Aidan looped an arm around her shoulders. “You should tell that to your face.”
She shook her head. “That bad?”
“You gave us all a fright,” Aidan said.
“But what if..?” Her unfinished question hung in the air between them.
“Let’s wait to see how he is before we jump to conclusions,” Aidan replied.
They waited in a row of plastic chairs against one wall of the ER for another hour. A nurse came to tell them Dad was having surgery. Harry and Dani played on their phones. Bea paced, then sat and stared at the wall, then paced again. Aidan made phone calls about his real estate development project, talking at loud volumes outside the hospital and glancing through the automatic glass doors every now and then to check that they were still there.
Finally, a nurse came walking towards them. “Rushton family?”
Bea stood and ran both sweaty palms down the front of her shorts. “Yes, that’s us.”
“The surgery went well. Elias had some tissue damage in his left thigh and calf, but he’s going to be fine.”
Bea exhaled a long, slow breath. “Thank you so much.”
The nurse looked tired. “He’s in recovery. You can see him if you like. He’s still sleeping, but I’m sure he’d like to see you when he wakes.”
“That would be great,” Harry said.
Bea waved Aidan inside. He quickly hung up the phone and hurried to join them, then they all followed the nurse through various doors and down hallways until they reached a large room filled with medical instruments. Dad lay on a bed, his eyes shut. A sheet was pulled up over his body. He looked like he was sleeping.
Tears sprang to Bea’s eyes. “Dad,” she whispered, moving forward to take his hand in hers.
Dani went to the other side of the bed to hold his hand as well. Harry watched quietly, blinking rapidly.
The nurse checked a few items on the clipboard. Then she took his pulse and ran some quiet tests. After a while, his eyes fluttered open. He made a sound.
“Dad, you’re awake,” Bea said, wiping her cheeks dry.
His gaze went from her face, to Harry’s, then Dani’s and finally Aidan’s. “Why the long faces?”
They laughed and cried together, chattering about nothing much. Dad was still loopy from the anaesthetic, so for the next half an hour he didn’t seem to know anything about why he was there or what had happened. Finally, the others went to the cafeteria to get something to eat and drink. Bea stayed behind while Dad dozed.
His eyes blinked open again. “You still here?”
“I’m not going anywhere, Dad. You feeling okay? Can I get you something?”
He nodded. “Thirsty.”
She reached for the cup of cold water they’d filled for him earlier and set it to his lips for him to drink.
“I’m not an invalid, you know. I can get my own water.”
“You’ve had an accident, Dad. And right now, you are a bit of an invalid. I know how frustrating that is for you to admit.” She laughed softly. “Drink up. You’re going to be fine.”
“It was a shark, wasn’t it?” he asked.
It was the first time he’d said anything about his accident that made any sense. “Yes, that’s right. Do you remember it?”
“Of course I do. I’m not going to forget something like that. It came out of nowhere. I was spearfishing up against the reef when there it was—chomping down on my leg like I was a lamb roast.”
He was impossible. How many times had she told him not to go spearfishing? Let alone at dusk. “Dad…”
“I know, I should stop the spearfishing. Only Betsy wanted to go, and I thought it might be fun.”
