Forty-six
Jamie was chugging down his second coffee of the day and preparing to head out to meet the members of the day’s fishing charter. His mind was on Erica who was spending the day in Bellbird Bay at the Bellbird Women’s Centre , something she had evidently promised to do the previous year before events overtook her. The local radio was playing in the background when suddenly a news item grabbed his attention. There had been a shark attack. He turned up the sound but had missed the vital part of the announcement – the location of the attack. He drained his coffee and turned off the radio. It was probably in Western Australia, or the North Coast of New South Wales, where the last two attacks had occurred. Thankfully, there hadn’t been one on this part of the coast in his lifetime, though he seemed to recall his dad talking about one when he was just a nipper.
He was halfway out the door when his phone rang. Seeing Gary’s number, Jamie sighed. What did Gary want now? His group would be arriving shortly, and he wanted to have everything ready for them.
‘Gary, I don’t have much time,’ he said. ‘I…’
‘Dad, you haven’t heard?’
Jamie saw another call coming through. It was from Joe’s number. ‘Heard what?’ He didn’t have time for this.
‘It’s Rory.’
‘Rory?’ What had Rory got himself into now? Out of the corner of his eye Jamie saw Poppy’s son-in-law, Gavin, walking purposefully towards him. He was in his police uniform. What the…? ‘Sorry, Gary, I need to go.’
‘But, Dad…’
Jamie ended the call, just as Gavin reached him. ‘Something the matter, Gavin?’
‘It’s Rory, Mr Whittaker. There’s been a shark attack…’
Jamie felt the blood drain from his face. He let out a strangled sob. It couldn’t be true. Rory was in the office at Pelican Marine with Cam, where he always was at this time of day, where… ‘How is he?’ he managed to say, his heart breaking. He felt numb.
‘He’s alive, but critical, in the hospital. I can drive you there now. Gary’s already there. They were surfing together earlier.’
‘My…’ Jamie looked around, trying to remember what he’d been about to do.
‘We can let your charter group know you have a family emergency.’
‘Right.’ Jamie allowed himself to be led to the police car parked nearby.
By the time they reached the hospital, his mind had covered all possibilities. It was a relief to meet Gary in the emergency department and to see him looking relatively calm but tight-lipped.
‘It’s his leg, Dad,’ Gary said. ‘They think they can save it, but it’s touch and go. They’ve taken him straight into surgery. Is…?’ He glanced around as if looking for someone.
‘Erica’s not on duty today,’ Jamie said, cursing that this could have happened when she wasn’t there.
‘They say it could take some time. Should we…?’
Just then, Cam appeared and gave Jamie a hug, but he was too numb to return it. ‘I came as soon as I heard,’ he said, ‘closed the office. He’s going to be okay?’
It was Gary who answered, ‘So they say. We just have to wait till he’s out of surgery.’
‘You’re in shock,’ Cam said, taking charge. ‘We can’t do anything here. I presume someone will call when Rory’s out of surgery?’
Gary nodded. ‘They have my number.’
‘Then let me take you to the café. What you both need is a cup of hot, sweet tea.’
Despite the seriousness of the situation, Jamie almost laughed. It was his mother’s remedy for any sort of shock. Feeling helpless to refuse, he accompanied Cam and Gary to the hospital café, where Cam ordered three teas, then produced a hip flask from which he added brandy to their cups.
As the numbness receded and Jamie gradually felt himself return to something approaching normal, helped by Cam’s brandy, he asked Gary what had happened.
Gary shook his head slowly, his eyes partly closed. ‘It all happened in a flash. One minute we were barrelling into shore, Rory was calling out that he’d beat me in, then…’ he made no attempt to wipe away the tears now coursing down his cheeks, ‘… he let out a yell and… We all saw it, the fin, the blood. A couple of other surfers helped me get him out of the water, called an ambulance. It was too early for the surf lifesavers to be on duty. Joe was there too. He… I couldn’t… I’m sorry, Dad.’
‘Not your fault, son.’ Jamie sighed heavily, his voice filled with anguish. He checked his watch. How long had they been here? He’d lost track of time. What was happening to Rory? He started to rise, gazing wildly around the café. He felt a hand on his shoulder.
‘It’s okay, Jamie. The doctor will call when there’s news,’ Cam said.
Jamie sat down again, knowing there was nothing he could do but frustrated at doing nothing. He wondered why Gary had mentioned Joe but now wasn’t the time to ask.
‘I called Mum,’ Gary said, when they were on their second cups of tea, this time without the addition of brandy.
Jamie almost choked. ‘Why did you do that?’
Gary shifted uncomfortably in his seat. ‘I thought she should know. She is our mother.’
‘And… what did she say?’
‘She didn’t answer. I left a message.’
Jamie relaxed. So what if Gary had called Cindy. She wasn’t likely to turn up here… or was she? She’d always had the habit of doing the unexpected, turning up where she wasn’t wanted… and he didn’t want her here, crying crocodile tears and playing the distraught mother to the son she’d been happy to abandon in his teens.
They’d been waiting so long that the call when it came was a shock, Gary’s phone blasting out the theme tune from Star Wars . ‘Sorry,’ Gary said again as he grabbed his phone. He listened for a moment then said, ‘He’s out of surgery.’
‘And?’ Jamie demanded, his stomach churning, worst case scenarios flitting through his mind.
‘That’s all he said. We can go up to the ward, but he’s still unconscious.’
As they rose to leave, Jamie stumbled. He grasped the back of the chair with one hand. It was as if his legs had turned to jelly.
‘All right, mate?’ Cam’s hand was on his arm.
‘Give me a minute.’ Jamie was embarrassed to let his weakness show but this was Rory, his firstborn son, the boy he’d cradled as a baby, had taught to surf, to sail, the one most likely to take over the business when he decided to retire. What if…? He couldn’t contemplate losing him.
Joe rushed in just as they were about to leave. ‘I thought I’d find you here. How is Rory? I came as soon as I could. I had to take Coco home first. I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw…’ He shook his head. ‘There hasn’t been a shark attack here in my lifetime.’
‘Joe!’ Jamie grasped his friend’s hand. ‘Gary said you were there. You saw it happen?’
Joe grimaced. ‘I did what I could, but it was the paramedics who saved him.’
Jamie stared at his friend. What did he mean?
‘Dad?’ Gary took him by the arm. ‘We need to go.’
‘Sorry, Joe. We’ve just heard Rory’s out of surgery. You can come with us if you like. I don’t know…’ His voice trailed off. He had no idea what sort of state Rory would be in, how badly injured he was. But at least he was alive.