Page 39 of The Rising Tide

She twists her head, opens her eyes, tries to make sense of the fractured images she sees.

There’s a sign. The Drift Net. Golden windows of light. A few seconds more and Lucy’s on the quay no longer. She’s in a cramped room full of warning signs and tubes and machines. A woman crouches opposite. Green uniform, blonde hair.

‘OK, love. Looks like you’ve banged your head. We’ll fix that in a jiffy, but first let’s get you out of these wet clothes.’

‘Billie,’ Lucy manages, as the woman unzips the RNLI jacket.

‘I know, love. It’s Lucy, isn’t it? Do you mind if I call you Lucy?’

Lucy shakes her head. As if she could care a damn for what anyone called her. Something trickles down her forehead and into her eye. She blinks, tries to wipe it, but her arms are stuck inside the jacket sleeves. ‘Fin,’ she mutters. Important, even if she can’t form sentences, to make this woman understand. She focuses on the uniform. Sees an embroidered name badge:JOHANNA.

Her jacket comes off. The top half of her dungarees. Her T-shirt follows, then her bra. A blanket is round her shoulders and it’s such a simple comfort she can’t stop herself from weeping.

Johanna pauses, strokes her shoulder. ‘I know, love. I know. Let’s lie you down, get your boots undone, these salopettes off.’

‘Ambulance,’ Lucy says. ‘My daughter. My son.’

Johanna nods, easing her on to the stretcher. ‘That’s it, there we go. Haven’t had a sea like this in years, have we? Waves up to ten metres off the Point.’

‘My children are in the water.’

Beneath them, an engine turns over. Lucy realizes what’s happening. She tries to struggle up.

Johanna needs the strength of two fingers to press her back down. ‘Lucy, you’re very cold and we need to warm you up. And we really need to treat that head wound.’

‘Back to the boat.’

‘I’m afraid not, lovey. You’re coming with us to the hospital.’

‘Ribs.’

‘Ribs?’

‘Broken, I think.’

The ambulance door swings open. Cold wind corkscrews in.

A face appears that she doesn’t recognize – another green uniform. ‘We all set?’

‘She’s going to be OK,’ Johanna says. ‘Let’s go.’

Commotion behind the second paramedic. Lucy sees Noemie and Bee, Tommo and Jake. A white light shines in, dazzling her.

‘Jesus, man, backoff!’ Jake shouts. The light is shoved aside.

‘North Devon District?’ Noemie asks.

Johanna nods.

‘We’ll follow by car.’

Lucy focuses on Jake. ‘Don’t let them stop looking. Please, Jake. Don’t let them stop.’

He stares at her, stricken. And then the door is closing. She gets a last glimpse of the sea. It’s Armageddon out there. The end of everything she knows.

Lucy blinks, struggles to keep her eyes open.

Two warning blips from the siren. Movement, beneath her. And now they’re underway.

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