Blood in the Water

I survived

Maggie's POV

I woke up in a hospital bed. My left shoulder was hurting like hell, and I felt delirious. I heard the door open and my parents came rushing in. They looked at my left shoulder and started crying. "Whyz you guyz cryin?" I said, obviously high on medication. "We're just so happy you're alive." My mom said through tears. "Alive? A curse I'm alive! My arm hurts lik hell, do." That's the last thing I remember saying before blacking out. When I wake up again I didn't feel delirious anymore, and my shoulder has stopped hurting. I sat up and stretched my arms. Or rather, arm. I looked at my left shoulder and almost fainted. Suddenly everything came rushing back to me. I guess they had to amputate my arm since the damage was so bad. I sat there in silence until the nurse came in and told me it was time for me to leave. I nodded blankly and followed her into a room where there was a shirt and shorts. I put them on and slipped on the shoes that were on the floor. I walked out into the waiting room and was bombarded by my parents. My dad was happy I made it out and my mom was cursing at me and saying if I ever pulled something like that again she'd kill me. We drove home and I flopped down on my bed. A question made its way into my head. Who brought me back to the beach? It couldn't have been that merman..... could it? Why would he even do it? Merpeople were supposed to be ruthless killers with no sense of mercy. So why would he do that? I couldn't think just sitting in my room. I snuck out of the house and went down to the beach. A few people who had seen what happened were surprised to see me, but I didn't care. I walked past the docks and over to the small rocky cove near the cliffs. I climbed over the rocks, which was a lot harder since I had lost my arm. Thank God I was right-handed. I made my way up eventually and sat down on one of the flat spaces. I continued to think about what happened on that day.

Eridan's POV

It's been almost a month since the incident. Dad didn't know about it and neither did Cro. I was old enough now to kill humans, but the motivation was long gone. Why would a human risk her life to save mine? It kept going around in my head for what seemed like forever until I couldn't stand to be inside anymore. I swam outside and headed towards that little cove not far from here. It was always quiet there and no one ever bothered to check it out. Once I reached it I pulled myself out of the water to sit on the rocks. I was so lost in thought that I didn't even notice the human sitting right next to me. I was pulled out of my thoughts when I heard a small splash. I looked over and my eyes widened. This.....she.....howw....... This was the same human from a month ago. She survived. I looked at her closer and saw that she was missing her left arm. I felt a strange guilt in the pit of my stomach. That..... That wwas my fault. I don't know why I felt so bad about it. I looked at her face and saw that she was completely terrified. I looked down at the water. "I'm sorry."

Maggie's POV

I was just sitting there when he jumped out of the water and sat next to me. When he didn't immediately try to kill me, I looked at him when my hand slipped and splashed in the water. He looked at me and I expected him to attack. Only, he didn't. He just looked at me. His eyes fell on my injury and he looked down at the water. "I'm sorry." He said suddenly. "F-for what?" I stuttered, still terrified. "For that." He pointed to the injury. Something clicked on my head. I began to relax a little. "That wasn't your fault." He looked at me with a surprised yet confused expression. "This was my fault. If I hadn't done that, this never would have happened." "But if you hadn't done that, I wwouldn't be sittin here right noww." I looked at him with surprise. Is he thanking me? "Wwhat's your name?" He asked suddenly. "M-Maggie. What about you?" "Eridan. Thank you for savving my life." He looked uncomfortable saying that, like he was embarrassed that a human saved his life. "Y-you're not going to kill me then?" I asked. "Wwhy wwould I do that? Seems pretty heartless after wwhat you just wwent through." He answered. I looked at him, taken back by his answer. "You knoww you can relax a little. I wwon't hurt you." He said, noticing how tense I was. Ever so slowly I relaxed. We sat in silence for a while. "I guess I'm never going to be able to swim again." I blurted out. Eridan looked at me with a guilty expression. "But it was worth it." I added quickly, my cheeks turning a hint of pink. A small smile flitted across his face. I yawned and stretched my legs. The painkillers the nurses gave me were making me drowsy. I found it hard to stay awake. Before I knew it I was dosing off with my head on his shoulder.

Eridan's POV

Maggie yawned and stretched her legs. I still don't understand howw she swwims wwithout a tail. It looks like a lot of effort. And wwhy wwould she wwant to stay underwwater wwhen she doesn't evven havve gills? Don't  humans need air? Humans are wweird creatures. I was pulled out of my thoughts when I felt something lean on my shoulder. I looked over and saw that Maggie had fallen asleep. It's barely noon. Howw is she already tired? I wondered. I tried to move her off of me, but I didn't want to wake her up. I gave up after a few minutes and leaned back on the rocks. She was still asleep, but something was wrong. She was clinging to me and her face made her look like she was in pain. She might be relivving the incident. If I thought it was bad, it was probably even worse for her. I put my arm around her and she slowly relaxed. I sighed in relief. A weird feeling was starting to spread across my chest. I..... I can't be in lovve wwith her, can I? But, for some reason, I really wwant her to feel the same about me.