Stranded with Niall Horan || n.h.

Chapter 8 - Welcome to Niana

I woke up and immediately had to shield my eyes from the blinding sun. You think the huge fire ball would learn how to turn it down a notch, geez. I sat up and rubbed my eyes. I then ran my hand through the frizzy mane known as my hair. Every strand seemed to be made of pure grit. I ran it through my hair a second time and I stared especially hard at my hand afterwards. Hmm that’s odd. My hair never gets that dirty. I looked around and realized I was on a beach. A beach. That’s also odd. I took a hand full of sand and let it slip through my fingers. Man, this is the best dream I’ve ever had. I looked out at the ocean, as it clapped against the shore. This is a dream…right?

I took my lifejacket and bag off, and crawled over to the ocean’s edge and knelt in front of the incoming waves. I took some salt water in the small bowl of my hands and splashed it on my face. I took a minute to let it slowly drip off my face before I opened my eyes. The ocean was still in front of me, the sand was still under me, and it all meant one thing: this wasn’t a damn dream. And then, it all came flooding back to me. I was on a cruise ship, I was on a life boat, I was in the ocean, Niall saved me. Niall! Where was he?

I surveyed the ocean, seriously hoping I would not see his lifeless body floating among the waves. I looked to my left and saw him lying on the beach, face down. I ran like the wind and landed next to him.

“Niall! NIALL! Oh my God! Wake up!” I exclaimed, trying to wake him up in any way I could think of. After I sprayed his face with water and got no result, I grabbed his wrist and checked for a pulse. It was there. He was alive, thank God. Now all I had to do was a little CPR, and the only minor problem was that I’ve never done CPR in my entire life. Okay no biggie. I’ve seen this in movies and televison shows. It can’t be all that hard, right?

I gulped at how insecure I felt at that moment. I knelt down beside him and tilted his head back. And now came the best part of all (or maybe it was the most difficult part?). I inhaled as much oxygen as my lungs could hold, and covered his mouth with mine as I pinched his nose shut. After giving him two quick breaths, I released my lips from his and placed my hands squarely on his chest. I don’t know how many compressions I gave him, but I repeated the process again and again.

I was about to mourn the loss of my fallen hero after the fourth mouth-to-mouth between us, when all of sudden, he sprang to life and coughed up all the water in his system. He took the back of his hand and wiped the excess water/spit from around his mouth.

"Niall…” I whispered as I pulled him into a hug, tears rolling gently down my cheek. I held him close and didn’t ever want to let him go. What if he left me again? He slowly pulled out of the hug and stared at my face.

“Nina.” he softly said as he swiped my tears away. “Don’t cry.”

“But…Niall…I almost lost you. I almost lost you…” I said, attempting to stop the never-ending faucet of my eyes.

“Hey, hey.” he cooed, taking my hands in his as his thumb gently grazed the top of my skin. “I don’t want to hear that kind of talk. You didn’t lose me, and I didn’t lose you. And that’s all that matters.”

“Niall, why did you have to save me?!” I asked as I jerked my hands away from his and started to beat against his chest. “Why did you have to save me?! You would be safe with your freinds right now if it wasn’t for me. Why did you have to save me?!” I brought my hands back to my sides as he pulled me into his chest and it was just pointless to stop my tears (which turned into uncontrollable sobs, by the way). He wrapped his arms around me, as he stroked my hair.

“I promised you I would take care of you.” he said, his voice breaking. “And I don’t regret what I did, not now, not ever.”

I nodded against his chest as I listened to the calm rhythm of his heart and I swear I felt a tear, or two, drop onto my scalp.