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

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 every 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.
    â€˜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.
    â€˜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.’
    â€˜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.
    â€˜Something like that.’ He