‘What?’ Soaked through and shivering, Lexi stared at her mother as though she were mad. ‘Matt’s bleeding half to death here and you want me to take a photo of the view?’

‘He’s not bleeding to death.’ Taking her cue from Ryan, Jenna kept her voice calm. ‘I don’t want you to take the view. I want you to take a picture of Matt’s legs. It will help the ER staff.’

‘Good thinking.’ Ryan injected the Ketamine. ‘Do you have your camera, Lex?’

‘Yes—yes. But…’ Baffled, Lexi cast a glance at Matt and rose to her feet, holding the rocks so that she didn’t slip. She was wearing jeans, and the denim was dark with seawater. ‘In my jacket pocket. What do you want me to do?’

‘Take several pictures of the wounds. I’ll do it, if you like.’ Jenna was worried about her daughter seeing the extent of the injuries, but Lexi just gritted her teeth and pointed her digital camera. She took several photos and checked them quickly.

‘OK. It’s done.’

‘Good.’ Now that the pictures were taken, Jenna covered the wounds. ‘It saves the receiving team in the hospital from removing the dressings from his legs to see what’s going on.’

‘Oh. I get it.’ Several shades paler than she’d been a moment earlier, Lexi nodded. ‘What else can I do?’

‘Stay out of reach of the waves,’ Ryan said immediately, his hands on Jenna’s as they packed the wound, using a bandage to hold it in place. ‘Any change—tell me. Jen, I’m going to splint both legs together.’

They worked as a team, Jenna following his instructions to the letter. It didn’t matter that she’d never done anything like this before because his commands were clear and precise. Do this. Do that. Put your hands here—

Later, she’d look back on it and wonder how he could have been so sure about everything, but for now she just did as she was told.

Checking the pulse in both Matt’s feet, she nodded to Ryan. ‘His circulation is good in both legs.’

‘Right. Lex, take this for me.’ Ryan passed his radio to Lexi, freeing up his hands. Then he turned back to the boy. ‘Matt, you’ve broken both your legs. I’m going to put a splint on them because that will reduce the bleeding and it will help the pain.’ He looked towards Lexi. ‘Logan should be up there by now. Make contact and tell Nick I need a towel.’

A towel? Glancing at the water around them, Jenna wondered if he’d gone mad, and then reminded himself that everything he’d done so far had been spot-on.

Worried that all this was too much for Lexi, Jenna was about to repeat the instructions but Lexi was already working the radio. Doing everything she’d been asked to do, she talked to Nick and relayed messages back and forth, copying the radio style she’d heard Ryan use.

‘Dr McNeil is there. He wants to know what you need.’