Desert Angel Read Online Free Page B

reaching out to push Jim’s hand away, but she didn’t regain consciousness.
    “Be still, Mel.” Jim replaced the cloth she had dislodged from her face. “Where in the hell is that damn doctor?” he muttered. He had done as much as he could; he needed the experience of a man of medicine.
    The knock on the bedroom door brought a sigh of relief, as Jim turned from the bed and threw open the door. Hank’s worried features greeted him, and a scan of the hallway proved that the old man was alone.
    “Where’s the doctor?”
    “Doc left early this morning for the Stand Down Y spread. One of their hands got gored yesterday.” Hank’s voice was filled with apology, as if it was his fault that the doctor wasn’t available.
    “Damn . . Jim turned from the old man, his gaze resting on his wife. The Stand Down Y ranch was at least twenty miles west of town. A round trip from the Falling Creek Ranch to the Stand Down Y would take more than a day. Melanie didn’t have the luxury of time.
    Jim knew of only one person who could make the trip there and back in a matter of hours. The man rode a horse as if he and the animal were one, the horse responding to some unspoken command of his rider.
    “Find Breed.”
    “He followed me into the yard,” Hank informed his boss. “Guess he figured somethin‘ were wrong, when you didn’t show up this mornin‘.”
    Jim nodded, not surprised that the foreman suspected trouble when Jim didn’t return to the roundup that morning. Breed seemed to know instinctively when something was brewing.
    “Send him up to see me.”
    “He ain’t gonna like that.”
    “Just pass the word.” Jim closed the door and returned to the bed, automatically removing the hot rags from Melanie’s head and replacing them with cool ones. Well aware of Breed’s discomfort in a white man’s house, Jim would have normally met him outside, but right now he didn’t have the time or patience to pander to him.
    An abrupt rap on the door announced the arrival of the foreman. Jim wasn’t surprised that he’d hadn’t heard Breed approach, the man moved with the silent grace of a mountain lion. Covering Melanie, he called for Breed to enter.
    “I need you to go for the doctor.” Not turning to look at him, Jim carefully moistened Melanie’s lips.
    Breed stood at the foot of the bed, his restlessly moving eyes the only indication of his discomfort. He looked, once, at the woman, and knew that no one of this earth could save her. If he had more time or if her wounds weren’t so severe, he could prepare a poultice of jojoba or maybe yucca, but the healing properties of the desert plants couldn’t help someone who had already chosen to depart this life.
    “It will be after dark before I can get the man back here.” Breed left unsaid the knowledge that the woman wouldn’t last that long.
    Dropping the rag back into the pan of water, Jim turned. He looked into the guarded pale blue eyes, reading their unspoken message.
    “I have to try. Even if she were a complete stranger, I’d still have to try.”
    Breed nodded, his gaze drifting momentarily to the woman. “Your son is strong,” he said quietly.
    Jim’s gaze flew to the mound of her stomach, and watched as the sheet fluttered with the child’s movements. He closed his eyes with the pain of knowing that the baby might never see the light of day. She was so close to delivering, and yet the child would die, trapped inside his mother’s body.
    “Get the doctor, Breed.” Rubbing his tired face with his hands, Jim threaded his fingers through his hair and listened as the door closed quietly. Melanie’s best chance for survival depended on the skill of a man she had repeatedly called a savage. Perhaps his savage ability with a horse would be enough …
    The hard physical labor of the roundup the previous day combined with the sleepless night, demanded a heavy toll as exhaustion weighed heavily on Jim’s shoulders, and by noon he sat beside her bed capable