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IT TOOK US some time to persuade Joel to leave Romi, but at last we convinced him there was nothing more he could do, and together the three of us made our way back through the forest, towards the beach. We passed Palm Tree Rest, which was miraculously unharmed, and I ducked inside and grabbed a top and some jeans, as well as some sunblock—the sun was beginning to blaze fiercely overhead and I could tell I was beginning to burn. Then we pressed on.
We found the others—Bayer, Angel, Conor, and Zana—huddled up at the cabana. Amazingly they were all more or less okay, though Bayer looked like he was in pain, and had his hand to his shoulder. All four of them looked round as we came up the steps to the cabana, and their faces broke into varying shades of surprise and thankfulness.
“Grâce à Dieu,” Angel said. She had twisted her braids up into a top knot and was kneeling by Bayer’s side, trying to examine his arm. Now she stood up, undisguised relief on her face. “You are alive! But where is Santana? And Rosie?”
“Santana’s hurt her leg,” I said. “And Romi—” I stopped, swallowed, looked at Joel, unsure what to say.
“Romi’s dead.” Joel’s voice cracked. “A massive tree fell on our villa in the night. She was killed straightaway.”
“Oh my God!” Zana’s hand flew to her mouth, and I saw there were tears standing in her eyes. Bayer shook his head and sucked in his breath.
“Joel, brother, I am so sorry,” Conor said. He put out his hand and touched Joel on the shoulder, but Joel flinched away. He was standing, his face averted to one side, his eyes refusing to meet anyone else’s. Of course I didn’t have any idea of how he felt, not really. But as the hours passed, I found I was becoming more and more worried about Nico. I had no idea what time it was, but the sun was high in the sky, and the Over Easy should have been back here ages ago, going by its original schedule. Even allowing for some lost time spent sheltering in the harbor, I was beginning to get concerned that we’d seen nothing, not even a shape on the horizon. What if the storm we’d experienced hadn’t been the worst of it? What if the Over Easy had…
But no. I refused to think about that.
“One of the producers is dead too,” Dan said. His boyish, friendly face looked like he had aged ten years since yesterday, drawn into tense lines. “Lyla found her down by the staff quarters.”
“Putain, what happened?” Angel asked.
“I don’t know,” I said wearily. Everything that had happened since Joel and I woke up was beginning to catch up with me, and I felt strange and shaky. I sat on the bench beside her. “Hit by something in the storm, I’d guess. The staff huts are basically destroyed.”
“Staff huts ain’t the only ones,” Bayer said with a grimace. “Our villa’s fucked. Storm took off half the roof.”
“Shit, that was yours?” I thought of the huge chunk of palm fronds I had seen cartwheeling down the beach. Angel nodded.
“It was impossible to stay. We ran—but a tree came down and hit Bayer’s shoulder.”
“I think it’s dislocated,” Bayer said. His teeth were gritted, the muscles in his jaw standing out. “Happened once before, in a football game.”
“Do you want me to try to put it back in?” Conor said. He stood up.
“I really don’t think that’s a good idea—” I said, at the same time as Bayer said, “D’you know how?”
“I’ve seen it done,” Conor said. “When I was out climbing. Guy fell and dislocated his shoulder, and another guy pulled it straight.” He shrugged and then looked at me. “What do you think, Doc?”
“For the last fucking time,” I said, more wearily than annoyed, “I’m not a doctor. I just want to make that really, really clear. If you’ve seen it done, you’re more of an expert than me. But I know the general advice is let the professionals do it if you possibly can—you can do more damage if you trap something or rip a tendon.”
Dan made a heaving face, and Conor shrugged.
“That’s all true. But there’s risks in leaving it untreated… I guess it depends how long we reckon the professionals will take to find us.”
A silence fell around the table as we all contemplated that question. Then Bayer spoke.
“Fuck it, do it.”
“You sure, man?” Conor asked. Bayer nodded.
“Yeah, I’m sure. Look at that sea.” He gestured out towards the wild waves still racing in from the deep ocean. “Who knows when they’ll be able to get back to us. And I’m useless like this.”
“You’re not useless,” Angel said stiffly, but Bayer stood up.
“This is a survival situation, babe, and I’ve got one working arm.”
“Hey.” I put out a hand. “Hey, I don’t think we’re exactly Swiss Family Robinson yet. The boat’s a few hours late—”
“A few hours late?” Bayer said. “Woman, did you see the sea last night?”
Woman? I gritted my teeth, forced my voice to stay calm.
