as far as they could and then headed for the house, Toby half carrying Allison, Luke and Ed assisting Terry.
Once inside the house, Toby got Allison to the bathroom, stripped the wet clothes from her and got her in a tub of water, slightly more than lukewarm, but not yet hot. As he was doing this, he kept up a constant flow of chatter to his wife.
“You’re going to be okay, Allie dear. The water will warm you up. Everyone got out safely. Things will be all right. Just lie here in the water and relax. You’re going to be all right, honey.”
She was more in danger from shock than from the cold. Although she had not been wearing an immersion suit, she had had a life jacket and had not been in the water long enough to be affected greatly by hypothermia. After seeing that she was all right for the moment, he went back to the kitchen where the men were stripping off their immersion suits, boots and sox.
“I’ll get some towels in just a minute,” he told them. “I want to get a steaming kettle going for Allie first.”
He filled the electric kettle, took it to the bathroom and after plugging it in, set the kettle on the toilet seat cover. In a couple of minutes it would start sending off steam to help Allison breathe more easily and help clear away from her sinuses the cold air she had been breathing. Then he grabbed some bath towels and took them out to the three aircrew in the kitchen. Terry was sitting in a chair, holding his left shoulder.
“I think I broke something,” he groaned.
“First aid kit is in the office,” Toby said. “Come and I’ll show you, Luke. While you’re there, you can report the crash on the satellite phone. Ed, why don’t you put the boots and sox in the oven and turn the heat on low to help them dry. Here’s some bath towels to dry off with.”
Back in the bathroom, Toby warmed up the water. He didn’t want to make it too hot. Allison was still in shock, but she was beginning to take in her surroundings and understand what had happened. The kettle, emitting a good amount of steam, would help considerably. When Toby left again for a few moments, he met Luke who said that an air force rescue helicopter was being diverted from the search and would be at Rocky Island in about twenty-five minutes. It would take them to Yarmouth where Terry and Allison could get medical attention.
Luke made coffee while Ed attended to Terry and Toby looked after Allison. Nobody talked much. All four were battling some degree of shock.
By the time the big air force helicopter arrived, Toby had Allison warm and dry, dressed in warm clothes and walking around. Terry was in considerable pain, his arm in a sling. He had swallowed some pain pills, but they weren’t doing much good. Everyone except Toby boarded the Air Force helicopter as soon as it arrived and they departed for Yarmouth.
Toby talked by phone to the Transport Department supervisor who told him that a Navy diving vessel would arrive the next day with a crash investigator on board and they would attempt to raise the now sunken helicopter and recover the two bodies of the fishermen still aboard. He had no idea how long the job would take. He asked Toby whether he wanted to have a relief lighthouse keeper so he could be with his wife. Toby thanked him and replied that he would wait to see whether Allison was going to remain in hospital. If she was not, she would be going to her mother and he would just as soon stay on the job. He asked to have his father, waiting at the Department of Transport hangar in Yarmouth notified of the crash and call him after Allison was examined at the hospital.
Then he sat down and quietly drank a cup of coffee before going down to turn on the light. He was late in doing that task, but for once, he didn’t care. His father called about eight o’clock and told him that Allison was going to be kept overnight for observation at the hospital in Yarmouth, and probably released next day. He would drive her home to