Nick’s eyes widened as he got a good look at the girl standing
before him. It was her. The dark-haired girl he had seen at the
hospital.
“Who are you?” he asked, staring deep into her eyes, those
ocean-colored eyes.
“My name’s Olivia Caisson,” she replied, shifting.
“Olivia. You live around
here?” he asked.
She tilted her head to one side, looking surprised. “Yeah, I live right there,” she replied,
pointing to the house next door to his.
“Really?? Since when?” Nick
asked.
“Just a few weeks. But
you… well, you haven’t really been here lately, so I guess you didn’t know,”
Olivia said, still looking slightly perplexed.
Nick felt his cheeks turn pink at her words. She obviously knew of what had happened to
him. But how? That was supposed to be kept private.
Nick wasn’t sure if she knew he had recognized her, but he decided
not to play dumb. “I saw you at the
hospital,” he blurted.
Now it was Olivia’s turn to blush. She shifted her eyes downward. “Yeah,” she said.
“What were you doing there?” Nick asked. “I mean, how did you know?”
Olivia gave him a strange look.
“You mean, your family never told you… about me?”
Nick frowned in confusion.
“No… what about you?”
She bit her lip. “Well,
um… I- I was the one who… found you,” she stammered, hesitantly.
“Found me? You mean, after
I…?”
She nodded, as Nick trailed off.
“Yeah… I was on my way over to complain about your music. I rang your bell, but no one answered, and
so I kinda went inside cause I was worried, and I eventually found you passed
out on the bed.”
Nick stared at her in wonder.
“No one ever told me…” he said softly.
She shrugged. “It’s not something
you talk about around the dinner table,” she said dryly.
“So my family met you?” Nick asked.
Olivia nodded and told him the story about how she had ran into
Aaron at the hospital, who had later introduced her to the rest of the Carter
family.
“Wow… I had no idea,” Nick commented, looking rather
astonished. “Thank you.”
She smiled slightly, looking embarrassed. “You don’t have to thank me. I didn’t do anything that any other person
would have done in that situation. It’s
just lucky that everything happened the way it did. I’m glad you’re still here. I mean, I know I don’t really know you, but
I was really worried.”
He lowered his head in humiliation. “I’m sorry for putting you in that
position,” he said softly.
“Don’t be sorry. Just be
glad you’re alive,” she said firmly.
He nodded, looking back up into her eyes. “I am.”
She gazed back levelly at him.
“Good,” she replied. Wrapping
her arms tightly around herself, she shivered.
“Gosh, it gets kinda cold out here at night, doesn’t it?”
“Yeah, it does,” Nick said.
He pulled off his gray hooded sweatshirt and handed it to her. “Here, put this on.”
Olivia looked at him in surprise.
“Aren’t you cold?” she asked, eyeing the thin T-shirt he was wearing
underneath the sweatshirt.
Nick already had goosebumps on his arms, but he shook his
head. “Naw, I’m fine,” he replied
casually. “Take it.” He thrust the sweatshirt towards her again.
The corners of her mouth turned up in a smile, and she accepted
the sweatshirt. “Thanks.”
“You’re welcome,” he replied, watching as she pulled it over her
head.
“Ahh, that’s much better,” said Olivia, hugging her arms to her
chest.
Nick smiled. “I hope you
don’t mind hanging out here with me,” he said.
“No, I don’t mind.
Especially now that I’m warm,” she said, with a teasing grin.
He returned her smile.
“So, do you live all alone, or with your parents, or what?” he asked,
glancing at her house.
“Alone,” she replied. “My
parents are in Iowa, where I grew up. They
bought this house for me.”
“Wow. Nice parents,” Nick
said, looking impressed. “So, you’re
from Iowa? That’s pretty far from
here. How come you came to live in
Tampa all by yourself?” he asked.
“Mostly for the ocean. I’ve
always loved the ocean, and of course, there’s no oceans in
Nick smiled widely.
“That’s why I live here too,” he said.
“I love the ocean too.”
Olivia nodded, smiling back at him. Nick wondered if she sensed the same
connection he felt towards her. While
he was sometimes shy with people he didn’t know, he found Olivia easy to talk
to, and they already had found something they had in common. Nick could easily picture the two of them
having more conversations like that… and maybe even more.
You’re dreaming, Carter, he told himself. She’s not gonna want to hang around
you. She probably thinks you’re a
self-absorbed, suicidal freak. He frowned.
“What’s the matter?” Olivia asked suddenly, interrupting his
thoughts.
“Huh?” Nick looked up at
her blankly.
“You frowned just now.
Whatcha thinking about?”
Nick blushed. “Nothing,”
he answered quickly. “Nothing at all.”
***