‘You’re shivering, Nella,’ says Yan gently. ‘Let’s go inside to get you dry and warm.’
He wraps his arms around me, but I resist as he tries to pull me away.
I can’t leave Mark, not when he looks so fragile. His eyes have fluttered shut, and his breathing is ragged. His face is ashen, spent, as if all his strength has been sapped away.
It’s not just his body that seems broken, but his spirit, too.
Anger – primal and fierce – swells inside me, squeezing the air from my lungs, making me dizzy.
A thousand what-ifs crowd my thoughts.
What if I’d been asleep and hadn’t heard him? What if I hadn’t been able to get him out? What if there’s some hidden injury?
Yan tugs me again. ‘Theo’s looking after Mark. Let me look after you.’
I’m rigid and frozen to the spot.
‘Nell, you’re shivering. We need to get you warm.’
It’s only when I look into Yan’s eyes and see a reflection of the same terror I felt with Mark that I relent and let him guide me into the house.
Chapter 33
The ambulance arrives without a siren, but we know it’s here because we can see its blue lights out of the window. I’ve changed into jeans, thick socks, a T-shirt, and the fleece I wore on the plane over. I didn’t feel particularly cold before, but bizarrely I don’t feel hot now.
Mark is doing okay, apparently. He’s speaking and even managed a smile, says Tig, who’s been going between the kitchen and the garden to make sure Theo has everything he needs.
I’m emotionally numb; too wrung out to feel anything, but the idea that Mark is now smiling rouses my anger.
‘I could kill him,’ I say to Yan.
‘It was an accident.’
‘He knows better than to fuck around by a swimming pool when he’s drunk.’ I slam my fist on the table. ‘Fuck’s sake!’
Yan keeps his voice calm. ‘You make it sound like he did this toyou.’
Before I can answer, a paramedic barges into the kitchen and points at me.
‘We need to take you to the hospital too,despinis.’
The addition of ‘Miss’ in Greek makes me feel about twelve.
‘I feel fine,’ I say.
PhysicallyI do, so it’s not a lie.
‘Your doctor friend insists.’
‘Theo can take a look at me here.’
‘Not him.O vremmenos. The wet one. Says he won’t leave without you.’
That Mark’s worried about my well-being makes me want to laugh.
‘I’m not going anywhere.’
The paramedic rubs his forehead, clearly not enjoying this conversation any more than I am.
