Take Me Home

4. Waking

Suddenly his eyes shot open, revealing two unique green iris's that stared straight up at the sky, as the soldier gasped in air and began coughing up water.

Freya gasped, standing and backing up as the soldiers eyes flickered to her, widening, as he continued coughing up seawater. She watched from a safe distance, only a few feet away, as her blue eyes locked on the figure as he finally stopped coughing and began breathing unusually hard, almost motionless again except for the heavy rise and fall of his chest. His eyes were closed now, but his fists were clenched. Freya stood on the sand, awkwardly staring at the unmoving form, unsure whether she should step forward and try to get him up.

The waves rolled onto the shore, rising higher and crashing harder. If she didn't help this boy, he would surely drown with the rising tide. She looked toward the waves, picturing him suffocating under the heavy waves as she walked away. They were almost at his waist now, withing half an hour the tide would reach his head. Heart torn, she threw one desperate glance back at the way toward her home before turning and heading toward him.

Her feet crunched softly on the wet sand as she reached him, leaning down and balancing on her knees, not caring if she got her nightgown wet. Eyes skimming over him, she gently reached her hand forward and checked his pulse, looking up at his face to see if there would be any movement.

His eyes stayed closed, but his breathing deepened. She frowned as she realized his pulse was steadying now, growing stronger. He must be awake. Possibly just in shock.

Clearing her throat, she asked quietly, "Are you okay?"

He stopped breathing for a moment before taking in a deep breath and scrunching his eyes before slowly opening them, coughing a bit more, the green in his eyes reminding her of emeralds as they slowly focused on her. He studied her for a moment, weakly turning his head toward her.

He began to say something, then stopped, coughing up more water but as he did he turned his head the other direction to avoid spitting up any seawater on her. She waited patiently, worry painted across her face. Then he turned back to her, looking back up at her as he began to whisper.

"W-wo bin ic-ch...Sie h-haben mich ver-verla-" He stopped abruptly, turning again and coughing up more water. His whole body shook under his coat as he shuddered with effort to get water out of his lungs.

Freya watched silently, her head spinning. She couldn't understand a word he was saying. He didn't speak english, she didn't know what to say to help. Her eyes narrowed in a sense of helplessness as she waited for him to finish his coughing fit. When he did, he turned back to her again and waited, staring up at her.

"Do-do you understand me? Can you speak English?" She said quickly, her hands forming prints in the sand beside him. He seemed to understand something because his eyes narrowed and flickered away for a moment before returning to hers.

"Ich s-spreche Deutsch." He replied shakily, voice tight as he looked away, waiting.

Freya stared at him, completely dumbfounded. She had absolutely no idea what he had just said. Her eyes must have reflected her panic because he attempted to lean up, but fell back with a grunt of pain. This caught her attention and she looked down toward his legs. One of them were oddly twisted, she just now realized. His eyes followed hers, resting on his leg and he sighed painfully, looking up at her.

"Englisch?" He questioned softly, looking back up at the sky. She shot a glance at him.

"Yes."

He nodded, looking around before trying to sit up again. She reached forward and helped him sit up, then realized the tide was almost on them. They needed to get out of here.