Page 64

‘Just what I learned bringing up my girls. I think if we use a tiny bit of the water to take some of the blood off his face—’ Sandra stared and lowered her voice. ‘Oh no! Graysen, look there’s blood coming from his mouth. That’s not good.’

As Graysen leaned forward Andrew tried to speak but no words came out. Only a muffled groaning noise as he lifted a shaking hand to his bloodied mouth.

‘Broken,’ he said.

‘Yeah, mate,’ Graysen said gently. ‘You’re pretty broken and smashed around, but don’t worry. Your vital signs are good and we’re going to get you out of here and you’re going to be okay.’

Andrew’s hand flailed around and the movement made him moan.

‘What is it?’ Graysen asked as Andrew grabbed his hand and held it tightly.

He pulled Graysen’s hand to his face and tried to speak. ‘Teeth,’ Andrew managed to say, before he let go and his hand dropped to the ground.

Sandra let out a sigh of relief. ‘His teeth! That’s where the blood is coming from. His mouth is bleeding.’

‘Can you open your mouth at all, mate?’ Graysen asked.

Andrew put his head back and his lips came apart, slowly opening to a small gap. With a soft moan, he opened his lips further and fresh blood trickled down the side of his chin.

As they leaned over him Sandra held back a gasp. She closed her eyes, unable to look at the mess that they could see in Andrew’s mouth. His top front teeth were broken to the gum, and three of his bottom teeth were sitting at an angle.

Graysen nodded, and his voice was even. ‘Looks like you landed on your face when you fell?’

The grunt that came from Andrew confirmed that.

‘Do you think you could sip some water and we’ll clean up around your mouth. I think you really need to get some liquid into you, mate. You’ve done a fair walk. I know you can’t tell us what happened, but don’t worry, we’ll get you to help.’

Graysen reached over and took Sandra’s hand and gestured for her to follow him.

They kept their voices low as they moved closer to the cliff, away from where Andrew still lay on his back behind the rock.

‘What do you think we should do?’ Sandra said.

Graysen frowned. ‘I think we’re going to have to use quite a bit of our water to clean him up. Have you got any Panadol or Neurofen in your pack?’

‘I’ve got one card of Panadol. I took two the other night when I had a slight headache. So, there should be ten left.’

‘We can crush two or three up into water, even if it means he’s got to try to suck the liquid from a hanky or something. I don’t think he’s capable of swallowing water from a bottle.’

‘I could maybe trickle it into his mouth if he puts his head back. He definitely needs some painkillers, but you’re right. We need to get him to help.’

‘We do.’ Graysen nodded. ‘He can’t eat, so we have to keep him hydrated and we have to get him medical help before that mess in his mouth gets infected. And keep the water up to him.’

‘Can we afford to use all that water?’ she asked with a shake of her head. ‘Ignore that. We have to. Andrew has a much greater need than us.’

‘We’ll be fine if we stay here. There’s a little waterhole down under the back of the gorge where I thought I saw movement. It was Andrew and he was being careful. He obviously didn’t know who I was and he did a damn good job to get down here without me spotting him.’

‘Is the water drinkable?’ Sandra asked.

‘I’d leave it as a last resort, but we’re fine for water for the time being. I might empty your half a bottle into mine that’s almost half empty and we’ll use that to get water from the waterhole. We’ll use that water to clean him up a bit to start, and hold off drinking it until it’s necessary.’

Sandra dropped her shoulders as despair began to hit. ‘And once we get him cleaned up what are we going to do, Graysen?’

‘I don’t know.’ Graysen’s jaw was set as he looked over Sandra’s head. She fought the black feeling that began to creep through her. Finally, he reached out and pulled her to him. ‘I’ve been thinking about it since Andrew turned up. We need to go for help.’

‘But we can’t leave him alone,’ Sandra said.

‘That’s right and I’m very reluctant to leave you alone here with Andrew.’