‘I remember summer in Sapphire Cove,’ Ryan said, thinking back to a time it had been so hot even shorts and thongs had seemed too much trouble to wear. ‘Though I have to say I kind of like summer here. All the rain and frogs and insects-and the odd cyclone thrown in for good measure.’ He hesitated. ‘At least it must get quieter for you. When the wet hits your population must fall.’
‘Mmm, but the ones that stay get sicker,’ Abbey told him. ‘I get so many tropical infections. The water gets warmer, with particles of coral floating everywhere. People go swimming with a tiny scratch and it turns into a major infected wound.’ She sighed. ‘Well, that’s my business. You’ll be long gone by February.’
Then she hesitated. She needed Ryan’s help before he left. ‘You will have a really long talk to Ian tomorrow, though, won’t you, Ryan? I don’t know the up-to-date treatments for AIDS. In fact, I’ve never treated an AIDS patient. I can’t reassure him as he needs to be reassured.’
‘I’ll phone a friend in New York tonight for information,’ Ryan agreed. ‘He’s working in the field and he has the disease himself. If anyone can give me the latest, Marcus can. And then I’ll talk to Ian in the morning.’
Abbey bit her lip. ‘You… you promise?’
Silence.
‘You really do think I’ve changed, don’t you, Abbey?’ Ryan said softly, but his knuckles on the steering-wheel were white. ‘Hell, Abbey, I said I would.’
‘I’m sorry. It’s just… well, it’s Ian’s life. And… and I’m already blaming myself for tonight. If I hadn’t depended on you-’
‘Yeah.’ Ryan’s voice was curt and angry. ‘Let’s all blame Ryan.’ He cast a swift glance at her. ‘Why not? I do myself.’ He shrugged. ‘And I’m sorry. Believe me, Abbey, you can’t blame me any more than I do myself.
‘I guess-doing what I do-well, my job’s mostly research and teaching, and when I am called in for hands-on work the patient’s been counselled and assessed already. Often they’re already unconscious on the operating table. You get used to thinking of problems as a pelvis or a femur or a combination of problems-not as Mr Jones whose life depends on what you’re doing.’
He sighed. ‘I guess I hadn’t realised until tonight-or maybe I once knew but had forgotten-that what I do has a wider impact It certainly did tonight-or, rather, what I didn’t do. It damn near caused a tragedy.’
He stared straight ahead again and kept on driving, and Abbey bit her lip as she watched his drawn face. She should have shut up. Ryan hadn’t changed so much that she had to kick him when he was already feeling so guilty.
She turned away and glanced out of the car. They were travelling along the beach road towards the town, and the moon was glimmering over the sea in a brilliant band of gold. The beach stretched away on either side-a broad ribbon of sand, smooth and washed clean in the moonlight. It was low tide and Sapphire Cove was at its most beautiful. Not a tourist in sight. Nothing.
Except…
‘Ryan, stop!’
Abbey’s voice was urgent, and Ryan acted instinctively. He shoved his foot on the brake so hard that if they hadn’t been wearing seat belts both would have been catapulted through the windscreen.
‘What on earth…?’
‘Pull over, Ryan.’ Abbey’s voice was excited rather than fearful. She was staring down at the beach in wonder. ‘Oh, Ryan…’
And Ryan looked. And saw…
A vast turtle was lumbering up the beach, causing a swathe in the wet sand like a bulldozer ploughing a channel. The turtle was heading in a straight line up the beach, and that could only mean one thing. As far as Ryan knew, turtles came out of the sea for one purpose. To lay eggs.
‘Oh, Ryan…’ Abbey was scarcely breathing. ‘After all this time… ’
She hauled open the car door and was out, heading across the sandy verge to the beach beyond. Like it or not, Ryan was left to follow.
Abbey and Ryan watched the turtle for almost two hours, and they hardly spoke for the entire time.
What they were seeing was a miracle. The huge green turtles were increasingly rare in these waters. They came up onto the beach to lay their eggs, but there were thousands of miles of coastline for them to choose and for one to choose this place… and this time…
All Abbey’s life she had wanted to see one lay her eggs. And, back in the time when he’d been her friend, so had Ryan. So Abbey assumed he was as spellbound as she. As eager to see.
And, miraculously, for once in her busy life Abbey could take the time to watch. Abbey had a babysitter who wasn’t expecting them home soon. Steve was in charge at the hospital. For once in her life Abbey was free.
She crouched low in the seagrass and was silent as the big turtle lumbered up almost within touching distance and started to dig.
The turtle was almost two feet wide and three feet long-massive-and nothing was getting in her way. Whether or not she was aware of Ryan and Abbey’s presence, she kept on digging, but Abbey wouldn’t have distracted her for the world. She didn’t have to warn Ryan to stay still or be silent. Ryan sank on the sand beside her and watched by her side.
And watched.
And watched.
And, in a way, this time was a healing for them both. For Abbey the last years had moved like a fast-paced nightmare. John’s death. The birth of Jack. Financial disaster and the constant pressures of far too much work.
And Ryan?
Ryan watched the turtle, preparing a safe place for her brood, and he felt his foundations shift. Or what he’d thought of as his foundations.
He hadn’t known until this moment that he’d left a part of him here when he’d left this place. At fifteen his mother had dragged him half a world away and had set about systematically destroying every memory he’d had of his childhood. His father hadn’t really cared, she’d said. Why else hadn’t he fought her for custody? Sapphire Cove had nothing except a bunch of country hicks and no culture at all.
Close on twenty years of her poisoned tongue had had their effect. He’d almost started believing her.
But now in this time of absolute stillness and wonder-crouching side by side with Abbey in the sand-their bodies touching and yet not speaking at all-letting the moonlight play on their faces as it lit up the wonder of new life before them-Ryan knew that his mother was wrong.
Sure, in New York he had a life that his mother was proud of. But was it his life?
He sat and he watched and he thought. Two hours was nothing-and yet two hours had the power to change people’s lives.
They stayed where they were as a miracle happened before their eyes. The moonlight cast a soft glow over the whole beach, lighting the scene almost like day.
The turtle knew exactly what she was doing. She scraped a vast hole behind her, using her paddles to shove the sand aside. Occasionally a spray of fine sand flew up over Abbey and Ryan and it was as much as Abbey could do not to laugh in delight.
And then came the eggs…
Slowly they came, one after another. Eggs, eggs and more eggs. Soft white balls, plopping moistly into their bed of sand. A huge mound of new life, just waiting to happen.
And finally the last egg was laid and the turtle’s job was almost complete. Once more those massive paddles shifted the sand, but this time they calmly coated her eggs-slowly, carefully-leaving no egg uncovered. And then, magically, as though receiving final acclaim for a job well done, the great turtle turned and looked straight at Ryan and Abbey.
Straight in the eye. Eyeball to eyeball. As if challenging them to keep her eggs safe.
And then she calmly turned towards the ocean and made her way majestically back to sea. The waves washed over her as she reached the shallows, the sea took her back into its warmth and all there was left to tell them she’d really been here was a tract of furrowed sand leading down to the sea. And Abbey and Ryan were left staring after her in wonder.