The next hour was a blur, Sofia was finding it hard to concentre on anything the paramedics were asking her and the language barrier wasn’t helping, all she wanted was to go to bed. They poked and prodded her in the back of the ambulance, listened to her heartbeat, shone a light in both her eyes. From where she was sitting, facing out towards the beach, she could see Jack pacing anxiously back and forth. Occasionally he was interrupted by a concerned bystander, eager to get a first hand account of the dramatic rescue. Far from basking in the praise, that even Sofia with her non-existent Italian could tell was being lavished on him, Jack was jittery, irritable, even rude, as he waved them away.
Finally the paramedic, a young, tanned woman with piercing blue eyes and an unfathomably neat French braid, summoned him over. Sofia was too tried to even try and decipher the exchange. She was relieved when Jack knelt in front of her and smiled reassuringly. ‘You’ve got the all clear, plenty of rest and you should be fine’
Sofia let out a wry chuckle ‘Rest? On that boat? Chance would be a fine thing.’
Jack didn’t laugh, that look of concern still cemented on his face. ‘I should get you back,’ was all he said, helping her down from the ambulance. She felt a little unsteady on her feet. The brightness of the sun, the smell of the sea, even the grit underfoot felt disorientating. She walked a few steps and then had to sit down, finding a perch on a large boulder protruding from the sand.
The reality of what had just happened came crashing down on Sofia then. She had left her guests stranded on a boat whilst she went off on a jolly and persuaded her colleague to let her skip training and rush to the deep end. This was the result: her almost drowning, Jack having to come to her rescue and no doubt smacking the schedule with a fatal blow.
‘I’m just going to get the tender a little closer to shore, are you going to be OK here?’ Jack said, his brow furrowed. She nodded stoically and he jogged off towards the surf.
While she sat on the beach, Jack swam out to the boat, drove it in closer and then jumped back into the water to come and collect her. He helped her to her feet, and draped her arm around his shoulders to support her. The adrenaline had turned her legs to jelly. She looked over at him – he was wearing a steely expression and staring straight ahead.
Sofia could see two figures standing. How long had poor Brian and Milly been waiting for them on that boat? Sofia had no idea how long they’d been gone.
With the help of Brian and Jack, Sofia made it onto the deck, where Milly was standing with a towel, ready to drape around Sofia’s shoulders.
She was aware that looks were exchanged around her. ‘I ran out of air,’ she said to no one in particular. It was obviously the question Milly and Brian were burning to ask.
‘Oh my God, Sofia, are you OK? That’s so scary you could have died.’ Milly suddenly became frantic, and Sofia regretted having said anything. She lay a hand on her arm. ‘It’s OK. Jack saved the day, the paramedics said I’ll be fine. I’m OK.’
Milly threw herself on Jack, pulling him into a hug. ‘Oh my God, did you swim with her all the way to the beach? That is SO romantic – you saved her life!’ Milly was verging on the hysterical and Jack seemed overwhelmed.
‘I just... I just did what I could, but it was my fault she was out there in the first place really.’ He hung his head and Sofia’s heart ached to look at him.
‘It wasn’t your fault, Jack,’ she said quietly. All three sets of eyes were on her. ‘I was being super pushy. I made him take me out deeper.’
‘You mustn’t blame yourself!’ Milly flitted back over to Sofia, wrapping her arms around her. Brian was stood awkwardly, obviously unrehearsed in the female art of comforting.
Jack headed over to the helm. ‘We should get back,’ he said steadily, with his back to everyone. He radioed the main boat and Sofia could only catch the odd word as he murmured furtively into the mouthpiece. ‘Petra is waiting for us now,’ was all he said before he started the engine. Soon they were back out in the open seas, Sofia coddled in Milly’s unrelenting embrace, and Brian staring out at the waves.
Chapter Forty-Four
When they got back to theLady Shelly, two hours behind schedule, Petra was standing on the deck with her hands on her hips. Once she saw Sofia in Milly’s arms, her expression melted from agitation to worry.
‘Is everyone OK?’ she shouted over as Jack attached the pulleys to each side of the tender.
‘We had another accident!’ Milly shouted back. ‘But Jack saved Sofia’s life so yes, now everyone is OK.’
Petra shot Jack a look, which Sofia couldn’t translate, but it was adjacent to scolding.
‘Yes I heard,’ Petra said flatly, reaching out to help Sofia off the tender. ‘Let’s get you all on board. The captain has been wondering where you all are. I’ve just told her you were held up, until we can get to the bottom of everything.’ Petra, always thinking one step ahead. Sofia was grateful to have a friend who was always willing to cover for her. What would they tell the captain? That was just not something she could think about at that moment.
Once they were all safely on deck Petra held Sofia at arm’s length, examining her. Before Petra could ask her if she was okay, Sofia reassured her with an ‘I’ll be fine’, giving her the sort of look that says:I’ll tell you all about it later.
Petra seemed satisfied with that answer for now and began to lead Brian and Milly back to their suite, but not before Milly lunged for one last rib-crushing hug. ‘He’s a keeper,’ she whispered into Sofia’s ear. Sofia waved at them limply as they walked down into the boat.
Left alone, Sofia felt she had to say something meaningful to Jack; she just wasn’t sure what. In the end it was him who broke the silence. He seemed agitated. Sofia had never seen him look so nervous.
‘I’m just going to come out with it, because I don’t know how else to say it.’
Sofia held her breath. The possibilities were sending her thoughts into a spin.
‘It was my fault that you ran out of air. I should have checked the gauge before we went deeper, and I didn’t. You could have...’ he stammered, full of contrition, ‘you could have died.’ His eyes were glossy and Sofia could hardly bear to look at the anguish on his face.
‘Jack,’ she said softly. From her lips the word sounded like a prayer. She stepped towards him and then couldn’t remember what she had planned to do. She folded her arms across her chest. ‘Please don’t blame yourself. It was my own stupid cavalier attitude towards the whole thing that got us into this mess.’ She sighed. ‘Sometimes I don’t like to be told.’
She detected a faint smile and it rallied her. ‘We both were fully aware that we shouldn’t go deeper and I pushed it,’ she said calmly. ‘We swam right up to the limit and then we crossed the line and then we reaped the consequences.’ As she spoke they broke eye contact. Suddenly it felt like they were talking about something else.
