Looking at Lizzy’s listless form, anxiety overwhelmed her. Her heart, protected for so long, was exposed and vulnerable.

Desperate to hear Ryan’s voice, she pulled her phone out of her bag and was dialing his number when the doctor walked back into the room.

The phone slipped back into her bag, forgotten.

“I’ve spoken to the pediatric department on the mainland, and, given the weather forecast and the lack of facilities here on the island, they want you to come in. They’re expecting you.”

Emily stood up, on legs that felt more like water than flesh and bone. “I’ll take the ferry.”

“The last ferry left early because of the storm. There won’t be another crossing today.”

“Can we fly out?”

“Island Air has grounded all flights.” The doctor hesitated. “There is a private pilot willing to take you, but it’s your decision.”

In Emily’s mind there was no decision to be made. “Where can I find him?”

“Up at the airfield, but you need to hurry. The winds are increasing. Is there anything you need before you go? Anyone you want to call to be with you?”

She thought about Ryan, taking Agnes to the home. She thought about Skylar, back in Manhattan and Brittany digging somewhere in Crete.

She was on her own with this.

Emily looked at the bear in Lizzy’s arms. “We have the essential items.”

The doctor handed Emily a letter. “Give this to the doctors. My number is on there, so they can call me. The pilot’s name is Zachary Flynn.”

Zach.

The man who had broken Brittany’s heart.

The man whose photo had been stuck on Brittany’s wall for those first few months of college, so that they could all draw on it.

A million objections crowded her brain, and in among them was the fact that Zach was a man not known for being reliable.

Why was he prepared to fly when no one else was?

The doctor was still talking. “I’ll arrange for an ambulance to meet you when you land and transfer you to the hospital.”

Despite her panic, Emily forced herself to drive carefully on the slick roads. The filthy weather had driven the tourists indoors, so she encountered very little traffic on her way to the airfield on the north of the island.

Glancing in her rearview mirror, she checked on Lizzy who was lying with her eyes closed, her face flushed with fever.

The wind buffeted her car, and rain almost obscured her view. What if even Zach decided it was too dangerous to fly? What if the weather transpired against them and trapped them here?