Chapter 33
33
SKYE
Skye was listening to Carlos reminisce when she heard Bruno groan.
‘What’s wrong?’ Carlos asked.
Bruno looked from his father to her and she knew instantly it was something to do with Joe.
‘What is it?’
He glanced at his father as if trying to make up his mind whether to tell her but Carlos gave a nod. He held up his phone, but it was too far away for Skye to see.
‘Is it what’s going on outside?’
Bruno gave the phone to her. Skye watched the drama unfold, feeling sick at the image of Joe going into the raging sea. She bit her lower lip to stop from making a sound. Why did he do such a dangerous job?
She handed the phone back to Bruno and stood. ‘I’m sorry, I can’t sit here while Joe’s out there risking his life.’
Bruno looked alarmed. ‘He knows what he’s doing, Skye. He’s trained for this sort of thing.’
‘I thought he was trained to fight fires, not risk drowning in the sea,’ she said, struggling not to raise her voice. ‘I need to go there. Joe’s life could be in danger.’
Bruno stood. ‘And what do you think you can do to assist in any way?’
She knew he was right but refused to change her mind.
‘I’m not sure it is the right thing to do,’ Carlos said quietly as he stared at Bruno.
Bruno rested a hand on her arm. ‘Even if we do go there we won’t be able to get too close.’ When she didn’t stop putting on her coat, he added, ‘All right, but I’ll come with you. And you must promise to do as I say and keep your distance. Getting close will only hinder the operation.’
Relieved, Skye nodded. ‘I promise I’ll do as you say.’
‘I’ll pay and meet you and Dad in the car.’
‘The car? It’s not that far away.’
‘Maybe not, but by the looks of things Dad is planning on coming with us.’ Skye noticed Carlos was also putting on his coat. ‘I don’t want him standing out in this weather when it’s not necessary.’
‘Of course.’
It only took Bruno four minutes to pay and drive them to the rescue site where a fire engine and two ambulances were parked near to a place she presumed was another restaurant or some sort of club. He parked the car and Skye went to get out.
‘No,’ Bruno shouted. ‘We wait here. There are boulders in those waves and other debris. That’s why I’m parked back here.’
Terrified and feeling sick with desperation for Joe’s safety, Skye couldn’t help but find the feed on her phone and watch from the back seat. She presumed the taller man was Joe, or at least she hoped that was him because the other one seemed hurt. Poor swimmer, she thought, with no protective clothing covering him. What could he have been thinking going into the sea in the first place?
‘They’ve got him out,’ she heard Bruno yell in excitement.
She leant forward from between the two back seats to watch as two of the firefighters helped the man wearing only trunks slowly make their way up the granite beach steps. The man was exhausted. They all were by the looks of things. Paramedics hurried forward and wrapped a foil blanket around the man and led him into the back of an ambulance, while the firefighter with the damaged arm was led to the other ambulance.
Skye watched Joe speaking to the firefighter who had been holding on to the rope attached to his uniform and, seeing her taking off her helmet, realised it was a woman. Envy washed over her as she wished she had been more use other than a spectator sitting in the comfort of a car.
Joe helped the woman clear the equipment away with another two men. Then seeing a couple of other firefighters talking to each other, she realised Joe was standing alone. She forgot her promise to stay in the car and got out, running through the driving rain to reach him. She called out his name a few times before he heard her.
Joe looked in her direction, a surprised expression on his face and, seeing her there, hurried to meet her.
‘What are you doing here? You could have been hurt. There’s debris everywhere.’
‘I’m fine,’ she insisted. ‘I’ve been in the car the whole time,’ she said, indicating Bruno’s car over her shoulder.
She looked him up and down, noticing how drained he appeared. ‘Can you come back with us to the farm, or do you need to stay here with your colleagues?’
‘I’ll need to go back but I’ll see you at the farm as soon as I can. Don’t wait up for me though. I might be longer than I expect with all that’s happened.’
‘You did very well to save him,’ she said, aware her voice was loud to be heard against the wind and driving rain. ‘You were incredibly brave.’
He seemed embarrassed by her comment. ‘It was a team effort. I couldn’t have done anything without the other guys. We’re trained to work together.’
Her respect for Joe and those he worked with grew massively. ‘I’ll leave you to it then,’ she said, before running back to the car.
‘He’s OK?’ Bruno asked.
‘Yes, he’s tired but seems fine other than that.’ Realising she had done the opposite of what she had assured Bruno she would do, Skye leant forward in her seat. ‘I’m sorry for getting out. I know I shouldn’t have done, but I sort of forgot myself.’
She saw Bruno’s eyes crease in a smile in the rear-view mirror. ‘I’m sure he didn’t mind all that much.’
Embarrassed to have behaved like she had, Skye hoped she hadn’t made things awkward for Joe when he returned to his shift the following day. ‘He wasn’t impressed to see me there,’ she said, hoping to put the onus back on her.
‘Don’t worry,’ Bruno said, starting the car. ‘I promise I won’t say anything to wind him up.’
Skye sat back against the seat as Bruno drove them to the farm and thought about how these people risked their lives each day and how incredible they were to be so selfless and brave. She thought of her mother and her absent father gone from her for different reasons, but a loss to her nonetheless. She needed to stop whatever this was between her and Joe before she fell too deeply for him. His job was a dangerous one and if tonight had shown her anything it was that she wasn’t ready to lose another person in her life.
The outcome of the rescue might have been a positive one, but she saw how easily his colleague had been damaged and knew how easily the three men in the sea could have died. Whatever she thought of Joe she couldn’t bear the thought of him being badly injured or, worse, losing his life. She wasn’t strong enough for that emotionally, not after all she had been through in her life. No, she decided as much as she liked him, and she did, a lot, she couldn’t face losing him. There was nothing else for it but to stop whatever had been going on between them immediately.