“The recommendation is doing buddy checks,” she stated, and ran through the acronym in her head. “BCD.” She checked Sam’s was fastened correctly. “Weight belt.” He had one separate to his jacket, so she made sure it was sitting where it should and was done up correctly. “Regulator.” Air came out when she pressed the release, and just to make certain she checked where it attached to the tank as well. “Air.” The tank was on and the air flowed. Final check. “Do you feel ready to go down?” She lifted her gaze to his eyes only to see his concern and compassion.
“Yes, I do. Do you?”
Penelope glanced down and nodded while he completed the same checks with her equipment. She would do this. She was protecting the reef and the animals who lived there.
“Penny, if you don’t want to dive, you don’t have to,” Sam murmured as he checked the air. “No one is going to judge you.”
She wasn’t doing a good job of hiding her fear. It wouldn’t make him feel confident about going down with her. She blinked the moisture from her eyes before she looked at him. “I need to.”
“We’ll take it slow.”
She nodded again and retrieved her waterproof camera from the bag, attaching the strap to her wrist. When she looked up, it was in time to see Brandon nod at something Sam had said and then glance at her.
Great, now they were talking about her. With far more confidence than she felt, she said, “Shall we go?”
At Sam’s nod, she leaned backwards and fell into the water.
The shock of the cold made her suck in a deep breath and then another one as she inflated her BCD and waited for Sam. He splashed in only moments later and swam over to her.
“We’ll go down and then explore the area?” he suggested.
“Yes.”
He placed the regulator into his mouth and lifted the air valve up. As he sank below the water, fear gripped Penelope. She lunged for him, dragging him up. “Wait!”
“What’s wrong?”
Her brain fumbled for something to say. “Checks,” she blurted. “I don’t know I did the checks correctly.”
“You did them more thoroughly than I’ve ever seen them done.” Sam paused and then asked, “What happened the last time you dived, Penny?”
She pushed away from him, every nerve in her body primed to flee. She shook her head. “I’m fine.”
“Clearly you’re not.”
Frustration and fear collided like a frontal assault of two charging armies. “I need to be.”
“Then what can I do to help?”
Tears sprang to her eyes, unwanted, but unstoppable. “Humour me. Let me check. Go slow.”
He swam closer and spun so she had access to the tank to check it was turned on. She ran through her checks again and when she was finished, Sam slipped his hand into hers.
“Slowly?” It was more a question whether she wanted to go down, and she nodded.
His firm, warm grip grounded her. Here was a man who’d been in the military, who had faced many life-threatening situations. He wouldn’t panic if something went wrong. She was sure of it. Penelope lifted her air valve and together they sank beneath the surface. She kept her eyes locked on Sam’s for any sign something was wrong, but his clear blue gaze was soft like a baby’s blanket, calm and comforting.
Emelia had been calm until she’d run out of air.
Then no amount of tugging on her arm had got through to her. Suddenly Penelope was transported back to that horrific day.
Emelia stopping in front of her, slicing her hand across her throat in the no air signal, her eyes bugging out of her head. Penelope fumbling for her spare regulator, then looking up to see Emelia was already ascending.
Penelope had grabbed her fin, pulled her down and Emelia had fought, kicking and punching, not processing the spare regulator Penelope had held out to her so they could share the air as they ascended. She’d slipped from Penelope’s grasp and Penelope had watched helplessly as her friend had surfaced alone.
They’d been diving all week, to various depths, and they’d followed a rare sea snake to almost thirty metres on this day. It required both a decompression stop and a safety stop. By the time Penelope had safely surfaced, Emelia was complaining of shortness of breath, pins and needles and dizziness. She hadn’t even got on to the boat by herself. It had taken Penelope precious time to get her on board and then radio for help.
Too long.
