Forbidden Night with the Duke

by Annie Claydon

  ‘Good. Let’s go, then. Where are the keys?’ She collected up the roll of tape and the scissors and bundled them back into the medical bag.

  He pulled the keys out of his pocket, frowning slightly, as if he was thinking about what to do with them. Then he handed them over.

  ‘I’ll guide you across.’ Jaye stood up, stretching his limbs slightly.

  ‘Sure you’re okay? You don’t feel dizzy or anything?’ They were in a hurry, but having him keel over on her wasn’t going to make things any quicker.

  ‘I’m fine. There’s a track that leads up to those houses a couple of miles further along the road. Let’s go.’

  * * *

  He guided her through the mud and rocks on the road, and Megan inched forward, careful not to go anywhere near the slope on her right. The track that branched off the road, leading to the houses, was bumpy and potholed but Jaye’s sharp eyes and quiet directions meant that they made it without getting stuck. As Megan drove up to the small group of houses, arranged around a dirt compound, her heart sank.

  Three of the houses were untouched. A fourth had taken some damage to the roof, and a fifth was almost completely buried, one side of the roof sticking out from a mass of mud and rubble. And there were people digging, men, women and children using their hands and whatever tools were available to make a path through the debris.

  ‘There must be someone in there.’ Jaye had opened the passenger door almost before she drew to a halt, and he swung out of the truck, jogging towards one of the men who seemed to be directing operations. A brief conversation, and he was back again.

  ‘There’s a woman and three of her children inside. They’ve heard the baby crying and the woman calling for help.’

  ‘Is everyone all right?’

  ‘One of the children is hurt. They don’t know how badly.’ Jaye strode to the back of the truck, opening the tailgate, and one of the men pulled out a large canvas bag and unzipped it. Inside Megan could see a couple of shovels and a tarpaulin, obviously intended to dig the truck out of the mud if need be.

  ‘Can you help dig?’ He held out one of the shovels and Megan nodded, taking it. ‘We’re going to try to get a rope around that big piece there and tow it out of the way.’

  At least he wasn’t going to try and dig one-handed. She left him uncoiling a piece of rope from the bag, and joined the line of people who were toiling to move the pile of debris at one side of the house.

  As she started to dig, it began to rain heavily, and within moments she was soaked to the skin. It would have been a relief from the heat if there hadn’t been the worry of water and mud trickling down into the house from above.

  The rain stopped as suddenly as it had started, leaving the workers struggling and slipping in the mud. When Megan straightened for a moment, her back aching, she felt a hand flutter against her arm, and a tiny old woman offered her a hot drink in a patterned china cup. She drank the warm, sweet tea down, thanking the woman in Sinhalese, and got back to work.

  Megan was vaguely aware that Jaye was directing the operation to get the tarpaulin and ropes around a large, solid mass of rock and earth that blocked one side of the house. The tarpaulin had slipped once, dragged down by the rain and the mud, but the men had wasted no time with dismay, just shaken their heads and started all over again.

  ‘Please, miss. Over there, if you please.’ She’d finished helping shovel away the debris on one side of the boulder and had barely caught her breath when the man from the village who was directing the diggers pointed to another place that needed work.

  ‘Thanks.’ Megan trudged over to the spot he’d indicated, turning as she heard Jaye call from the direction of the truck.

  ‘Don’t wear yourself out. I’ll be needing you later.’ He was almost a head taller than most of the men around him, a natural leader who expected more from himself than he did from anyone around him. Powerful, with a raw edge of grace, which gave him the air of a warrior king. Jaye’s assertion that it was only the chance accident of his birth that had made him any different was wrong. Understandable maybe, but wrong.

  ‘I don’t have time for a break. Will you take mine for me?’

  He smiled, heaving on the ropes that were being fixed to the tow bar of the truck. ‘Will do. When I get the chance.’

  Another fifteen minutes, and they were ready. Everyone stood back, the muffled sound of a baby crying breaking the silence. Jaye carefully edged the truck forward, stopping for a long moment to allow the men to adjust the ropes.

  A disappointed groan sounded through the knot of people, families gathered together all holding their breath, as a large crack formed in the boulder. For a moment it seemed it might break apart, but it held for long enough for Jaye to edge forward another couple of inches.

  ‘Enough... It’s enough.’ A hole had opened up that was large enough for Megan to squeeze through. It would be tight, but she could make it.

  Jaye glanced over his shoulder. ‘I think it’ll take a little more.’

  He revved the engine, moving forward again, and the hole increased in size. Then the crack in the boulder widened and the whole of the top collapsed, the crisscross of ropes and the tarpaulin pulling the debris forward and away from the house.

  Jaye climbed from the driver’s seat, calling for quiet. The only sound was that of the baby.

  ‘I’ll go...’

  Jaye paused and then nodded. Handing her the flashlight, his hand brushed her arm, and she felt the tiny hairs at the back of her neck stand on end.

  ‘Just be careful.’

  * * *

  Jaye watched as Megan crawled across the shattered rubble that formed the lower part of the boulder. He knew that this was the right decision. There was no question that one of them had to go to give medical aid to the family trapped inside the house. He just wished that it could have been him.

  But even if his hand hadn’t been injured, he wouldn’t have fitted through the hole. Jaye held his breath as Megan perched the flashlight at the mouth of the hole and reached in. Good. Someone inside must have been able to reach up to her and maybe she wouldn’t have to go down there.

  A long moment of silence, with the whole village holding its breath. Then Megan drew back, a bundle of bright fabric in her arms. Passing the baby back to the man behind her, she turned again, steadying herself to reach back into the hole.

  Jaye quickly checked the baby for any signs of bleeding. It was crying lustily, its airways quite obviously clear, and he allowed one of the older women to take it and rock it gently in her arms.

  Then another excited gasp came from the knot of people as Megan slid back from the hole, a little boy of about four held tightly in her arms. Jaye thought he saw Megan brush a kiss against his cheek before she passed him back down the line.

  The boy was covered in mud, the only part of his skin visible being the streaks on his cheeks from tears. He obediently showed Jaye a minor cut on his leg, and Jaye examined the wound quickly, asking the boy in Sinhalese if anything had fallen on him, and was he hurt anywhere else.

  The boy shook his head, a silent, grey ghost in the sunshine. He seemed physically okay, and Jaye handed him over to his father for a tearful hug, before one of the women took charge, leading him away to sit on the steps of a nearby veranda.

  ‘The other child’s hurt. The mother’s not coming out without her.’ There was no need for Megan to tell him what she was going to do next.

  ‘We will bring them to you.’ It was the only promise he could give to a husband who had seen two of his children emerge relatively unscathed from the rubble of his home, and who was almost frantic with fear for his wife and third child. Jaye signalled to two of the other men, who held the man back, trying to keep him calm.

  Jaye scrambled past the line of men to the mouth of the hole. Megan had already lowered her feet into the hole, and he braced his feet aga
inst the mud and rocks, winding his good arm around her waist.

  ‘Hold onto me...’ A flashlight had been passed down to the woman inside the house, but its beam was moving jerkily and no help in seeing what was down there. Megan wrapped her arms around his neck and he lowered her down.

  ‘Okay. I’ve got a foothold.’ Megan almost whispered the words against his cheek. ‘Let me go... Jaye, let me go now.’

  If he lost her, he’d lose himself. The thought flashed through his mind and, despite all his instincts to keep a tight hold on her, he let her slide downwards, into the darkness.

  He heard the sounds of movement and then the beam of the torch steadied. Six feet below him Jaye could see the mother, her sari soaked in blood, holding her child on her lap.

  ‘She won’t let go of her... Tell her I have to see her.’ Megan seemed to know he was there even though she hadn’t looked around.

  He quickly translated the words into Sinhalese, adding the information that Megan was a nurse and that she could help. The woman loosened her grip on her daughter, allowing Megan to gently examine her.

  ‘Airways are clear... She’s breathing... There’s a bad cut on her leg, it may be broken. She’s lost a lot of blood.’

  Jaye turned, signalling for the medical bag, which had been fetched and was ready behind him. He lowered it down to Megan and she unzipped it.

  ‘The dressing pads are on the left-hand side...’ Jaye knew that the next thing that Megan had to do was stem the bleeding.

  ‘Right. Got them. As soon as I can stop the bleeding, we need to get her out of here.’

  ‘Okay, we’re ready.’

  The woman was rocking and crying, still holding her daughter. Megan bound the dressings over a gash in the child’s leg and she screamed in pain. The mother clung to her child.

  ‘Okay... Tell her I’m sorry, and that I had to stop the bleeding. And I need some room down here.’

  Jaye translated quickly, telling the woman that she must go now to make room to lower the stretcher down, and she shook her head.

  Megan understood that. ‘Tell her... No, ask her to let me take care of her daughter. I will treat her as if she were my own child.’

  And Megan would. There was no doubt in Jaye’s mind that she would do anything to protect the little girl. He translated the words into Sinhalese and the woman hesitated, and then nodded.

  If Megan’s words hadn’t been enough to convince the woman, her fierce and loving determination were. Megan took the little girl from her arms and the men beside Jaye reached down, helping to pull the woman up to safety. A line of willing hands helped her across the pile of rubble to her husband.

  Jaye called for the stretcher and the folding cot from the truck was lowered into the hole. ‘Check her again, Megan.’ Speed was essential, but it was also critical to make sure that the girl had no other injuries.

  ‘Okay. Done. She’s been moving around down here but I’ve put a collar on her.’ Megan had snapped the cot open and was securing the child in it. ‘Make it quick. The dressings haven’t completely stopped the bleeding and we need to keep pressure up on the wound.’

  ‘I’ll take her, and you follow with the medical bag.’ Jaye wanted to lift Megan back up to safety himself, to feel her arms around him and to know that she was all right. But his first duty lay with their patient, and he knew that Megan would understand.

  ‘Righty. See you there.’

  Jaye supervised the men at the mouth of the hole and they hauled the cot up, carrying it carefully to the shade of a veranda. He bent down beside the child, checking her pulse, and then clamped his hand over the dressings on her leg.

  ‘Saline.’ He heard footsteps behind him and knew they were Megan’s. ‘We have some in the back of the truck.’

  ‘Okay.’ She was back again in less than a minute, carrying the bag that contained everything they needed to set up a saline drip.

  ‘What’s her pulse like?’ Megan snapped on a pair of surgical gloves, gripping the dressings over the girl’s leg and using her free hand to help Jaye pull a glove onto his good hand.

  ‘Fast. Weak. She’s bleeding out.’ Jaye glanced up into Megan’s eyes. ‘Follow my lead...’

  She was his left hand, and he was her right. Together they managed to insert the catheter and set up a line to the saline. They were a team...no, a dream team...each knowing what the other was about to do.

  ‘We’ll replace the dressings?’

  Jaye nodded. Blood was oozing out of the hastily applied dressing, and although Megan had done a good job, they could do better now.

  He gripped the saline bag between the thumb and forefinger of his injured hand, holding it up to get as much fluid into the girl’s veins as quickly as possible. It would keep her alive for long enough, until they could get her back to the clinic to administer blood. Pain shot up his arm and he winced.

  ‘Okay?’ Megan’s gaze found his and Jaye nodded.

  Quickly she reapplied the dressings while Jaye pressed hard on the girl’s leg to stem the flow of blood. One more check, to make sure that she was stable, and they were ready to go. Jaye transferred the saline bag to his other hand, and the pain in his fingers subsided to a fierce ache.

  The stretcher bearers stepped forward from the circle of people around them, lifting the cot carefully and taking it to the truck to secure it on the back seat. Jaye felt almost dizzy. Pain and effort would do that to you, but this was the dizziness of exhilaration. The little girl was free of the rubble and still alive. There was still a way to go before she was out of danger, but he and Megan had accomplished so much already. Together.

  Chapter Eleven

  JAYE WAS TALKING rapidly in Sinhalese to the girl’s parents, and her father climbed into the passenger seat of the truck beside her. It seemed that the mother was staying behind in the care of the other villagers.

  ‘Do we need to bring the other children?’ Megan twisted around as Jaye settled himself in the back seat, next to the little girl.

  ‘I gave them the once-over as they came out. And I called down to the clinic while you were digging. They’re sending someone up. They’ll be here soon.’

  The sound of a motorbike heralded Dinesh’s arrival. Perched on the back, Dr Stone, the young, sandy haired doctor who had arrived at the clinic yesterday, was looking pale but otherwise unscathed. He walked unsteadily up to the truck and a brief exchange between him and Jaye established that there was another vehicle on its way, and that Dr Stone would take charge of the rest of the family.

  ‘So much for easing him in gently.’ Megan murmured the words as she drove out of the compound, following Jaye’s directions on the quickest way back to the clinic.

  ‘He’s survived the worst of it.’ Jaye knew as well as she did that any medical challenges involved in looking after the family paled into insignificance next to being bumped around, riding pillion, as Dinesh took the quickest and most hair-raising route from A to B.

  ‘Yes. Suppose so.’ Megan concentrated on the track ahead of her, hoping that the girl in Jaye’s care on the back seat of the truck would survive too.

  * * *

  Ranjini was ready when they arrived back at the clinic. Gentle hands lifted the girl from the truck, transferring her inside, while Ranjini took charge of her father, guiding him into the building. Jaye followed, beckoning to Megan.

  ‘Help me get cleaned up.’ He made a beeline for the clinic’s shower room, and Megan followed him. Easy. This was going to be easy because, however many of his clothes Jaye discarded, there was an urgent need to get clean and dressed again.

  He caught his breath in pain as she stripped his shirt from his back. His hand must be really hurting by now. She switched on the shower and he ducked the top half of his body under it, rivulets of dust tracking their way down to expose smooth, dark skin.

  No time to think about how good
it felt to touch him as she quickly soaped his hands and arms. Then she towelled him dry and he pulled one of the scrub tops from the pile, easing it carefully over his head as he made for the door.

  How could one snatched glance imprint itself so indelibly? She had other concerns right now, and Megan wanted to hurry back to the girl’s side, but as she gathered up the towels, putting the soap back in its holder, all she could see was Jaye. Broad shoulders, slim hips, a triangle of visual pleasure leading down to the ultimate physical pleasure.

  ‘Stop. It.’ How many times was she going to have to say this before her fantasies listened? If things had been the other way round, Jaye would have managed it without leering at her, and she should be able to give him the same consideration.

  Hurrying after him, she found that Jaye was already in the emergency treatment room with Ranjini and another of the senior nurses. Blood was taken and tested for type, and an IV drip was set up. Ranjini cut the temporary dressing from the girl’s leg and another was applied, with as little blood loss as could be managed. Covered in dust and grime still, all that Megan could do was press her face against the glass door and watch.

  He’d worked with everyone here before, and everyone knew exactly what to do. Jaye could stand back a little, giving quiet instructions, and allow Ranjini to be his hands. It felt as if Megan’s other, stronger half had been ripped away, leaving her just a pale shadow on the sidelines.

  She watched as the nurses wheeled the gurney out of the emergency room in response to Jaye’s call for an X-ray. Suddenly, everything that needed to be done had been done, without any input from Megan.

  ‘I don’t think the leg’s broken, but we’ll take an X-ray to be sure. Once she’s stable I’ll have Dr Stone do the stitches.’ He stopped next to her, speaking as if she’d been an integral part of the process.

  ‘How’s her BP?’

  ‘Steady. Beginning to rise a little.’ He smiled. ‘She’s beginning to feel the pain, and I’ve sedated her.’