by Becky Wicks
‘Mummy!’
Sara released the girl and she ran towards her mother.
‘They won’t let me up!’ the woman said, reaching for the child. ‘He’s my husband. Is he OK?’
‘It’s safer there,’ Sara told her, turning to Fraser.
His shorts and hair were dripping—not that he seemed to notice. She got on her knees. Simon was laid down flat on the stretcher. She checked his unblinking eyes, his breathing and pulse. Someone was radioing the hospital.
‘I didn’t think sea lions could do this,’ she breathed, reaching for the Ambu bag beside him.
‘They’re wild animals—they can do what the hell they like,’ said Fraser, unzipping the front of the wetsuit to Simon’s waist. He placed one hand over the other and started rapid compressions on his hairy chest.
Sara placed the Ambu bag over his face. Her heart was skidding. The sea lion was still swimming circles in the water, and the crowd were snapping photos so fast the flashes were almost blinding her.
Fraser’s chest was rising and falling next to hers as he breathed heavily in blatant exhaustion. She could hardly believe what was happening—they weren’t even on duty. But they were never off duty, she realised. It was one thing after another, twenty-four-seven.
So much for this being a working holiday... She’d had her work cut out for her right from the start.
She held Simon’s head, still gently squeezing and releasing the bag. Simon wasn’t responding.
‘More compressions,’ she said, but Fraser was already on it.
She could see in his face how focused he was, how he too was trying his best to ignore the crowds and their camera flashes. Sara resumed her prayers as she counted the compressions. Simon’s wife and daughter were watching and the kid’s face was streaked with tears.
‘We’ll need to shock him,’ Fraser said now.
One of the aquarium’s assistants had already called for the defibrillator to be readied in the emergency room.
Sara noticed that Fraser was limping slightly, trying to ignore his obvious discomfort as they hurried to get Simon inside on the stretcher, away from public attention. They rushed down the steps, pushing through the crowds until they reached the aquarium’s ER. It was even more basic than the one on the ship.
‘The ambulance is on its way,’ someone said.
Sara inspected Simon’s wounds. The wetsuit was totally torn around his thigh and groin. She didn’t like to think what being bitten by a sea lion must feel like. She could tell it was a pretty bad wound, but it was the water that had harmed him more than anything.
‘The sea lion held him down like he was some kind of toy,’ Fraser told her incredulously as they moved him from the stretcher to a clean white bed. ‘No one knows why. Was he carrying tuna snacks in his pockets or something?’
Sara readied the machine. Simon’s wet hair and wetsuit were soaking the bed now, and Fraser was leaving puddles on the floor as he worked. He dashed his hand through his wet hair. His muscled torso was on full display and she didn’t miss a female staff member eyeing him up and down as he worked.
‘Charging...clear!’ he said, putting the paddles on his chest.
Simon’s muscles contracted and his limp body gave a jerk at the current charging through it.
The clock seemed to stop.
Again and again they tried.
‘We have a sinus rhythm—he’s back,’ she announced moments later, as the machine showed a blip she’d honestly thought she’d never see.
Simon started coughing wildly. Behind her the ER room door was flung open and two paramedics rushed in with a blast of warm Puerto Rican air. Someone had also let Simon’s wife and daughter into the room.
‘Is he going to be OK?’ the little girl asked. Her face was flushed—like her mother’s.
‘I think he is now,’ Fraser said.
Relief was written all over his face. He seemed to remember he was shirtless suddenly, and looked around for his clothes.
The female aquarium staff member was still looking at him appreciatively. She stepped forward quickly and handed him his green shirt, gushing her praise and thanks in quick Spanish.
Sara was frazzled, hot, grateful and still slightly shocked as she filled the paramedics in on the situation en route to the ambulance, where the pair of them were thanked over and over for being so quick off the mark.
‘This has never happened before,’ the goatee-bearded aquarium manager reiterated outside the ambulance. ‘We think Sammy was just playing.’
‘It’s no one’s fault,’ Sara said, though some people were leaving the park, clearly afraid of the animals. This would not be good for business. She spotted Esme and Jess close by, waiting for them.
‘Lucky we were here,’ Fraser told the manager, and she registered a small flutter of disappointment as Fraser put his shirt back on.
The manager turned to them as the ambulance drove away. She was about to leave, to get Esme and go and do something slightly less exciting, but the manager reached for her arm.
‘Can we do something for you?’ he said. ‘To say thank you before you go?’
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
FRASER COULDN’T BELIEVE that Sara had almost refused the aquarium manager’s kind offer. Looking at Esme now, reaching her tiny hands towards the dolphin’s smooth face in the water, he swore he’d never seen a kid look so happy.
‘Thank you for this, Fraser—this means the world to her.’
Sara was sitting on the edge of the pool next to him. The sun was twinkling in her hair and in her eyes and he couldn’t help thinking she was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen, even after all this time. Beautiful inside and out.
He swished his feet next to hers in the blue water, touching her toes with his for a second. Being in an almost empty aquarium had its benefits—though he did feel bad for the guy who’d just borne the brunt of a curious sea lion’s teeth.
‘I didn’t think she’d ever get to swim with dolphins,’ Sara told him.
‘I didn’t think I would ever get to swim with dolphins,’ he said, and grinned.
He had managed to score free dolphin encounters for them, and for all the kids in Jess’s care. It was going to be the talk of the cruise ship. Esme was being buoyed up by her lifejacket, as well as being held by one of the female aquarium employees. Marcus was floating nearby, waiting for his turn.
‘You definitely know how to turn on the charm—you’ve got fans for life here.’
Sara cast her eyes to the woman who hadn’t stopped eyeing him up and down since she’d handed him his shirt and Fraser nudged her.
‘I prefer British nurses,’ he told her, smiling as her cheeks flushed a little more.
‘You think the wetsuit’s doing its job OK?’ Sara looked concerned again. This was the reason she’d refused the offer for Esme to swim with the dolphins at first.
‘It’s fine. The catheter’s protected—don’t worry. Look at her...she’s loving it.’ He picked up Esme’s camera as Esme was instructed to place a hand on the dolphin’s dorsal fin. ‘Give us a wave, Esme!’
She did so, beaming at him with so much happiness that he couldn’t help melting just a little.
‘She’s going to want to do this every week now,’ Sara said.
‘Who wouldn’t?’ He zoomed in close as the creature started gliding slowly around the pool, smooth and controlled as it had been trained to be, pulling Esme along.
In his bag, his phone started to buzz. He reached for it and moved away, leaving Sara on the poolside.
‘Boyd?’
‘Hey, Fraser, how’s it going?’
‘I’m just at an aquarium with Sara and Esme.’ Sara was looking at him. His heart had started to hammer. ‘Do you have news?’
‘I do,’ Boyd said. ‘Thought I should tell you myself: your tests are all
clear. You can proceed with the final tests alongside Esme when you get back to Florida—just let me know and I can arrange it. I assume you’ll want the surgery at home, in London or in Edinburgh? It’s up to you.’
Fraser took a deep breath, composing himself. Behind him, Esme was squealing in delight at the dolphin swim and Sara was clapping her hands. Their excitement only enhanced his own.
‘This is great, Boyd, thank you.’
‘Congratulations,’ Boyd said. ‘Did you talk to Sara?’ There was concern in his voice now. ‘About Esme being yours?’
‘I haven’t had time yet, Boyd. I didn’t want to discuss it on the ship at first, but... Long story. I’ll tell her everything tonight. This is great news, though. I can’t thank you enough.’
Back at the pool, Sara turned to him expectantly. She was biting her nails. He looked at her face and took her hand. ‘That was the transplant institute. I got the all-clear,’ he said.
Sara’s eyes flooded instantly with tears. ‘You mean...?’
‘I can help her.’
She stared at him, blinking back tears, till he put his arms around her and pulled her in close. ‘We’ll talk about it later—all of it, everything—just you and me,’ he said, kissing the top of her head, hot with sunshine.
‘Fraser, I can’t believe this. Her whole life will change.’ She pulled away and met his eyes. ‘Because of you.’
He felt a rush of pride and joy and pure, pure love for both of them, but he knew he had a big conversation ahead.
He couldn’t help studying Esme’s features through the viewfinder when he picked the camera up again. He’d been finding himself doing this ever since he’d found out—studying her nose, her lips, comparing them to his. She was his daughter.
The knowledge was still baffling. She looked like Sara—that much was certain—but the more he looked at her, and the more he spoke to her, the more he saw pieces of himself in her and he loved it. He loved everything about this situation—except the fact that he’d been without her so long. Maybe now he could make up for lost time, if that was what Sara wanted after the surgery.
He was still finding it tough to imagine telling Sara that he was Esme’s father. He was almost certain, judging by their last conversation, that she didn’t know. They’d always been so careful with contraception, after all. It made sense that she’d have thought Esme was the result of her one-night stand, and never considered anything else.
He had no idea how she would react tonight. Would she be upset, or angry, or in denial once she knew? And how would Esme take it?
‘It’s your turn!’
Esme called him into the water as both she and Marcus and the other kids had taken their turns. The dolphin was almost smiling, as if it was waiting for this swim specifically.
He and Sara both zipped into their wetsuits. Fraser slid into the water and held out his hand. Sara’s blue bikini straps were visible at the back of her neck and he tucked them into her wetsuit as she placed her hands on his shoulders. They floated together for a second, and Esme paddled over, but just as she reached them, and Fraser took her little hands in his, the dolphin leapt from the water, arched over them and dived in, nose-first, with barely a splash.
‘Whoa!’
Esme’s arms came up around his and Sara’s shoulders as she floated between them. The trainer told them that the leap meant the dolphin liked them. It felt good, he thought. He liked it—the three of them together like this.
He tried to fight the nerves that kept striking while they swam and had their photos taken, and while Marcus filmed them on Esme’s camera. Would all this still stay the same once Sara knew?
They were two days away from Florida. He wanted more of Sara’s kisses. He wanted openness, and honesty, and to see the look on Esme’s face when she discovered she was finally getting a new kidney—from her real father.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
‘ARE YOU READY?’
‘I still don’t know where we’re going.’ Sara picked up her bag and slipped her ship ID into it, smiling up at him with glossed lips.
‘That’s because it’s a surprise,’ he said.
‘You’re very good at those,’ she quipped, which made the ball of knots in his stomach tighten.
He wouldn’t let it show.
He led them off the ship. The night was balmy and the port held a lingering smell of fruit and fried food as they made their way beyond the docks to the motorbike he’d hired. It had been the longest afternoon, knowing what he knew, but also knowing he had to wait for this moment.
‘Another one of these?’
Sara frowned at the bike as he handed her a helmet. Her lilac dress fluttered around her wedge shoes. He was dressed in full-length khaki pants and a white shirt, slightly undone at the neck. They were both tanned now—another sign that their time on the ship was coming to an end.
‘You’ll be OK,’ he said. ‘You’ve swum with a dolphin, you’ve been water skiing alone, you’ve been up in a helicopter and you’ve saved a man from falling overboard...’
‘I think you’ll find you played a part in most of that.’ Sara was smiling as he stepped towards her on the gravel path and helped her fasten the helmet. Palm trees swayed overhead.
‘What I’m saying is, you’ve done a lot that you should be proud of, Cohen,’ he told her.
‘And so have you. Especially the Trevor thing. I’m glad Jasmine booked a flight home without him. We probably helped to change her life, you know. Hopefully for the better.’
‘He told me that his father used to hit him,’ he said now, studying her eyes under the night sky.
‘So...like father like son?’ she said with a sigh.
‘Our fathers make us who we are, I suppose. For better or for worse.’
She seemed to contemplate his words, just as he was. He registered a flash of anger towards his own father, but he harnessed it to the breeze and sent it away. It wasn’t the time for blame or comparisons; it never should be. He had Sara back now. And he had Esme too.
Guilt blew through him over blaming his father; for not being man enough himself to talk about his problems with Sara sooner.
She gripped his middle from behind as he drove them along the coast to the private beach of an expensive hotel, where they dined at a table so close to the sea that the waves almost lapped at their feet while they ate.
Lobster, prawns and rice served in scooped-out pineapple halves. Virgin mojitos and memories of their time together back in Edinburgh. They feasted on it all.
They talked about telling Esme about her upcoming surgery, and all the ways her life would change, but the waiting staff kept coming down to the beach to check on them, and it wasn’t till their plates were cleared and the bill was paid that he could lead her across the sand to a quiet cabana and sit her down for their private conversation.
Sara’s face in the moonlight showed blissed-out perfection as she nestled into the thick white cushions on a day bed surrounded on three sides by white linen curtains.
She was leaning back on both elbows, legs stretched out in front of her, eyes closed. The waves on the sand were a lullaby, even as nerves rattled him.
There was no more postponing the inevitable.
He turned her face to his. ‘Do you even know how beautiful you are?’ he said, and kissed her softly.
He slid his fingers around hers and trailed one thumb over her ring finger. When he pulled away she was still looking at their hands.
‘Can you believe we’re here now?’ she said. ‘I really thought you were going to break things off with me all those years ago, Fraser. I was so scared of being hurt by you that I hurt myself instead.’
He found himself swallowing back a lump in his throat. He put an arm around her on the cushions and breathed in the scent of her hair.
‘I should have spoken to you about the stuff tha
t was going on at the practice. And I knew my studies were suffering, and that I probably wouldn’t pass the exams if I didn’t get my head on straight, but I wanted to be there for you too.’
‘I knew that I was holding you back; your dad was right about that even if it was brutal for me to hear it.’
He nodded sagely. ‘And you wanted to be there for your family after your mum died. But I still think we both would have come to our senses and figured something out, Sara, if I hadn’t come to London and seen you with him.’
She let out a sigh that he felt on his chest through his open shirt. ‘Fraser, I can’t believe you didn’t say anything to me when you were there.’
He watched a crab scuttle along the sand. ‘You’d made your decision—that’s all I really saw,’ he said. ‘Then I just got on with things, Cohen—made my family happy. But if I’d known about Esme...’ He paused.
Sara was facing him now. She reached a hand to his face.
‘You couldn’t have known I’d get pregnant with another man’s baby,’ she said. Her eyes were ringed with sorrow as she looked at him. ‘Fraser, if you’d talked to me that day I might not have got pregnant by him at all.’
‘Sara, listen...’ He put a hand over hers, facing her on the cushions. This was the last time she’d look at him without knowing. He composed himself mentally, swept a clump of hair away from her eyes in the breeze. ‘Sara, you didn’t get pregnant with another man’s baby.’
She was quiet. Her hand heated up under his and her cheeks began to flush. ‘What are you talking about?’ she said eventually.
‘That’s what this note says.’ He pulled it out from his pocket—the one she’d picked up in his cabin. Her fingers were trembling as she took it. ‘Esme and I have the same rare blood type,’ he told her, watching her face. ‘We’re a perfect biological match.’
Sara shook her head. Her cheeks were redder than ever when he lifted her chin towards him.
‘Sara, we are Esme’s parents.’
‘It can’t be right.’
‘The proof’s right here.’ He tapped the paper with his finger while she studied it in disbelief. Tears were glistening in the corners of her eyes. ‘At first I thought you knew! I thought you were hiding it from me because you didn’t want me as Esme’s father, or didn’t want anyone as her father. I’m sorry I hid it when I found out—but, honestly, I was in shock. It also was not the right time to have that conversation. I was going to wait until we got back to Florida, but...’
