Chapter Forty-Three
Chapter Forty-Three
She came to with Italian all around her, but the sound of concern was the same in any language. She opened her eyes and, as her surroundings came into focus, she saw Jack’s face, etched with a deep frown, leaning over her.
‘Christ, Harlow, you had me worried,’ he said, his voice dripping with relief. Sofia tried to sit up and spluttered sea water. She realised, with growing mortification, that almost everyone on the beach was crowded around her in a big circle.
‘What happened?’ she leant in to whisper to Jack, trying to hide her face from the prying audience around them.
‘You passed out in the water.’ Jack spoke softly. ‘I think you ran out of air.’ Sofia’s head was spinning. She tried to piece together the last of what she could remember, but it was mostly starfish and silver scales. She felt exhausted.
‘I want to go, Jack.’ Her eyes were wide and brimming with fear.
‘Of course,’ he said, ‘do you think you can stand?’ He sounded distressed, and he kept running his hand through his hair. Sofia felt the need to soothe him.
‘It’s OK, Jack. I’m just a little disorientated – maybe some water would help?’
He immediately turned to the crowd. ‘Acqua, qualcuno ha dell’acqua?’ he called, his voice raspy.
A young woman stepped forward with a bottle of water and Sofia guzzled it gratefully. ‘Grazie,’ she said feebly, and the woman smiled and then said something to Jack in Italian.
‘What did she say?’ Sofia asked as the woman stepped back into the crowd.
Jack seemed embarrassed. ‘You don’t want to know,’ he muttered.
‘Go on,’ Sofia was reassured that she was feeling energised enough to be nosy again.
‘She said that a beautiful girl like you is lucky to have a brave man like me to save her.’ His tone was flat as if he was reading from a teleprompter.
Sofia laughed, and then spluttered, and then coughed. Jack handed her another bottle of water. She took a sip.
‘Well it’s good to see you’ve maintained your sense of humour,’ Jack said dryly.
‘I told you I’d give you your shot at being my knight in shining armour.’ Sofia was teasing, but then she thought about the fact that he had probably saved her life. Before she could stop herself, she reached for his cheek, turning his face to hers.
‘Thank you,’ she breathed. They were so close, she could feel the heat radiating off him. She stared into his eyes, noticing the flecks of amber amidst the green. His lips were tantalisingly close. Their breathing slowed and his gaze darted down to her mouth.
‘Baciarla!’ a call from the crowd brought them back down to earth. They both turned away, remembering that they were far from alone.
‘There’s an ambulance on the way’ Jack said sheepishly, looking away and busying himself with gathering up the scuba kit sprawled around them. She must have looked panicked because he added quickly ‘it’s only a precaution’ and then almost as if to himself ‘it’s a miracle you’re already up and talking to be honest’.
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.