Dance-of-the-Snake-Yvonne-Whittal Read online

  keen eyes detected signs of lingering pain. 'You didn't think to see a doctor about

  it before?'

  'Ag, no! I thought it was indigestion, and I never worried about it.' There was a

  brief, troubled silence, then her eyes met Jessica's. 'What is it, kindjie? What's

  wrong with me?'

  'I can't say for sure, Tante Maria, but I suspect that it might be gallstones.'

  'Gallstones?' She spat out the word with a look of such disgust on her face that

  it brought a smile to Jessica's lips. 'But what will I be doing with gallstones?' the

  woman demanded indignantly.

  'They form in the gall bladder, Tante Maria, but I'm not going to tire you with

  the medical details at this moment,'Jessica told her patient calmly while she

  opened her bag and prepared a syringe. 'I'm going to give you something for the

  pain, and then I would like you to go into hospital for a few days.'

  'Hospital?' Tante Maria repeated, too surprised at that moment to protest when

  Jessica rolled her over and bared her buttock to jab the needle into her flesh.

  'I would like you to be X-rayed. In that way we can make sure that my

  diagnosis is correct, and after that we can decide what's to be done,' Jessica

  explained calmly.

  'But I can't go to hospital, Doctor,' Tante Maria protested loudly the moment

  she was respectable again. 'What will happen to Hennie while I'm lying there

  high and dry?'

  ‘I’ll manage, Maria. Don't you worry about me,' Oom Hennie spoke for the first

  time, and his voice was firm and reassuring to Tante Maria as well as Jessica. 'It's

  all right, Doctor, I'll take her to the hospital at once.'

  Jessica nodded. 'I'll make the necessary arrangements that end.'

  Moments later, when she slid behind the wheel of her biscuit-coloured Alfa,

  Jessica found herself facing a problem. During the course of the morning

  Emily Hansen had informed her that there were only three prominently visible

  buildings in Louisville. The one was the stone church, which Jessica already

  knew, and the other two served as the local school and hospital. Both were

  clearly visible as Jessica drove down the main street, but the problem was

  which one was which.

  There was no luck involved, however, in finding the hospital. There were

  signposts clearly indicating the way to someone like herself who was a stranger

  to Louisville, and ten minutes later she was entering the cool, air-con- ditioned

  building which was surrounded by tall pines and shady mopane trees.

  Never having had much to do with the administrative side of her profession

  in the past, Jessica glanced about her with a degree of uncertainty.

  'Well, look what we have here,' Dane Trafford's mocking voice remarked

  behind her, and for the third time that day she found herself facing this man

  who seemed curiously intent upon shattering her composure as well as her

  confidence.

  'You look a little lost, if I may say so,' he remarked dryly, his firm yet

  sensuous mouth curving cynically at the corners as he observed her from his

  great height.

  ' I a m . . . a little,' she was forced to admit. 'I'd like to make arrangements for

  a patient to be admitted this afternoon, and I want her to be X-rayed as soon as

  possible.'

  'Follow me, Dr Neal,' he gestured mockingly, and she was intensely aware of

  his tall, muscular frame in the white hospital coat as she accompanied him

  down a wide passage to the offices of those who were in charge of admittances.

  'Who is your patient?'

  'Mrs Delport,' she replied to his casual query.

  'Tante Maria?' He glanced at her in quick surprise, dark brows raised above

  keen grey eyes. 'Good heavens, she's always had the constitution of an ox.

  What's the matter with her?'

  'I suspect gallstones.'

  'Hrn . . . nasty,' he muttered, pausing outside the door marked 'admission', and

  once again that hint of cynicism touched his mouth. 'You're sure it's gallstones?'

  'Ninety-nine per cent sure, yes,' Jessica replied, adding sarcastically, 'Do you

  doubt my diagnostic capabilities, Dr Trafford?'

  His straight dark brows rose a fraction higher above those mocking eyes. 'Far

  be it from me to doubt your diagnosis, Dr Neal, but it could be that it's merely a

  digestive complaint.'

  'I'm pretty sure it isn't.'

  Her voice was brittle with suppressed anger, and without giving him the

  opportunity to say more, she knocked and entered the office, closing the door

  firmly behind her. Dane Trafford was the most infuriating man she had ever

  had the misfortune to meet, she decided, but this was not the moment to make a

  mental list of the things she was beginning to dislike about him.

  With the necessary arrangements finally made, Jessica walked back the way

  she had come, but the sound of footsteps behind her sent a peculiar sensation

  shivering up her spine.

  'Dr Neal,' that now familiar, mocking voice stopped her in her stride, and she

  turned with an inward sigh to face the tall, imposing figure approaching her

  with such lithe, almost athletic strides. 'If you don't mind playing carrier pigeon,

  I have a set of X-rays I'd like you to take along to Peter. He's rather anxious to

  take a look at them.'

  'Certainly, Dr Trafford.'

  'Oh, and Dr Neal?' he stopped her again after the large

  brown envelope had exchanged hands. 'If you would like a second opinion on

  Tante Maria, my services are at your disposal.'

  Jessica steeled herself before she turned again to face him, and with a

  coolness in her smile which he could not avoid noticing, she said caustically,

  'That's very kind of you, Dr Trafford, but I don't happen to be in any doubt.'

  'There speaks the voice of professional confidence,' he mocked her openly

  now, and, for some reason she could not even explain to herself, she found

  herself on the defensive.

  'How am. I to expect my patients to have confidence in me if I don't have the

  necessary confidence in myself?'

  'True, true,' he muttered in that derisive tone of voice he had used before, and

  it was with the greatest difficulty that she suppressed the angry words that

  sprang to her lips.

  'Was there anything else, Dr Trafford?' she asked instead.

  'Not that I can think of, unless you would consent to dine with me this

  evening?' he challenged.

  Mentally winded, she could think of nothing to say for one startled moment,

  but she recovered her composure swiftly, and replied with equal smoothness,

  Tm sure you'll find someone else more entertaining with whom you could

  occupy your free time, Dr Trafford.'

  'No doubt I shall,' he assured her mockingly, and as they parted company she

  once again had the feeling that, because she had failed to meet his challenge, he

  had branded her a coward.

  Shrugging off this uncomfortable thought, she climbed into her Alfa and

  drove back to the consul ting-rooms where she waded once again through a

  variety of patients.

  One of these, however, she had cause to remember. A brief glance at the file

  on her desk had given her the information that the patient's name was Olivia

  King, and it also mentioned that her age was twenty-nine, but i
t was not until

  the woman herself walked into the room that Jessica found herself looking at

  her with more than her usual keenness.

  Olivia King was small, no taller than Jessica, with silky auburn hair falling

  softly about her finely etched features, and she was quite obviously in the last

  stages of pregnancy. Thick, dark lashes framed expressive grey eyes, and the

  wide, faintly vulnerable mouth suggested a tender, compassionate nature. Her

  warm, friendly smile was contageous, and Jessica found herself smiling back

  at her without hesitation.

  'Good afternoon, Mrs > King,' she greeted her. 'Won't you sit down?'

  'Thank you,' Olivia King sighed, lowering herself thankfully into the chair

  Jessica had indicated.

  'You're actually Dr O'Brien's patient, according to this file,' Jessica observed,

  glancing at the papers before her.

  'That's correct,' Olivia King acknowledged, unmistakable mischief dancing

  in her eyes. 'When I heard that the new doctor was a woman I told him I'd much

  rather see you in future.'

  Jessica laughed shortly. 'I'm honoured, Mrs King.'

  'Honoured?'

  The woman looked startled, her grey eyes questioning, and Jessica found

  herself explaining, 'Most of my patients this morning, with the exception of a

  few, were rather reluctant to have a woman treat their ailments, but here at last

  I have someone who has specifically asked to see me.'

  'Actually,' Olivia King confided guiltily, 'I've been afraid all along that Peter

  might feel insulted if I went to see someone else instead of him, but your being

  a woman has given me the excuse I needed.'

  'I'm afraid I don't quite understand,' Jessica frowned

  slightly. 'Why should you need an excuse to change your doctor?'

  'Vivien, Peter's wife, is my husband's sister.' That guilty smile hovered about

  her lips once more. 'So, you see, it's been rather awkward.'

  'I suppose it has,' Jessica agreed amiably before casting a professional glance

  in her patient's direction. 'Are you here for a general check-up?'

  'Yes, I am.'

  'Would you just slip out of your clothes and put on that robe, Mrs King?'

  Jessica suggested. 'I'll be back in a few minutes to examine you.'

  Jessica went into the adjoining room to attend to a little boy with a deep cut

  on his finger, but, when she returned, she found Olivia King waiting patiently

  for the examination to begin.

  'You haven't much longer to go, I don't think,' Jessica remarked at length

  when she had completed her examination.

  'I hope no longer than another ten days,' Olivia smiled dreamily, allowing

  Jessica to assist her off the high bunk.

  Jessica returned to her desk to make the necessary notes in the file before her,

  and she looked eventually to see Olivia King seat herself in the chair on the

  other side of her desk.

  'This is your first child, so I presume you're excited?' Jessica remarked

  conversationally.

  'I am, yes,' Olivia nodded, 'and I'm a little nervous.'

  'You have nothing to worry about.'

  'So Peter has told me often enough, but I do worry all the same,' Olivia

  laughed selfconsciously. 'I'm nearly thirty, and I've heard so many stories about

  women of my age having problems when it's time for the baby to be born.'

  Jessica smiled wryly as she put down her pen and leaned back in her chair.

  'Why is it, I wonder, that some people

  are so fond of scaring the hell out of others?'

  There'll always be people like that as long as there are fools like myself to pay

  attention to them,' Olivia replied with an equally wry smile, then her expression

  sobered, and her large grey eyes grew misty with emotion. 'I want this baby very

  much.'

  'I'm sure you do.'

  'It will bind our family more securely than ever. You see. ..' Olivia hesitated

  with a measure of uncertainty, then she plunged into an explanation. 'My husband

  was a widower with a ten-year-old daughter when I met him, and although we're

  very close, this baby will unite us even more firmly.'

  'Your stepdaughter ... er . . . what's her name?'

  'Frances.'

  'Is Frances excited about acquiring a brother or a sister?'

  'Almost uncontrollably excited,' Olivia King replied, concern written all over

  her face. 'That's one of the reasons I'm so afraid something might go wrong.'

  'Nothing will go wrong if I can possibly help it, so please don't worry unduly,5

  Jessica assured her, and a smile hovered on her lips as she allowed her clinical

  glance to slide over the woman seated before her. 'You're small, like myself, but

  I'm willing to bet that you're deceptively strong.'

  'I feel much better already just talking to you,' Olivia sighed. 'I hope you'll come

  out to the farm some day soon for a visit, and not in your professional capacity?'

  That's very kind of you, Mrs King.'

  'My name is Olivia,' she smiled warmly. 'As Vivien told me once shortly after

  my arrival in Louisville, here we're all like one big family, and that's truly how it

  is.'

  'Thank you, Olivia,'Jessica murmured, 'and please call me Jessica.'

  'I hope you'll be happy here among us, Jessica. The people are wonderful once

  you get to know them,' Olivia told her as she rose from her chair. 'And now I

  really must go.5

  'I'd like to see you again in a week's time,' Jessica reminded her.

  'Of course.' Olivia flashed her a smile. 'And thank you for giving me so much of

  your time.'

  'That's part of my job, Olivia, to listen to my patients.'

  Olivia nodded. 'I'll see you next week, then, if not sooner.'

  The door closed behind her, and for some time Jessica found herself staring at it

  with a peculiar feeling in her breast. Olivia King was a small, generous creature

  who possessed a certain charm and warmth which one could not avoid noticing.

  Her warmth had touched Jessica that afternoon, and it had somehow left her

  enriched.

  CHAPTER THREE

  JESSICA went to the hospital after dinner that evening to see Tante Maria

  Delport, and found her lying propped up against the pillows, waiting for the

  visiting hour when her husband would be paying her a visit.

  'Hello, kindjie,' Tante Maria smiled when she looked up to see Jessica

  approaching her bed, then a frown settled between her blue eyes. 'What is your

  name, Dr Neal?'

  'Jessica.'

  'Well, look here, Jessica,' the older woman began a little irritably. 'The pain is

  gone, and I'm feeling much better. Couldn't I go home now to Oom Hennie?'

  'I'm afraid that's out of the question, Tante Maria,' Jessica shook her dark

  head firmly. 'You don't have any pain now because I've prescribed something

  for it, and I've arranged for you to be X-rayed tomorrow.'

  'I know what you doctors are like,' Tante Maria grumbled. 'Once you get a

  poor soul like me into hospital, you won't let me out until you have had a

  chance to put your knife into me.'

  Jessica fingered the old woman's pulse and smiled. 'If we have to operate,

  then it will be for your own good.'

  'I know, kindjie, and if I sound as if I'm complaining then it's because I'm

  worried about my old man. I miss him.'

  'I'm
sure he's missing you too,' Jessica said gently, 'but it won't be for ever.'

  Tante Maria nodded, but her glance suddenly travelled beyond Jessica. 'Here

  comes that nice Dr Trafford,' she said and, smiling up at Jessica, she added,

  'Isn't he handsome?'

  Jessica's back stiffened automatically. 'I wouldn't really know.'

  'You wouldn't really know what, Dr Neal?' that mocking voice demanded

  before his tall, muscular frame entered Jessica's line of vision to take up position

  on the opposite side of the high bed, and his presence made her feel uneasy.

  'We were having a private discussion, Dr Trafford,' Jessica replied swiftly

  before Tante Maria might decide to enlighten him.

  'Ah, so it's secrets you've been whispering into Tante Maria's ear, is it?' His

  mocking glance slid from Jessica to the woman who was observing them with a

  certain degree of curiosity. 'You will tell me everything when Dr Neal is not

  around, won't you, Tante Maria?'

  'I'll tell you nothing, you scoundrel,' Tante Maria announced, but the smile in

  her eyes belied the severity in her voice.

  'Now is that the way for my best girl to talk to me?' Dane Trafford demanded

  with an injured look on his tanned face.

  'You're lucky I don't clip you one on the ear sometimes,' Tante Maria laughed.

  'You've crushed my ego, my dear Tante.'

  'Never mind your ego, Dane Trafford,' Tante Maria began reprovingly, taking

  one of his strong, capable-look- ing hands and clasping it between her own.

  'When are you going to find yourself a nice woman'you can settle down with?'

  A cynical smile lurked instantly about his firm mouth. 'Find me a nice, gentle

  woman like yourself, Tante Maria, and I'll marry her tomorrow.'

  'I'll do nothing of the kind,' the old woman protested indignantly. 'You've got

  eyes in your head to help you find one for yourself, but you won't find her while

  you're staring blindly in the wrong direction.'

  Having heard about the woman who was supposedly Dane Trafford's mistress,

  Jessica held her breath, but he merely laughed shortly, and said casually, 'Perhaps

  I enjoy the direction I'm staring in.'

  'Then you have my sympathy,' Tante Maria almost snapped at him.

  Dane Trafford shook his sleek, dark head, and there was a surprising glint of

  humour in those grey eyes as he looked down upon the woman lying on the bed. 'I

  don't know why I allow you to talk to me like this.'