While they prepared Will, Karen’s little face leapt into Grace’s mind. They’d left her there all alone.
‘Achilles.’
The man looked up with hollow eyes.
‘There’s a cat locked in Will’s house. She needs to be fed. There’s a key under one of the pot plants. Please can you sort it. Or ask Angeliki, the vet in town to help you. Do you understand?’
The man nodded slowly.
The paramedics had finished their work. There couldn’t be any more delays. Will had to come first.
Grace climbed out of the back of the ambulance and followed the trolley with the stretcher across the airstrip.
One of the new team of paramedics turned back to speak to her.
‘What are you doing?’
‘I’m coming with you. On the helicopter. I can’t leave him now.’
The man shook his head.
‘We have limited space. It’s strictly family only.’
There was no way Grace was going to let Will go off on the most important journey of his life without her.
‘I’m his sister.’
Will made a small sound from the trolley.
The paramedic looked from her to Will and back at his colleague, who shrugged.
Grace put her hands together in prayer.
‘Please.’
The man obviously had bigger things to worry about than arguing with her.
‘OK, you’ll have to wait till we’ve loaded him on, and do exactly what we say.’
‘Thank you.’
Grace watched Will being taken on board and winced every time there was a tiny adjustment of the stretcher. They were being as careful as they could be, but she experienced every movement along with him. His soft moans were agony to her ears.
It seemed ages but it was probably less than a minute before the first paramedic beckoned her up the stairs and showed her to a seat near the back.
‘Strap yourself in, and don’t try and get up at any point during the flight.’
Grace nodded and smiled to herself. She’d made it onto the helicopter. At any other place and time, she’d have been excited by the prospect. She’d always wanted to go on one. But this was no joyride over the sights of Athens.
Will was up the front of the helicopter being worked on by the team. She hadn’t wanted to leave his side, but the guy had made it pretty clear he was doing her a favour by even allowing her on board.
‘Clear for take-off.’
The pilot’s voice over the tannoy was loud. But it was nothing to the noise of the rotor blades as the metal machine rose up and swooped low over the tip of the island, along with Grace’s stomach.
She looked through into the cockpit to see the pilot and co-pilot wearing ear defenders. They needed them. She wouldn’t have been able to speak to Will anyway over the noise. Once they’d stabilised, Grace stared out of the window at the blackness all around. There was one fishing boat out there below them, throwing out a tiny shaft of light, but otherwise it was a sea of darkness. Grace strained to see the mainland ahead.
Pinpricks of light told her they’d reached the Athens coast and gradually the lights arranged themselves into strings, then clusters, and finally whole baskets full of diamonds, twinkling away.
