Caden sits back on his haunches when the girl pushes him back, grinning in relief and keeping a comforting hand on her shoulder as she coughs up saltwater into the wet sand. He puts his other hand over her smaller one on his chest and nods, patting it a few times before letting go.
"Yeah, you're safe," Caden tells her, smiling reassuringly. He notices how bad she's trembling and immediately goes to remove his jacket before remembering that 1) it's up on the pier and 2) he's also freezing wet. He could pull her up against him, but he doubts that would be appreciated.
"Do you want me to call an ambulance?" He jerks his chin towards the pier, where the boys are still watching with worried, petulant expressions. "Or the police?"
One timid looking boy is walking towards them with Caden's jacket and shoes and a laptop bag he assumes must be the girl's. He hands the stuff over and fidgets, looking down at the girl without meeting her eyes. "I'm sorry. I didn't know they were gonna do that. I - I should have tried to stop it."
"Yeah, probably," Caden snaps. He's so nice and laidback on a good day, but he can't stand bullshit like this. He grabs the stuff from his hands and shoos him away, ignoring his own trembling fingers to sit the girl up and wrap his thick peacoat around her. "Okay, hat should help."
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Caden sits back on his haunches when the girl pushes him back, grinning in relief and keeping a comforting hand on her shoulder as she coughs up saltwater into the wet sand. He puts his other hand over her smaller one on his chest and nods, patting it a few times before letting go.
"Yeah, you're safe," Caden tells her, smiling reassuringly. He notices how bad she's trembling and immediately goes to remove his jacket before remembering that 1) it's up on the pier and 2) he's also freezing wet. He could pull her up against him, but he doubts that would be appreciated.
"Do you want me to call an ambulance?" He jerks his chin towards the pier, where the boys are still watching with worried, petulant expressions. "Or the police?"
One timid looking boy is walking towards them with Caden's jacket and shoes and a laptop bag he assumes must be the girl's. He hands the stuff over and fidgets, looking down at the girl without meeting her eyes. "I'm sorry. I didn't know they were gonna do that. I - I should have tried to stop it."
"Yeah, probably," Caden snaps. He's so nice and laidback on a good day, but he can't stand bullshit like this. He grabs the stuff from his hands and shoos him away, ignoring his own trembling fingers to sit the girl up and wrap his thick peacoat around her. "Okay, hat should help."