Drown (MXM)

Chapter 6

My ears were ringing, my eyes widening as far as they could go, and allowing the last of my tears to fall. Red was the only color that I could even process anymore, surrounding me in its deceptively warm embrace. My console was held in my shaking hand as it beeped angrily at me, practically commanding I return to the surface. One red bar was all that remained, and I could already feel the tight squeeze in my chest from lack of oxygen. My vision was blurring as the world around me twisted and stretched. I shook my head violently, trying to do anything to break free of the haze. I had to force myself to focus, a cloud of blood rising up before me. I took in the gruesome body of a dead fish; it had been torn to shreds and its blood was staining the, once beautiful, blue of the water.

My gaze met the lifeless void of the fish's own eyes, my brain growing foggy and my vision skewing once more. My arms and legs lost all their strength as they floated lifelessly at my sides. My wheezing was swallowed by the current, my heart feeling like it would explode. Slowly, numbness was spreading like a disease through my sinking body. I couldn't even hear the ringing of my device anymore, as the last bar disappeared from the screen. My regulator stopped hissing, and it felt like when your milkshake straw gets blocked. Try as I might to suck on the plastic in my mouth, nothing would come out.

It's painful

My vision was a mess of color with no definitive shape to be made out. Confusion took over my brain until I had no idea where I was anymore, nor why I was there to begin with. I tried to move any part of my body, but nothing responded to me.

It's cold

Were these my thoughts? I couldn't tell anymore, I couldn't think of anything. My eyes closed as the disorienting world around me made my head hurt. I no longer wanted to feel the pain or the fear, I just wanted to sleep for a while. Just a few minutes, and then I would wake up.

It's dark

A sudden and aggressive jostling of my limp body had me mustering the strength to open my eyes once more. Though I couldn't see much of anything, I could tell I was moving up as the light of the surface grew stronger and stronger. This was the extent of what my body could handle though, my eyes closing for the last time in a comfortable dream.

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"-an!" I heard a loud voice shouting as if the owner was standing at the end of a tunnel. It's echo on my skull made my head hurt even more than it already had been, so I opted for ignoring it and returning to my peaceful sleep. I guess this wasn't an option though as my shoulders were violently shook by two strong hands.

"Dylan!" The voice was perfectly clear this time, its loudness making my ears cringe. My eyes snapped open, only to be blinded by bright rays of yellow light. I squinted and brought one aching arm up to cover my face, a groan leaving my lips. Spasms quaked through my chest, forcing me to sit upright as I choked on the cool air.

A hand was rubbing circles on my back in a soothing motion, successfully removing some of the tenseness in my pained body.

"There you go, deep breaths. In and out." I recognized the voice to be Alec's, as some of the pain began to disappear. I started regaining my composure, little by little, the world around me was starting to come into focus.

"You okay?" He asked me, to which I nodded in response, though I was still unsure.

"Good..." There was an eerie calm that settled over us before the storm hit and Alec slammed his hand down on the back of my head.

"What the hell were you thinking you idiot! Rule one, you never leave your team, I thought that much was self explanatory. Not to mention both Mal and I told you to pay attention to your console. How in the hell did you manage to allow it to get all the way to zero!" He lectured me, causing me to cringe away at the loudness of his rant.

At my clear discomfort, Alec let out a deep sigh, gripping my shoulder as a way of telling me his lecture could wait until later.

"For now let's just get you home so you can rest, but you're not allowed back in the water until I think you can handle it. I turn my back for one fucking second and you vanish into thin air. You're lucky you were able to figure out how to inflate your vest, you little headache inducer. Feels like I'm babysitting a three year old instead of a certified marine scientist..." Alec continued to rant on and on.

I ignored it for the most part, thoughtfully running my hands over the wooden surfaced of the deck beneath me, but one thing in that mess of angry words stuck out to me.

"You didn't inflate my vest?" I asked him, knowing full well that I hadn't even been able to move my arms, let alone figure out how to inflate my BCD. Alec arched a confused brow in my direction, glancing up and down my body before finally replying.

"No, you were bobbing on the water like a beach ball, a few yards from the boat, when we finally found you."

I nodded my head, confusion filling my brain like a bathtub ready to overflow.

If Alec didn't inflate my vest, and there was no way in hell I could have, then who did?

I turned my gaze to look out at the rippling water, the surface shining orange as the sun had begun to set. It was still and quiet, unrevealing of any of the horror that had taken place, just below the surface, not too long ago.

A soft hand on my own pulled me out of my trance to face the concerned eyes of Kara.

"Dylan, are you really okay?" Her face told me she knew something had scared me, but she wasn't going to push the issue if I didn't want to talk about it.

I blinked, contemplating telling her what had happened-- what I had seen and why I left the group. Instead, I plastered a small smile on my face and nodded my head. Even if they did believe me, which I doubted, I still had to make sense of everything myself.

"Oh, and by the way, you're going to counseling after this little incident..." Alec began, instantly tearing my attention away from Kara's kind face.

"What? No, I'm fine, I don't need to talk to a shrink about my near death experience." I quickly refused, distain clear in my voice. 

"Exactly Dylan. Near. Death." He drawled out each word, enunciating as if talking to a baby who was just learning to speak. "Do those words not compute to you. Death, as in you quite literally almost died. Had you been without oxygen for even one minute more, you would have died or, best case scenario, had permanent brain damage. Though, after this I'm wondering if your brain is already broken, since no one in their right mind would make a series of such idiotic decisions." Alec began his rant once more. I had only known the guy for a day, but somehow, I knew this was his way of showing how worried he had been for me. He must be the type of person who isn't very good at communicating his own emotions.

I decided it really wasn't worth arguing over anymore, Alec's mind was made up and there was no way I was getting out of this. I'd go to the counselor a few times to give the man peace of mind. Once the crazy person doctor realized I was perfectly fine, he'd tell Alec and everything would go back to normal; whatever that was. For now, I guess things would go back to how they were when I worked with my team in Florida. I'd stay on the boat and do the easy jobs, while they did the fun part. I should be dissapointed, but one more glance at the water had me thinking that staying on the surface for a bit, might not be such a bad idea.