‘Ella!’ Claire screamed, lunging forward as her baby slipped under the unforgiving waves. ‘Ella!’
God, please don’t do this. Please… don’t do this! Her blood turning to ice in her veins, oblivious to broken seashells and sharp gravel biting spitefully into the soles of her feet, she ran.
Sophie was faster. Racing towards Ella from the opposite side, bounding across the white froth towards her, she reached her, plunging into the waves as the little girl surfaced and then went under again, causing Claire to almost drop to her knees.
A split second later, Sophie reappeared, swooping Ella high into her arms and whirling around. ‘I’ve got her!’ she shouted, making her way back towards the shore. ‘I’ve got her,’ she repeated, her face deathly pale, as Claire stumbled the last yard between them.
Her heart pumping with shock and anger, Claire snatched Ella from her, hugging her daughter tight and rubbing her back as she spluttered and spat seawater from her mouth. ‘What the bloody hell were you doing?’ Her voice shrill, her anger building, rising red hot inside her, she stared horrified at the woman, her supposed half-sister, who’d risked her child’s life.
‘I’m sorry,’ Sophie whispered, as if that could fix it, as if that could possibly excuse what she’d done.
‘She could have died!’
‘Mummy…’ Ella wriggled, wet and cold in her arms.
‘What were you thinking?’ Claire exploded, continuing to stare furiously at Sophie. ‘She’s four years old, for God’s sake! And you let her—’
‘Mummy, don’t!’ Ella cried. ‘Sophie told me not to. I went to fetch some water in my bucket so she could fill the moat we were making. She told me not to move. She did, Mummy. Please don’t shout at her.’
Claire’s anger, born of dread at what might have happened – what very nearly had happened – refocused on her daughter. ‘You never go in the sea on your own, Ella. Not ever. Do you—’ She stopped, terror now gripping her heart like a vice as she noticed rich droplets of blood bleeding into the little girl’s blonde curls.
‘Oh God, no. Ella, what have you done?’ She felt herself reel as her world shifted off kilter. Any injury to the head, face or neck needs immediate treatment and should be assessed at hospital. Her heart squeezed painfully as she recalled the consultant’s advice with jarring clarity. Bleeding into the brain is uncommon, but…
‘I’m sorry, Mummy.’ Her face crumpling as she noted Claire’s obvious distress, Ella sobbed in earnest.
‘It’s okay, baby. It’s just a little cut. The doctors will soon fix it,’ Claire murmured, hugging her close. ‘We need to get her to the hospital,’ she told Sophie, trying to communicate the seriousness of the situation with her eyes rather than her voice, not wanting to upset Ella further.
‘Shh, sweetheart,’ she tried to reassure her daughter as she hurried back the way they’d come. ‘It’s okay. It’s no one’s fault. Mummy was frightened, that was all. I didn’t mean to shout at you, darling.’
But she had shouted. And Ella was hurt. And it was Claire’s fault. She should have been watching her. She was responsible, not Sophie. Luke was right. She’d risked her baby’s life.
‘Should I call an ambulance?’ Sophie asked, jolting herself out of her shocked stupor and running ahead.
Claire nodded, tried to stay focused and calm. Ella would be all right. They would give her an injection of clotting factor concentrate and she would be fine. Why had she allowed herself to be persuaded to come here? she asked herself, her heart barely functioning. Why hadn’t she brought her fucking car?
They waited up on the seafront for the ambulance, Claire hugging Ella tight, talking reassuringly to her. ‘Where is it?’ she cried wretchedly as she noticed her baby’s blood now bleeding into her shirt like an ink stain.
‘It’s all right, Mummy,’ Ella said, pressing the palm of her hand to Claire’s cheek.
Claire looked into her earnest eyes and felt like weeping. ‘I know it is, baby.’ She smiled, stifling a sob. ‘I know.’
‘Stuff this,’ Sophie growled, heading for the kerb, where she tried unsuccessfully to flag down a taxi. And another. ‘What is the matter with everyone?’ she seethed, running a hand through her short crop of hair in frustration. ‘Will someone please just… Stop!’ she shouted.
Claire’s heart turned over as she launched herself from the pavement into the path of an oncoming car.