The Midwife and the Millionaire by Fiona McArthur Read Free Book Online Page A

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?’
    â€˜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 everyonecouldn’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.
    â€˜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.
    â€˜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 rankon 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