Sofia and Charlotte were sitting a few feet away, and Sofia leant across to whisper to her friend while Thanassis was dealing with Maddie’s coughing fit.
‘Crikey, have we got another Mr Portokalos fromMy Big Fat Greek Weddingon our hands? Convinced that every word in English comes from Greek?’
‘Well, he is right in a lot of cases,’ replied Charlotte. ‘There are an incredible number of words that have Greek origins. It is considered the cradle of Western civilisation, after all.’
‘Thanks, Simone Schama.’
Maddie had recovered enough to take some more measured sips of wine and pronounce it delicious.
Thanassis kept on stroking her back long after she’d stopped coughing, which wasn’t an unpleasant feeling.
Great big chunks of watermelon were a refreshing end to the meal. The simple lunch on the beach was one of the best meals Maddie had ever had in her life, never mind in Greece, and she had to tell him.
‘Thank you, Thanassis, for such a fabulous meal.’
‘You are very welcome. It is nice to be appreciated.’
‘I don’t think there’s any doubt about that,’ Sofia muttered under her breath.
Thanassis looked in her direction for a moment but smiled his lazy smile again.
‘Now, please rest for a few minutes before you go for a last swim and we make our way back. You must not swim straight after food.’
Charlotte had a little smile to herself at Thanassis’s serious tone when it came to eating and swimming, so unlike his usual laidback style.
‘Of course, we will leave it a while.’
The sun was slowly starting to dip in the sky when the three friends began to reluctantly pack up their things. A doze on the beach had settled their stomachs nicely and the swim that followed had given them enough energy for wading back to the boat, which Thanassis had anchored a little way offshore.
The breeze had picked up considerably and was playing with the ends of their sarongs, lifting them up in the air.
Thanassis strode out in front, the grill balanced on one shoulder and the largest of the food containers on the other. Everything else was already in the boat, including their bags. He’d left the heaviest stuff till last.
As he attempted to climb into the boat, a particularly strong gust of wind ripped the sail that protected passengers from the sun from its base and flung it over the fisherman’s face.
Maddie saw the next few seconds as if in slow motion, as Thanassis half fell into the boat and the metal grill hit him on the side of the head.
‘No!’
She screamed into the wind, and they ran as one body towards him.
Sofia reached him first and turned back to the others.
‘Shit. He looks like he’s out cold. And he’s bleeding.’
Chapter Fourteen
Maddie waded through the shallow water as fast as she could and tried to breathe through the fear, but Charlotte still got to the boat before her and bent over the side to get a better look.
‘Don’t touch him! Wait for me.’
Sofia and Charlotte nodded and pulled back.
The sight of Thanassis lying on his back at the bottom of the boat almost took her feet out from under her, but Maddie knew she was the one who had to think straight and fast. The first aid courses she’d done at the care home always advised assessing the situation first and against moving the injured party.
Her friends were staring at her, waiting for their instructions. If Sofia was fashion and Charlotte was facts, she wasn’t sure exactly when she’d been assigned life-threatening emergencies, but it was happening… and right now. There was no way she was going to let another man die on her watch if she could help it.
Maddie half leant into the boat and managed to get close enough to Thanassis to discreetly check if he was still breathing. A trickle of bright red blood made its way down the side of hisface as she waited. Her own heart stopped for a moment and started again when she felt his warm breath on her face.
