Page 25 of Sun, Sea and Spotted Squid

“Tell you what,” Sam said, forcing calm into his voice. “When you’re better, I’ll buy you lunch at that place you liked at the flea market. I promise.”

Wolfgang tightened his grip. “When I get the all-clear,” he said weakly, “we need to have a talk.”

Then his eyes closed again, leaving Sam with a knot of fear and uncertainty tightening in his chest—and no idea what Wolfgang had to say when he finally woke up.

TEN

The chairs in the waiting room were possibly the most uncomfortable things Sam had ever sat on. However hard he tried, he couldn’t get comfortable. Of course, that might have been because he was still wearing a wetsuit…

The elderly couple across from him, who seemed to be avidly reading a gardening magazine, kept peeping over the top at this strange person sitting there with red-rimmed eyes.

Ruben came running through the doors. “Sam!” He threw himself into the chair next to him. “How is he?”

It had been nearly an hour since Sam had spoken to the doctor.

“They didn’t want to tell me much because I’m not family,” Sam said.

“Maybe they’ll speak to me,” Ruben said, looking around.

“Relax. I talked them round. I told them I was his husband.”

Ruben raised an eyebrow. “And?”

“They say they need to see how much blood he lost. They need to do a scan as well to make sure he hasn’t had any brain damage.”

“Brain damage?”

“It’s standard procedure.”

“And how are you?”

Sam ran his hands through his hair. He hadn’t even thought about himself. “I’m fine. I’m just worried about him.”

They sat for a second before Ruben did a double-take at Sam’s clothing. “You should go home. I’ll wait here until we know more. Poor Miguel is beside himself.”

“None of this is his fault. He did his best. We both did.”

Naturally, Miguel would bear the responsibility for this, which wasn’t fair. The blame lay with the idiot in the speedboat.

“I told him that. If I ever get my hands on the fool in that other boat…” Ruben said, as if reading Sam’s mind.

They would never find them. It had all happened so quickly the boat was gone in seconds. Sam only remembered the impact, the noise, and falling.

The doors opened and a stern woman in a crisp white uniform scanned the room. When she saw Sam, she marched over.

“Your husband has been scanned. There is no brain damage.”

Both Sam and Ruben exhaled.

“We will keep him here tonight. For safety’s sake. You should go now. We will call you if we need you.”

“Can I see him?” Sam asked hopefully.

“No, he is asleep. There’s nothing more you can do now.”

She left them standing there.

“Come on,” Ruben said. “I’ll give you a lift to town. You’re not dressed for the bus.”