Chapter 1 - Sea bird
When I woke up, the first thing I saw was this incredible pair of dark green eyes, or was it a sort of blue? I couldn't say. I suddenly realised that there was a voice trying to reach me, and suddenly I was able to make out more than the eyes. There was a face, the most beautiful thing I ever saw. But what was she saying to me, or yelling more likely? All I could year was a continuous high-pitched noise in both my ears. She looked worried, but why? Then slowly, I started to acknowledge myself. The left side of my face was lying on the hard, gritty sand, my mouth tasted like salt and I was cold and drenched, sea water still coming by waves like a blanket over the lower part of my body, sometimes reaching the tips of my fingers. I was lying on the beach, clothes on, and my body was sore, painful... wrecked?
That's when I started to ear again.
"Hey! Can you hear me? Can you move your fingers? legs?"
I started to move my fingers. Yes, I could.
"Good. Can you talk? What's your name? Don't worry, I've called an ambulance, it's going to be here soon."
I tried to talk, but the pain in my throat and the rough sound that came from it indicated I must have drowned at some point.
"Mi... Michiru..."
"Good, Michiru then. Well Michiru, I found you lying here. I pulled you out of the water then you started to cough, so I didn't have to reanimate you. I called for help, and I was told not to move you further. That's why you're still lying here. Do you remember how this all happen?"
I started to think... All I could remember was sitting legs in the sea on my father's boat on a nice family day trip, which of course, my father wasn't able to attend, which left me, my step-mother and step-brother along with a couple of friends... I must have fallen. They probably were searching from me. I could picture it, my step-brother diving head first, my step-mother phoning for help, phoning my father etc... Everyone worried sick and panicked. How long had I been under. Probably the coast guards were already on it.
"Fell... boat..." was all I could manage what with my raw throat. I coughed; it felt like daggers ripping my throat open.
"Water" was the next thing I said in my unusually rough voice.
"Oh yes of course... you must be hurting. All that salt... Here you go. Lucky I was out running."
She pushed the bottle very lightly on my mouth and I was able to drink a few drops before I coughed again, then I started to try move, not exactly to get up, but to find a comfier position. But it suddenly felt like some truck had passed over me. Her eyes showed even more worry.
"No, no... Don't move. They said you shouldn't. They're worried about your spinal column."
Oh, of course they would. I stopped trying, anyway, I was too sore for that. So I just stared at her. She had something of an angel... or maybe I had just knocked my head on some rock... No she really looked like an angel. She had a thin face, and short golden hair. She was wearing shorts and a sleeveless shirt that revealed thin strong arms and legs, and perfect curves that I didn't fail to notice even wrecked as I was. In the end, if you could take out the pain, lying here was not so bad.
That's when the ambulance arrived. I didn't really want to talk, so I just nodded and made small noises of denial, or approval when asked. Fortunately, she did most of the explanation, and I was happy enough to just being rocked by the comforting sound of her husky voice.
It seemed that I didn't have one bone broken, or any apparent sign of concussion, which was really lucky, as they said. But of course, they didn't exactly let me get up and walk home. I was transported to the hospital. When they started to lift me up, I got suddenly worried. I didn't know her name! I felt like if I lost eye contact for just one second, she'd vanish into thin air. And how was I supposed to find her again in a world so big. So I lifted my hand into the air, trying to catch hers and said, or I should say, pleaded.
"Please..."
She seemed to understand, and took my hand automatically, her eyes now locked on mine. Her skin was so warm.
"Ok, I'll stay with you." she said.