Prognosis Baby Daddy - Amy Andrews Page 0,51

someone who afforded him no such adulation had made him see that about himself. In fact, Katya made him work for his compliments and he was surprised at how much more rewarding it was.

A knock on the door interrupted them. It opened to reveal Carmella. ‘I’m sorry,’ she said, looking from one to the other, ‘I’m interrupting something?’

‘Yes,’ Ben said.

‘No,’ Katya said, glaring at Ben.

‘Katya’s giving up work,’ he told Carmella.

‘No, Katya’s not,’ Katya denied hotly.

Carmella looked from one to the other, as if she was watching a tennis match. ‘Right...maybe I should come back later,’ she said, backing out the door.

‘No,’ Katya said. ‘Go ahead. Ignore me.’ She lay back on the lounge. In truth, she’d have liked to have risen from the couch and stalked out of the room with her head held high, but she still felt a little dizzy.

Ben and Carmella slipped into Italian and Katya let it swirl around her as she shut her eyes and waited to feel more grounded. She heard papers rustling and realised that she kept hearing a word she was familiar with. Mulgahti.

She sat up. ‘What are you talking about?’ she asked.

Ben and Carmella stopped what they were doing and turned to her. ‘There’s a baby girl in a remote village that has been brought to our attention, but her extraction is proving difficult due to internal politics.’

‘Mulgahti?’ Katya asked. ‘That’s the village?’

Ben frowned. ‘Yes. Do you know it?’

Katya nodded and rose. A wave of dizziness swept over her and she swayed momentarily. Ben stood and was at her side in an instant. ‘Katya!’ Exasperation laced his voice.

She leaned against him briefly. ‘I’m fine,’ she mumbled, pushing away from him and walking on shaky legs to the desk. Carmella offered Katya the chair she’d been sitting in and Katya felt too weak to refuse.

‘I was stationed not far from Mulgahti a few years ago,’ she said, locating it easily on the map that had been spread on the table. ‘MedSurg spent six months there, treating victims of the local civil war.’

Carmella glanced at Ben. ‘Do you have any contacts there still?’ she asked Katya.

Katya thought for a moment. It was a difficult area, controlled by local warlords, one of whom they’d patched up after he’d taken a bullet to the shoulder. ‘Maybe,’ she said. ‘Gill would be the best contact. I can make a few phone calls.’ She looked first at Carmella then at Ben.

Carmella looked at Ben then back at Katya. ‘Any help you can give would be welcome,’ Carmella said.

Ben saw the smile that Katya gave his field officer and the spark of interest in Katya’s eyes, and an idea started to form in his head. ‘Why don’t you two stay here in my office and see what progress you can make?’ he suggested. ‘Carmella can help you with any information you might need,’ he said to Katya.

Katya nodded, feeling a tremor of excitement course through her, knowing she might be able to help get a child in need of medical attention to the Lucia Clinic. ‘It’s the middle of the night in Australia — Gill’s not going to be happy.’

She grinned at Ben and he grinned back. ‘He’ll be fine when he realises why you’re ringing.’

‘Da.’ Katya nodded and picked up the phone.

‘I’m going to get you some food?’ he said, his voice brooking no argument and he certainly wouldn’t get any from her. ‘Anything in particular?’

Katya shook her head. ‘As long as it’s fast. I’m starving.’

Ben returned fifteen minutes later with a plate laden with bruschetta. Carmella was sitting in his seat, talking into her mobile in Italian and Katya was sitting where he’d left her, speaking in Russian. He plonked the plate on the table between them and they both automatically reached for a piece while they continued their conversations.

He placed his hands on Katya’s shoulders and lowered his head to whisper in her ear. ‘I’m sorry its not Taddeo’s.’

Katya turned her head and smiled at him, still talking in rapid Russian. He stood and massaged her neck for a few moments, smiling as she relaxed back against him. He could see the rise of her burgeoning belly from this vantage point and he just wanted to let his hands slide down her front and link them together under her bump.

Katya dropped her head to one side and he concentrated on the exposed muscles of her neck. He realised suddenly that he could also see down her scrub top to her lace-covered, full, ripe breasts,