Page 120 of Washed Up

‘Really?’ said Dylan. ‘That’s amazing.’

The doctor nodded. ‘Yes. Really. He had quite a severe narrowing of the artery, but we’ve put in a stent and I’m pleased to say he’s already looking a much healthier colour.’

Not for the first or even the second time that day, Frankie went a little weak at the knees. Even Dr Mac looked tearful. ‘Thank God,’ he muttered.

‘That’s not all, I’m afraid,’ said the doctor.

They stared at him, faces pale. Frankie’s fingers tingled, as if she was on the verge of panic, and she tried to remember to breathe.

‘He had some internal bleeding. From his heart valve. Dr Mac tells me he had some kind of trauma to the chest and that was most likely the cause. Thankfully, we were able to make a small repair and I think it’s all resolved.’

‘You are amazing, Doctor,’ breathed Lily, visibly shaking at the news.

The hospital doctor looked around at them all gravely. ‘It was your fast actions that saved him. Make no mistake about it. I’m told you,’ he turned towards Lily, ‘did CPR. That’s extremely difficult to do successfully, especially on a loved one. Most people don’t do it effectively. Some can’t bring themselves to do it at all. There is no doubt you saved his life.’

Her mum began to cry quietly beside her, and Frankie gave her a squeeze.

‘And the helicopter,’ he said, looking at Dylan. ‘I believe that was your doing.’

Dylan looked modest, but Frankie’s heart swelled with pride. She reached for his hand.

‘You saved precious minutes,’ the doctor went on. ‘It all counts in a cardiac episode. Thank you. Mr Jacks owes you a debt.’

Dylan swallowed hard.

‘And, Dr Mac,’ said the doctor, ‘your care was exemplary. This was a very serious episode and it would have been a very different story otherwise.’

Frankie choked back a sob.

The hospital doctor gave her a reassuring smile. ‘There’s someone who I’m sure would like to thank you all personally. Would you like to see him?’

He nearly got trampled in the ensuing stampede.

Brian was sitting up in bed, and sure enough, the colour was back in his cheeks. Lily and Frankie cried all over again as soon as they saw him, but this time they were most definitely happy tears.

‘Bit of an extreme way to get a ride on that helicopter,’ said her dad, his voice croaky, as they gathered around his bed. Frankie and her mum held a hand each, gripping so tightly he had to ask them to ease off.

‘You could have simply asked for a ride, sir,’ said Dylan, smiling.

‘Where would be the fun in that?’ said Brian.

‘Fair point,’ said Dylan with a low chuckle.

Frankie’s dad was under strict instructions not to return to the isolation of Herm until he was fully recovered. They had to find Lily a bed in a local hotel because she point blank refused to leave him. Even Brian looked quite surprised at her reaction. Frankie smiled to herself. They were going to be okay, she thought.

And so it was that early the next morning it was just Dylan, Frankie and Dr Mac who made their way to a nearby airfield for the helicopter ride home. They were exhausted after no sleep and the strain of the last twenty-four hours, but Frankie still resolved she would try and enjoy this one. When Herm came into view, rising from the blue sea, a little green and gold jewel sparkling in the early morning sun, she let out a long, deep breath.

Dylan whistled beside her. ‘She’s so beautiful,’ he said, his voice low in her ear, sending shivers down her spine.

‘She certainly is,’ said Frankie, smiling thoughtfully. How could she ever have thought of leaving the island? Especially now. Her heart constricted at the very idea. But what did that mean for Dylan and her? Was there any hope? She was too bone-tired to even think it all through. It was too much; too hard. Her darling dad was okay and safe. Now all she wanted to do was sleep.

Once they were back on the island, they said an awkward goodbye at the crossroads, thanking Dr Mac over and over, even though he waved them away, insisting he had just been doing his job. He looked even more tired than they felt. The doctor gave them one last swift hug before he headed down the hill to stay with a friend before the journey over the sea to Guernsey the next day. Without discussing it, Dylan and Frankie turned as one and headed to the Manor, where they found Sally asleep on the sofa, curled up with Blondie under a tatty old tartan blanket. She stirred as they opened the door and Blondie leapt up and bounded around them as if they’d been away for a week or more. They murmured their hellos and gave Sally a quick bullet pointed update, then they both climbed the stairs, crawled into Frankie’s bed, fully clothed and without even turning off the light. Within seconds, Frankie was asleep, curled against Dylan’s side as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

CHAPTER FORTY-NINE

Frankie awoke six hours later, groggy and muddled. The light had changed in the room, the sun was beginning to set, it was as though time itself had been turned on its head. It took her a second or two to realise she was still cuddled up beside Dylan. She had to force herself to take a breath before she leapt out of the bed in panic.

He was stretched on his back, one arm behind his head on the pillow, dark hair falling across his face, and he must have got too hot at some point as his T-shirt had been abandoned, so his sculpted chest was bare.