Page 8 of The Tides Between Us

The surgery was a little more extensive than we had anticipated. They were able to remove all of the fishing wire and repair her flipper. It’s just a waiting game now. As long as everything heals appropriately and there aren’t any complications, we should be able to rerelease her in a few months.

Declan read over the message and looked over to me, smiling brightly before responding.

Declan

It’s that simple? You just fix her and can send her back on her way?

I nodded.

Giana

That’s what the goal is. If we are able to rehabilitate them and safely release them back into the wild, that’s what we do. They belong in their natural habitats. The ones we can’t release are the ones that we ultimately send to sanctuaries or aquariums.

He lifted his gaze back to the pool for a moment. I watched him as he stared down at Pop-Tart with a tender look. It was interesting, seeing someone have a reaction like this to an animal. Someone who didn’t work directly with them the way I did. I had learned not to develop an emotional attachment to them, but that didn’t diminish the way I cared for them.

Seeing Declan struck a chord in my heart. A chord that I didn’t need to have touched. He was different compared to your common person who may stumble upon an injured turtle. The ocean had woven itself within the fibers of his soul. Declan had the ocean in him and he appreciated it. He didn’t take it for granted. He had nothing but respect for the sea and the animals that inhabited it.

Declan

I’m glad to hear that Pop-Tart’s story should have a happy ending. She belongs in the ocean and I’m happy she will hopefully be returned there.

He turned to face me, his lips soft with the smile he had. He was unlike anyone I had ever met before. There was a tenderness, a gentleness that radiated from him.

Giana

We have no one to thank but you. If you hadn’t found her when you did, she could have suffered a terrible fate.

He tilted his head to the side and his eyes slowly explored mine. There was no urgency, but I couldn’t quite figure out what he was searching for.

Declan

She’s lucky to have you taking care of her.

I couldn’t help the warmth as it crept up my neck and spread across my cheeks. It was hard to not take his words like he was fishing for something more than just paying me a compliment. I didn’t know what the intentions were behind his kind words, but a part of me couldn’t help but wonder if that was all they really were.

Not everyone had an ulterior motive. Not everyone’s actions and words were sprouting from a hidden agenda.

Giana

Would you like to see the rest of the facility?

I didn’t know what had come over me to make the suggestion, but I needed to change the conversation. Declan Parks was practically a stranger. Just because we had a connection over the turtle he brought to the facility didn’t mean there was any other kind of connection between us. He was genuinely interested in her recovery and nothing more.

Declan

I would love to.

Declan fell into step beside me as I took him on his own personal tour through the facility. We went through the different buildings and I explained the different areas and what was happening with the animals that were housed there. It was refreshing, being able to walk someone through with them actually being curious about it all.

Even though there was still a slight communication barrier between us, he hung on to every word I sent to him through our texting conversation. The phone proved to be very helpful, as it usually was. It was tiresome having to handwrite everything out to people. Declan was so immersed in learning everything he could about our mission and the animals.

We finished our tour and settled into a comfortable silence as we stepped out into the stuffy Florida air. There were some people the silence felt awkward with, but it was different with Declan. It was as if he was completely at ease with it, just walking beside me without having to fill the air with some type of conversation.

He respected the fact that I wasn’t physically able to hear him speak. And instead of trying to force anything, he was just there. If there was one thing I learned about him in the short amount of time I knew him, it was that Declan Parks was the type of authentic person who was content with just being.

There was nothing forced about him. He was taking life as it came, coasting through like he was riding the smoothest wave.

We rounded the front of the main building and he walked with me toward the entrance. There was no reason for him to come back inside, yet his steps didn’t falter. He stayed right beside me.