Shattered #Wattys2016

Chapter 14

The morning after the incident, I was up early, waiting on a call from Whitney. I sat there out on the deck, watching the early morning tide roll in. Seagulls perched themselves on the fence and flew overhead. I was throwing bread to them, since we were going to be leaving soon and it was only two slices left. They fed like a swarm of bees. I sat back in the lounge chair and watched them. They finished, then stayed around, waiting for more. I threw another large piece to them, two of them were fighting for it. It was rather funny. The sun was still rising and it glittered on the water. Nicki walked out, wrapped in a grey blanket, walking towards me. It was a bit windy, but I was fully dressed, so I didn't mind the cold. She sat with me, and looked out into the ocean, watching the waves. I looked at her as she looked on at me.

"I'm sorry," she said.

"Nicki...I'm not the one you should be saying sorry to. Cassandra is the one who needs the apology," I say as I feed the birds the final piece of bread. She nodded and then got up, walking down the shoreline. I followed her, side by side. We walked on in silence. Not a word between us. I stopped, looking at a mound of sand move. I watched on and saw the head of a baby sea turtle pop up and crawl out of the mound. Nicki stopped, and looked on with me. The one turtle turned into two, then four, then soon about 15 crawled their way to the ocean. Some of the gulls were trying to get to the,. but Nicki shooed them away, making sure every single one of them made it to the water. I looked on at the mound, looking at the empty shells. Nicki came beside me and looked to.

"Life would be so simple if I were a turtle," She said.

"How?"

"No one is out to kill you or, hates you because you're different...you just live your life. Nobody can break your heart," She said.

"Not so....turtles have predators that try to kill them, as well as humans who hurt them, which breaks their hearts...nature is like us in a way. They get hurt all the time," I say, and found one of the shells moving. I picked it up and peeled away the shell.

"Aww. Poor little guy...He got stuck," I say as I help him out. Nicki picked up another one which was stuck under the shells. She gently dusted him off. She and I looked at each other, then walked to the water and set them down. They crawled on their way, until they were swept away by the tide.

"I think we just helped save a bit of the sea turtle population," Nicki smiled. We made out way back to the beach house. My cell was ringing.

"Hello?"

"Janet....We've got him...you both can come home now. Court starts tomorrow at 9 am,"

"Thanks a lot Whitney," I say.

"Guess what Nic?"

"Hmm?" She said as she flicked through channels.

"We're leaving for home. Today! You are packed right?" I saw the glitter in her eyes. She smiled and jumped up, rushing up the stairs and back down with her backpack and suitcase in hand.

"When? I can't wait to head home!!"

"We have to wait to be picked up, which should be tonight,"

"Aw...why so late,"

"In case he still has men after us," She nodded and got up.

"Can we go see Cassandra?" She asked me. The jealousy in me rose, and though I didn't want to, I wanted her to feel my support.

"Sure. We can go see her now. Go get dressed," She nodded and made her way upstairs. I was slowly regretting allowing this. Then she'd fall in love with her and not me. I could then never confess my feelings for her and the case is so close to being over. I couldn't lose that chance now. She came down in a maxi skirt that was white and wore a blue top with it. We made our way out to the car carefully and then made our way to the hospital. Once there, we then made our way to her room. Nicki knocked on the door and walked in.