Chapter 42
The heart monitor beeps steadily beside the bed, the soft rhythm filling the quiet hospital room while I watch the slow rise and fall of Aiden’s chest beneath the thick warming blankets.
It has been three hours since someone came running out of the command room to tell us they had found him.
Three hours since the world shifted from unbearable uncertainty into something that still feels terrifying, but at least carries the fragile promise of hope.
The drive to Newport only took twenty minutes, but I barely remember any of it. My hands were shaking on the steering wheel the entire time, my heart lodged somewhere high in my throat, while the same prayer repeated in my head over and over again.
Please let him be okay.
Please let him be alive.
By the time I reached the hospital, I felt like I was barely holding myself together.
The waiting after that was the worst part.
The medical team was already working on him, and there was nothing for me to do except sit in a quiet waiting room while the minutes stretched endlessly across the clock on the wall.
A nurse came in a few times to reassure me that he was stable, but those brief updates somehow made the time pass even more slowly.
So I sat there gripping my hands together, hoping the people behind those doors were fast enough.
That’s what I keep reminding myself now as I sit beside his hospital bed, my fingers wrapped tightly around his hand while machines quietly monitor everything happening inside his body.
He’s still unconscious.
George, Cassie, and Rafi came earlier to check on me.
Cassie offered to drive me home so I could get some rest, but the thought of leaving this hospital—of walking away from the room where Aiden is fighting his way back to consciousness—is something I can’t bear.
They stayed for a while, keeping me company in the quiet room until it became clear there was nothing left to do but wait. Eventually, they said their goodbyes, George telling me not to worry about work tomorrow and asking me to call him the moment there are any updates.
My phone rests on the chair beside me now, lighting up every so often with messages from my sisters.
April.
June.
Nathan.
All of them checking on me and reminding me that they’re here if I need anything. I’ve answered a few messages, just enough to let them know he’s stable and that I’m still waiting.
Now he’s finally in his own room, and the nurses and doctors who have come in and out over the last hour have all been incredibly kind to me.
I see it in the way they speak softly when they step inside, in the small, encouraging smiles they offer each time they check his monitors.
It’s clear they want to see him wake up just as much as I do.
Doctor Boskovich, the doctor overseeing Aiden’s care, stopped by not long ago while I was sitting here, placing a gentle hand on my shoulder as he glanced at the monitors.
“His core temperature dropped pretty low,” he told me with a small, reassuring smile. “But they got him here in time. He’s stable now. We just need his body to warm up and recover.”
Now I sit beside him in the quiet room, his hand resting loosely in mine, the skin still cool despite the heavy warming blankets draped over his body, my thumb brushing slowly over his knuckles while I wait for the moment his eyes finally open.
The quiet hum of the machines is the only sound in the room when the door opens behind me.
I glance up.
Finn stands in the doorway in his dark blue Coast Guard uniform, concern written clearly across his face the moment our eyes meet.
I’m on my feet before I even realize I’ve moved.
The distance between us disappears in seconds, and I throw my arms around him, clinging tightly as relief crashes through me all at once.
Finn wraps his arms around me just as quickly, one hand steady against my back.
“Thank you,” I whisper, my voice breaking as fresh tears fill my eyes.
He pulls back just enough to look at me, his hand settling at the back of my neck the way he always does, his thumb brushing along my skin.
“You’ve nothing to thank me for, lass.”
The emotion in my chest tightens again, and I hug him once more, pressing my face against his chest.
“He’s here because of you.”
Finn doesn’t argue. He lets me hold onto him while the tension I’ve been carrying all afternoon slowly begins to loosen.
Sorry, it took me a bit to get back. They had me stuck at base, working through a pile of paperwork.
I pull back, nodding.
He gestures toward the chairs beside Aiden’s bed, and we both sit.
“When one of our own goes overboard during a response call, the reports get… extensive.”
“I can imagine.”
His gaze shifts briefly toward the door before returning to me.
“There are a fair few worried firemen sitting out in the lobby, by the way.”
My eyes widen.
“Should I go out so they can come in? I’m sure the hospital only lets so many people here at a time.”
“They’ve all been updated. You’re right where you should be, lass.”
My chest tightens at that.
For a moment, we sit in silence, both of us looking at Aiden beneath the warming blankets.
Then I glance back at Finn.
“What happened out there?”
He leans forward, resting his forearms on his knees as his eyes drift toward the bed.
“We started the search just north of Pirate Cove. The current was running hard with the swell pushing north, so it carried him a fair bit farther out from where he went overboard.”
My stomach twists.
“How far?”
“Nearly half a mile from the last reported position.”
My eyes flick toward Aiden again.
“We were running the search grid when I noticed a whale.”
My brow furrows.
“A whale?”
He nods.
“She kept surfacing in the same spot. Blowing every few seconds but not traveling anywhere. Just circling.”
A chill moves through me.
“That’s when I took a closer look at that patch of water.”
My throat tightens.
“When the next swell rolled through, I saw a flash of orange between the waves.”
My hand tightens around Aiden’s fingers.
“They lowered me into the water, and I found him floating just beyond where the whale had been circling. She stayed there too… even while they dropped me in.”
My eyes fill instantly with tears as the image settles heavily in my chest—a gentle giant keeping watch over him while he fought to stay alive.
Finn continues.
“He still had his flotation vest on. And his instincts had clearly kicked in.”
I look up at him.
“He was curled forward in the water, knees pulled up toward his chest, arms tight against his body. He was in the HELP position—Heat Escape Lessening Posture. It’s what we train people to do in cold water to slow the loss of body heat”.
He glances at Aiden.
“He knew exactly what he was doing.”
My chest swells painfully.
“He controlled his breathing too. Didn’t panic. Kept himself afloat and breathing.”
Tears continue to slip down my cheeks.
Finn reaches across and brushes some away with his thumb.
“Once we had him secured, we hoisted him back up into the helicopter. Got the wet clothes off him, wrapped him in thermal blankets, started heated IV fluids, and got oxygen on him right away.”
I nod, absorbing every word.
“He survived because his instincts took over. He did everything right.”
He pauses, his gaze resting on Aiden.
“Aiden survived because he’s a fighter.”
A breath leaves him.
“And for that, I’ll always admire the man.”