Kate had never felt so angry as she watched the vessel got smaller and smaller from her point of view inside the tender. She should have known that it had been a trick when Swain had asked her to get into the tender first with the medical kit. She had just put the medical kit down to the tender floor when she could hear the outboard motor came alive and she saw Swain's apologetic eyes.
She couldn't help but beg Swain to turn around as she realised that they were speeding away from the vessel and from Dylan and Jim. But he just shook his head and pleaded with her to sit down and trust their plan.
So, she sat down opposite Swain with angry tears started to form at her eyes at the circumstances. Dylan had promised her. He had promised that he would never leave her and yet, he had stayed at that vessel. He had chosen his duty over his promise to her.
The anger died down almost as soon as it appeared. She knew that their duty to their country must come first. Didn't she also urge him to sacrifice her for the greater good just before? It was terrible enough that she might not see him ever again. She didn't want her last thought of him to be of anger.
She willed Dylan to appear again from the vessel. She knew that time was running out, but she couldn't give up hope. Not like this. Not when they haven't even had a chance to build their new life together as a couple publicly.
So, she closed her eyes and prayed; prayed to any deity up there, whomever was listening. She always thought from early age that prayer was often useless, especially since God hadn't granted her wish to miraculously increase her exam marks when she was 9 years old. But in her desperation, she had to try again.
Suddenly, a deafening boom forced Kate to open her eyes once more.
Deep orange cloud raised up from where the vessel used to be. The cruiser was no more.
She could feel the pressure from the blast reaching them, rocking their tender as the water rippled strongly around it.
Swain reached for her and held her in his arms, shielding her from any possible flying debris coming their way. They held each other for a few minutes as her eyes, her brain and her heart tried to make sense of the way her whole world was just being destroyed violently.
She felt numb to her core. At the same time, she felt like her heart had been ripped away from her body.
She then started to shake as a sob tore through her throat.
"Shhh…. X…. Shhh…. It's ok…." Swain tried to calm her down as he held her tight. "Breathe, you have to breathe…."
Kate couldn't stop sobbing. She just couldn't.
"X…. Kate…." Swain pleaded with her. "Kate, you need to breathe."
Suddenly, his radio crackled to life.
"Swain, sit rep."
Swain reached his mic with his left hand as his right was still trying to provide any comfort he could to his XO.
"Sir, the X and I managed to get away in the tender. We're OK."
"Good. I'm sending both RHIBs down to collect the two of you and then search for Dutchy and Jim."
"Sir, did they manage to jump?"
"Yes, they did. But not sure how far away from the vessel they were when it exploded. You need to stand by to provide medical assistance."
"Copy that, Sir."
Swain then focused his attention to his XO once more. The woman in his arms was hurting and he felt guilty that he didn't disclose their full plan to her, but there was no time to do that before.
"X, look at me please?" Swain encouraged her by holding her shoulders tightly to anchor her. Her teary eyes looked back at him in despair. "The boss just told me that both Dutchy and Captain Roth jumped out from the vessel at the last minute."
The words didn't register in Kate's brain at first. "What?"
"They jumped out." Swain repeated his words once more. "They were not inside when the vessel exploded."
"They're not inside?" Hope started to bloom in Kate's heart.
Swain shook his head. "No. But given the blast radius, it's possible that they are injured."
"We need to go back there then. We need to help them." Kate said urgently. She had a purpose now. There was still hope.
Swain smiled at her as her spirit came back alive. "The boss is sending the RHIBs now. They'll collect us first because we are the closest and we'll look for them together, OK?"
"OK."
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"Charge, anything yet?" Swain asked as the two RHIBs briefly converging side-by-side.
Charge shook his head as he lowered his bino. "Nothing."
"Are you sure this was the direction that they both swam away to?"
"Positive." Charge replied frustratingly. "All this debris doesn't help us either."
"Charge? Green 45. 500 meters." Bird's voice shook as she could see something in her bino in that direction.
Charge confirmed the sighting with his own bino before ordering Jonesy to approach ahead carefully. Swain also ordered Halfy to follow suit.
As they got closer, they could see a body floating up in the water.
"It's the Captain!" Charge recognised the distinct pattern of SAS camo uniform. He then ordered RO to help him hauling up Jim's body into the RHIB.
"He's alive but unconscious, Swain!" Bird paused to check Jim further. "Head wounds, possibly from the debris. Pupils dilated and uneven, possible concussion. Lacerations on his arms and legs, some pretty deep and may require stitches."
"Alright Bird, keep him stable for now. Charge, start heading back to Hammersley so Bird can clean the wounds properly."
"Copy that."
Swain then resumed his own sweep through his bino. Now that the Captain had been found in this area, he had high hopes that his bunkmate would also be in this search area. He chanced a look at his XO who had gotten even quieter the longer the search went. Her eyes were glued to her bino. She had not acknowledged anyone else beside him. He had had to help her put the boarding jacket on her body because she had looked at him blankly when he had handed the item to her at the start of the search.
He was worried about her. He had checked her briefly before, but he suspected that the adrenaline was currently masking any symptoms of dehydration or any other deterioration in health. He willed this search to be successful, for he couldn't fathom the impact to his XO specifically or to the Hammersley's crews if the result was otherwise.
"Swain."
Kate's call to him brought his attention back to the present. He saw that she pointed her hand towards an object in the distance.
"It's the box." She told Swain, having been briefed on the importance of it while they were waiting for the RHIB to pick them up from the tender earlier.
Swain looked through his bino for confirmation before ordering Halfy to the direction that Kate had pointed.
"Body in the water!" 2Dads shouted urgently a few minutes later, "200 meters ahead."
Swain ordered Halfy to approach slowly as he moved forward inside the RHIB to ready himself. But nothing could prepare him for the sight of Dylan's unconscious body floating around what appeared to be dark red liquid in an otherwise deep blue water.
"Jesus." Swain muttered in distress before hauling Dylan's body to the RHIB with 2Dads' help.
They quickly found the source of all the blood. A debris had successfully lodged itself in Dylan's right thigh, while possibly another one had sliced through his left calf in half, exposing the bones underneath. His pulse was weak and like Jim, his pupils were also uneven and dilated, indicating concussion.
Swain took a few large gauzes from the medical kit to try making a tourniquet for the calf situation, while he ordered 2Dads to keep the other leg stable so that the lodged debris didn't cause further damage.
"We must mark the box with a tracking device so that it can be picked up later." Kate's shaky voice brought Swain's attention back to the box situation. They couldn't afford to lose it because of the dangerous content but they couldn't bring it back to Hammersley either due to the radiation risk.
"X, can you take over from 2Dads please?" Swain waited until Kate moved to the assigned position before ordering 2Dads to grab a spare EPIRB from the toolbox and attached it to the floating object.
Kate was struggling to contain her emotion in seeing the carnage up close.
So much blood.
Her hands were slowly stained with blood trickling down from the wound on Dylan's thigh. She prayed that he could hold on, but without urgent medical care, she knew that his condition could deteriorate quickly.
"X, let me do that for you."
Kate looked up to see 2Dads crouching beside her again, having finished the task that Swain had given to him. She could only murmur her agreement at his offer before moving once more to her previous position next to Dylan's head.
Her stained hands shook as she cradled his head on her lap. She then lowered her lips to his forehead for a soft kiss before finally whispering her plea to his ear for him to stay strong for her.
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"Kate…. It's time."
Mike gently put his hand on Kate's shoulder for support.
She didn't respond to his words at first, making him worried that she couldn't hear him. But she then slowly raised her head to turn and look back at him.
"Are they coming to take him away?"
Mike nodded. "And Jim too. The team in HMAS Newcastle will take care of them before a medevac is due to transport them to Cairns Base Hospital in the next hour."
Kate turned her sight back to Dylan who was currently still unconscious on the bed. Her hands held his right one tightly as if trying to lend him her remaining strength. "I don't want him out of my sight. What if his heart stopped again?"
Mike sighed, remembering the harrowing scene an hour ago when the bosun's heart had stopped and it had taken four rounds of CPR for Swain to revive him again.
Kate had been hysterical at that point that Charge had to take her away from the wardroom. No one could have forgotten the despair in her voice as she had been pleading for her significant other to keep fighting for his life.
The younger man must have subconsciously heard her as he had miraculously started to stabilise after that episode. He was still in a serious condition and required emergency surgery to repair the extensive damage to his legs, but his vital signs were improving according to Swain and the blood transfusion helped stabilising his blood pressure.
"Kate, he needs urgent medical care that Swain couldn't provide here. And even with maximum speed, we are still 4 hours away from the base. Newcastle is faster and it has helipad which can facilitate transfer via medevac. We need to give him the best possible chance of survival." Mike explained patiently, emphasising hard facts to appeal to her logical side.
"OK."
Mike squeezed her shoulder softly as he heard her agreement before leaving her alone and waited outside the wardroom for Swain and the Newcastle's transfer team's arrival.
Kate then stood up from her chair to be closer to Dylan. She kissed his forehead, his lips and the palm of his hand and whispered her love for him in his ear before finally letting go of his hand and stepped outside alongside Mike to give some room for the transfer team.
She watched as Newcastle's medical officer and two sailors along with Swain approached from the back deck with two basket stretchers between them.
"Commander, Lieutenant." The medical officer greeted them both.
Mike shook Lieutenant Adams' hand. "Thank you for answering our request so quickly, Lieutenant."
"Not a problem, Commander. PO Mulholland used to be part of Newcastle's family. We are more than happy to help. The rendezvous with the Medevac is due in around 70 minutes. So, it's best if we move quickly."
"Very well. Carry on then." Mike nodded to the group as they moved past him and Kate into the wardroom.
Both Swain and Lieutenant Adams assessed both patients' vital signs one last time before carefully manoeuvring them to each stretcher. Once they were secured for transport, the team started their journey back to the RHIB.
Kate watched as the two stretchers were loaded to the RHIB. Her heart was heavy. She could see that the heaviness was also mirrored in the faces of Hammersley's crews who had made their way to the back deck to pay their respect to the two men.
The sun almost went down to the horizon, creating deep orange hues on the sky. It was against this backdrop that Mike led the salute amongst the crews as the RHIB sped away towards Newcastle.
Kate's hand shook as she held her salute. It was hard to keep her tears from flowing down her cheeks. She hoped that she would see Dylan's blue eyes staring at her again. She deeply wished that this would not be a goodbye.
She lost the battle with her tears a few seconds later. Her vision started to get blurrier. The steady beat of the waves was slowly drowned by the sounds of her own sobs and in the end, her world turned black.
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Swain had spent the last hour with his XO in the hospital as she had been admitted overnight for observation. Her fainting episode in the ship along with signs of dehydration and possibility of radiation sickness after having been exposed to the Caesium for hours had forced the doctor to make that decision.
Luckily, or maybe alarmingly, his XO hadn't protested at all at the decision. She had simply thanked the doctor and waited until the older man had left the room before closing her eyes.
He thought that she had fallen asleep but when he got up from his chair just now to try to find hot coffee from the vending machine in the corridor, she called him.
"Swain."
"Yes, X?"
"You should go home. Hug Sally and Chloe tightly. You don't need to babysit me."
"I'm not off duty yet, X. Not for another 8 hours." He moved closer to the bed and met her eyes. Her tone of voice made him worried.
"It's always going to be duty above all else, isn't?" She commented sadly. "You must miss out on so much while we were on patrol."
"I do." Swain smiled wistfully, "but this is the job that we sign on for. Sacrifices like this are part of it."
Silence greeted his words, but he could also see that she appreciated him sharing his thoughts.
So, he continued, "you know ever since your transfer news I've been thinking of Stirling as an option that Sally and I should consider in the near future. Her mum and extended family are still living in Perth so Sally will have a lot of help with Chloe over there. Stirling is also our largest base so I will have more options for shore posting if the need arises. Plus, you and Dutchy will be there. And Charge and Lani are also considering moving to the west coast for mining jobs opportunity."
He then teased her softly, "looks like you can't get rid of us, X."
Kate could feel her eyes started to water once more at the thought of Dylan and Stirling. A month ago, their future had seemed certain. A new beginning in a new base where they could really start their life together publicly. But it now seemed so far away with Dylan's health hanging in the balance.
"Have you heard anything about Dy…. Dutchy?"
Swain shook his head in sympathy. "The last I heard he is still in surgery. The boss is sitting in the surgery waiting room just in case the doctors come out mid-surgery with any update."
"Right." Kate then looked at him hopefully, "do you think you could check with the boss?"
"Of course." Swain then gave her a serious look, "but only if you promise to rest up."
"Like I can go anywhere Swain…."
"I wouldn't put it past you to get up and drag that IV pole with you to find that surgery waiting room yourself." He smirked as she rolled her eyes at him, "I think that's why the boss ordered me to stay here with you."
She sighed. "Fine. I will stay put. Could you please?"
"Sure." He smiled before patting her hand fondly and left the room.
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Mike rubbed his eyes for an umpteenth time in the last hour. He was frankly struggling to stay awake after such an eventful and draining day. But he needed to be here. In the absence of immediate family or emergency contact for his bosun, he was the highest authority figure that the surgeon might disclose any surgery update to. And frankly, he himself needed to know that the man was going to be alright.
The memory of ET's death and Nav's raw grief on that day three years ago was still etched in his memory. He would never wish that kind of grief on anyone else, let alone for Kate.
Also, for him, there was a simple wish of not wanting to bury another man under his charge.
"Sir."
A familiar voice and a strong aroma of coffee distracted him from his thought. He looked up to find Swain stood with takeaway cups on each hand. He frowned at his medic's presence.
"Swain? Is the X alright?"
Swain nodded, "she is resting now. The doctor is not too worried with her condition. The overnight stay is just a precaution."
"That's good news then." Mike motioned for Swain to sit down next to him and took one of the cups from his hands.
"Anything from the surgeon, Sir?"
Mike sighed. "Nothing yet. The nurse said that they've been in there for about 3 hours."
"I hope they can save his legs."
Mike looked at Swain in alarm. "You think there is a possibility that he might lose them?"
Swain grimaced, "the debris really did a number to his calf muscles and exposed the bones underneath. I hope that we have done all we could to prevent an infection to his bloodstream. I also hope that we have transferred him just in time for the surgeon to reconnect all the nerves in those muscles. The longer they stayed severed, the greater the chances of permanent damage."
"Bloody hell…." Mike shook his head. "I should have ordered them to evacuate together with you and Kate in that tender and leave the dirty bomb behind."
"You know we can't do that Sir." Swain looked at his boss in sympathy. "If we let the Caesium exploded in the water, the radiation would cause untold damage to the ecosystem which we might not be able to fix in our lifetime."
"But is it worth someone's leg? Especially someone so young and in prime physical health?" Mike stared at Swain pointedly.
"Maybe not." Swain conceded, "but I think because of how they are as a person, I would say that there was every chance that they wouldn't follow your order to evacuate earlier either, Sir."
"You mean stubborn and heroic?" The corner of Mike's lips curved up in brief amusement.
"Something like that." Swain replied with a small smile. "Dutchy is strong, Sir. He will recover. He has every motivation in world to do so."
"I hope so, Swain. I very much hope so."
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To be continued….