Welcome To Crete Chapter 63

A Chapter by Repgreece

rescue

The main road to Elounda had come to a standstill as drivers stopped their cars and got out to witness the ribbon of fire that was surging down the mountain path. The black smoke began to sting Fay's eyes and burn the back of her nostrils and throat as the surrounding fires raged on. Heat from the flames was so intense at that point that every part of exposed skin on Fay's body seemed to be burning, and Fay could no longer ignore the ferocity of the advancing curtains of fire. Without warning an encroaching fire shot out a flare, raining sparks down on them as it leapt over their heads. Fay screamed in terror and took hold of Adam under the arms, dragging him further into the middle of the path and putting a little more space between them and the flames. She knew however that her action was fruitless as eventually the fires would reach them even there but she held onto Adam with her face next to his, unwilling to yield to despair just yet.

Above the sound of the fires Fay began to notice a foreign noise, which abruptly became louder in the proceeding seconds. It was followed by a huge gust of wind before Fay gasped in shock as her whole body seemed to sizzle when she found herself suddenly drenched with icy water. Her head shot up then just in time to see a helicopter turn and disappear into the distance.

"Adam, I think we're going to be okay baby," she wept, watching as the fires lost most of their intensity.

She kept her head buried next to Adam's and prayed for them during the time it took for the fire engines to battle their way through the remaining fires and reach them at the centre. The paramedics had to prise Adam out of Fay's arms and she only let him go when one of them warned her that he needed to be taken away for medical attention. Then the shaking frame of her body was lifted off the floor and bundled into the back of an ambulance, where she was forced to lie down as a female paramedic checked her over for injuries. She tried desperately to ask the people around her about Adam, however she was unable to make herself understood and she eventually lay still as the paramedic stroked her arm and whispered, "It's okay, it's okay," over and over again.

At the hospital Fay was ushered into a side room by a nurse despite her insistence that she was not hurt and that all she wanted to do was to see Adam. Again the language barrier prevented Fay from expressing herself fully and the nurse eventually gave up trying to understand her frantic pleas as she proceeded to check her over for injuries. As soon as the nurse had finished her checks Fay made a bid for the door but the nurse halted her saying, "Peri meni eh. I come back. Wait here please."

She urged Fay to stay seated on the chair and disappeared out of the door, returning minutes later with another nurse.

"You want to say something?" the second nurse asked.

"Yes I want to see the man I came here with. We were both caught in the fires in Elounda but he had a fall and I don't know if he's okay," she said in a rush. "I need to see him."

"Wait," she said simply, leaving the room and the first nurse, who was watching Fay sympathetically as she came close to tears again. She fidgeted in the chair and glanced nervously towards the door, waiting with dread for the nurse to return with news. Eventually the door swung open and Fay looked across nervously at the woman as she re-entered. The nurse's face broke out into a smile when her eyes met Fay's, allowing a small window of hope to open up for Fay.

"He is awake now. Come, you can see him," she said, gesturing for Fay to follow her.

Relief surged through Fay then in a great wave and she bolted out of the chair, following the nurse down the corridor to a room a few doors down. When she entered the room Adam was sitting up in the bed and he turned to her as the door opened. She had to fight the urge to run and throw herself on him but she pulled up a chair instead and sat beside the bed, taking his hand in hers.

"Are you okay?" she asked, running her eyes over him with concern.

"I'm fine. I just have a bad headache. I don't know why they are keeping me in here to be honest," he replied a lot more light heartedly than she had expected. "There's nothing wrong with me. Did they put out the fire? I seem to remember that there was a fire near to the hotel. The owner must have been frantic. And are the guests okay?"

She stared at him in confusion before realisation hit her that he can't have remembered all of the events leading up to his fall. She felt such a mixture of emotions at that point: confusion, relief and shock, that her mind was unable to focus enough to answer his questions and she sat there looking down at him with tears slipping from her eyes.

"What is it?" he frowned, searching her face.

Her hands began to shake in his and she put her head down, letting her tears slide between their entwined fingers as the horror of the past few hours overwhelmed her.

He struggled to sit further up in the bed then, shocked and bewildered by her reaction.

"Look at me Fay. What is wrong? Hey, look at me," he repeated.

She slowly lifted her head and began to wipe the tears away from her face, taking in a deep breath and wavering in her attempt to be strong for him.

"I'm sorry. You're the one who's been hurt and here I am making matters worse," she said, chastising herself.

He dismissed her comment with a wave of his hand. "Never mind about that! I want to know what's wrong. What happened out there?"

Her eyes hovered on his face as she contemplated what to tell him. She could still vividly recall the suffocating and terrifying experience of being surrounded by the fires but shouldn't she spare him the knowledge of how close they came to death that day on the mountain?

"What are you keeping from me?" he asked, watching her closely. "Did someone hurt you? Tell me Fay! I'm sick of all these secrets between us," he said suddenly, snatching his hands away from hers.

She felt a physical pain by his withdrawal from her but she was utterly at a loss as to what to say next. The nurse appeared behind her then, tapping her on the shoulder and gesturing for her to move to one side. She rose off the chair and joined the nurse by the door, looking anxiously over her shoulder at Adam who was gazing blankly out of the window.

"He has a problem to remember. He is confused. He must stay here tonight and you must go now but he will be okay tomorrow I think. You come back then and you will see," the nurse smiled. Fay looked unsure and the nurse put a reassuring hand on her arm. "It is not so bad, he will be okay," she repeated.

She gave the nurse a weak smile and moved back to the bed. "I have to go now Adam."

He swung his head back to her with steely eyes and then shrugged.

"I'll come to see you tomorrow. The nurse said that you should be feeling better by then." She waited for a response from him but he turned away from her again and she bit back the tears, bending to plant a gentle kiss on his averted cheek. "I'll see you tomorrow Adam," she stressed again, turning reluctantly to leave the room.