“Is he okay?” Tears are streaming down my face as I fight against Max’s hold to get to Hudson. Bryce is kneeling over him, checking him over. He has a huge graze along the right side of his body where he smashed into the rock, but that’s not my most pressing concern. He’s out cold.

Lots of people are gathered around watching the scene unfold. I want to scream at them to get back, to get help, but I can’t stop shaking. Bryce looks up at me, then at Max. I don’t like the look he’s giving us.

“We need to get him to Krabi International hospital. He hit his head pretty hard,” Bryce says, pulling his fingers back from Hudson’s head. There is blood.

“Oh my God, oh my God.” I shake myself free from Max’s hold and kneel beside Hudson. “Hudson, can you hear me,” I say, pressing my fingers lightly against his cheek. Of course, there’s no response and I have the sudden urge to throw up.

One of the locals hands Bryce some wadding and a roll of bandage. Bryce gives it to me.

“Press this against his wound, while I wrap the bandage around his head.”

I nod, doing as he asks.

“Hang on, mate,” Bryce says as he finishes up.

A low moan escapes Hudson’s mouth and his eyes flutter open, but they are unfocused. He rolls to his side and throws up. I smooth my hand over his back, alternating between being relieved that he’s conscious and absolutely terrified that he’s got some kind of bleed on the brain.

“Hey, Hudson, we’re here. You’re going to be okay,” I say. But his eyes roll back in his head and he loses consciousness once again.

“Fuck!” Bryce exclaims. “Max, get over here and help me lift him. We need to get him on a boat and across to the mainland now.”

Max snaps into action and helps Bryce lift Hudson. Half a minute later, we are all in a boat speeding across the water to the mainland. Max has his mobile phone out and is giving instructions to Calum. He flips it shut.

“Cal will be waiting for us at the resort with a stretcher and a car to take Hudson to Krabi hospital. He’s going to see if there are any doctors staying at the resort who can travel with us there. Fuck man, what happened?” Max asks. His hands are shaking as he looks down at Hudson, who is laying on the floor of the boat on some sun lounger cushions. I’m sitting beside him, holding his hand and feeling completely useless. His head is still bleeding and it’s starting to seep through the bandages, red blooming across the white.

“He slipped, that’s it. There was a rock sticking out from the wall… Fuck,” Bryce says, scraping a hand across his face. Under his tan he looks pale.

“You should have been wearing helmets. You should have been more careful,” I say angrily. Bryce flinches. He doesn’t respond, but the guilt on his face tells me he knows I’m right. Hudson moans, this time his eyes focus on me. He moves to sit up. The relief I feel to see him awake again is immense.

“Hey, don’t try to move, okay. You’ve had a nasty bang to your head. We’re taking you to a hospital.”

Hudson groans. He looks from me to Bryce, who is gripping his other hand.

“Hey, bro. How are you doing?” he asks gently.

A stream of unintelligible words slips from Hudson’s mouth before his eyes flutter shut once again.

“Can you speed the hell up?” Max shouts over his shoulder at the driver of the speedboat.

“Five minutes,” he responds, pointing to the familiar shore of Ao Nang.

It’s the longest five minutes of my life.

On the beach Cal and Nisha are waiting for us. Standing next to Cal is a middle-aged woman in a pretty summer dress, a leather satchel at her feet. He runs over to us as soon as he hears Bryce calling his name.

“Have you found a doctor?” Bryce asks.

“Yes, she’s waiting on the shore. I told her what happened. She’s happy to travel with him to the hospital.” Cal peers over the side of the boat. Thankfully the sea is not as choppy here, and between the three of them they manage to get Hudson out of the boat and on to shore relatively easily.

“He’s falling in and out of consciousness,” I say to the doctor as we settle Hudson down on a stretcher the hotel staff have brought out for him. The doctor kneels down next to him and does some quick checks. She lifts up his eyelids and flashes her pen light in them.

“Let’s get him to the hospital asap. He’ll need a scan to check there isn’t a bleed on the brain. Once we can rule that out, he’ll need to stay in hospital for observation.”

“Do you think he’ll be okay?” Max asks.

“Let’s get to him to the hospital, see what the brain scan shows. We’ll go from there,” the doctor says gently. We all exchange worried glances. It doesn’t sound good.

* * *

Three hours later I’m a nervous wreck, waiting on news about Hudson. He’s had scans and has been poked and prodded by numerous medical professionals. Nisha is sitting with me in the family waiting room. Cal has gone to get us some drinks and Bryce and Max are trying to find out what is going on.

“Louisa, sit down. You’ve been pacing for hours. Come on, you’re exhausted,” Nisha says.

“I can’t, I need to know he’s okay. What’s taking so long? If it’s just concussion it shouldn’t take this long, Nish,” I snap. I don’t mean to take my worry out on her, but I can’t seem to help myself. Nisha gets up.

“Come here,” she says, gently pulling me into her arms.

The moment she holds me it’s like a dam has burst and I cry huge, wracking sobs. “What if he’s not okay? What if he’s badly injured? You saw the look on that doctor’s face. She looked concerned.”

“Listen, Louisa, doctors have to err on the side of caution, it doesn’t necessarily mean the worst.”

The door behind us opens and Bryce enters. Nisha frees me from her arms.

“What’s going on? Is Hudson okay? Where’s Max? Is he with Hudson? Can I see him? Bryce, damn it, tell me what’s going on,” I say in a rush of anxiety.

Bryce strides over to me and pulls me into his arms. “He’s okay, sweetheart. He’s okay.”

“Is he conscious?” Nisha asks.

“No, not at the moment.” Bryce sighs. He looks exhausted. Guilty. I both love him and am inordinately angry at him. Why the fuck didn’t they wear a helmet, why didn’t Bryce make Hudson? For fuck’s sake, what the hell is wrong with them?

“Is he in a coma?” I ask stiffly, pulling out of Bryce’s arms.

“An induced one, yes. He had a small bleed on the brain…”

“What?!” I shout. “You said he was okay. A bleed on the brain, Bryce. He doesn’t seem very okay to me. I need to see him now.” I try to push past Bryce, but he grabs hold of my arm.

“You can’t right now. They are just settling him into his room, hooking him up to an IV, giving him medication.”

“Get out of my damn way, Bryce,” I scream. I don’t recognise the sound of my own voice.

“Stop!” He grips me harder, forcing me to face him. “I know you’re scared, but listen to me, Louisa. It was a small bleed, they put him under to rest his brain, to prevent any further bleeding. He came around for a while. He knew his name, he knew who we were. This is just a precaution. As soon as he’s settled they’ll come and get us. He’s going to be okay,” Bryce says firmly.

The anger that had ripped through me drains away quickly. The relief I feel is immense. “He’ll be okay? Oh God…” My voice cracks and I feel my legs buckling beneath me. Bryce catches me as I slump forward.

“Hey, sweetheart, come and sit down. He’s going to be okay.” Bryce guides me to the armchair and I collapse into it just as Max enters the room with Calum.

“Now we wait,” Max says, striding over to my side. He draws me out of Bryce’s arms and I rest my head gratefully against his chest.

Calum hands a bottle of water to each of us. I shake my head, not wanting it.

“Hudson is tough, Louisa. In a few hours it’ll be as though nothing has happened,” he says.

I smile tremulously at him. “I hope you’re right,” I say, but something deep inside tells me it might not be as easy as that.

“You can come through now. Hudson is awake,” the doctor says from her position by the door. It’s the same doctor who helped us on the resort. I realise I haven’t thanked her for helping Hudson. The clock on the wall says it’s almost eight o’clock in the evening. We’ve been here most of the day. I’ve not eaten since lunch, but the thought of food makes me feel sick.

“You’ve been here all this time? Thank you,” I say, getting up. “Thank you for everything.” Tears well again. I know I need to pull myself together before I go in and see Hudson. He doesn’t need to see me like this. I have to be strong for him.

“You’re welcome. I’m Carol Willams, by the way,” she says, holding her hand out to shake. I ignore it and instead I pull her in for a hug.

“I won’t forget what you’ve done for Hudson, for us.”

She looks a little shocked by my sudden display of gratitude.

“That’s perfectly okay. I’m a doctor, it’s what I do.” She smiles kindly. I step back, feeling suddenly foolish, but more than that, desperate to see Hudson.

Bryce and Max both give their thanks and Calum offers her a lift back to the hotel.

“Thank you, I’d appreciate that.”

She gives us a moment to say goodbye to Calum and Nisha, who is going back with him now she knows Hudson is okay.

“I’ll see you in a little while, Lou?” she asks.

I nod my head. “Thank you for staying here with me.”

“Always,” she whispers, kissing me on the cheek.

Calum says his farewells and leaves with Carol and Nisha whilst Bryce, Max and I head to Hudson’s room.

Bryce walks in first, followed by Max, then me. Bryce strides over to Hudson.

“You okay, mate?” he asks, resting his hand on Hudson’s arm. He’s sitting up in bed, looking much better than he had on Railay beach. There is more colour in his face now, he’s not so pale. Thank God.

“Apart from a banging headache and having no fucking clue what happened, I’m just dandy,” he says a little irritably. “Where the fuck am I, Bryce?”

Max approaches the bed, sitting on the end. “You’re in Thailand. You went rock climbing, had a fall, clonked your head good and proper. You had us worried for a bit, Hud.”

“Thailand? You’re shitting me, right?” he asks.

“You don’t remember?” Bryce asks, looking at Max.

“I think I’d bloody remember being in sodding Thailand.”

I approach the bed slowly, a sick feeling filling my stomach. “Hudson?” I say gently.

Bryce steps out of the way as I approach. Max holds his hand out to me, sensing my need for comfort. I take it. Hudson looks at us both, then at our grasped hands.

“For fuck’s sake, Max, this isn’t the time to introduce me to your holiday fling,” he says, raking his eyes over me. The way he looks at me, it’s different. It reminds of the way he viewed me the first time we met. I don’t like it.

“Holiday fling?” Bryce says, looking at Hudson incredulously.

“What?” Hudson asks. “Surely you don’t think it’s appropriate for Max to bring this woman in here. I mean, you’re beautiful, darling,” he says, looking at me as though I’m a complete stranger. “But as you can see, I’ve had a knock to the head and I don’t feel like making conversation with a stranger, even a hot piece of arse with a pair of legs like yours.”

My hand flies to my mouth. I suddenly feel like the room is about to disappear beneath my feet. Bryce slips his hand around my waist and hauls me upright.

“Don’t fuck around Hudson. This is Louisa, our girlfriend.” There’s a note of warning, and a large dose of fear in his voice. It doesn’t go unnoticed.

“Yeah, don’t joke, it isn’t funny,” Max says, laughing nervously. He squeezes my hand tighter.

“Our girlfriend? What the fuck are you talking about?”

Hudson looks me up and down, a hollow laugh rising up his throat. “I don’t do girlfriends and I certainly don’t fucking share,” he says, looking at Bryce and Max as though they’re the ones who have had a bang on the head.

“Are you seriously telling us you have no idea who Louisa is?” Bryce asks.

Hudson nods his head then looks directly at me. “I’ve no clue who you are.”

I can feel the tears prick my eyes at his words. “Hudson… It’s me…” My voice quavers as the feeling of nausea washes over me.

He frowns with confusion, looking between Max and Bryce. His expression softens just a fraction and for a brief moment I believe he’s finally realised who I am.

“I’m sorry. I don’t know you,” he says, and my recently healed heart is shattered once again.