Chapter 19
417words
I tried to scream, but only bubbles escaped my lips. The pressure built in my chest, a crushing weight that squeezed the last remnants of air from my body. As consciousness began to fade, a figure dove into the water—Felix, swimming desperately toward me, hand outstretched.
Our fingers almost touched...
I jolted awake with a gasp, clawing at my throat. Sweat plastered Felix's borrowed t-shirt to my skin. For several disorienting seconds, I couldn't remember where I was—the unfamiliar shadows of the guest room morphing into menacing shapes in the darkness.
My heart hammered against my ribs as I fought to separate nightmare from reality. The sheets tangled around my legs felt like seaweed dragging me down. I kicked them away, gulping air into lungs that remembered drowning.
A soft knock at the door startled me.
"Lyra?" Felix's voice, low and concerned. "Are you all right? I heard..."
The door cracked open, spilling hallway light across the floor. Felix stood in the doorway, a silhouette in pajama pants and a faded Harvard t-shirt. His hair was mussed, his expression alert despite the late hour.
"I'm fine," I managed, my voice betraying me with a slight tremor. "Just a dream."
Felix hesitated, then stepped into the room. "You were screaming."
Had I been? The nightmare still clung to me, salt water and terror coating my skin like a film I couldn't wash away.
"I'm sorry I woke you." I drew my knees to my chest, suddenly conscious of how vulnerable I must appear.
"I wasn't sleeping." Felix moved closer, moonlight from the window illuminating the concern etched on his features. "I was working. Research on the triptych."
"At three in the morning?"
A ghost of a smile touched his lips. "Sleep and I have a complicated relationship."
He perched on the edge of the bed, careful to maintain a respectful distance. "Do you want to talk about it? The dream?"
I shook my head, then reconsidered. "I was drowning. Again."
Understanding dawned in his eyes. "The yacht."
"Yes." I wrapped my arms tighter around my knees. "It felt so real. The water filling my lungs. The cold. The darkness."
"I know." Felix's voice dropped to barely above a whisper. "I've seen it too."
