She was holding a hot mug of tea in her hand as she crept into David’s bedroom. He was sitting on the side of his bed with his head in his hands, bare-chested, and had a large bath towel draped over him. She sat down beside him and put her arm across his shoulders. David leant his head on her chest; he couldn’t speak or close his eyes. Crying wouldn’t help; he’d gone beyond that. He was burdened with guilt and felt that if anyone should be lost, it should be him. One friend had almost died because of his foolishness and now he thought he was destined to lose another. He was so weak, he could barely move. No one needed to stop him from any more search and rescue; he just couldn’t do it, despite the fact that he had let his friend down, and badly. ‘You’re safe now, son. Don’t worry about Tony, they’ll soon find him. He won’t be far away.’ Kathy whispered; her face close to his ear. David still couldn’t speak - not that he wanted to. But now at least he was able to close his eyes, if only to help shut out her words; he couldn’t believe what she was saying was true and he wanted to blame himself.
