Page 72 of The Wedding Proposal

‘Inflated air bed?’ suggested someone, doubtfully. ‘I’ve got one on deck.’

‘Not rigid enough.’ Lucas was completely calm but he had to squeeze out words as his breathing allowed. ‘What about a plastic sunbed? Anyone got one of those on board?’

‘I’ll get one!’ a man’s voice called from the back of what was rapidly becoming a crowd.

While he rushed off, Lucas looked at the boats looming above him. ‘Can someone get more fenders and wedge them between these two and the side so we don’t get crushed?’

‘OK. Will do!’

Over the pounding of her blood in her ears, Elle was aware of other footsteps hurrying away. She kept her eyes fixed on Lucas as if she could keep him safely at the surface by sheer willpower. He was treading water mechanically and economically, totally in control of the emergency, assessing what was going on around him, pausing to look into his brother’s face, observing as fenders were wedged in to keep the Shady Lady and Fallen Star from sashaying suddenly up to the quay.

In a minute, two men bustled up with a white plastic lounger. ‘Do you need us to snap the legs off?’

‘No time.’ Lucas was beginning to sound strained. ‘I’ll need help in the water to get him on it. Any of you guys strong swimmers?’

There were steps down from the quay nearby and three men got themselves briskly into the water, swimming along to join Lucas. He looked up at Elle. ‘If I float him closer, can you get his head? Keep it immobile.’

‘Got it.’ Elle lay on the concrete and stretched down, just able to lace her hands under Charlie’s head, his hair brushing against her fingers, while the others arranged themselves to support his body. The sunbed was passed down carefully, Lucas making the men turn it so that the fixed part, normally under the legs, would be under Charlie’s head. A man knelt beside Elle to guide the bed, angling it ready to slide it under the surface.

Lucas took over supporting Charlie’s head, his fingers covering Elle’s. ‘Elle, can you get some sheets so we’ve something to cover him with when we get him out?’

‘Right.’ Elle gently slid her hands free before leaping up to do as directed. Reaching the guest cabin, she pulled the sheets off Charlie’s bunk and bundled them up in her arms, stumbling up the steps and out to the cockpit to return to the tense scene outside.

‘OK. You two’ — Lucas glanced at the men on the other side of Charlie — ‘you stay still and support him.’ He transferred his gaze to the other man on the same side of Charlie as Lucas. ‘You move down to his feet.’ His gaze shifted to Elle. ‘Get ready to take his head again.’

‘Right.’ Her eyes burned with sudden tears as she looked down into Charlie’s face. Even under the marina lights he was paler than she’d ever seen anybody in her life.

Lucas raised his voice to the guys still on shore. ‘Can two or three of you get in and wrangle the sunbed under the water? If you can level it out, we can just float him over onto it.’ He gave every word emphasis. ‘We need to be steady, calm and slow, OK? Steady, calm and slow.’

The manoeuvre was accomplished with no fuss. It was as if Charlie had turned into a parcel of a million eggs and the goal was to execute the task without breaking a single one. In a pleasingly short time, Charlie, still unconscious, was lying flat on the sunbed in the water.

Lucas looked around at those who had somehow become his team. His hair was plastered to his head and hanging in his eyes. ‘OK, let’s get him out. We need to lift the bed level with the quay and then slide it onto the shore without letting Charlie slide off. It’s going to be hard work for those in the water. Everyone OK?’ He waited while the two men who had held the bed in the water got out onto the quay and Elle scrambled out of their way so that they could reach down to receive the nearest two corners.

‘Slowly,’ Lucas gasped, treading water hard. ‘Both ends together, keep it level. OK? Ready? Three, two, one, lift. Steady, steady.’ The four in the water lifted, their arms going above their heads as they trod water and managed to pop the end of the white plastic bed on the lip of the quay. That accomplished, there were many willing hands to ease the makeshift stretcher further along. In seconds, Charlie’s bed was on solid ground and the hands turned to help Lucas and the rest of the team out of the dark water.

Lucas went straight to kneel beside his brother. Wanting to blubber with relief that Lucas was safe, Elle had to force herself not to launch herself at him in joy that he hadn’t been crushed between the hulls and pride at his heroics. Instead, she kept her gaze glued to Charlie, whose eyelids had begun to flutter.

Instantly, Lucas frowned. ‘Elle, can you hold his head again? I don’t want him to shake it if he begins to come round.’

Cautiously, Elle crouched down at the crown of Charlie’s head and placed her palms gently over the sides of his face. His skin felt colder to the touch in the air than it had in the water. Quashing her own feelings, she gave Lucas what she hoped was a reassuring smile. ‘Got him.’

Lucas held her gaze for a moment, as if drawing strength. But then his focus flipped back to his brother as a siren began to wail somewhere over the ridge between them and Msida. ‘We’re going to get you to hospital, Charlie. The ambulance should be here in a minute.

‘Great job everyone.’ Lucas sounded just as if he were on a training course, reassuring his subject in case he could hear and then communicating with his team. He stooped to press his ear against his brother’s chest. ‘Heartbeat’s faint but OK. I want to keep him warm so he doesn’t go into shock. O2 would be great but we don’t carry it on the boat.’

His gaze travelled methodically along his brother’s arms, shoulders and abdomen. When he moved down to Charlie’s right leg, he stopped. ‘Broken, I think.’ Careful not to cause unnecessary pain, he touched the foot. ‘But he’s got a foot pulse so the blood’s getting round.’

‘What about the recovery position?’ someone called out.

Lucas shook his head. ‘I don’t want to take any chances with a broken leg and I don’t know about his spine. He’s breathing so I’m going to leave him on his back, but I could do with something to put under his good leg to raise it.’ One of the fenders that had been wedged between Fallen Star and the quay appeared magically next to Lucas; he propped up Charlie’s undamaged leg and covered him with the sheets Elle had fetched.

Then the ambulance was nosing its way onto the quay. Soon, green-clad paramedics were kneeling beside Charlie, speaking reassuringly, listening as Lucas gave them a situation report, nodding that they understood.

Elle made way for the professionals and edged back out of the circle of guardian angels around Charlie.

Only once the handover was complete did Lucas allow himself to sit back on his heels. The hand he passed over his face began to shake as he reverted from rescuer to brother and exhaustion etched itself on his face. Kayleigh tottered up to crouch beside him; Lucas slid a comforting arm around her and she sobbed softly into his shoulder.

As the paramedics applied a neck brace and prepared to transfer him to a backboard, Charlie began to move his hands weakly. Immediately, Lucas leaned over and spoke to him and Charlie was quiet again.

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