"Olive?"

A shout from behind me made my shoulders sag a little as I glanced over one to see Parker quickly walking toward me.

Hmph. Probably thought I was going to go over the edge.

When he got closer, I looked back down at the water and furrowed my brow.

They're gone.

"Hey, man, I was coming to get you," he said, fueling my unwarranted annoyance as I growled out a reply.

"I told you I can drive myself."

He nibbled at his lower lip and shrugged as he got himself situated next to me on the rock, his legs folded Indian-style instead of hanging over like mine were.

"You know I never listen."

That had me unexpectedly choking on a weak laugh.

"God damn do I know it, you idiot."

He gave a slight chuckle and grinned before reaching over.

I know what is coming but I can't push the darn guy away.

His arms wrapped around my shoulders, pulling me into a hug I didn't need, or want. I'd gotten way too many hugs while in the hospital, and all I really wanted right then was to be alone with six or seven beers.

"I know you're sick of all the fussing. I'm just worried," he mumbled against my neck, making me sigh and pat his back reassuringly.

"I went to rehab last year for a reason, Park."

He leaned back a little and smirked, then leaned in and kissed my cheek.

"Aw! Ew! Really?" I grumbled, wiping at the spot on my cheek with my right sleeve while he just leaned back and laughed.

"Oh hush. I do that all the time when one of us is feeling down. You won't get my gay-cooties or something dumb like that from it."

"I'm starting to have second thoughts on this whole friends thing..." I mumbled, the comment making him nudge my shoulder and roll his eyes, though his smile stayed firmly in place.

"I'm rather limited on friends at the moment, so I'm afraid you're stuck with the job, Olive."

I leaned back on my hands and blew out a breath through my nose, glancing at him from the corner of my eyes.

"You've got plenty of friends."

"I've got Jayson and you..." he replied, Parker's grin stretching a bit farther.

He may break his face if he smiles any wider.

"What about that mer? Calamari, or whatever his name is."

That instantly had a blush burning up his cheeks.

Oh god. Don't say it. I know what happened but dude, I'll toss my lunch that I barely ate if you go into details.

Parker glanced away, then back at me as his thumbs twiddled in his lap before finally mumbling, "We uh... are a little more than friends."

T. M. I.

"Uh, then, that other mer's your friend, right?"

That made the blush instantly vanish as Parker gave a snort of sarcasm.

"He's more of an angry shadow that gets pissed about everything not involving his junk and Jayson's butt."

Okay, that made me fall back on the rock and cover my eyes, pressing my palms into them hard as I groaned.

"You and your details that no one wants to know."

"Hah, but you asked. That was the PG version anyway. I can give you the R rated one if you want, though that would take a while and involve several settings and—"

"No! No. No, I'm good. Please dear god, I'm good."

I heard him getting up and moved my arm to peek, seeing him now standing as he stared down at me with a sympathetic frown in place where his smile had just been.

"Don't," I warned, not wanting anymore sad crap. I could deal with my problems on my own.

"I'm driving you home."

My eyes narrowed at him as I growled, "Not a chance. I can drive just fine."

"You may be able to drive, but you're frustrated, and I can understand that. However, you make stupid decisions when you're like this."

"Hmph. So most of the time?" I retorted while trying to get back to my feet. This leg definitely didn't have the range of motion I was used to, so getting up was definitely tricky. I knew he wanted to help when he began to kneel down beside me, but I just glared, making him wait until I was finally on my feet. Well, technically foot, but I'm not going to dwell on that any further right now.

"I'll drive myself home," I stated again, just to be sure it was clear.

"Then I'm following you there."

"Dammit, Park! Do I look like a kid to you?" I yelled as I staggered toward the driver's side of my truck.

"Yes. A big angry one that won't let people help him because he's butthurt."

He paused, then snickered a little.

"Oops. Well, you know what I mean."

Of course I fucking know what he means.

I turned on him, knowing that I'd regret it, but I just wanted my damn space right then so the words just came out!

"Seriously. Leave me the fuck alone! I'm not gonna go home and kill myself or some other stupid shit you might be thinking. I have work Monday, and I need to rest before then so just get lost."

He immediately looked hurt, because come on, it was Parker. His emotions showed on his face like an open book whether he meant for them to or not. Which I doubted he did. When neither of us spoke for several silent moments, I grunted and got my truck's door open, then literally lifted myself up into the cab using the handle and steering wheel before shutting the door. I would have to apologize to him later, because the guy really was a great friend, even if he did call me at random hours of the night to treat his deadly boyfriend or fretted over stupid things too much. Sighing, I shook my head and buckled my seat belt before heading out onto the road. I noticed his silver truck following me but didn't bother trying to lose it to go to the liquor store; which was what I really wanted to do.

"Bah... Park. Sometimes I wish you had some of the bad habits I had to kick."

Not really, but he is just so straight-laced it gets difficult to deal with sometimes.

We were back at my house about fifteen minutes later, and I was silently grateful when he did a U-turn at the end of the cul-de-sac, then went a few doors down to his own home.

"Finally. Some time to myself."

I nearly hopped to the front door, practically dragging my worthless metal leg while fishing keys from my pocket. After fumbling with them for a moment, I got the right one in the lock and pushed it open with some effort.

Man, my muscles have seriously gotten lax after all that time lying in bed.

But again, that was my fault for not trying therapy. Whatever. I got the door shut and locked, then made my way toward the kitchen, tossing my keys on the counter when I stepped into the small room. I wasn't nearly as good a cook as Parker, so most of my food consisted of frozen meals or cereal. Not the healthiest diet, I'll admit, but it was definitely better than that crap they tried to shove down my throat at the hospital. Probably why I lost a few pounds while I was in there. Once I had a TV dinner popped in the microwave, I leaned over to look into the fridge.

"Oh thank you god!"

Reaching forward, I grabbed one of the cold beers and popped the top with practiced fingers before downing half the thing.

"Ahhh, man did I need that."

The familiar cold liquid burned its way into my belly, begging for another drink that I happily obliged it. By the time the microwave beeped four minutes later, I was already done with my second beer and feeling quite a bit better... or at least quite a bit intoxicated. That was probably a better bet, but it still made some of the pain go away. My mind was yelling at me for doing it, but I grabbed another two bottles in one hand and my dinner in the other, then carefully made my way over to the sofa. I dropped down onto it with a content sigh and took a big bite of whatever-the-hell I'd put in the microwave, since it all usually just tasted the same, then popped the lid on the third bottle of beer and began nursing it.

At some point, the TV got turned on, but I didn't really remember watching anything that was on. I had made the news, but the story drifted off the air pretty quickly since the two bastards only seemed to show themselves to me, and me alone.

Aren't I lucky?

Grumbling into the half-empty bottle, I upended it and tossed it aside to the floor once it was finished, then belched loudly.

The sound of rushing water had my eyes blinking open. At first, I couldn't remember what had happened or where I was, but as my hurting head began to clear a little, I realized I was back home and had gotten drunk. Sitting up, I glanced outside to see that the river was surprisingly high, the moonlight reflecting off of its surface showing its water running as if it were storming.

"Odd."

After giving a huge yawn, I got up and stretched a little, shaking out both of my legs and wiggling my toes. I always felt a bit fuzzy after waking up from being drunk, but this time wasn't that bad. Sauntering over to the sliding glass doors leading out to the patio and backyard, I stood there in the dark and watched the water flow until something caught my eye that I couldn't quite make out near the bank.

Against my better judgment, I opened the door and stepped outside into the windy night, though I could have sworn it had been morning. I had probably slept for a long time. Brushing that thought aside, I calmly walked down to the edge of the water, slowing my stride as I got closer to the object.

"Hang on."

When I got within a few yards of it, I could finally see exactly what it actually was and my heart suddenly began to beat like crazy.

"Oh man, it's a guy!"

Running over, I dropped to my knees, feeling them sink into the wet mud as I tried to turn the man over so I could administer CPR. When I finally managed to get him onto his back, I gasped and tried to jump back out of surprise, but my knees were a bit too stuck to let me complete the action.

He had crisp bright hair, an odd silver or white-blond easily visible even in the darkness, with similarly bright eyes close to a crystalline blue. The color wasn't what had my nerves in a tight ball, though; it was the fact that his eyes were open and staring up at me like he hadn't been half-drowned lying on the bank, having been washed up by the rushing water in the river.

"S-Sir?" I stuttered, honestly starting to get a feeling that something was wrong with this situation.

"It's your fault..."

"What?"

What had I done? I didn't even know the guy.

"You. All of you. You're a poison to this world. To us."

My breath caught in my throat. That was a strong statement, and while I knew it was honestly the truth, being a marine biologist and doctor and having treated countless creatures that had suffered from human trash, it still hit pretty hard coming from this man whom I didn't know anything about.

"I-I'm a doctor. Let me help you..."

He smirked and rolled his head on the ground slowly. The gesture was odd for a person and kind of reminded me of... of....

Mellac.

"Shit!"

I didn't get a chance to move before he lunged, multiple rows of serrated, pointed white teeth heading straight for my face.

I jerked up abruptly, gasping for air as sweat dripped from my forehead and ran down my cheeks, joining tears that flowed just as freely as I began panting heavily.

Oh god. Oh god! It had been another weird dream. Those teeth, though... they weren't orca.

"Just a... dream. Not real. Shake i-it off, Oliver. It doesn't matter."

I kept repeating that until I was able to catch my breath and shakily get to my feet.

"Just get some water... cold water."

My voice wasn't the clearest from all the alcohol I'd consumed, and I was probably still a bit buzzed, but thankfully I managed to get a cup into my shaking hand and fill it with ice, then water. The actual drinking was a bit messier, but I didn't really care about the water dripping from my jaw as I got most of it into my mouth. It was refreshing and woke me up a little, which allowed me to safely begin limping back toward the sofa as the television buzzed quiet unintelligible words in the background.

When I got to the wall between the kitchen and living room, I allowed myself to look toward the sofa, wanting to gauge my steps so I didn't accidentally trip. However, something faint next to it caught a flicker of light from the television as it switched to a different random commercial and drew my eyes slightly up, then over.

My heart froze and my body dropped to the floor to slump against the wall, exhaustion taking over as fear coursed through me much faster than the alcohol had. Four large claw marks were visible in the flickering light coming from the television, slashed horizontally into the glass, nearly cutting completely through the thick pane with disturbing accuracy.