Chapter 27
“I think we should call the Coast Guard back to take you to the hospital for a checkup after your fall overboard.”
Kasia was putting every fraction of her energy into lifting one foot after the other to get off the lifeboat without dropping to the ground. She didn’t care how well-meaning Joey was, they were annoying her. “Don’t be ridiculous. They’ll have plenty to do with actual emergencies and casualties. I need to get warm and dry. A few hours of sleep, and I’ll be fine.”
Joey helped her down the last step. Aoife jumped down after them.
“Good work, all of you,” Seán said. “The Tyrell brothers might have been one short without your help.” He stepped up and wrapped his arms around Aoife. “Those were scary seas.”
“Tony should’ve known better than to have stayed out that long as the weather built,” Joey said. “He put us all at risk. I’ll talk to him tomorrow when everyone’s had some sleep.” They pulled off their wet weather gear and threw it on the bench in front of their locker.
Ordinarily, each crewmember would take care of their own kit, hanging it in the drying room, and making sure it was ready for the next time. But tonight, after the call they’d been on, one of the ground crew was gathering their wet items.
Kasia stood there, wrapping her arms around her body. Despite being soaking wet, she didn’t want to take off her layers. The air would be icy cold because the gas heater that warmed the office didn’t reach the locker room.
Joey turned, already stripped down to their thermals. Their brow furrowed. “Hey, you need to get out of those. Let me help you.”
Kasia pulled away. She didn’t want help; she just wanted to go to sleep. But Joey was insistent and started unzipping her coat.
“Your lips are blue, and the shaking is getting worse. If you don’t want to end up in that Coast Guard helicopter, you’re going to have to help me.”
Kasia tried to help, but her arms felt like lead. She finally just let Joey take care of her. They stripped her and pushed her into the shower, where Aoife was already standing under the steaming jet. She grabbed a towel from the rack and stepped out of the way so Joey could guide Kasia under the water.
Kasia watched as though from behind a thick glass wall. Only the cold was real. The heat from the water shocked her back to reality, and she lifted her head. The hot stream ran through her hair and warmed her scalp. Gradually, she felt more alive, but a skull-splitting headache developed along with deep pain in her shoulder. She reached up to her head and couldn’t hold back a hiss when her shoulder objected.
Joey rushed close. “I knew I’d hurt you when I grabbed you. Let me call Dr. Scott, please?”
She leaned back against the wall of the shower. “I’m fine. Just find me some painkillers for when I get out and leave me in peace for five minutes.”
Aoife stopped drying her hair with a towel and guided Joey out. “Five minutes, then we’re coming to get you. Seán will check you over when you’re done.”
Kasia sighed and pushed upright. Her shaking was subsiding. She was probably mildly hypothermic. Her speech had been slurred on the boat, and she’d seen the concern in Joey’s eyes, but the hot water was helping.
Her fall from the lifeboat into the freezing water had been the most terrifying moment of her life. Her instinct to fight and survive had battled with the shock of the cold sea. Her life jacket had helped her avoid swallowing much water, and Joey had forced her to cough it up the moment she was on board. The feeling of their strong hand catching hers just before the waves drove her away from the lifeboat was something she’d never forget. She washed her hair and cleaned herself with her good arm and had wrapped a towel around her body before Aoife marched in at her deadline.
“How are you feeling?”
Concern filled her voice, and Kasia knew she should be grateful people cared about her, but the feeling of irritation just kept growing. “I told you I’m okay. I just want to be left alone to get dressed and go home.”
“Okay, but Seán just needs to check you out.”
Her expression must’ve reflected her mood because Aoife raised her hands. “Hey, give us a break, Kasia. It’s Seán’s responsibility to check you’re okay.” She stepped back. “Then Joey will take you home.”
“Okay, but he’d better be quick.” She was grateful Aoife had brought her clothes and helped her into them.
“Joey said to get you as warm as possible. Come on now, and Seán will make it quick. I promise.”
She allowed herself to be pulled out into the main room and sat down on a bench.
Seán knelt on the floor in front of her and took her wrist. “How are you feeling? Please be honest.”
“I feel like shit, but nothing I can’t handle. My head aches, I can’t move my shoulder, and my extremities are still tingling, but I’m regaining some feeling. Let me go home, please.”
Joey held out a glass and some tablets she swallowed without question, then she gulped down the water. Her throat also hurt. She wished she could just teleport directly into her bed.
After a couple of minutes of poking and asking questions about what hurt, Seán stood. “I’m going to get Dr. Scott to come first thing and give you a proper check over, especially that shoulder. You can go home if there’s someone there to keep an eye on you. Is Tierney at the hotel tonight?”
Joey stood. “I’ll take her home and make sure Tierney’s around.” They pulled Kasia gently to her feet. “Come on, let’s get you to bed.”
Kasia stood with care, though she was swaying. The priority was getting home. She’d get to Tierney, who would make it all okay once she was wrapped up tight in her arms. Joey put her coat on her and zipped it up around her injured arm. Then she allowed them to guide her out and nodded vaguely to Aoife and Seán as she passed.
When Joey opened the door of the boathouse, Kasia was surprised to see the cold light of dawn spilling through. The wind was still howling, but it had lost some of its ferocity, and the rain had eased to a light drizzle. Clearly, the worst of the storm had passed.
Joey led her down the path from the lifeboat station. The station stood at the far end of the small bay that created the natural harbor. On a good day, Kasia could run there in four minutes, but this journey would take longer, no matter how eager she was to get to bed.
“If you wait here, I’ll run and fetch the truck from your car park.”
“No, don’t leave me. I’ll be okay if we take it slowly.” She was grateful for Joey’s arm around her, and she leaned into their warm sweater as they wrapped their own coat around them both.
Joey halted their slow progress and turned to her. “Whatever’s happened, I want you to remember we can fix it. Don’t freak out, okay?”
Her sluggish brain struggled to understand fully, but a sliver of alarm slipped through.
“What? What’s happened?” She struggled to push Joey aside.
When they sidestepped, she could to see across the harbor, beyond the quay, to where the familiar shape of the hotel stood. Except the shape was wrong. Large black holes gaped across the roof, and ceiling materials hung down the outer walls. She squinted in the half light, trying to make out the extent of the damage. Her legs wouldn’t move, and an icy hand squeezed the breath from her lungs. When she looked up, Joey’s expression reflected the horror she felt. She opened her mouth, but nothing suitable came to mind. Tears slid down her cheeks. “We need to find Tierney.” Her voice came out as a croak.
“Come on.” Joey pulled her back under their coat, and they continued to walk a little more hurriedly.
She’d left Tierney alone in the storm. Was she hurt?
When they reached the car park, Joey swung open the door of their truck. “Sit in there while I check that it’s safe to go in.”
Kasia collapsed onto the edge of the seat and watched Joey run up to the front door. When they tried the handle, it opened and they disappeared inside.
She rubbed her face with her good hand. Up close, the damage was harder to see, but the car park was littered with tiles. She wanted to go inside and inspect the damage, but she didn’t have the physical or emotional energy to deal with it right now. The only thing that really mattered was Tierney. The opening of the front door drew her attention as Joey emerged.
“I found Tierney. She’s safe.”
Joey stepped aside and Tierney emerged. Fergus was in her arms and her hair was full of plaster dust.
She ran over to Kasia. “Are you okay? Joey said you went overboard.”
She wrapped one arm around Kasia in an awkward embrace, hindered by a squirming cat. Fergus yowled, jumped out of her arms, and ran back inside the hotel.
Kasia watched him go. Relief flooded through her. Tierney was safe. She appeared mostly unscathed, with just a few cuts on her face and hands seeping blood through the layers of dust. “I’m fine. Do you need medical attention?” She was struggling to think beyond the moment.
“No.” Tierney shook herself, raising a cloud of dust between them. “One of the windows blew in, and I guess that let the wind get in and up into the roof. I tried to keep it contained, but it was too dangerous, so I hid in the cellar.”
Tierney’s voice cracked, and tears tracked through the dust on her cheeks.
“We’ll get the repairs done as quick as we can, and we’ll have the hotel open in no time.”
Tierney didn’t sound as if she believed that any more than Kasia did. Kasia’s heart told her she should take Tierney in her arms, but she couldn’t take her eyes from the wreckage of the hotel. All their hard work and attention to detail, all ruined. They were now worse off than they had been before.
“This can’t be the only damage from the storm. Every contractor will be booked up for months, and the first bookings are in six weeks.”
Tierney started to sob. “I couldn’t do anything, Kasia. The storm was too powerful.”
“You could’ve done something when the roof needed replacing, but you didn’t listen to me or push your dad to invest.” Kasia couldn’t hold the words back; she was too exhausted.
Joey stepped up behind Kasia and gripped her shoulder. “Hey, this isn’t the time or place for this. I’ll take you both back to the cottage, and you can get some rest. I’ll get a few of the boys over, and we’ll get some sheeting up. We can stop it getting any worse.” They held the rear car door open. “Do you have everything you need at the cottage?”
Tierney nodded and jumped in. Kasia heard her sniffling in the back for the short journey, and a warming glow of anger started to spread though her cold limbs. It wasn’t really even aimed at Tierney. She should have known better than to trust someone still dependent on her family at the age of thirty-five. She shouldn't have relied on anyone. It was her own fault she was in this position.
Joey pulled up at the cottage and they all got out in awkward silence. Joey hesitated when Tierney unlocked the door. “You’ll call me if you need anything, right?”
Kasia nodded. Even that hurt. “I just need some sleep.”
“Perhaps leave the talking till you’ve both rested?” Joey put a hand on her arm. “Everything will seem more manageable when you’ve had some sleep.”
She turned and followed Tierney into the house, unable to agree. Nothing about this situation was manageable.
Tierney was waiting for her in the kitchen. “I’ll talk to my dad today. If we pay a generous price, I’m sure we’ll find a contractor who’ll do the work urgently. We can get a new roof in no time.” Her eyes were wide and shining in a face still smeared with dust and tears.
“And it’s just a roof that’s needed, is it? The rooms are untouched?”
“We’ll get them fixed up. I’ll convince Dad to invest properly.”
Kasia let her anger surface. “Do you think one day you might finally come up with an idea that doesn’t involve running to Daddy for money? Will you ever grow up, Tierney?”
Tierney backed up until she bumped the cabinets behind her. Her eyes got even wider, if that was possible, and her mouth dropped open.
“What? None of this is my fault, Kasia. Why are you lashing out at me?” Her voice shook, belying the defensiveness in her words.
Kasia laughed, but it came out more like a snarl. “Of course, it's not your responsibility. Nothing ever is, is it? You think you're so different from your dad? Looks to me like you’re a chip off the old block.”
Tierney gripped the worktop behind her. Kasia saw her knuckles turn white. Then Tierney stood taller. “There are plenty of hotels in the world, Kasia. But for some reason, only the Waterside will do for you. So you’re stuck with the fucked-up Walshes and their stupid family feud. And useless Tierney is the only one who even tried to make it work.”
Tears were falling again, but Tierney’s voice was steady. “I’m sorry I disappointed you, but no one was ever going to reach your standards, were they?”
The words hurt, but Kasia was too far gone to stop now. “I don’t think you really understand the meaning of the word try. You’ve never needed to, have you? It’s all been handed to you on a plate. Why don’t you go home to Daddy? You were never in it for the long haul, anyway.”
She didn’t have to add that last part, but Tierney was the only thing left to lose. Her dreams of the hotel and her life on Inishderry were in tatters. If Tierney just got on and left, there’d be nothing more to fear.
“I’m sorry you haven’t had the same opportunities I have, but you can’t keep blaming me for the family I was born into.” Tierney rubbed her face. “We’re both too tired to do this. I’m going to bed.” She turned for the door. “Help yourself to anything you need.”
Left standing in the kitchen, Kasia’s outrage drained away, leaving her exhausted, in pain, and, once again, alone. She dragged herself to the spare room and wondered if this was how she was meant to live. If she was alone, no one could let her down.