Chapter 44
FORTY-FOUR
‘Where are you heading?’ he asks as another thunderclap sounds overhead.
‘Kato Petres Beach. My husband needs our help,’ says Rita. ‘He has fallen. Please let him be okay,’ she cries.
Takis freezes for a moment. ‘Kato Petres?’
‘Yes. It isn’t too far from here,’ she says, panic in her voice.
‘What happened?’ he asks.
‘He slipped on some rocks. It’s all my fault,’ says Rita with a loud sob. ‘He wanted to head back earlier, but I insisted we carried on to the beach. Then the storm came.’
‘You cannot blame yourself,’ says Phoebe. ‘It was an accident.’
‘Yes, but if we had headed back when we were supposed to…’
Takis is silent as we walk, seemingly lost in his thoughts.
‘You don’t have to go any further,’ I tell Takis, placing my hand gently on his arm. ‘I know what happened here with your brother.’
‘You do?’
‘Yes. Athena mentioned it to me. We can manage without you, if it is too much.’
‘I will be okay.’ He takes a deep breath. ‘I have to help.’
I instinctively find his hand and give it a squeeze.
Suddenly, Rita points to her husband, who is lying on the ground in a rocky footpath overlooking the beach, so we break into a jog. She calls his name, but he doesn’t respond.
‘Please let him be okay,’ she says in a panicked voice as we head closer.
Thankfully, he is conscious when we reach him, and lets out a little groan.
‘Where does it hurt?’ I yell over the sound of the rolling sea, and a sudden thunderclap overhead.
‘My lower leg. I can’t move it.’ He groans.
His leg is wedged between two rocks, and we struggle to set it free. Takis is watching us for a second, as if in a trance.
‘Are you okay to help?’ I shout to Takis.
‘Sorry, yes of course, of course.’
He swiftly springs into action and within a few seconds, we have freed John’s leg and he yelps in pain. His ankle is already badly swollen and purple coloured. I also notice that he is bleeding.
I ask Phoebe for her scarf and tie a makeshift tourniquet around his lower limb, although, thankfully, the bleeding is more of a steady trickle.
‘We need to try and get him on a stretcher,’ I say, pulling out the thin blanket that was tucked inside my jacket, in a vain attempt to keep it dry.
‘Takis, can you help me lift him? Takis?’ I ask for a second time, noticing he is lost in his thoughts once more.
‘Of course.’
We lift him onto the blanket, and carefully taking a corner each, we make our way up the incline of forest, although with the continuing rain, the path is quickly becoming hazardous.
‘If we can get him onto the road. I could go and get my car,’ offers Phoebe.
Between us we manage to carefully climb onto a flat footpath, which makes moving along a lot easier.
Suddenly, we spot a blue light and the faint sound of an ambulance siren descending the mountain road and heading our way.
‘Oh, thank goodness for that,’ says Rita.
When the ambulance pulls up Takis speaks to the paramedic in Greek, who quickly administers some painkillers once John is inside the truck with Rita.
‘I can still get my car and follow you?’ Phoebe tells Rita as the thunder roars.
‘No, really you have done enough. All of you. More than enough. Thank you so much for everything.’
‘I will call the hospital later to check in on John,’ I call after her, before the ambulance heads off to the hospital.
We hurriedly make our way back to the café to discover that the electricity is still down. It’s almost dark now, and I don’t have any candles, but I needn’t have feared. There is a plastic bag against a wall, tied up with string, a rock pushed up against it to prevent it from blowing away.
When I drag it inside and open it, it contains several candles and a flashlight. It seems living near a village has its benefits.
I head to a drawer in the kitchen and find a box of matches that one of the customers left behind on an outside table, so I’d popped them into a drawer. Lucky I did.
I light the three chunky candles and place the flashlight onto a nearby table. Luckily, the temperature is still warm despite the darkness and the raging storm outside.
‘I can provide us with some drinks, but no coffee, I am afraid,’ I say as we hang our dripping coats up and huddle around the large chunky candles.
I quickly nip upstairs for some bath towels. Only to find water dripping through the bathroom ceiling.
I dash downstairs with the towels, and tell Takis what I have found upstairs.
‘It isn’t gushing, thank goodness, but there is a steady drip from the ceiling.’
‘A roof tile has probably become loose during the storm. I’ll take a look; there is a ladder in the garden shed.’
‘You can’t go up a ladder in this weather,’ I say, alarmed.
‘I will be okay. The wind has dropped a little now, but if the rain carries on you will end up with a flooded bathroom.’
Despite my protests, Takis scales the ladder, with me and Phoebe gripping it tightly at the bottom.
The rain is lashing on our faces, but I am more concerned about Takis up there in this awful weather. After what seems like forever he descends the ladder and returns to terra firma.
‘I found a tile that had slipped into the gutter. I have placed it back where it should be.’
‘Oh, thank you, Takis. I could kiss you,’ I blurt out.
‘Feel free,’ he says, and Phoebe gives a knowing look.
Thankfully there is no flood damage in the bathroom, and I mop the wet area of the floor with a large towel.
‘I think we need a drink,’ I say, exhausted after the recent drama. ‘There are some beers left from the opening day, and a bottle of ouzo if anyone would like a shot.’
‘I think we need one after that,’ says Phoebe.
Takis sits quietly, staring at the candle flame, as the shadows dance on the walls.
‘So where were you heading?’ I ask him as we towel dry our hair and sip our drinks.
There is a banging on the café door before he has a chance to answer. Phoebe stands to answer as I grab some glasses. Standing outside is Nicos.