“Acacia.” Whoever this is turns my face over and brushes my hair from where it’s matted across my cheeks. Wait; did they say 'Acacia'?
“Acacia, can you hear me?” The voice is male and sounds familiar, but I can’t place it. I almost open my eyes, but I'm playing unconscious mortal, so I keep them shut. My rescuer starts checking for a pulse. “Come on, Acacia, wake up!”
A scared tone takes over their voice, and I become aware of the pressure of their hands on my jaw as they open my mouth, checking my airways. Their breathing gets louder as they get closer to me. They must be about to start CPR. Why aren’t they trying to stop the bleeding, though? I haven’t felt him apply any pressure to any of my wounds, and they aren’t in a rush to get me to shore to get them stopped. I don’t understand. I saw the damage to my body in the water. If I was a mortal, I’d have died from blood loss.
I can taste their breath almost at my lips. I certainly don’t want some stranger’s mouth on mine. I snap open my eyes as their mouth is seconds from connecting with mine. I'm about to tell them that I'm OK when everything stops.
“Josh,” I breathe. He doesn’t speak, and he doesn’t move. He looks from my eyes to my lips and back. I mimic him in perfect synchronicity. His lips are parted, as are mine, and our breath is intertwined as we both float here alone. I’ve never wanted anything more than for him to lean down a little further and press his lips against mine. Josh looks as if he wants to too, but something is stopping him. He pulls himself up and sits back at the edge of the board.
My heart breaks as he moves himself away, but I take the chance to look down at my body, not actually wanting to see how messed up I look.
There are no wounds, no blood or scars! Did I dream the attack? The only evidence of the encounter is the dark red lines running down my legs and sides.
I look around me, trying to detect any smears of blood. I'm laid on a bright blue surfboard. Josh straddles one end with one of my legs either side of his bare waist. Not the most flattering position I’d wish to find myself in with anyone, and especially, not with him. But there’s no blood anywhere.
I quickly push myself up, so I'm straddling the other end of his board to try and retain some of my dignity. Josh clearly doesn't want me in any sort of compromising position with him so I'd better save him the embarrassment and provide him with as much space as possible on this board.
“Wait. Be careful. You shouldn’t be rushing to move.” Josh reaches his hand out, and grabs my elbow to steady me as I sit up.
“I'm fine,” I snap back and wish I hadn’t, but I'm still stinging from not being kissed. Why didn’t he just kiss me?
“Well, excuse me. Five minutes ago I saw you almost drown, so allow me to be a little concerned for you,” he answers, the irritation spilling from his mouth.
I look down at the board, talking myself into apologizing.
“What the hell are you doing this far out if you can’t swim?”
The apologies can wait.
“I can swim, thank you very much, I … I … ” I don’t really have an answer for him as to why I almost drowned in his opinion. I’d prefer 'molested to within an inch of my life'. I search for some inspiration for a reason, but when my eyes brush the water, I grip the edges of the board to stop myself from trembling. What if they’ve come back!
“Hey, everything's ok.” He reaches for me but stops short. “Did something grab
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