I’m still watching the flounder flap its fins against the ground, skirting over rocks and hugging the side of coral structures, when Vanessa swims away. Andrew and Pippa follow. Hugh stays by my side, patiently waiting. I normally would love having someone this attentive to dive with, but all Hugh’s perfection is doing is making me insecure about my dive skills. I can still see Vanessa, so we swim leisurely after her retreating figure. Out of habit, I turn my head to try and spot Miguel behind me, but I don’t see him or Derek or Natalie.

I tug on Hugh’s arm and lift my hands, palms outstretched in a ‘what’s going on?’ expression.

He makes the same gesture back to me. ‘I don’t know,’ his eyes are saying from behind his clear plastic mask. We turn to swim faster towards Vanessa, Andrew and Pippa. There are rules to diving, and the first is not to get separated from your buddy and your guides. If you do, you are supposed to ascend to the surface and inflate something called a ‘flare’ which shoots up from the water and is bright orange. We can still see the three of them, so we don’t ascend yet. They’re approaching a curve of a rock structure, about to be out of sight. Both Hugh and I kick faster.

Out of the corner of my eye I see movement. Big movement. My heart rate picks up but my legs slow down. I freeze in the water. I feel my heartbeat through my whole body.

A shark is swimming along the bottom of the ocean, towards Hugh and me. It’s about five feet long, and its eyes are pale and terrifying.

‘Hugh,’ I try to call out, but my voice gets absorbed by my regulator. I grab at his ankle and barely brush it with my fingers. He starts to turn around, sees the shark out of his peripherals, and his movements slow. Then, much to my disbelief, his legs kick in a giant scissor motion, propelling him away from me.

I’m unable to regain feeling in my legs. The shark swims closer. My blood runs cold. ‘Kick, Andi,’ I say to myself, trying to return movement to my feet. The shark has slowed down and lurks just a few feet away, its giant pale eyes staring at me.

With a flick of its tail the shark sways closer to me. Suddenly, I feel a heavy hand on my forearm. With a gentle tug, Hugh pulls me forward, his body appearing between me and the shark. Instead of kicking towards Vanessa, Hugh had manoeuvred in a circle, maintaining a calm momentum, returning to push me forward. I regain movement in my legs and try to strike a balance between swimming fast and swimming frantically. If sharks can really smell fear, I’m a goner. Despite Hugh as a bulwark, I’m terrified.