Chapter 21 #3
The sharp snap of the canopy opening jerks us upward hard enough to make my teeth click together. Air fills the fabric above us, and suddenly the world changes.
The frantic, uncontrollable freefall that had consumed every thought is gone, replaced by a descent that feels almost peaceful in comparison.
Relief crashes through me with enough force to leave me lightheaded, and I realize I have been bracing for death so completely that my mind struggles to understand we're no longer hurtling toward it.
My body remains tense, unable to accept that we aren't actively falling anymore. Adrenaline still races through my bloodstream. My hands are clenched so tightly around his shirt that my fingers ache. It takes several seconds before my lungs finally remember how to draw a proper breath.
Nico notices. "Better?"
I don't answer immediately. I can't. The realization that I am still alive is almost too much to process.
Only minutes ago I had accepted my death. I had looked up at a shredded parachute and understood with absolute certainty that my life was over. I'd thought about Keith. About Aurelia. About the wedding I would never see. I had already begun saying goodbye in my head.
Now I'm suspended beneath a parachute with the most irritating man I've ever met. The emotional whiplash is almost unbearable.
"I thought I was going to die." The admission slips out before I can stop it.
Nico's face softens sightly.
"I know." He says quietly.
For a few moments, neither of us speaks. The ocean continues rising beneath us. The islands ahead become clearer. Closer.
Then Nico's expression sharpens. "Brace."
The warning comes barely a second before we hit the water. The impact is brutal.
The ocean crashes into us with enough force to knock every remaining breath from my lungs. Cold engulfs me instantly. Water fills my ears. My eyes sting. For several disorienting seconds, I have no idea which direction is up and which is down.
Nico's hand closes around my arm and drags me toward the surface. The moment my head breaks through the water, I suck in a desperate breath, relief crashing through me so suddenly that it almost hurts.
It lasts less than two seconds before bullets begin striking the water around us. One lands close enough to spray my face. Another follows. Then another. The jet overhead is still circling, its gunfire tracking us through the water.
Something cold settles over Nico's features. The teasing disappears, replaced by a focus that is somehow more frightening.
"Under."
I don't hesitate.
We dive beneath the surface together, and the ocean immediately swallows the noise of the world above.
Even underwater, I can still feel the distant impacts through the water.
Nico grabs my wrist and pulls me deeper, guiding us away from the gunfire until he finally points toward a distant shape on the horizon before mimicking a swimming motion and then gesturing sharply away from the wreckage.
The message is clear enough. Move. Keep swimming. Don't go back.
By the time we finally surface much farther from the crash site, my lungs are burning and every muscle in my body aches.
Nico drags in a breath and glances toward the island again.
"We're heading there." He says.
The island looks impossibly far away.
At first, adrenaline carries me. I focus on Nico's back and the steady rhythm of his strokes, convincing myself that if I just keep moving, we'll eventually reach land.
But as the minutes pass, exhaustion begins creeping into my muscles. The island never seems to get any closer, and the endless stretch of ocean surrounding us makes it impossible to judge how far we've actually come.
When something brushes against my ankle, I barely notice it at first. I kick automatically, assuming it's seaweed. The resistance immediately tightens. Panic surges through me.
I dive beneath the surface and reach down, only to find thick strands of underwater vegetation wrapped around my leg.
The more I struggle, the tighter they become.
I pull at them desperately, but nothing works.
Every second trapped beneath the water steals another breath, and before long the pressure in my lungs becomes unbearable.
I need air. The thought overwhelms everything else.
I glance upward and see sunlight shimmering on the distant surface, but it feels impossibly far away. My movements become frantic as I claw at the plants, yet every attempt to free myself only leaves me more tangled than before.
That's when I see Nico.
His silhouette is farther ahead now, still moving toward the island, completely unaware that I've stopped. I try to call for him, but only bubbles escape. The effort drains what little strength I have left.
Dark spots begin creeping into my vision.
The burning in my lungs gives way to a strange heaviness, and the panic slowly starts slipping away with the rest of my strength.
The last thing I see before darkness takes me is Nico swimming farther into the distance, unaware that I am no longer behind him.