Page 91 of Little Fury

“Oh, come on now, Little Fury, we both know I’ll crack you soon enough,”Declan says with that strong, Irish accent.

“Fuck off, Dr. Campbell.”

“Here, dear, I made you a sandwich and a few snacks,”Marguerite says, handing me a small cooler bag.“Your mug is already filled with ice and water. You go now. Relax,”she says and sends me on my way.

I walk down to the beach and find my usual spot. I set my stuff down and lay out my beach mat. I get myself settled.“Fuck,”I say, realizing I forgot my beach reading chair. It's this stand-on-its-own armchair pillow thingy. I sit there trying to decide how lazy I am. Do I go back and get it? Do I just make do? Do I text one of the guys and offer them a thousand dollars to bring it to me? If I thought for one moment they wouldn’t be dicks and send Declan with it, Iwould for sure take door number three. My aggravated sigh is more like a toddler whine than a grown woman's.

“Ughhhhh,” I grumble as I grab my bag, because it's not like I can leave my gun unattended on the beach.

A shadow crosses over me, and I know who it is without even looking.“Fuck Jake–I mean Declan–why are you here?”

“Caden said you forgot this thing.” I look at him, and he is holding my thingy.

“You brought me my thingy?”

“You call it a thingy?”

“I have no idea what to call it. Caden made it for me. He took one of my reading pillows and gave it a hardback and a small stand part that sinks into the sand for stability. Then he had Marguerite cover it in a more beach-friendly fabric. So THINGY!”I raise my hands, gesturing for him to figure it out.“If thingy bothers you so much, you fucking rename it.”

I hear him sigh again, and my heart clenches, and my stomach flips again. Thinking that I might have hurt his feelings.

Fucking body is a traitor just like the guys.Then I remember his name is Declan. He's Irish, and his brother is the head of the Campbell Family. And I don’t feel bad anymore.

“Bye, Declan,”I say, dismissing him. I watch his shadow retreat as he heads back to the house.

Maybe he won’t be there when I get back this time. Perhaps he’s had enough. I’m not mature enough to dissect the pang of loss I feel thinking he won’t be there when I get back to the house. I put him out of my head, put my headphones on and open my book. I’ve been reading for about an hour when a commotion out of the corner of my eye catches my attention. I put my book down and remove my headphones, and I hear a woman screaming.

I’m off my spot and running to the woman to see what is happening. She is holding a baby of about six months and pointing out to the water. I see what she is screaming about. There is a little boy out there, way too far out and going under the water.“Fuck.”I look at the teenagers standing and staring as this kid drowns.“Hey!”I grab the girl closest to me. She looks at me.“You see that house there? The white one with blue trim?”

“Si.”

“Run there and tell Jake to come fast.”She doesn’t move, so I scream at her,“Run!”She and her friends snap out of it and take off toward my house. I run into the water, seeing the little boy, and he’s gone again. I dive into the water and swim out to where I saw him go under. I can’t see him, so I dive deeper searching for him. I can’t find him and have to come up for air.

I submerge again, this time going deeper. I keep swimming down not finding anything until I see a mop of brownhair. The saltwater is hurting my eyes, but I keep them open. I swim down more, and more, my lungs burning. Just when I think my lungs will explode, I can reach him. I grab him by the arm and start our ascent. I feel like my lungs are going to explode. I break the surface, sucking in a massive lungful of air and getting my arm around the little boy to keep his head above the water. He isn’t breathing; I know he isn’t.

I swim as fast as I can with one arm towards the beach. I can still hear his mother screaming. Then I hear Caden. He is swimming out to meet me.“Caden,”I call out to him. He takes the boy from me and starts swimming to shore with him. He’s so much faster than me.

Caden makes it to shore with the boy, and I see him lay him down as Declan arrives and performs CPR. I roll onto my back, needing to catch my breath. I have a horrible cramp in my side. I’m floating for a few minutes before there are splashes as someone swims out to me.“How’s it going here, Boss?”Matt asks as he treads water beside me.

“Well, Matt, I definitely didn’t have the relaxing afternoon at the beach I had planned on.”

“I see that. Ah, Ava, Is there a reason you’re out here floating?”

“Oh, yeah. I have a cramp, and I’m trying to catch my breath.”

“Ah. Well, you feel up to going into shore now?”

“I guess.”

“Good, 'cause the doc is starting to look a little panicked.”

We make our way to shore slowly. The cramp in my side is not any better. Breathing hurts. Matt helps me out of the water just as the mother places her son into a car pulled onto the beach. I give Caden a look.“They’re taking him to the hospital just to get him checked over, and this is faster than calling an ambulance.”

“He’s ok?”I look to Declan, meeting his eyes.

“He’s going to be fine. He was completely responsive, and his breath sounds were clear on both sides.”

“That’s good. Thank you for coming. I don’t know if he would have made it without you.”

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