Falling For Hadley

Chapter 15

HADLEY'S POV

The sand warmed my skin as I lay in wait for the waves to trickle up to my feet. My heart beat was as steady as the waves next to me. I heard seagulls nearby and a set of footsteps approaching. The sun began to slowly dip into the horizon as the person approached. 

"Hey," Dylan's voice reaches my ears, causing my heart to skip a beat. Stop it, I order my heart. It was going to get me in trouble one of these days. 

"Hi," I greet him softly. I feel his hands underneath my arms as he lifts me up and then sits down, resting my head in his lap. I look up at him smilingly slightly and he laughs.

"So why are you sitting out here all alone?" he asks me and I shrug in his lap.

"I don't know. I just always lay out here during the sunset," I explain as Dylan begins to play with my hair. I look up at him with a questioning look and his devilish blue eyes gleam in the evening light. And again, my heart skips a beat. 

"Why do you do photography?" Dylan suddenly asks me and it catches me off guard.

"Because looking at the world through the lens is something special. It allows you to get a new perspective and lighting. It allows you to see things that you normally couldn't with your eyes," I stare into the sky as Dylan continues to play with my hair.

"See, I don't have any hobbies like that. Besides organizing parties," he replies sheepishly and I laugh.

"You did a good job the other day. Everybody loved the party," I compliment him, his eyes locking with mine as I speak. 

"I couldn't have done it without you," his voice gets softer and he leans down towards me. My lips part and his breath swept across my face. His lips are about to collide with mine when a scream cracks the silence. I jolt upwards, butting heads with Dylan in the process and collapsing onto the sand from the hard hit.

"Oww," I groan from the sudden overwhelming headache. And I feel Dylan pick me up gently. He wraps me in his arms with a bit laughter and I groan again. Damn, he had a hard head. 

"Are you okay?" he asks me, holding back the laughter. 

"Who screamed?" I ask in return and he shrugs, swaying back and forth with me in his arms. I let him hold me, seeing as the headache was enough to make me wobble if I stood on my own. I try to move towards where the screaming had come from and Dylan gently guides me. 

"We're about to find out," Dylan says as he wraps his arm underneath of mine and we wobble towards the sound. After a minute of walking, Dylan suddenly stops and pulls me closer.

"What is it?" my eyes go wide as I see a girl crying next to a turtle with a bleeding neck. 

"Hadley," Dylan blurts and I stumble from his release. 

"Hey, miss, what happened?" I stumble over to the turtle and drop down to my knees.

"I was just going for a walk when he washed up on the shore and I saw a shark fin about twenty feet off the shore. Is he going to be okay?" she looks at me with panic and my head begins to clear. I gently pull the head of the turtle up a little ways and look into its eyes. I wave my hand in front of its eyes and it groggily responds. 

"It's still conscious but not for much longer if we don't stop the bleeding," I say as I rip my t-shirt off to reveal my swimsuit underneath. I wrap my shirt around the turtle's neck and tie the ends tightly into a knot right above the large cut. 

"I don't have my cell with me," the woman sobs and I nod at her.

"Don't worry. I work at the center. We'll have to drive him there. Dylan, get your car," I order him and he shakes his head and begins to run towards his house. 

"You look a little young to be a marine biologist," the woman says wearily, becoming protective over the turtle as I check it for other wounds. 

"I'm an intern at the center. I'm training to become one but I've assisted in this stuff a million times," I reassure her, noticing that his shell was drier than it should be. 

"Do you think he's going to be okay?" she repeats her earlier question as I gently hoist the turtle into my arms. 

"Give him a name," I order her and she looks at me confused.

"Why?" she urges me to explain.

"Because, when we're sure that he's going to be okay, we give them names. Now, what's his name?" I repeat my question and she suddenly stops moving.

"Perry," she blurts and I nod.

"Hadley!!" Dylan shouts from up ahead. I spot that he has a towel and some water in hand. Thank god he was smart. He runs down towards with the towel in hand and he spreads it out on the ground. I slowly rest Perry onto the blanket I hoist up one side while Dylan grabs the other. Dylan gives me the water and I quickly hand it to the women.

"Gently pour this one his wounds and some on his shell and flippers. I estimate he's been out here for four hours. He needs water," I give her the order and the women obeys. We speedwalk to Dylan's car and the turtle moves his head slightly.

"What kind of turtle is he?" the women asks me and I answer with ease. 

"A leatherback. He's lucky to be found," I answer, smiling down at little Perry. Once we get to Dylan's car he opens the passenger door and the women gets in. He opens the back doors and he helps me to gently slide Perry onto the seats, then I hop in next to him. Dylan then gets in the driver's side and swerves out of the parking lot. We streak down the streets and towards the center. 

"Hey, doc, we got a turtle coming in. A leatherback, looks to be about the age of three," I say as one of the docs pick up. 

"Okay, how long has he been out of the water?" Doctor Jari asks me as I hear him shouting at the other doctors of the situation.

"About four hours. He's pretty dried up. But I've poured a little water on him and he's responding so I think he'll live," I answer and I hear Doctor Jari sigh with relief.

"Alright, we'll see you when you get here. We have surgery ready," Doctor Jari announces as I hang up the phone and we screech down the main street.

"How much longer?" I ask Dylan and he looks out the window.

"I'd say about two minutes," he responds and the woman just stays silent. 

"Miss, I'm glad that you found him. And once we get there, I would suggest you call someone to come get you," I say to her as I check Perry's wound. He had a pretty nasty bite. I use the tips of my fingers to wipe some of the blood away and that's when I realize that the bite actually extended down to his right fin as well. That's not good.

"Okay," she responds vaguely. She was still shocked from all this. Dylan reaches his hand back to mine and squeezes it tight. We were in for a long night.