I was moving. It felt like I was moving. I didn’t know where I was going because my eyes refused to open. I tried, but they were so heavy and I was so warm and comfortable. Except for the sharp pain that had taken over my left temple. It was piercing, and felt like someone had stabbed me with a knife, or maybe a screwdriver. Who would want to do that? I hadn’t done anything to anyone. I wish I could open my eyes and pull the blasted thing out. Had someone glued them shut? Was I in the clutches of a serial killer? Oh my god, what’s my name?

My name? Who am I? A panic started in my chest and I tried to move, but my body was even heavier than my eyelids. I had no idea who I was! And then suddenly it came back to me.

Morgan Weston.

That calmed me, though I was still confused as to why I was immobile and had my eyelids glued shut. I tried to speak but my mouth felt like it was full of sawdust and I longed for a glass of water. What was wrong with me?

Before I could put any more thought into that, the pain in my skull increased and it felt like my head was literally splitting into two pieces. I tried to cry out but couldn’t; the pain was overwhelming. And in a foggy daze, that moment just before the darkness took over once more; I thought I heard a voice.

“Don’t try to move; just relax.”

~*~*~*~*~

The next time I awoke, I could open my eyes. My head still hurt greatly, but it felt like the screwdriver had been removed. I reached for my temple, finding I could move again, though my mouth still felt like it was full of sawdust. My fingers touched a bandage of some type on my head and I winced at the sharp pain that simple action had set off. What had happened?

Lowering my hand, I surveyed where I was, relief flooding through me when I recognized my bedroom. It was still dark outside, the shades pulled closed, but a lamp on the nightstand filled the room with a soft glow. What happened? How did I get here? The last thing I could recall was the storm and being down on the beach. Daisy!

I tried to sit up but the room gave a sudden tilt and my head began to spin, forcing me back down. Had I been drugged? Or were these just the after affects of having been stabbed in the head?

“You’re awake.”

The voice came from my right and I jerked to look in that direction, immediately regretting the decision as a wave of nausea washed over me.

“Hey, take it easy. No sudden movements.”

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, waiting until the sickening feeling had passed.

“There you go.” Someone sank down onto the edge of the bed and a cool cloth was pressed to my forehead.

I kept my eyes closed until I was sure I wouldn’t vomit then slowly blinked them back open.

It was my angel.

No, there were no such things as angels. But there he was. Suddenly, I was very confused.

“Wha….” I tried to speak, but the words died in my throat.

“Here, sip this.” He held a glass of water towards me, the straw meeting my lips.

I took a few swallows, the cool liquid soothing my throat and washing the sawdust away.

After he had set the water back off to the side and was watching me again, I tried once more.

“What…happened?”

“You got beamed in the head by a piece of flying driftwood.”

I blinked, the pain from my temple now moving into my eyelids and behind my eyes. “What?”

He watched me with those soul-stirring eyes. “You were down at the beach in the middle of the storm from hell, and a piece of wood smacked you in the head.”

“You… were there?” Gingerly I touched the bandage, wincing as even the slightest brush caused a stab of pain to shoot through my temple.

“Fortunately for you.” He reached and plucked a small orange bottle from the nightstand.

“But…wha…how?” I was still rather confused, and the throbbing of my head was not helping. It was making it hard to think clearly.

“I saw you go down.” He shook two small white pills out into his hand. “By the time I reached you, so had your dog. She led me back up here to your place.”

“Shouldn’t I be in the hospital?”

I watched as my rescuer recapped the bottle and set it aside, taking up the glass of water. “Once I got you back here, I called a doctor; a guy that lives across the street. He came over and checked you out. Said you’ll have one hell of a headache but should be okay.” He extended the pills and water towards me. “You got lucky. Take these.”

I eyed him carefully, peering towards the pills in his hand. “What’s that?”

“Tylenol. It’ll help the headache.”

Normally I didn’t trust strangers, but for reasons unknown I took the pills, swallowing them down with the water.

“Good girl.” He sent me a teasing grin and set the glass once more to the side.

I just watched him, hoping beyond hope that the medicine would kick in soon and ease the pain that was gripping my head.

“Do I have a concussion?”

“A slight one. Doc said to just rest and take it easy the next few days, but if your headache doesn’t leave, or you have trouble walking, or any confusion…he said to call your own doctor right away.”

I gave a little nod then blinked. “Daisy?”

He nodded his head towards the foot of the bed.

Daisy lay watching me with her big, brown eyes. Upon mention of her name, she lifted her head and her tail gave a thump against the bed.

I sent her a scowl before carefully resting my head back against the pillows. Our eyes met once more and I felt that familiar twitch inside my chest.

“Still think I’m an angel?”

I realized I’d been holding my breath and slowly let it out. “I don’t believe in angels.”

“Oh, that’s right.”

My eyes drifted to the quilt that covered my body and I realized I was still in my wet clothing. “I’m going to catch a cold.”

“Yeah, I had that thought too, but didn’t think it’d be appropriate for me to just…change you. Not that it wouldn’t be a pleasant experience for me.”

A small blush crept on my cheeks. “Well um… thank you for… not doing that.”

“You’re very welcome.” He watched me a moment longer and I watched the quilt.

Finally I turned to face him. “Maybe you are a vampire …or ghost.”

“So you believe in those now?”

A shrug. “I don’t know what I believe anymore.” It came out softer and more hurt then I had intended it to.

“Then angels could be very real.”

“No, they’re not.”

“How do you know?”

Inside my chest my heart was beating faster and I opened my mouth to respond, but then closed it again and broke our gaze, looking off towards the curtain covered windows. “You should go.”

“And leave you here alone and unsupervised with a slight concussion?”

“I’ll call someone.”

“Is that what you want?”

What I wanted was for my head to stop feeling like it was splitting in two. But I just nodded.

He was quiet for a moment then gave a sigh and rose from the bed. “Okay.”

I chanced a look to him, feeling my pulse quicken slightly. “Um…thank you…”

His grin warmed my belly. “It was my pleasure. Get some rest, okay? And make sure you call someone.”

“I will.”

He watched me for a moment longer before instructing me where he had put the Tylenol and cool compress. Then brushing his fingers over my arm, he bid me goodnight and left.

It wasn’t until I heard the downstairs door slam that I realized I still didn’t know his name.

~*~*~*~*~

“You know, if you’re going to be getting into any fights … you should at least wait until I’m there to cheer you on.” Dianna’s words greeted me bright and early the next morning as she let herself into my house.

I looked over from where I sat at the kitchen table, trying to force down an orange.

“What the hell happened to you?” She was by my side in an instant, examining the gauze bandage taped to my head.

I hadn’t called anyone like I should have. Instead, I had fallen into an uneasy sleep before waking a few hours later and managing to strip my damp clothes off. My head still throbbed, but not as sharp, and I felt sore and tired all over.

“Just a little road rage.”

“Uh huh.” Carefully, she peeled the bandage back to discover the cut and swollen lump above my temple.

“You should see the other guy.” I swallowed another slice of orange.

“Seriously, what happened?”

The tone in her voice was one I knew not to mess with and so I told her. All about Daisy taking off on me and following her, about the flying piece of driftwood and slight concussion and the headache the size of Alaska that was slowly fading away. I didn’t mention being rendered unconscious or my mysterious rescuer.

“Why didn’t you call me?”

“Because it was late and I was fine.”

“That does not look like fine. You should see a doctor.”

I sighed and wiped the sticky orange juices from my fingers. “I kinda already did.”

“What? When?”

“Last night. I called the doctor guy across the street and he came over.”

“Doctor Grant?”

Was that his name? I pretended like I knew and gave a nod. “Yes, Doctor Grant.”

“Really?” She arched a brow. “And he fixed you all up?”

I pointed to the bandage taped back to my head. “Yup.”

“Hmm…that’s really interesting considering Doctor Grant is my gynecologist, a woman at that, and the doctor that lives across the street is Doctor Morris.”

I paused with another orange slice halfway to my mouth. Damn.

Dianna watched me intently. “What’s going on?”

There was no hiding anything from her. She was like a mother hen with eyes in the back of her head and could tell you what your next move was going to be before you’d even made it.

“The doctor guy from across the street did come over; I just…didn’t know his name.”

“How did you know to call him?”

I set the orange piece back down. “Um… some guy actually called him for me.”

That was news to Dianna and she slipped into a chair. “What guy?”

I shrugged. “Some… guy. He… was on the beach and saw what happened.”

“You didn’t get his name?”

I shook my head. “I thanked him though.”

“Well, that’s sweet of you.” She shook her head some then watched me with concern. “But you feel okay?”

“I do. The doctor said if I start seeing funny or walking funny …or my headache doesn’t go away then to see my doctor. But he thinks I’ll be okay.”

Dianna eyed me then finally gave a nod. “Alright. And if you start having any of those … you better let me know.”

“Oh believe me, you’ll be the first one I tell.”

She reached and swiped a piece of my orange. “I had come over here to see if you wanted to go shopping or something. But you’re not in the best of shape to leave this house.”

“Yeah, I still feel a little woozy.”

“Maybe we should just take you to the doctor’s.”

“No, I’ll be okay. Seriously.”

“Mmkay, but if you lapse into a coma…do not blame me after you wake and are missing thirty years of your life.”

I chuckled low. “I’ll try not to.”

She gave a firm nod then fell into colloquy about the newest book she was illustrating.

I didn’t mean to tune her out, but my thoughts drifted to the angel from the beach before I even knew they were going there. It was a little weird that he just happened to be out there in the middle of a raging thunderstorm. People just did not walk around in those things; well okay I had been but I had a pretty good reason; my mangy mongrel of a pet.

Maybe he wasn’t a normal human. Maybe he wasn’t human. Angels didn’t exist. Neither did vampires or ghosts… there weren’t even aliens. He was just some crazy man who thought it would be fun to walk the beach in a powerful thunderstorm. Lucky for me.

“Morgan?”

I blinked and Dianna’s face came into focus. “Huh, what?”

“Where’d you go?”

I glanced around at the chair I sat in. “Nowhere.”

“You looked a million miles away.”

I shook my head. “I’m not.”

“Liar.”

“I’m not. I’m right here.”

“Obviously, you were thinking about something you don’t want me to know about.”

I sighed as Dianna eyed me like she was some kind of private investigator. “I’m really not.”

She gave a chuckle and I knew she wasn’t upset with me. “You are the worst liar.”

I shook my head, dropping the entire subject. “Will you take Daisy on a walk for me today?”

“You poor thing, of course.”

“Thank you.” I sent her a genuine smile then rose from the chair, taking my trash with me. “I think I need to lie down for a little bit.”

“Of course, take your time.” She stood as well, collecting the orange peel and napkins from my hands then shooing me out of the kitchen. “You go rest. I’m going to tidy up down here then take Daisy for her walk. If you need anything, holler.”

I didn’t object, just thanked her again then made my way back upstairs to the bedroom.

I settled into the bed and gave a little sigh, staring up at the ceiling. Why was I so hesitant to tell Dianna about the mysterious guy? There wasn’t anything wrong with it; he had saved me after all. But something was holding me back. I wasn’t sure if it was because he was so perplexing and the whole situation odd, or if there was something more to it. Did I even want to go down that path to figure it out?