Chapter one

The water was cold and it was fast flowing. It took a few moments for Captain James to get his bearings once he emerged on to the surface.

'2 section!' He shouted. 'Get to the edge away from the current!'

He managed to swim close enough to the edge so that he could stand, followed by Rab and Maisie. He quickly scanned the water for signs of the other members of the section. Kingy, Fingers and Ruby followed just after Monk, followed by Brains. He felt a jolt of panic in his stomach as he realised he couldn't see Georgie.

'Does anyone have eyes on Lane?!' He shouted. 'And Monk? Does anyone have eyes on Monk or Lane?'

'Boss! There!' Maisie shouted, pointing over to a branch which was hanging out of a collection of rocks by the waters edge, about 30m from where they were standing. He started running before he even knew if it was her. The sense of panic he felt threatened to expose their secret, all he wanted was to grab her and hold her close to him, make sure she was safe. But he knew that if he allowed himself to be Charlie even for a moment, he wouldn't be the captain she needed him to be.

The others closely followed behind as he scrambled over rocks. As they became more slippery and jagged he fell a couple of times, ripping through his sodden trousers. He barely felt the pain of the rocks slicing open his skin as all he could think about was getting to Georgie before it was too late. If it wasn't already.

As they got to the waters edge, he breathed a small sigh of relief as he realised that both the missing members of his section were there. 'Boss!' Monk said desperately. 'I managed to grab her but she's in a bad way. My leg is stuck.'

'Kingy, Rab, get in and help release Monk.' On command they jumped in to the water and rummaged under the water, trying to prise his leg out from the jagged rocks without causing further damage.

Ruby stood at the edge of the water. For a few seconds he waited for guidance from Georgie like he always did, but then he realised that today it was him who was going to have to be in control. After a few seconds it came naturally and he jumped in to the water to assess her.

'Hold her still.' He said to Captain James as he began to check her vital signs, but he didn't need to as Captain James already had his arms wrapped around her, holding her steady against his body.

Within a few seconds Monk was released and Kingy and Rab managed to haul him up on to the rocks, and with the help of Fingers they moved him off the rocks and on to the flat bank of the river ready to be checked over.

'Immobilise and apply pressure to that leg until I have checked it.' Ruby said. 'Once I'm done with Georgie I'll be over.'

'Just take care of Georgie.' Monk said. His voice had lost its usual spark, he was clearly in shock from what had just happened.

'She's breathing.' Ruby said. 'But she's got a head injury. Did you see what happened Monk?'

'Nah.' He said. 'when I got to the surface she was already in the water but she wasn't moving so I grabbed her, and managed to get us over to the bank. I couldn't get her out. I tried, I-'

'It's alright Monk.' Kingy said, putting a firm hand on his shoulder. 'You did well.'

'I can't believe we all survived.' Rab said, looking up at the cliff top above them, from where they had all had to jump. 'We're all ok.'

It appeared that everyone except for Georgie had escaped with superficial injuries.

'We need to get her out of the water.' Ruby said. 'We need an urgent medevac now.'

Kingy looked around while waiting for Captain James' command. 'Boss?' He said. 'We won't get a helicopter down here. What do you want to do?'

Charlie couldn't think. He had been so close to having her, getting her back safely, and now it was all slipping away from him. Just like everything else in his life. Georgie was the one thing that made him happy, the one thing that made him believe he could get through all of this. If he didn't have her, then he had nothing.

'The canoes are up river.' Kingy said. 'Shall we bring them down and then we can move Lane into a canoe and get to a safe extraction point? I think there should be one about half a mile down the river.'

'Yeah.' Captain James nodded. 'Brains can you call it in.'

'Right, Fingers, Khalil, on me.' Kingy said sternly, while Brains got on the comma to request the medevac. 'Monk will you be alright here with Richards while we fetch the canoes?'

'Yeah.' Monk said. He could barely feel pain as the adrenaline from the jump was keeping him going.

'Brains stay here and help them get Georgie out of the water and on to the river bank.'

Once Ruby had checked Georgie over as best he could, they had to move her off the rocks and on to the river bank where she could safely be moved in to a canoe. Together with Brains and Captain James, they managed to move her slowly. He prayed that she hadn't hit her head on the way down and that the damage was done in the water. Because they had to get rid of most of their things before jumping, he had only limited kit to use and he had nothing to immobilise her properly.

'Georgie can you hear me?' He asked once they had placed her down near to Monk, looking in to each of her eyes in turn and feeling for her pulse. 'Her pulse is steady.' He said. 'I need to check the rest of her over. Boss can you hold her head steady while I take off these clothes?'

Charlie knelt by her head, with one knee either side and placed his hands on the side of her head. 'Keep her airway open.' Ruby commanded. Charlie stroked the side of her face gently while trying to wake her, to get her to respond. Ruby checked over the rest of her methodically, ripping away her clothing in places.

'It looks like the head injury is the most severe injury.' He said. 'The right arm might be broken too. And I can't rule out internal bleeding. Keep her still and keep talking to her while I check Monk over. Brains, can you find me something to immobilise that arm.'

While Ruby tended to Monk and Brains looked for something to make a makeshift splint, Charlie took Georgie's hand and knelt down close to her ear, whispering to her quietly.

'We made it.' He said. 'Stay with me, Georgie. Please stay with me. I need you.'

He forced himself back in to captain mode as he felt the panic set in. He had to control it. He would be no use to anyone if he couldn't make decisions.

He cleared his throat. 'How's he looking, Ruby?'

'It looks superficial.' Ruby confirmed. 'I don't think it's broken, but I don't have any blast bandages. Brains once you've done that, can you rip a shred of material from his uniform and I'll use it to tie it up for now? How are you doing, Maisie?'

'I'm fine.' Maisie said. 'I was just winded but I'm fine now.'

Captain James felt movement between his hands and he looked down, his heart thumping in his chest. She was coming round.

'Lane!' He said. 'Stay still. Ruby she's coming around!'

Ruby scrambled over to Georgie and Captain James and placed his hand over Georgie's.

'Stay still.' He said 'it's ok. You'll be ok but you have to stay still.'

Georgie looked up at Charlie and tried to talk but she was confused and groggy, and the words wouldn't come out right.

'Shhh.' He said, stroking the side of her face again. 'It's ok. We will be out of here soon. Just stay still.'

Suddenly Monk spotted the canoes coming down river.

'They're here!' He said.

The last time Captain James had been in a canoe it was him who had been lying in Georgie's lap, relying on her to save him. It seemed ironic that here they were again, but this time the tables had turned. He remembered how calm she had been in Belize, how she had kept him alive all that time and got him to hospital just in time. He owed it to her to make sure he did the same for her. He would not let anything happen to her and he could not let the rest of his section down.