Page 66 of Harbor Lights

If Con wanted her to walk, she’d try her best. She shuffled one foot in front of the other. At least she was dressed now. She didn’t want to be naked in front of Con. Well, not in this situation, at least.

She snickered.

“You finding something funny about all this, cuz?”

“Nope. It hurts and I feel weird in my head.” She leaned on the wall for a moment. Her body felt stiff, and the burning was unbearable, but at least her thoughts had straightened a little.

She hoped Con would come back soon. This was all kinds of scary, and she wanted Con to reassure her and tell her she was okay. She pushed off the wall and started walking in circles again.

TWENTY-ONE

“What the hell happened,Joey? Why was Shiv out there?”

Con half jogged to keep up with Joey’s long strides as they rushed back from the helipad. She hadn’t wanted to leave Shiv, but Joey needed her backup to tell the Coast Guard officers Shiv didn’t need a hospital examination.

“How the hell should I know? I tried to ask her, but she wasn’t making much sense when we pulled her out of the water.”

“You saved her life. All of them.” Con was regularly in awe of how Joey and their team battled all weathers to rescue people.

“We were lucky. If the wind had picked up any more we’d never have been able to pick them out in the surf.” Joey’s voice was gruff. They were still dressed in their waterproof kit, and they sounded exhausted.

“The Coast Guard would have arrived and helped you locate them.”

Joey stopped and turned. Con had to stop or run into them.

“Doc, when we got there, she was in the water, barely conscious. If she hadn’t had the sense to tie herself to the boat she’d have drifted off, for sure, and we’d still be out looking for her body.” Their voice broke. “She gave her fucking life jacket to that kid.”

Con rubbed their arm. “But it worked out okay. Thanks to you and your team. Think about that, not what could have been.” Her comforting tone took every ounce of professionalism she possessed to compete with the cold pit of terror in her stomach at the thought of losing Shiv.

They continued back to the station. “Tierney’s offered us a cottage for the night. Kasia’s in there getting the fire lit and the heaters on. Do you think we can walk her up there? It might help warm her up.”

Joey shrugged. “Can Tierney and Aoife help? I need to get home to Mari.”

Con stopped and pulled on Joey’s sleeve until they turned. Their eyes were hooded. “Speak to me,” she implored.

“It was just too close. It terrified me, Doc. Why would Shiv put herself at risk?”

“Because she’s fearless? Because she saw that something needed to be done, and she did it. I think that pretty much sums up her whole personality.”

When Joey slumped, Con tucked her arms around their waist. “You saved her life.”

“It made me realize how much a part of life she’s become here. Saving anonymous lives is one thing, but I really care about Shiv, and this scared me.”

Con leaned into their chest. “Me too, Joey. Me too.” She pulled back. “I’ll go and see to her. You get home.”

They approached the lifeboat station to see Peter, one of the other crew members, outside, rinsing his kit with a hose.

“Drop your kit there and I’ll sort it.”

Joey nodded gratefully and stepped out of their waterproofs.

“I’ll go and get the paperwork finished with Seán. Then I’ll check up on you before I leave.” They trudged up the stairs toward the briefing room.

Con watched them go and turned back to the kit room. Inside, Shiv stood cocooned in coats and blankets. Con’s heart flooded with relief. She was pale and shaking, but she was upright, and her eyes had lost some of the confusion that had frightened Con when she’d first seen her.

She wanted to throw her arms around Shiv and tell her she could never leave her sight again. Instead, she pushed up Shiv’s sleeve, took hold of her cool wrist and checked her watch. They stood in silence while she took the pulse reading. She could feel Shiv’s eyes searching her face, but she kept her gaze on her watch, as though she needed to note every second as it ticked away. With Tierney and Aoife still in the room, Con didn’t trust she’d keep her shit together if she looked into Shiv’s face. It was easier to do her job. She was good at that.

“Am I still alive?”

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