Cam’s fear of the water was widely known and not understood on the island.
She tried to smile. “I’d like to get out as soon as possible.”
“I’ll get him.” Pauler made a move to get off his kayak and into the water.
She shook her head. “Get him out. His legs are pinned. I’ll be fine. Just get him.” She might’ve lied. Whether she would be fine was a matter of severe debate. But what wasn’t up for debate was the fact that if they didn’t free Brodie, he’d die. She could live with fear. She couldn’t live with that fear costing her friend his life.
Edmund and Pauler tethered their kayaks, then entered the water. The look the two men shared alerted Cameron that they were dealing with more than Brodie’s leg simply being pinned.
Pauler swam to her. “You need to see this.” Taking her place on the floating debris, he took hold of Brodie’s upper half.
No doubt whatever Pauler thought she needed to see, she most definitely didn’t want to see. As fishermen, the brothers would have much more experience with breaking boats apart or moving heavy pieces of wood. They only needed Cameron’s help if they’d discovered a medical problem.
Edmund’s face was sober when she reached him. He nodded toward where a large piece of metal smashed Brodie’s legs between boat and plane. The men had managed to pull the debris back slightly, revealing a mangled mess of bone, skin, and muscle. The lower part of Brodie’s left leg no longer resembled any part of a human. No distinction remained between foot, ankle, or calf. Bile rose in Cameron’s throat. Her area of expertise was gynecology. Although she sometimes assisted the surgeons when they needed an extra hand in foreign countries, she’d never seen anything like this.
“You’ve called the doctors?” When she’d deposited Vea on the beach, she’d given Edmund instructions to use the island’s satellite phone to call in an emergency relief team of doctors like the one she’d worked with in her old life.
He nodded. “They said they had a team available and would send them immediately.”
Small blessings. If they managed to free Brodie from his boat and rescue him from the water, he would need all the help he could get. Closing her eyes, she again took in a deep breath. As she blew the air from her lungs through her mouth, calm washed over her. She opened her eyes and met the worried gazes of her friend. “I don’t think we can save his leg.” She cleared the emotion from her voice. Brodie didn’t have time for her emotions. Her friend needed her clear, level thinking. “The best we can do is get him out of this damn water and stop the blood loss until the doctors can get here.”
Edmund paled at her words. “And do what?”
Offering him the only encouragement she could, she titled her lips slightly. “Remove it. I’m sorry, but it’s his only chance at surviving. Try to do as little damage as possible to the other leg, but his life is our priority.”
Edmund rubbed a hand over his face.
“Do you hear me, Edmund? His life—”
“But what kind of life will he have without legs, Doc? He’s a fisherman.”
And he may never fish again.
“I promised his wife I’d save him,” she replied. “Legs or not, I’m bringing this man back to his family.”
Edmund nodded. “Come on Pauler.” He inclined his head toward Brodie’s lower half.
Cameron returned to her friend’s head to trade places with the other man.
“Are you sure you can save him?” Pauler asked.
“No,” she whispered, helplessness washing over her. “But no one will be able to accuse us of not giving it everything we have.”
On the beach, chaos reigned. The scents and sounds of destruction assaulted Cameron’s senses as Edmund towed her and Brodie’s unconscious body back to shore behind his kayak. Feverishly, men and women worked, bucket by bucket, to douse the flames determined to destroy their corner of paradise. In the water, the burning plane still bobbed with Brodie’s boat slowly sinking beside it.
Climbing off her board, she stepped back and allowed the men to lift it and Brodie out of the water. Someone had already brought the island’s Jeep to transport him the short distance to the clinic.
“What the hell happened?” someone murmured.