She bit her lip to stop herself from answering. There was no need to tell him about her job—it didn’t matter to her at all what he thought.
If only she could believe that.
‘You aren’t driving yourself? Only you have done the last few days.’
‘You haven’t used my driver the last few days,’ he pointed out.
‘So you’re only here because I am?’ She could hardly matter that much to him, surely?
‘After last time, can you blame me?’
Shame and anger bled into each other and Oti opened her mouth to answer, only for the driver to alert them to an accident further up the road.
‘The report says that traffic is gridlocked, sir,’ George, the driver, continued. ‘We could go the longer way around—the roads that way are quieter.’
‘Do that,’ Lukas confirmed as Oti’s heart lurched.
A longer car ride, with the tension already palpable? Just what she didn’t need.
The car turned and they drove in silence for a while and Oti forced herself to stare out of the window. Anything not to have to engage with him.
More because she feared confusion and—shamefully—lust would be written all over her features.
It was only as they pulled up at a set of red lights that Oti found her gaze pulled to the commotion going on in a car parked awkwardly in the kerb, though it took her a few moments to work out exactly what she was seeing.
‘Stop the car!’ she yelled, just as George began to pull away again.
It vaguely registered that it took Lukas repeating the instruction for the driver to obey.
‘What’s going on?’ His voice was low, almost guarded.
‘Unlock the doors, George. Now. I think the woman in that car is in labour, and she’s on her own.’
The door clicked and she practically stumbled out as she hurried back to the other car, only realising that Lukas was right alongside her as she reached the passenger side.
‘George is calling an ambulance,’ he told her quickly. ‘I don’t think it’s wise to interfere. Leave it to the professionals when they arrive.’
Oti didn’t reply; she just picked up her pace. Tapping on the car window, she then stepped back to give the grunting woman space.
‘I’m Oti, I’m a doctor. I’m here to help.’
With another g
runt and a twisted expression, the woman managed to unlock the car door, and Oti hauled it open.
‘My husband...’ the woman managed between groans. ‘He forgot his mobile in the panic to leave the house. He...he ran to the petrol station down the road with our son to...make the call.’
‘Okay, so is this your second baby?’ Oti asked. ‘Can you tell me your name?’
‘Debi... This is my...second. Yes... I was...in labour for ten hours with him... This one can’t come...yet.’
‘Yeah, it happens that way sometimes.’ Oti offered a gentle laugh. ‘Hours for the first, but the second is quick. Nothing to worry about. I can tell your contractions aren’t far apart at all. Can we get you into the back seat so there’s a little more room for me to examine you?’
She felt Lukas’s hand at her elbow, drawing her away.
‘You need to wait for the professionals,’ he ground out in a low voice.
‘I’m a doctor,’ she reminded him irritably, beginning to wrench her arm away.