Their Miracle Baby

She’d been attending another birth, this time with one of her new apprentices who’d finally gained enough knowledge to be useful. “I’m so glad you’re her,” Venetia said, stopping in her tracks, realizing that the best plan would be for her to go get the supplies while Ronnie went on to examine Lewis.

“I’m going to go to the medical hut and get the supplies I think we’ll need. Will you go on ahead to Lewis?”

“Of course. Good thinking. Send one of the men to me, we’re going to need a fire here and a supply of water,” Ronnie said over her shoulder already headed for Lewis.

When she got to the center of the clearing, she spotted one of the men who went hunting with Lewis. She explained the situation and before she knew it the village was mobilized. All the equipment and supplies she wanted were taken to their hut, a fire was built, and fresh water was in place in only minutes.

She dreaded hearing what Ronnie had to say but knew that if it was malaria, time was an important factor. The sooner they began treatment the sooner he would recover. The sight that greeted her when she entered the hut, would remain with her forever, Lewis was huddled in the bed, violent shivers racking his body.

Although it appeared that he was freezing, rivulets of sweat were running down his face. The medicine she’d given him earlier had done nothing to combat his fever, a sure sign that he had malaria, she’d seen it before. What worried her the most was that it had come on so fast, another bad sign, she knew.

Of all the strains of malaria, there were several very virulent ones that were devastatingly resistant to common treatments. If Lewis had one of these strains, they might not have the right drugs to treat him. Then it would be a matter of keeping him alive until a transport could bring them the right medication. The worst part was that in order to get the correct medication, Venetia was going to have to identify the strain, something she’d never been very good at.

The look on Ronnie’s face said more than words ever could, so instead of discussing what was obvious, she started by giving Lewis an injection that would lower his fever. As his fever began to go down, the terrible shivering stopped, allowing Venetia to insert a catheter so she could give him IV fluids. Then knowing that it was probably useless, she gave him the first dose of malaria medication.

She then took blood samples and with deep regret left Lewis with Ronnie while she ran them through the machines back at the medical hut. The results were exactly what she’d expected, with the added worry that Lewis had become anemic. She made blood smears in case she needed to use them to identify the pathogen, then hurried back to Lewis.

When she entered the hut this time, he was sitting up in bed. Ronnie was spooning water into his mouth. He looked better, but the dark circles under his eyes spoke volumes. “Hey, you look better,” she said, sitting down on the other side of him.

“I feel a little better. Ronnie says I’ve got malaria,” he said, searching her face for signs that he’d got it wrong.

“Everything points to that,” she said, her voice quavering. The both knew that while often not fatal, the disease could be physically debilitating. “But it’s going to be fine,” she added, her voice stronger.

Ronnie, knowing that they needed a few minutes alone together, stepped out of the tent. Venetia knew that she wouldn’t be far but silently thanked her for this time. Lewis could be in the throes of delirium in a short time, and she wanted to tell him about her decision to stop taking her birth control. She carefully curled up against him, pleased to find that he was much cooler than he’d been before.

His recovery could be due to the medication or simply the devious way the fevers seemed to come and go with malaria, but whatever the cause Venetia wanted to make the most of these few minutes. But she had no idea how to introduce the subject, all her plans had centered on not telling him until she was pregnant, which she could very well be right now.

Finally, she figured out what she wanted to say. “You’re going to have a battle on your hands, I want you to fight this with everything you’ve got and I’m going to do the same,” she said, looking up at him.

“This is a battle I can win if I know you’ll be waiting for me at the end,” he said, through dry lips.

Venetia got up and gave him a sip of water, then sat down next to him again. “You know I’ll never leave you, we’ve worked too hard building what we have.” She could tell that Lewis was getting tired so she rushed on. “But I want to give you another reason to fight. I stopped taking my birth control over a month ago. We could be pregnant right now.”

Lewis couldn’t believe he’d heard her correctly, there was a buzzing in his ears and his head felt heavy. “I stopped taking my birth control,” she said, laughing when a big silly grin spread across his face.

The last words he’d spoken a gentle assurance of how much he loved her.

She snuggled up to him, her head on his chest and slept in his arms, knowing that the battle had just begun. Part of her felt guilty for taking advantage of him when he was so debilitated, but he’d wanted it as much as she had. The other part of her was glad that they’d shared that moment, especially if it was their last.

She fell asleep wrapped in his arms, waking later when his fever began to spike again. Dressing, she placed a hand on her belly hoping that they’d created a life, knowing that if she lost Lewis, she’d always have their child. Sending a prayer to whoever was listening in this wilderness, she asked for Lewis’ recovery and the creation of their child. Maybe she was being greedy, but she’d earned it.