Icon of the Indecisive #3 of 3 (COMPLETE)

Chapter 28

I was disoriented, so I breathed. And it was the wrong thing to do.

There was a bright light over my head. Naturally I thought it was the sun, and that I was back in the world, and yay I survived the abyss!

I was a goddess!

Then water came up my nose.

Mommy! I gasped. Help! And completely human lungs struggled, completely human arms flailed. Completely human panic, in other words.

It was a second, or two, but it felt a zillion times longer, and I wondered if I made the wrong choice.

Ah well.

At least I tried.

I stopped flailing, and just let the sea water take me.

It really is relaxing over here.

It's nice.

I should go out to the beach more often.

I should go to the beach with Robbie.

Or first, apologize to him.

He needs to know that I care. It can't end this way.

Or maybe this is it, and I'll just be here forever.

* * *

"You can breathe now."

"I think I shouldn't."

"It's okay. Also you need it."

"Do goddesses need to breathe?"

"Goddesses do whatever they please."

* * *

Of course it was Quin. He was holding me in a steady grip, and this alone made me feel safe and okay. I was out of it, mostly, but I made sure this fact would at least register.

He was pulling me back to the shore. It was farther than it looked, but then again I took the fast way down.

"Where is Diya?" was the other thing I made sure to ask.

Diego and Vida got her.

That was nice of them. I closed my eyes and relaxed.

* * *

What I know of the rest of that day:

Jake driving.

Kathy staying in the backseat with me.

Neil yelling at the ER nurse.

Being poked and prodded, somehow able to answer doctor's questions.

Lying flat on a bed under harsh light.

Back in the car, Neil driving this time.

Taking care of me because I asked, and they would not say no to their goddess.

* * *

When the fatigue subsided, I was in a beautiful bedroom with a view of the sea. Not the party house with the huge windows.

It looked like the sun had just begun to rise.

I could have sworn Quin wasn't in the room a second ago, but then I blinked and he was on the chair facing me on the bed, as if he had been there all along. I sat up and waited another second. I was wearing pajamas I didn't recognize. He was still there.

"You're at a small hotel near the hospital," he said. "And you're amazing."

"I'm a bad swimmer, is what I am."