Page 72 of My Summer of Magic Moments

He looked shattered, his face grey.

‘How are you?’ She wanted to lean across, grasp him in her arms, never let go. To check that he really was all right. All that churning fear pent up inside her from waiting for him on the beach, for the search to get underway, suddenly surfaced in tears. She tried to swipe them away with the back of her hand, which was trembling.

She took a seat on the grey plastic chair beside the bed. ‘Oh, I was so worried. Thank God you’re okay. What happened, Ed?’

He looked so pale in that hospital bed – a washed-out version of himself.

She feared that he had wanted to do it. Went out in that rough sea on purpose. She reached for his hand, which lay limply above the white, crisp covers.

He took a slow breath. ‘How did you know? The helicopter … was it you that raised the alarm?’

She nodded, afraid it might have been the wrong thing for him. No, it could never have been the wrong thing, she reassured herself.

‘Yes, it was me. Well, I can’t take all the credit, to be fair. There’s a very damp, stressed-out dog in my car in the car park right now, bless her.’

‘Bess …’

‘Yep, she was going crazy, shut up in your house. Like a mad thing. Woke me up … I’m so glad she woke me up.’ And the tears were there, unstoppable this time. Relief at seeing him here, so close. Her eyes fogged up and she was sure there was snot coming out of her nose. She scrabbled for a tissue from the bedside table. ‘Thank God for Bess.’

‘And I nearly didn’t bring her this time.’ He closed his eyes for a couple of seconds, muttering, ‘Ah, Bess.’

He still hadn’t said why on earth he was swimming in a rough sea in October.

‘Sorry.’ He was rattled with a cough, struggled to open his eyelids again. ‘They said I swallowed a load of water.’

Her hand was still over his. ‘So what happened?’ Her voice was gentle.

‘It seemed okay, the sea, at first. Went out just after dawn, like I usually do. I was just going to swim for fifteen minutes or so. The sea gets that bit colder at this time of year …’ He paused. ‘It changed, just like that. Wind blew up. Black clouds. It was so choppy out there. I wasn’t that far out really, but there was a current bloody pulling me the wrong way. It got harder and harder to swim against … I got so tired. Swimming all the time but never getting nearer to shore.’

‘Oh, Ed.’ She gave his hand a squeeze.

‘Then it was so cold, my legs froze up. Weren’t working properly. All I could do was tread water, and even that was hard enough.’

He lay back on his pillows for a while, as if it was tough remembering, putting himself back there.

‘It’s okay. Don’t talk too much … Just get some rest, my love.’ The term of endearment slipped out before she could stop herself, but it felt so natural. Their eyes locked for a second. She smiled softly. But then she felt awkward, wondered what she was really doing here.

‘Look, I just needed to see you were all right. I’d better go now. You might have some real family here in a minute.’ Ah, shit, she remembered his wife, his son – his real family – were gone. ‘Parents and that,’ she added hastily. Didn’t he mention a brother? ‘I ought to go check on Bess,’ she added. ‘Get her some water and food. Check she’s warm enough.’

‘Don’t go just yet … Stay a while. Please.’ He looked exhausted, fragile, lonely. Began to drift off to sleep.

So she stayed, sitting quietly whilst he slept. She listened to the sounds of the hospital around her – the squishy-squeak of nurses’ shoes, low chatter, a telephone ringing. Ed’s laboured breathing. She studied his face, his eyelashes, which were long and thick. His hair was curled, matted from the salt of the sea. She could smell the saltiness on him; a faint white crust had formed around his jawbone. To think he might have drowned out there. She wasn’t sure how her world would have been after that.

Claire began to feel tired too. The emotions of the day were catching up with her. She sat with her head in her hands, thinking for a while, her mind too busy to sleep. There was a swish of the curtain. The nurse from earlier popped her head in.

‘Is he okay?’ Claire spoke softly, not wanting to disturb him. ‘Is he going to be all right?’

‘Yes. We’re keeping him in for observation. He was hypothermic when he came in and had swallowed rather a lot of sea water. But yes, he should be fine.’

Maybe in body, after a good rest, but with everything else … Claire knew that he was still a broken man. She sighed to herself as she gave a friendly smile to the nurse, who had no idea of his past, of all he’d had to cope with. She reluctantly let go of Ed’s hand and scraped her chair back from the bed to let the nurse get on with her work. Ed came to as the lady lifted his arm to check his pulse. ‘You’re doing well, Ed. We’ll have you shipshape in no time.’ As she turned to leave, she added for Claire’s benefit, ‘He’s doing okay.’

‘Can I get you some water or anything?’ Claire asked him.

‘Yes, that would be good. Seeing as I’ve drunk half an ocean, I’m surprisingly dry.’ He gave a wry smile.

She poured him a flimsy plastic cupful from a jug of water set on the bedside table. He sipped through lips that looked dry, and were beginning to crack.

‘Thanks.’