by T A Williams
* * *
Next morning when she woke, the first thing she did was to look out of the window towards the lake. It was a cloudless day, so no chance of a blizzard, but it looked bitterly cold out there and she found herself seriously doubting the sanity of anybody willing to venture out into these freezing conditions on a sailboard. However, after a hot shower, she emerged from her room determined to give it a go, if only to show James that she wasn’t just a weak little woman. In the dining room she found James and Tommy sitting at a table with a couple of other racers, so she marched over and told them.
‘I’ve made up my mind. I’m going to do the race.’
James looked at her with respect. ‘Good for you, Suzie. Make sure you wrap up warm.’
‘Excellent, Suzie. I’m sure you’ll enjoy it. We all will.’ Tommy was smiling. She sat down beside him as James poured her a cup of black coffee. She normally had tea at breakfast, but she didn’t object. She felt sure she would need all the adrenalin pumping through her veins she could get if she was going to survive the Ice Race.
Unusually for a windsurfing race, the Ice Race began with a Le Mans-type start from the pebbly beach. As she lined up along with about fifty other lunatics, board and sail in her hands, she looked round, doing her best to stop her teeth from chattering in spite of her thick suit, boots, tight-fitting neoprene hood and gloves she was wearing. All morning she had been keeping her eyes peeled for a sight of Michael, but without success. Beppe had said he was hoping to be here. Maybe she would have to accept that he wasn’t going to make it after all.
As the countdown to the bell started, she checked that her number was well attached. She had ended up with number fifty and she hoped this wouldn’t be her finishing position. Behind the beach, quite a large crowd had gathered, all wrapped up in thick winter clothes, and they shouted out the numbers in chorus as the start approached:
‘Cinque… quattro… tre… due… uno… Via!’
As the bell started ringing furiously, Suzie ran forward with the others and splashed into the water, throwing her board in ahead of her. Even through her wetsuit and boots, the icy shock was palpable. The wind close to the shore, protected by the headland, was little more than a light breeze and she found herself having to pump the sail violently to get the board moving. To her left, she saw a big man fall off and another competitor ahead of her follow suit as the wind failed. She just managed to take avoiding action and squeeze past him. Fortunately, within a very few minutes, she emerged from the shelter of the promontory into the full force of the wind and she felt the sail almost ripped from her hands as a powerful gust caught and filled it. She just managed to hook into her harness and hurl her full weight backwards to compensate and avoid being thrown off. Ahead of her, two competitors were not so lucky and she heard both of them yell as they fell into the icy water.
She set off across the lake as fast as she could, following maybe a dozen others, and she recognised the sails of Beppe and James, neck and neck with a handful of others in the lead. She risked a brief glance over her shoulder and saw the rest of the field behind her already well strung out, with several figures still struggling in the water. By this time she was beginning to enjoy herself. The excitement of the start and the vigorous pumping of the sail had warmed her up far more than she could have imagined and she wondered whether Beppe had actually been telling the truth when he had talked about sweating off a couple of kilos. Certainly, she was far from cold now. As they made their way diagonally across the lake towards the far side, she overhauled three other boards and was doing well by the time they reached the first buoy and gybed round, before running downwind to the second turn.
It was when she was on the final leg, within sight of the finish, her arms aching and her shoulders almost set solid, that disaster struck. One minute she was sailing along, close-hauled, skimming across the waves in third place, the next there was a muffled thud as her board struck something beneath the surface and stopped dead. She was thrown violently forward as the impact flung the board into the air and tore her feet from the foot straps. Her forehead made contact with something solid and everything went black.
Chapter 25
‘Suzie, Suzie, can you hear me?’
At first she couldn’t work out what was happening. Somebody was shaking her and somebody else was pouring buckets of icy water all over her. She opened her mouth to speak, swallowed more water and started to choke. She felt the strong arms grip her more tightly as his voice came again.
‘Suzie, can you hear me?’
It was surprisingly difficult to get her eyes to open, but she finally managed to get them partially open and, as she did so, it all came back to her. She was bobbing up and down in the midst of a chaotic jumble of waves, her weight supported partly by a sailboard and partly by a figure in a hooded wetsuit. As her eyes started to focus, she saw that the figure was Tommy and he was grinning from ear to ear.
‘Thank God, Suzie, you’re alive.’
She did a lot of coughing and had to make a couple of attempts before she was able to speak. When the words finally came out, it sounded as if somebody else were doing the talking. ‘Was I dead?’
He was still grinning stupidly. ‘No, of course you weren’t. You were just knocked out for a few minutes.’
Suzie did her best to smile back at him, but another wave smashed into them and she choked once more, but his arms supported her. Then, mercifully, she began to hear another noise above the all-pervading hiss of the wind and the splashing of the water. It was unmistakably a powerful motor and, seconds later, an inflatable appeared alongside them. Hands reached down and dragged her out of the water into the boat, but her brain was working slowly and she didn’t react. She was vaguely aware of voices and felt arms holding her as somebody wrapped a thin sheet of gold foil around her shoulders. Then the engine roared into life once more and the boat set off for the shore at high speed, bouncing though the waves. Whoever was holding her did a good job, as she remained solidly in place all the way to the beach.
Less than five minutes later, she found herself lying on a narrow bed inside a white-painted room. For the first time, she managed to open her eyes fully and blinked in the light. Her head began to clear and her eyes regained focus. Only now did she realise that she could taste blood. She raised a hand to her face and felt it come away wet. Holding it up in front of her, she squinted at it and saw the fingertips covered in bright red blood.
‘Don’t worry, it’s just a little cut.’
She turned her head towards the voice and saw an unfamiliar face. It was a youngish man in a white coat and he was talking to her in Italian. Behind him was unmistakably a female paramedic in uniform. As the doctor saw her eyes focus on him, he smiled. ‘It’s all right, I’m the doctor. My name’s Dario. You knocked yourself out, but you’re going to be fine.’
‘What happened…?’ Her voice still sounded strained, but at least it now sounded like it belonged to her again. ‘I was in the race and then, suddenly, I was in the water.’
‘Good, good, you can remember that. They told me your board hit a tree trunk that was submerged just below the surface. You’re going to have a black eye for a few days, but you’ll be fine. Now, do you think you can try to wriggle out of your wetsuit so I can check you over? Carla here will give you a hand. One of your friends has gone back to your hotel to get you some dry clothes.’
After a struggle, Suzie managed to get out of the wetsuit and was wrapped in a towel and thick blankets to help warm her up again. The doctor gave her a full check-up and had just finished sticking little strips of tape across the cut over her right eye when there was a tap on the door. For the first time Suzie realised she was inside what looked like a caravan, not a building, as the door opened and a head appeared up the steps, accompanied by a blast of arctic air. It was Tommy and he was still smiling.
‘Hi, Suzie. I hope you didn’t mind me going through your stuff. The manager let me into your room. By the way, he sends his best wi
shes for a speedy recovery.’
Suzie smiled back. ‘Hi, Tommy. Thanks for helping out. I thought I was going to have to walk out of here in just a blanket.’
He dropped the clothes on the bunk alongside her, stepped back and hesitated. ‘Now I’d better leave you to it. I’m really glad you’re all right, Suzie.’
‘Don’t go, Tommy. Wait a moment, there’s something I’ve got to ask you. I’m afraid it’s all a bit of a blur, but did you just save my life?’
This time he definitely blushed. ‘Not really. I just grabbed hold of you, pulled your head out of the water and held you up until you came round again.’
‘That sounds like saving my life to me.’ She turned towards the doctor for confirmation and only then realised that she and Tommy had been speaking English. The doctor, however, nodded and replied in very good English with just a hint of an Italian accent.
‘That very definitely sounds like life-saving to me, too. I reckon you owe this gentleman your thanks.’
Suzie gave him a broad smile and held up her arms to Tommy. ‘You heard the doctor, Tommy. Please would you come over here?’
Hesitantly, he made his way across to the bunk and, at her insistence, leant down towards her. She stretched her arms around his neck and pulled him to her until she could kiss him, hard, on the lips. She felt him press tightly against her for some moments before a cold draught struck her again as the door of the caravan was pulled open. A man in a heavy jacket appeared, his eyes wide, trained on the scene before him.
‘Suzie, are you all right?’
She released her hold on Tommy as the blood rushed to her cheeks.
‘Michael, you’re here!’
‘I’m sorry I was late. I’ve only just got here. I was just in time to see your accident. How bad was it? Tell me, are you all right?’
She could see him staring at Tommy, who was now on his feet, staring back at him. The atmosphere was suddenly tense.
‘What happened is that I hit a tree trunk and Tommy saved my life. I’ve just been thanking him.’
To her surprise, and no doubt Tommy’s initial consternation, Michael took three steps across to him and enveloped him in a bear hug.
‘Tommy, you’re a hero. Very, very well done.’
Then, instead of transferring his attention to her, Suzie saw him turn back to the door. As his hand caught hold of the handle, he looked back over his shoulder for a few moments. She could see him doing his best to choose the right thing to say. He didn’t look angry or jealous, just bewildered, and her heart went out to him. In the end, all he managed to get out was, ‘I’m so glad you’re all right, Suzie. Get well soon.’
And he was gone.
Suzie lay back against the pillow and wiped her eyes. To her surprise, she discovered that she now had tears pouring down her cheeks. She did her best to wipe them away as she looked back up at Tommy.
‘Sorry for the tears. I suppose it’s just delayed shock or something.’ She glanced across at Doctor Dario, who smiled and nodded. Returning her attention to Tommy, she avoided any mention of Michael’s whirlwind visit. Instead, she renewed her thanks. ‘Thank you with all my heart for saving my life, Tommy. It sounds such a pathetic thing to say in response to something so major. I don’t know how to thank you enough. I’m sorry if I cost you the race. Were you going to win?’
He shook his head, the concerned expression on his face changing to a smile. ‘You must be joking! Beppe the chef won pretty easily, with James in second place. You were doing really well, though. It looked as though you were catching them when you hit that tree trunk and I was a good long way behind you. The main thing is that you’re all right.’
The doctor told her to take it easy for the rest of the day and to avoid alcohol or driving for twenty-four hours, and she followed his advice. Tommy positioned himself firmly at her side as they sat down to a snack in the empty dining room, but she found she had little appetite. Although she had the reassuring feel of his hand in hers or even his arm around her shoulders for much of the time, her thoughts were of another man. She kept her eyes peeled for any sight of him, but to no avail. Seeing her kissing Tommy had no doubt confirmed to Michael that she and Tommy were now an item, but the sight of him had proved to her – if she had needed proof – that her heart still belonged to him. The fact that he had then left without even a kiss to the cheek was something she couldn’t fathom and she found herself sniffling a bit over her half-sandwich. Hopefully, Tommy would put it down to delayed shock.
A bit later on, he escorted her to her room and saw to it that she that she lay down to rest as instructed by the doctor. His attitude was caring and considerate. Before letting him leave her, she held out her arms towards him once again.
‘Thanks for everything, Tommy.’
He caught hold of her and kissed her lightly on the lips, just once and very briefly, but then he straightened up and stepped back.
‘You’re a lovely girl, Suzie. I wish you felt the same way about me that I feel about you.’
She was too tired to dissimulate. ‘Is it that obvious?’
He gave her a gentle smile. ‘I just hope your friend Michael realises what a lucky man he is. You deserve to be happy.’
She looked up and smiled back at him. ‘And you’re a lovely man, Tommy. A really lovely man.’
* * *
She fell asleep almost immediately and snoozed for the rest of the afternoon, not surfacing until well after dark. She found Tommy downstairs in the bar, looking concerned. As he spotted her at the door, there was no mistaking the relief on his face. He came across to guide her through the crowd and she was surprised to find that she appeared to be the object of many people’s attention as she received numerous greetings, hugs, pats on the back and good wishes. As they reached the table, she saw Beppe sitting alongside James, both smiling up at her and, standing behind them, an unfamiliar face. Beppe leapt to his feet, embraced her and then made the introductions.
‘Suzie, so great to see you up and about again. This is Alessandro. He’s one of the organisers of the race. He’s been waiting to talk to you.’
‘Suzie, I’m delighted to see you’re not too badly knocked about after your accident.’ Alessandro held out his hand towards her. ‘How do you feel?’
Suzie shook his hand as she replied. ‘A lot better, thanks. A bit of a headache, but I’ve just taken some paracetamol, so I should be okay soon.’
‘Very good, very good. Anyway, Suzie, on behalf of the organising committee, I have something for you. You’ve been awarded the Medaglia della Combattività. That’s an award we give to the competitor who, in the opinion of the panel of judges, has demonstrated the greatest courage. This year, unusually, we have awarded this honour to two of you – yourself and Tommy, this brave guy who leapt off his board and rescued you. You’re both heroes. Congratulations to you and best wishes for a speedy recovery.’
There were cheers and applause on all sides as he handed over a little box containing a silver medal to each of them and Beppe immediately insisted that Suzie pin it onto her top. Needless to say, her cheeks were glowing by this time. She thanked him warmly, hugged Tommy once more and sat down.
She managed to eat a little at dinner and was definitely feeling much better by the time the disco laid on by the organisers started, although she would have felt better if there had been some sign of Michael. The throbbing coming out of the loudspeakers went straight to her sensitive head and she decided it wouldn’t be the best of ideas to try dancing – even if she felt like it – so although it was barely nine o’clock, she bade everybody good night and decided to return to her room. Ever attentive, Tommy was at her side, a supporting hand on her arm, as she climbed back up the stairs. When they got to the door of her room, she turned the handle and hesitated.
‘Thanks again for everything, Tommy, starting with saving my life. I’m sorry I’ve monopolised your time.’
‘Not at all. You’re very welcome. Now make sure you get a good night’s
sleep.’
Before she could answer, he turned away and disappeared along the corridor.
* * *
Next morning she got up late, feeling much more normal, although her reflection in the mirror was scary, and she found Beppe sitting in the breakfast room.
‘Hi, Suzie. How’re you feeling? You look pretty battered.’
‘A lot better, thanks. Almost normal, I would say, apart from a bit of a headache and a big bump on my forehead.’ She sat down opposite him and summoned a smile. ‘Did you get a chance to talk to Michael yesterday?’ She glanced round the room. ‘He went straight off after seeing me, right?’
He nodded. ‘Yes, pretty much. He told me he had a lot of stuff he needed to get his head round.’
‘Like seeing me kissing Tommy.’
‘He didn’t mention that.’ Beppe must have seen the doubt on her face as he was quick to reassure her. ‘No, really, he didn’t. So does that mean you and Tommy are serious about each other?’
‘He’s a lovely guy and he saved my life and that’s something I’ll never forget. But no, we aren’t a couple. He would like us to be a couple, but I’m afraid there’s somebody else I can’t get out of my mind.’
‘Michael?’
‘Michael. Although the more time passes, the more impossible it all seems.’
‘You like him a lot, don’t you?’ Beppe’s voice was unusually soft. Without waiting for an answer, he carried on. ‘These past three years have been terrible for him, Suzie. He and Grazia were very, very much in love. Losing her was like losing part of himself. I can only begin to imagine what he’s been through. But I can see that he really likes you, too. A lot. He just needs time.’
Suzie managed a little smile. ‘That’s what my mum said.’ She caught the waitress’s eye and ordered a pot of tea. ‘I feel so very sorry for him. Like you say, it must have been awful. I just wish he’d let me help him.’