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“You’ll want to wrap your leg in a vinegar cloth for about fifteen, twenty minutes,” he stated curtly. “Then you’ll want to soak in a hot bath for about a half-hour. Use some shaving cream and shave your legs. That should get rid of any lingering stingers. The pain should go away in about an hour or two. Your skin will be red and blotchy for a day, which will give way to red lines where the tentacles stung you. Those will probably remain visible for about a week or two. In the meantime, you’ll want to take some acetaminophen. I also recommend picking up some hydrocortisone cream and keeping it in the refrigerator. If your leg and foot begin to itch, you can apply some.”
“You really know your jellyfish stings.” I laughed nervously as I pushed a few wayward tendrils of hair behind my ear.
The auburn shade I’d colored it still occasionally caught me by surprise, a stark contrast to the blonde I was most of my life. But I was determined to leave the woman I once was behind.
“I’d ask if you were a doctor, but you look too young for that.”
Maybe I was fishing for information, since he didn’t look like he could have been more that twenty-five or twenty-six. At the very least, I hoped to engage him in some sort of conversation.
“I’ve just spent a lot of time in the water.” He nodded toward the surfboard lying on the white sand.
“I bet you’ve got some doozies in Australia, huh?” I rambled, shifting from foot to foot, wincing when I put too much pressure on my sting. “Granted, I haven’t spent a lot of time there, but I’ve heard horror stories about spiders and snakes.”
He shrugged. “It’s not so bad.”
I nodded, silence descending between us.
God, this was awkward. I normally had no problem getting people to engage with me. I was most decidedly a people person. I was raised in the south, owned a successful bakery that I grew from a home-based operation, to a popular boutique chain, to now being one of the most popular bakery brands in the nation. My ability to talk to and connect with people was what helped me grow my business to what it was today.
Yet I couldn’t seem to engage with this man. He was mysterious. Intriguing. Troubled.
And perhaps I saw parts of myself in him. Parts I masked with a friendly smile and upbeat persona so nobody saw the real me.
He cleared his throat and gestured to my leg. “Will you be okay to walk?”
I put a little more pressure on it. It ached, but it was nothing compared to mere moments ago.
“I’ll be fine.”
“Good. Take it slow. And stay out of the shallows before daylight. Jellyfish tend to inhabit the waters this time of year.”
“Thanks for the tip.” I forced out a smile that seemed overly sweet and friendly. “And for your help.”
He barely acknowledged my gratitude as he turned away and grabbed his board, leaving me with this strange, unsettling feeling in my stomach.
