"Oh no," I said, grabbing onto his arm for balance.
"You can’t walk on it," he said.
I shook my head no.
"I was worried that might be the case."
He scooped me up and carried me onto the shore. He gently set me down on a towel, then wrapped another towel around me. Josh thanked the two people who carried our boards up for us and reassured everyone that I was going to be okay.
"Man, that was intense," a teenage boy said. "I mean, she totally had it, until she didn’t. I’m so glad you were there."
"Me too," Josh said.
The boy ran and grabbed his board before heading back out into the water.
I looked at my ankle and noticed it was already swollen to three times its normal size.
"Well," I said, finally finding my voice. "I guess that explains why it hurts so much."
Josh started laughing.
"Oh my goodness, you are amazing," he said.
I looked at him, confused as to why he responded that way.
"Let’s just say I have seen several people injured, and a lot of them are much less severe than this. Hardly anyone has been as calm and collected as you."
"Maybe I’m just in shock," I said.
"Maybe," he replied. "But I think it’s more the fact that you’re just a remarkable person."
He turned his attention back to my foot.
"Alright, we need to get you to the emergency room right away. You have two choices. I can call for an ambulance, or I can take you there myself."
"I don’t need an ambulance," I said. "If you don’t mind taking me."
"Of course I don’t mind," he said. "Hand me your truck keys, and I’ll drive it out here."
"You’re allowed to do that?" I asked.
Josh smirked.
"Sure," he said. "The beach doesn’t technically open for another two hours. I also happen to be friends with the Lifeguard Director, so I am going to text him and let him know what’s going on. You just sit here. And here, put this on. You’re shivering."
Josh tossed me his sweatshirt, grabbed my keys, and ran towards my truck.
I put the sweatshirt on and wrapped another towel around me. Then I sat back and thought about all that had just happened.
I didn’t know the exact details of everything, but I just knew that if Josh had not been there, things could have been so much worse.
I was relieved to hear my truck pull up behind me. I had started shivering again, and I just wanted to be warm.
Josh jumped out of the truck and jogged over to me.
"Do you have sweats you can put on? I know you were wearing shorts when you got here, but you need to have warm clothes. Do you have any with you?"
I shook my head. "No, that’s all that I have."
