Mer Tales 01 - Everblue

pant leg off and tied it above the wound to stop the bleeding. I removed her sopping wet jacket and shrugged into it. I turned up my internal body heat to see if I could dry it out and put it back on her. I looked down. My choice of board shorts and ill-fitting girl’s swim team jacket looked—interesting.
    I trudged up the hill to the Rangers station and braced for the reaction as I walked through the door. My entrance caught the tall, lanky, slightly-graying man on duty by surprise. He glanced at me, then at Ashlyn, and then at my wardrobe malfunction.
    “ Uh—” Theories to what really happened danced across his face—most of them dark.
    “ She’s hurt. We need to call nine-one-one.”
    He kept staring at the water mixed with blood dripping on the floor, a deer in the head-lights.
    I sighed.
    “ Forget you ever saw me and the next five minutes,” I spoke in my native tongue and waved my hand over his face.
    The Ranger’s eyes went glassy as he sat down, the mer playing tricks with his mind. I rushed inside and found a first aid kit, a cot, and blankets. I put Ashlyn’s coat back on her, dressed her wound, and wrapped her up in the blanket, tight like a burrito. I knew I should take off the rest of her wet clothing, but I couldn’t do it, not wanting to violate her in any way or injure her leg further. She was shivering uncontrollably now, which was a good sign but difficult to watch.
    I palmed through the Ranger’s things and found some pants and a shirt. Not my size, but I put them on anyway. On the radio, I called for help.
    “ We have a young woman, unconscious. At the Fannett Island Ranger Station. She fell into the lake. Please send an ambulance.”
    “ Yes, sir,” someone crackled on the other end of the line. “Right away.”
    I went back to Ashlyn, smoothed her damp hair, and kissed her temple. “I’m sorry. I have to go. You’ll be okay. Help is on the way.”
    “ Fin?” Ashlyn’s eyes fluttered open. She took two deep breaths and stopped shivering for a moment.
    Time froze. Everything inside me ached to kiss her for real, to finish what I’d started. My blood would heal her leg and we could run away somewhere and live together, under the waves in peace and solitude.
    She managed a smile. “I knew you’d come.”
    My throat hitched. Could she actually be awake? Should I screw everything and take her with me? Her voice was nothing but a whisper, but then her eyes rolled back and she started shivering again. She wasn’t lucid; she couldn’t be. And since I couldn’t erase anything further from her mind anyhow, I had to take off before she woke up again.
    Each time I’d mind-wiped her in the past tortured me so deeply—to watch her fade underneath a blanket of confusion. She’d never remember this moment anyway, but her sweet voice and leaving her here was going to haunt me forever. I hoped since she didn’t know what had happened, she’d be unaffected.
    The Ranger’s groan interrupted our moment. Dude was coming back around and I had to get out of there. The choice to leave her with the clueless Ranger took every bit of energy I had.
    Just outside of the door I heard him say. “Oh, sweet Mary. Where’d you come from?” and then, to my relief, he called for the ambulance again, oblivious to the fact that one was already en route.
    I groaned and headed back to the lake.

28
ASH

    “ Ashlyn, please wake up, sweetie.”
    My mom’s voice bounced inside my tired brain. Everything ached. Beyond my closed eyelids was a bright light, too bright for me to want to look at.
    “ Ohhh,” I moaned.
    I brought my hand to shield the nuisance and found something taped across my skin, hindering me. Beeps and other whooshing noises coupled with the antiseptic smell were more hints we weren’t at home.
    “ Mom?” I groggily choked out and opened my right eye a crack.
    “ Oh, my heavens.” She grabbed ahold of my tethered hand. “Yes, honey, I’m here.”
    I looked around the strange space, apparently a hospital room. My weighted body felt detached as I attempted to sit up. “What happened?”
    “ Just lie still,” Mom said and put her hand on my shoulder. “You . . . apparently had an accident and fell into the lake. The Ranger found you before it was too late and brought you to the Forest Ranger Station. They were able to warm you up and stop the bleeding until the ambulance could arrive.”
    “ Bleeding?” I reached down to my leg and felt a mountain of gauze.
    “