Page 3 of Perfect Imperfections

“Ouch!” Silly bird thought his name meant he was a god and must have his every wish granted right this very moment. “Calm down, Apollo. You got your lunch.”

He nuzzled her hand in apology before hopping off the edge of the fake rock, making a perfectly splash-less dive into the pool below. And just like that, all was forgiven. She could never be mad at these wonderful creatures. They filled her with such joy. Zoo keeping may not pay much in cash, but it sure filled her heart with happiness.

The rest of the brood, realizing chow time was done, either followed Apollo or waddled off to sun themselves on the rocks, preening and posing for the dozens of camera flashes aimed their way. Little divas.

As Cam finished her speech, calling for questions from the crowd, Ellie found her gaze returning to the group of boys and the small girl. She’d hoped someone had discovered the inappropriate behavior and intervened, but to her dismay, no one had noticed. Her breath caught as she saw the teasing had gotten worse. The taunts had increased from holding the book out of reach to the three boys tossing it back and forth in a cruel game of keep away. Tears pricked at the back of her eyes.

Where the hell are the adults?

Her mind raced. What to do? She could shout out to the boys to stop, but she wasn’t big on reprimanding other peoples’ children, plus the zoo frowned on their employees yelling at the guests. She could try to signal the schoolteacher, but it was almost impossible to tell who that was in the enormous crowd gathered. There was no way for her to intervene herself. A pool of water and a metal railing separated her from the group of children. But she had to do something!

Seriously, could no one see the poor girl needed help?

Mind racing a million miles a minute, all the worst-case scenarios flashed through Ellie’s mind like a macabre movie. The girl could fall and break her arm or tumble over the rail into the water. Her throat closed as anxiety coursed through her body, tightening every muscle. She hated this, hated that her stupid brain did this. Why? Why did she have to envision these horrible things? Pulse racing, she tried remembering what Dr. Mitchell, her therapist, taught her.

Nothing bad was going to happen. The little girl would be fine—emotionally scarred maybe, but she was safe, the zoo was safe—nothing would hurt her. The crazy images flashing through Ellie’s mind were just her brain sending an error message. It wouldn’t come true. Nothing was going to—

At that moment, time stopped. As if in slow motion, she watched as the fear in her mind became real. Watched as the small girl jumped for the notebook one boy was holding while another boy snuck up and pushed her from behind. The push catapulted the small child into the air. Tiny arms flailed as the child fell headfirst over the metal railing straight into the cold, musky water of the penguin pool. Shouts and screams filled the air. People panicked. Some ran, calling out for help, others stood there, mouths hanging open in shock.

The penguins, confused by this interloper to their habitat, scattered. The ones in the water swam fast and far, the birds on land waddled back to their huts safely tucked away in the stone façade wall.

Ellie didn’t even think twice. With all the chaos raging around her, she did the one thing she knew had to be done. Without a pause, or breath, she tossed the empty chum bucket aside and dove in after the girl.

CHAPTER 2

The frigid water enveloped her, shocking Ellie’s system. They kept the pool at fourteen degrees Fahrenheit to mimic the Benguela current the penguins were used to in the wild. But Ellie wasn’t a penguin and the icy water stung like a thousand needles piercing her skin.

Holy crap!

Inside she screamed, but outside she needed to keep her cool—ha!—and find the little girl. Luckily penguins were not aggressive creatures. Sure, they’d nip at your hand if you got in their space, but they really couldn’t do much damage to a human. Icy cold water, however? Now that could harm a person.

She dove, spotting a small flailing body at the bottom of the pool. The water only reached a depth of eight feet, but the tiny girl, bogged down by her shoes and clothes, had sunk like a stone. Ellie kicked her legs, stretching her arms as far as those short limbs would go. Her hands slogged through the resistance of the water and finally made purchase with one frail arm.

With an iron grip, she tugged, pulling the terrified girl through the water to her. With one arm wrapped around the child’s chest, she shifted, pointing up and kicking her legs with all the strength she had left in her body. They rocketed toward the surface, breaking through the freezing water into the life-giving bliss of air.

“We have a code red. We need medical and security personnel here now!”

She could hear Cam shouting into her walkie-talkie as she pulled herself and the girl out of the water onto the hard ground. People were screaming and yelling, but all Ellie cared about were the hacking coughs and muffled sobs of the young girl held securely in her arms.

“It’s okay, sweetie. I’ve got you. You’re going to be all right.”

The small girl coughed, spewing water from her mouth and nose. A hoarse cry left her blue lips. Her skin was ice cold and pale white. Ellie tightened her arms around the child, rubbing her back, knowing as cold as she was right now the tiny thing had to be feeling the effects of the icy water much worse.

“Cam, I need a towel!”

Her friend ran back into the aviary, long legs sprinting. In mere seconds, she was at Ellie’s side, wrapping a soft, cotton towel around the child clinging to her.

“What the hell happened?” her friend asked, face calm, but gaze wild with panic.

Tucking the towel around the shivering girl, she spoke softly, “Some ass— not nice boys were teasing her and pushed her over the railing into the water.”

Her friend’s blue eyes turned colder than the water Ellie had just been submerged in.

“Little jerks!”

“Mrs. James sa-says it’s not nice to ca-call people jer-jerk,” the girl said between shivers and more hacking coughs.

Ellie’s heart squeezed. Where the hell were the medics? “You’re absolutely right, sweetie. It’s not nice to call people names, but it’s also not nice to tease and push. Those boys shouldn’t have been mean to you.”

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