𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘴𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥

𝘊𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘛𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦

Jack's POV:

I stopped dead in my tracks, feeling my face turn a pale shade of white. The sight I saw ahead of me was horrifying, and for a moment I was paralyzed in complete and utter fear.

Her limp, unconscious body lay on the beach, the once tan sand around her now stained by the crimson color of blood.

"No, she can't be.."

I sprinted towards her, coming to a dead stop once I reached her frail body. Almost instinctively, I knelt down beside her, gently grabbing her wrist as I did so. After a few moments of frantically searching for a pulse, I let out a sigh of relief as I felt her steady heartbeat. The feeling soon left me as I realized the puddle of blood surrounding her was growing larger.

My eyes scanned her body, looking for what could be the cause of her bleeding. I knew if I didn't act fast she would bleed out, so I quickly lifted her dress. My eyes were now met by the sight of a deep gash right under her rib cage, a large shard of glass sticking out of the cut.

As much as I didn't want to, I knew what had to be done. The glass was causing the continuous bleeding. It needed to be taken out, and fast.

I laid one hand on the other side of her waist for leverage, my hand making contact with her soft, warm skin. My other hand gripped the shard of glass, ready to remove it from the fragile girl.

I mentally counted,

"1, 2, 3."

The cold glass was harshly ripped from her skin, causing her to quickly sit up, crying out in sheer agony as she did so. Hot tears instantly poured from her eyes and down her cheeks as she looked around, completely panicked. Her eyes met mine and a look of realization swept across her face, replacing the confused look she had before. Her crying softened and now there was only the slight quiver of her bottom lip and my hand still resting on the small curve of her waist.

She looked at my hand and then to the glass.

"That was inside of me?" she questioned, seeming astonished at how big the piece of glass was.

I laughed a little as I answered her.

"Yes, Audrey, that was inside of you. But not anymore, see?" I said, placing the glass into her delicate hands.

"All better," I reassured her, seeing a slight smile spread across her face.

"But it's still bleeding a little," she whimpered, her bottom lip still shaking slightly from the sudden pain.

Without thinking, I took off my shirt and ripped off the bottom hem, wrapping it around the wound to stop the bleeding.

"All better," she said, just as I had before.

As she looked up from the makeshift bandage to me, I saw her face turn a bright shade of pink. Her eyes widened at the sight of my bare chest, quickly turning away in hopes I wouldn't see the blush that had crept onto her cheeks and across her freckled nose.

"You have a little something on your face, doll," I smirked.

She turned back to me with a confused look, but then realized what I had meant and only blushed more.

She looked away once again, embarrassed.

Subconsciously, I looked her up and down, taking in the beauty of the girl in front of me. Staring at her delicate frame, I noticed she was petite with slightly defined curves. Her skin glowed in the evening light, the soft features of her face now relaxed, her deep blue eyes gazing at the setting sun. For a moment she looked content, before quickly turning towards me.

"Simon, and the others! Where are they?" she said, the panicked look instantly returning to her eyes.

I gave her a look telling her everything was okay, and explained to her they were probably just a little ways down the beach.

"We should probably head that way then," she replied, trying to stand up but failing as the pain returned to her side.

I helped her up and held one arm around her all the way down the beach, trying to make the walk a little easier for her.

I don't know why I already care about her so much, I had only briefly talked to her once before on the plane.

"This girl is messing with my head," I thought, as we slowly made our way across the glowing beach.