long grey-green grasses poked out at them, and as they brushed past Sophie inhaled the warm air and everything felt brighter and cleaner—and even more precious for nearly being snatched away.

‘I can't believe how close we've came to crashing
badly.' It was very queer how Levi in command had lessened the horror. That they'd all managed to escape fairly unscathed so far—and that even Odette's baby hadn't been fazed by their rough landing—was a miracle assisted by Levi's determination they would survive.

Levi didn't say anything and she wondered if he'd always been this taciturn. He needed to smell the roses. They were alive!