CHAPTER 57
“You?” he asked with a laugh. “You? Surely, you must be joking.”
She bit the inside of her cheek to keep from saying anything and was thankful the disbelief was causing a smile and not a tirade. The nerve of this man! The land could not come soon enough.
“Are you joking?” he continued.
“Am I not right here in the middle of a storm saving you?”
“Perhaps,” he agreed. “But I’ve heard of good-hearted souls doing such a thing. But the keeper? Of this lighthouse? My God, it’s in the middle of nowhere!”
“And?” She would almost think he was doing better if not for the fact that now his breaths seemed heavier and faster and he looked even more off-color than before. “No, actually don’t answer that, sir. Please save your strength.”
“My strength is fine.”
“I truly beg to differ.”
He looked like he wanted to fight further but genuinely didn’t have the strength.
“Did they wrap it to apply pressure?” she asked.
He didn’t even bother opening his eyes now; he looked tired enough that perhaps he couldn’t. “The wood is still in there. They said pulling it out will make it bleed more.”
That much sounded true, but shouldn’t they at least have tied something around the arm to staunch the bleeding?
“Lift your arm if you can,” she said, “above your head and heart. It’ll help the bleeding slow.”
He looked too weary to fight her and he lazily put his arm beside his head; his elbow rested on the side of the boat. “How is this?”
“Better. Just hold on. We’ll be back soon.”
“And there’s a doctor there?”
“No,” she said. With this current, taking him to a doctor was easily an hour or more away. “I’ll take care of it,” she said. “I know basic first aid.”
“Delightful,” he muttered, not at all sounding like he meant it.