Her eyes opened face down on the beach staring directly at a pool of blood which stained the sand. She could taste it trailing down from her nose onto her lips. She tried to pick herself up but collapsed from the searing pain jolting through her head, and then she felt it. Two hands grabbing her arms and lifting her up off the ground.
“Oh my god, are you okay?”
As she wiped off her eyes holding one hand over her nose, she put the man into focus. Lifting her head to look at him, she found herself surprisingly struck by his mesmerizing features. His light blond hair wisped in front of his forehead from the light breeze. He was tall and sported a pair of khaki coloured shorts and a bright red t-shirt. His tattoos were still visible as they peaked out from underneath the short sleeves. And his eyes, oh those eyes, how they sparkled in the sunlight which captured the perfect shade of aqua blue. Suddenly, with much embarrassment, Abby realized that she had been staring at him totally disregarding his concern for her.
“Oh yeah, yeah I’m alright, I think,” she said hesitantly as she began to feel herself become slightly dizzy.
“Well you’ve got yourself one heck of a bleeding nose there,” he said with a laugh.
“Oh my god, would you excuse me a second? I’m going to go clean myself up.”
“Sure, no problem, ummm, what’s your name?” he asked eagerly.
“Abby, Abby Kellerman.”
“Nice to meet you Abby, I’m Nick Carter,” he said as he put out his hand to shake hers. She reached out to take his hand. He shook it with just the right amount of care. He too found himself lost in her hazel eyes as she gazed at him and smiled with a sense a flirtation. He let go and watched her walk away, stumbling down to the edge of the water. As he looked at her struggling to clean herself off he concentrated on how beautiful she was. Her long dark blonde hair was being swept away with the warm breeze, her black spandex shorts and yellow t-shirt hugged her curves in all the right places, and her glowing light coloured skin stood out against the sun’s rays. Even with a face covered in blood she was alluring to him and he couldn’t take his eyes off of her. He watched her splash the water onto her delicate skin and then suddenly noticed her fall over and into the water. She wasn’t moving. In an instant the butterflies in his stomach turned from delight into shear worry. He sprinted as fast as he could down to where she lay and frantically pulled her out of the water, recognizing that she had fallen unconscious. Nick moved her onto the dry sand and put his ear to her mouth the see if she was breathing. She was breathing, thank god. But he still didn’t know what to do. He began to panic as he had never been in a situation like this before. Then he heard a slight moan and she slowly opened once again.
“What happened,” she sighed.
“You collapsed trying to wash the blood off of your face. I guess that hit you took was harder then you thought,” he chuckled, again lifting her up.
“Oh yeah, what happened then anyway?” she asked a little angry.
“Well I was just sitting on the beach reading when all of a sudden you turned the corner and crashed right into me. You knocked me right over and you flipped yourself into the air landing face down. Didn’t you see me sitting there?” Nick asked a little annoyed.
“Umm actually I had my eyes closed. I know this beach backwards and forwards and it seemed safe to close my eyes because there is usually nobody here this early. What were you doing here so early in the morning?”
“Actually I just moved into town and I thought it would be a nice place to find some peace in the morning you know? I moved in with my buddy and he snores so loud that it forces me to get up early so I thought why not get out and find some comfort?”
“Yeah that makes sense. I was trying to find a little peace too. That’s why I had my eyes closed. It allows me to shutdown the outside world and to forget about all my problems, while running off some of my stress. I guess I owe you a thank you.” She hated to admit it but she was gracious for his concern for her well being.
“No problem, but next time you decide to run into me lets make it over some coffee or something,” he cautiously implied.
She stood there not knowing what to say. Had she actually just been asked out? She could feel her guarded feelings begin to take over as she responded,
“I don’t think so. Thank you very much for your concern but it’s just not the right time for me.” And that was it. He didn’t try to stop her or catch up to her after she walked away. I guess he could sense her shyness and he didn’t want to seem intimidating. What had she just done? Why was it that every time she had a chance at getting to know someone she turned it down? All she ever wanted was to find love and every opportunity she was handed she turned it down. As she quickly walked away she turned her head around to get a last look at the man who had quite possibly saved her life and then regret started to kick in.