Stranger

Floundering he kicked as hard as he could, struggling to keep his head above the waves. Grabbing at the surface of the water as if he could somehow hold onto it and pull himself up, out of what he was certain was about to become his watery grave.

He had always been a strong swimmer, a life lived on the sea will gift you with that, still, he was tiring quickly.

Wave after wave broke over his head sending him tumbling down into the darkness, it was becoming harder to find the surface each time. His heavy clothing didn't help, the woolen jumper he had donned to keep out the chill as the storm had approached now felt like it was an anchor around his torso.

The storm had broken quickly. It was fast and ferocious and had cast him overboard before wrecking his ship beyond salvage.

He had misread the clouds forming, he thought he would have plenty of time to steer the boat towards the safety of the harbour before the worst of it hit, he was wrong.

He could just make out the distant lights of the seaport. Through the blinding rain, they glistened beautifully, shimmering almost like stars.

He stared at them wistfully as he took one final deep drawing breath as the wave washed over his head and he was dragged deep under the surface.

She had been sitting on the small covered porch as she always did to watch the storms, this one was spectacular, lighting almost purple in colour, the wind howling, whipping the sea into an angry frenzy of high waves and bubbling foam.

at first she had thought it was the light and her eyes playing tricks on her, but one fierce, almost blinding crack of lighting had illuminated the sky and the water as though someone had turned on a spotlight.

A ship, being tossed around like a children's toy in a bathtub. She as wave after wave threw the vessel around, until finally it was overwhelmed completely, tipped onto its side just waiting for the water to submerge it.

She jumped to her feet and raced inside, she grabbed her raincoat and boots pulling them both on as she ran out the front door and started down the beach towards the water, grabbing the blankets from the porch lounge as she passed.

The storm was passing by the island way out to sea by the time she threw herself into her small powerboat, but the rain was still heavy and stung her eyes. She pressed hard on the throttle and raced towards the site of the shipwreck, turning on the spotlight as she approached to avoid pieces of the wreckage, she prayed that she wasn't too late.

The ship was destroyed pieces of it and its contents were strewn across the surface of the now calming sea. Suddenly she saw him, amongst the debris. he was half draped, over a large piece of the destroyed ships hull. He looked lifeless, blood poured from a large cut above his left eye. Without thought in a second she had kicked off her boots, slipped out of her coat and was jumping overboard into the dark waters. She pulled him carefully towards her and held him tightly as she swam them back to her boat with a speed and strength that would have seen surprising from one so petite.

She struggled a little as she pulled them both up out of the water and into the boat. She lay him on the floor and quickly went about checking for a pulse, heartbeat, shallow drawing of breath anything.

She found it, his pulse was weak, he breathing was strained but he was alive, now she just had to keep him that way.

She grabbed the large filleting knife from the tool box and cut quickly through his sodden clothing, wrapping him in the blankets she had grabbed from the porch. She cracked several heat packs and placed them strategically on his body, one on his chest near his heart, two underneath his torso, two at his feet. She threw her raincoat over him and turned the boat around, racing back towards the beach.

She wasn't entirely sure how she had managed to get him back to the house, adrenaline had kicked in she guessed. He was a large man, around 6"6 would be her guess, quite a deal larger than her mere 5"4. She had gotten him off the boat and into a beach cart and the rest was just a blur.

His breathing had steadied and his heartbeat was strong now. She had cleaned, stitched and dressed the wound above his eye, it was not as bad as she had first feared. She had made sure to get his temperature back up quickly. She had also tended to a wound on his side, a small cut and what appeared to be the beginnings of an awful bruise, she suspected he had broken a rib or two. There was nothing left to do now but wait for him to regain consciousness. She gently sponged his face one last time with a warm cloth, she settled down in the chair beside him and waited.

The light woke him, he could feel its warmth. He knew he couldn't be dead, his head was ringing and his mouth was dry as the desert. He took a deep breath and felt like his chest was going to explode. He opened his eyes and blinked several times waiting for them to adjust. Looking around him he saw nothing he recognized. The light was a beautiful orange glow, sunset or sunrise he couldn't tell, he quickly glanced around the room, turning his head gently so as not to aggravate the pain he was already feeling. Then, he saw her. Sitting in an armchair, her head layed on her forearms on the bed next to him, her hair spilling across the covers towards his fingers. Her eyes were closed. He could nothing but stare she was the most beautiful sight he had ever seen.