to lie down. Now.
And she needed to find the right words to say to Max.
But her head was filled with cotton wool. And she was so cold she longed for strong arms to warm her. His arms.
She began to shiver and had to focus hard on keeping the swaying paddling rhythm.
She barely noticed the lanterns the guide had attached to poles on the kayaks bobbing gently in the breeze, creating a magical soft glow across the jetty.
Barely felt the water spray her skin as Max powered the kayak towards the city.
Barely realised she had no strength of her own to even hold the paddle now that every ounce of energy had deserted her. Exhaustion oozed into her bones and made her cold. So very cold.
As she pulled the paddle towards her the pain in her belly intensified like a bright, sharp knife, twisting and turning. Sharper. Hotter. Harder.
And suddenly she was falling into a black space... She tried to grab something, grasped for the paddle, at the water, at Max. Grabbed at nothing...
11
‘Gabby! Gabby!’ Max’s heart pumped into overdrive. She’d slumped to the side, her face skimming dangerously close to the water.
He couldn’t get purchase on her, though he grasped at her. Tried to pull her upright. ‘Gabby. Wake the hell up.’
After hauling in her fast-disappearing paddle, he took a huge breath and leaned towards her, cursing the damned lack of space.
If he leaned too far he’d capsize the kayak and have them both in the water.
A scenario he didn’t want to contemplate.
‘Gabby. Come on, girl.’ He dragged her back by the shoulders and patted her cheeks, hoping his wet, cold fingers would jolt her awake. ‘Couldn’t you have done this when we had the coastguard out? Two rescues for the price of one? Hey, sweetheart. Wake up.’
Her face was white, her lips dry. Crap. Pushing her hair back, he found a pulse at her neck. Weak and fast. She’d just fainted. But she wasn’t regaining consciousness. This wasn’t a regular thing. This was bad news.
‘Hey! Hey!’ Trying to get the attention of the other kayakers, he shouted. But the wind dragged his voice back out to sea.
The shore was tantalisingly close. A few hundred metres, maybe. He could get there in a matter of minutes. Raise the alarm.
Hauling in a breath, he infused every ounce of energy he had into getting her to that beach. His arms pumped until they burned. His lungs craved more and more oxygen but he was too focused on that shoreline to breathe.
After moments that seemed like forever he was kneeling next to her on the damp sand. Using his lifejacket as a pillow, he laid her down and bent her legs against his chest. ‘Gabby. Come on, girl. Gabby.’
God. Think. Focus. What could it be? Just a vaso-vagal? But why?
‘Max?’ Her eyes fluttered open and she cradled her stomach protectively. ‘It hurts so much...’
Then she was gone again.
He couldn’t even get her focused enough to answer simple questions.,
A few stragglers from the trip hovered around but he swatted them away. There was nothing for it. ‘I’m taking her in.’
‘Ambulance?’ someone shouted above the concerned huddle. ‘I’ll call one now.’
Wait? For how long? Until she became critical? No way. He dampened down his tachycardia and worked out a plan. ‘I’m not prepared to wait. I’ll drive.’
Picking her up, he stalked over the sand and across the road to his parked car. Edged her gently onto the back seat and made sure to keep her legs raised to stimulate oxygen flow back to her brain.
That was when he saw the blood.
God. No. What the hell...?
In all his years as a surgeon he’d never felt panic. Even when working on his nephew he’d had faith in his own capabilities. But right now, as adrenalin surged through him, his heart rate rocketed and he wanted her fixed. Immediately.
Thrusting the car into heavy traffic, he cursed loudly. Then he put his foot down.
★ ★ ★
Running the length of the hospital carpark barefoot, fuelled by a need to save her, he finally got her to the emergency department. Faster than an ambulance could have made it. And he’d managed to keep some kind of observation going in the rear-view mirror. Resps: too fast. Pain: severe. She’d flicked in and out of consciousness.
He tried to keep his heart out of it. But, man, he couldn’t. Couldn’t reconcile the vivacious woman he knew with the damaged body in his arms. He would never leave her side again. Never.
When he ran in