Water and Fire by Demelza Carlton Read Free Book Online

wishing I'd thought to bring warmer clothing.
I wondered if it was warmer in the water with the whale than in the
wind on the boat. If only I could slip into the water unseen to
find out.
    Aidan was close behind me, but
I didn't mind his nearness. He blocked the wind from one direction,
if nothing else. I heard him unzip his coat and wondered why he'd
do such a thing in this wind. The answer came as he enclosed me in
tartan, his arms lightly around me.
    I pulled away automatically,
but stopped at the sound of his voice. Now he sounded in control.
"You're turning blue. You can share my coat or you can go inside
and wrap up in the foil blanket from the boat's first aid kit. If
you stand out here much longer in your wet clothes, you'll get
hypothermia and I promise I'll get you admitted to hospital as soon
as the boat docks. Whatever you choose, I'm not going to let you
freeze. I'm not a very good one, but I am a doctor."
    I couldn't be admitted to
hospital as a patient. I refused to sit inside when the whales were
out here. That left me one option that was less repugnant than I'd
thought. I struggled out of my own dripping coat and dropped it on
the deck. My sweater and shirt beneath it were merely damp. I sank
deeper into Aidan's coat, until my back touched his chest.
    His breath tickled my ear as he
laughed. "I expected you to take the first aid option inside."
    "The whales are out here," I
said.
    As if on cue, the baby exhaled
into the air and flashed its fin and tail. The whale cow lifted her
back high, followed by a tail wider than the boat, as she dove deep
and headed out of the bay. I farewelled her with my eyes.
    Aidan zipped up his coat again,
this time with me inside. He was so warm. I was surprisingly
comfortable in this strange man's arms, though a contributing
factor might have been how numb I felt from the freezing wind.
    I didn't sing again and all we
saw for the remainder of the trip were smaller humpbacks, surfacing
and blowing, as they had before. I didn't mind. This was enough.
Now I wanted to go back to shore and find some dry clothes. As if
the skipper had heard me, it seemed like no time at all before the
boat tied up at the jetty again. Aidan slid out of his coat and put
it on me. He carried my wet coat as he extended a hand to help me
out of the boat. I stumbled, clumsier than I could ever remember
being before, as I found my feet and legs were numb. Somehow, with
his help, I made it to the car. I sat in the passenger seat, almost
too cold to shiver.
    Aidan had to buckle up my seat
belt, before asking me again, in concern, "Home or the
hospital?"
    "Home," I replied as loudly as
I could. "There's nothing they can do for hypothermia at the
hospital that you can't do at home."
    "Right. Right," Aidan told
himself, as he drove off.

21
     
    I tried to focus on the road,
but my vision wavered from blurred to clear. I felt the bumpy
surface of gravel and told myself we were almost home. A kangaroo
came out of nowhere, bursting from the bush on one side of the
road. It cleared the bonnet of the car and hightailed off into the
bush on the other side.
    "There goes Lucky," Aidan
said.
    I struggled to understand. "The
kangaroo's name is Lucky?"
    Aidan laughed. "Any kangaroo I
don't hit is called Lucky."
    I smiled, or I think I did, but
I was so cold I couldn't feel if my face was working correctly.
    Aidan kept shooting glances in
my direction, his expression increasingly grim.
    He parked his car so close to
the front door it was almost on the veranda encircling the walls.
He bundled me out of the car and into the house.
    Once inside, he let go of me. I
sagged on my feet, but I remained standing.
    His fingers manically combed
through his hair, so it fluffed out in all directions. "You
should…go get changed. Into some warm, dry clothes. I'll start the
fire and get the room heated, so you can sit out here on the sofa
to warm up." He looked at me, more than a little apprehensive. "Do
you need help getting changed, or