True Love Waits

Chapter 433 Thank You For Being Alive

Carlos only gave her a long look. When the killer whale swam towards them, Debbie was so frightened she clutched Carlos tightly. "Run! Run!" she screamed, scrunching her eyes closed, too spooked to open them.

She heard water thrashing behind her, but soon it was quiet.

"Open your eyes," Carlos coaxed her.

When everything was quiet, Debbie's fear fled. She opened her eyes slowly. Her jaw dropped when she caught sight of what was right in front of her.

Carlos was stroking the killer whale's head!

"Are... are you crazy? I-l-it's going to eat you!" Fear filled her. She clung to his arm even tighter.

Since they boarded the boat, they'd been through a lot. Her day was filled with moments of terror and danger. She wondered if she would die from a heart attack soon.

For example, right now, her heart was pounding like it would burst through her chest, and she couldn't feel her legs.

Carlos, however, didn't seem scared at all.

Noticing the incredulity on her face, he explained, "About the only people these guys attack are their keepers. They like people."

As if to prove what he had said, the killer whale moved its huge body towards Debbie and butted its head against her playfully.

"Ugh! Help!" she cried. Suddenly, she wanted to be home. She really missed a bunch of people: Piggy, Curtis, Colleen, Kasie, Decker, even her mom. "Boo...hoo..."

Carlos smiled. He gave her a pat on the back and said, "It likes you."

'What?' Debbie stared at Carlos in shock. Cautiously, she looked back. The killer whale seemed to be smiling at her.

water and slapping its tail against the surface. Just when Debbie thought it was leaving, it leaped out of the water

the performance. Her heartbeat steadied. "The dolphins in the aquariums are like

it,"

whale anymore, Debbie waved her right arm excitedly and called out, "Hey big guy,

understood her, the killer whale came swimming back. It finally surfaced only a couple feet in

patted her chest, feeling embarrassed that she was scared again. She wondered if she was just

Then he asked Debbie to do

slowly, and held the whale's big head. She didn't press her cheek against its until she was certain that it wouldn't

cold.' Smiling, she gave the big

enormous mouth, baring its two lines of sharp teeth. Debbie let it go in a hurry, screaming and retreating into Carlos' arms. Carlos

had closed its

jumpy.

that was when the killer whale started to push

it doing?"

Carlos shook his head.

against Carlos' shin, and circled around him. Only then did Debbie notice that his leg was bleeding. He had been injured in the water somehow. The shark must have

forgot you were hurt. We were in the water a long time. Why didn't you say something?

the deserted island and said, "It's

"How did it happen?"

fast I didn't have any

I

"That's okay," Carlos said.

had. In fact, she wondered if she'd spent more time in the water than her entire life combined. When she jumped over the side, it was more terrifying than when she had fallen into the river

emotion in Debbie's soul. He took her

being alive. Thank you for

mouths were dryer than tinder,