"Joe!" Noah shouted.
His brother didn't surface. Noah stumbled to the edge of the quarry. In a panic, he pulled his phone out of his pocket. He pressed 999, his hands shaking.
"Hello? Ambulance, please. It's my brother, he's jumped into the quarry..."
The person on the other end of the call was calm, asking questions and telling him the ambulance was on its way. She paused when Noah said that Joe was still in the water. "Can you get him out?"
"I don't know..." Noah looked desperately over the edge again, then saw Joe's phone lying on the ground where Joe had left it. Suddenly hit by an idea, he dropped his own phone and picked up Joe's. He tried several passcodes to unlock his brother's phone, including Joe's birthday, Debbie's birthday and Noah's own birthday, which he knew was a long shot. Finally he entered their father's date of birth, which he remembered from visiting the grave with his mum and Cain, and the phone unlocked. Scrolling through Joe's contacts with trembling fingers, he found the name he was looking for and pressed to call Graham's number.
"Joe?" said Graham's voice.
"Graham? It's Noah, you need to come to the quarry, Joe's in the water..."
Graham must have been nearby, because he came running around the corner before the ambulance arrived. Ignoring Noah, he stripped off his jacket and leapt into the water himself. Moments later he emerged, dragging Joe's unconscious form.
"Joe!" Noah hurried forward as Graham laid Joe on the ground, bending down to check Joe's breath.
"He's not breathing," said Graham tersely. He leaned in and began giving Joe mouth-to-mouth. Noah watched helplessly as Graham pumped Joe's chest rhythmically until a stream of water erupted from Joe's mouth. He remained unconscious, however.
"Where's the ambulance?" Graham shouted at Noah. He was answered by a siren in the distance which grew louder as the ambulance pulled up and several paramedics jumped out.
Joe was loaded onto a stretcher as Graham fired details at the paramedics. "Joseph Tate, aged 22, no known allergies..."
"What actually happened?" one of the paramedics asked, as Joe was carried into the ambulance.
"He jumped off the edge," said Noah, in response to Graham's look. "It were only a dare, I didn't think he'd actually do it..."
"Looks like he hit his head on the way down. He may have other injuries as well." The paramedic looked at Graham. "Did you move him?"
"I had to, he was still under water."
The ambulance was ready to go. "Are you both coming with him?" asked the paramedic.
"Yes," said Noah instantly.
"No," said Graham at the same time, picking up his jacket. "I'll come to the hospital. Noah, you go and tell your mother and Debbie what's happened."
"But I wanna stay with him-"
"Just go, Noah, you've done enough."
Graham got in the ambulance, the paramedic shutting the doors behind him. Noah watched as the sirens started up again and the vehicle roared away.
...
At the hospital, Graham followed Joe's stretcher down the corridor until Joe was taken into a private room to be checked over. Then all he could do was wait, watching doctors and nurses go to and fro until one of the nurses came to talk to him.
"Hello, I understand you came in with Joseph Tate?"
"How is he?" Graham got to his feet.
"Are you his next of kin?" the nurse asked delicately.
"I am. Well, I was his legal guardian."
"Mr Tate is still unconscious. However, he didn't inhale much water and his head injury is not thought to be serious."
"That's good news."
"However, we may need permission to operate on Mr Tate if he doesn't regain consciousness in time."
"Operate for what?"
The nurse paused. "He may have spinal injuries."
Graham felt a chill go through him at these words. "How serious?"
"It's impossible to say at this stage."
"Is this because I moved him?"
"It's impossible to say," the nurse repeated. "But you saved his life, by the sounds of it."
Graham swallowed hard, making a decision. "Bring me the consent forms. I'll sign whatever you need."
Once Joe had gone into surgery, Graham retrieved his phone from his jacket pocket. He had several missed calls from Joe's phone, which Noah must still have. Ignoring these, he searched for Zoe's number. He had last heard from her five years ago, after he had messaged to let her know that Joe was safely back in England. One very short text, saying He's all yours in response.
Whatever had happened between Joe and his aunt, Zoe needed to know about this. He pressed her number, hoping that she hadn't changed it and praying that Joe hadn't taken his desire to be like his father too far.