Whispers Under Water, page 28
“Yes, if only all of us were that rational,” Caitriona said.
“Blugh.” Dusha made a face. “Being rational takes all the fun out of it.”
“Getting hurt isn’t fun,” Justine said.
“You have to hit the ground eventually.” Dusha swirled her finger around the steam rising from her cup. “May as well enjoy the fall.”
“What about a parachute?” Alaia said.
Dusha grinned. “I think we know what happens in a parachute scenario.” She looked straight at Caitriona.
She bristled. “Oliver is not my parachute!”
“You said it, not me.”
Alaia laughed. “I’m so confused right now. I don’t even know what we’re talking about anymore.”
Caitriona checked the time on her phone. “Oh, look at that. Gotta go.” She got up and hurried to the door.
“This isn’t over!” Dusha called after her.
“Yuh-huh.” Caitriona tugged her winter wear over her pajamas. “See you later! By-eee.”
The water dorms were beautiful. The interior walls were all made of colorful coral. The floor was a strange, squishy sand that didn’t stick to her feet when she walked around. Like moon sand. Underwater plant life grew everywhere, the leaves swaying as if submerged in water. The light danced across every surface like refractions on the ocean floor as the exterior walls and ceiling rippled with a thin sheet of water. Fish and small sea creatures swam freely throughout the space, swirling the thick, humid air heavy with the smell of salt and seaweed. The bedrooms were large bubbles that floated near the top of the dome, accessed by swimming to them as if the interior was truly made of water.
Caitriona didn’t think to prepare herself this time before stepping through the front door and the shift in environment sounded alarm bells in her head. As her hair began to drift around her, her body seized with memories from her drowning experience that morning and she had to steady herself against an armchair made from a massive oyster. Taking slow, methodical breaths, she was surprised to find the process pleasanter than it had been all day. As if the water-like air was soothing to her irritated esophagus and lungs.
“Caitriona.” Remy appeared from around one of the rooms.
She straightened and relaxed her face, wiping away any evidence of distress. “Hey Remy, how’d practice go?”
He drifted towards her and pulled out his phone, punching a few buttons while answering, “Pretty good.”
There was a moment of awkward silence as he finished his text. She watched two otters playfully chase each other around the open living area. They darted under a conch shell couch and around a footstool made from a giant pearl before racing away.
Caitriona made to swim for Monroe’s room, but Remy sidetracked her. “Oh, sorry. Wanted to send a text really quick before I forgot something. How’s it going?”
She squinted at him and cocked her head. “You okay?”
He shrugged, clearly trying to be nonchalant, but the motion was too stiff. His phone dinged and he looked at it. “Yeah, fine. Things going well for you?”
“Yeah.” He was acting weird, and Caitriona wondered if something had happened between him and Justine. “She’s back in the room, in case–”
“What?” Remy’s eyes went wide and he turned ashen.
“Justine. She’s in our dorm room, if you were looking for her. You sure you’re okay?”
“Uh, yeah. I’m good. How are you doing?”
“Remy, what is going on?”
A tall blond swam passed them, looking put out and ignoring them. She had rose-petal red lips and a distinctive mole on her cheek. Caitriona recognized her but couldn’t remember her name.
Remy relaxed and chuckled. “Sorry, nothing. I guess I’m a bit fatigued from practice and class. Justine’s in your dorm?”
Caitriona nodded, still watching him closely. He said goodbye and headed for the door. Shaking off the strange encounter, she made a mental note to ask Justine about it later.
She took one more slow breath and then swam toward Monroe’s room. The bubbles had one-way iridescent walls. From the outside, they were like opals, but from the inside, you could look out at your surroundings. They glowed faintly whenever someone was inside. A few students were in their rooms, but most were gone. Not surprising for a Saturday night.
Monroe was standing in the doorway. He was freshly showered, wearing sweatpants and a t-shirt. He smiled when she came into view. She was going to ask how he knew she was there but didn’t have a chance as he pulled her into a kiss.
“I guess you did have a good practice then,” she said as they broke apart.
“What?”
“I ran into Remy downstairs. He was acting really weird.”
“Oh, right. He’s fine. He got his bell rung during practice. Must be why.” Monroe pulled her into the room and nudged the door closed behind her. “I missed you today.”
“You too.” She smiled but felt a bead of irritation rise up. He always said this whenever his schedule kept them apart. It wasn’t that she was irritated they weren’t spending every minute together, but he always said it like it was somehow her fault. Maybe it was just her guilt at not going to his practices, or finding a way to be with him while he had greenhouse duty, but that seemed unfair.
“Hey, you okay?” He frowned and looked at her with worry creasing his brow. His hands around her upper arms gripped tighter.
She focused on him, not realizing she’d been staring off into space. “Yes, fine. Sorry. It’s just been a long day.” And it had. Almost drowning felt like a week ago at this point.
Monroe pressed a hand to her chest. She was about to protest when her lungs grew warm. It was nice at first, until the burning sensation she felt at the lake returned and she started coughing. He ushered her over to his bed and pushed her onto it, forcing her head between her knees. She coughed up a few more drops of water before her body began to relax. When she recovered, she straightened up and found him glaring at her.
“Apparently, it has been a long day.” He crossed his arms.
“Could you sense that in my lungs?” Caitriona gestured to the water droplets that had hit the sandy floor before reforming and zipping over to the wall as if pulled there by a magnetic force. “Woah. Cool.”
“What the hell happened?” He thundered and she jumped. “How the fuck did water get in your lungs?”
She bit her lip. She’d never seen him angry like this. Not even when he was flattening people on the ice.
“I had a small incident at the lake.” Her voice cracked as her throat protested and the muscles in Monroe’s jaw twitched. She withdrew, unsure of what to say. “I’m okay though.”
He met her eyes and softened. His stance relaxed and his taut shoulders slumped. He sat next to her on the bed, reaching for her hand. He ran his thumb across the back of it. “Water staying in your lungs like that is dangerous, even here. I didn’t mean to freak, but you should have told me. I got worried when I felt water out of place in your body.” He brought her hand to his mouth, turning it over before placing a kiss in her palm. “Come here.”
He pulled her in, snuggling her against the pillows. His bed was made of a firm spongy material that felt like laying on a cloud. The blankets were like flower petals and she had the terrible habit of falling asleep whenever they cuddled.
“Will you tell me what happened?” He said into her hair.
Caitriona debated for a moment, but then told him about getting the idea after her earth lesson, about her and Eero deciding to try the lake, and how horribly wrong it had all gone. Monroe tensed at different parts of her explanation but didn’t interrupt. When she finished, she felt him sigh.
“Why didn’t you ask me to come with you?”
She sat up. “You would have done that?”
“Well, no.” He rolled his eyes. “I would have talked you out of it.”
She chuckled. “You could have tried.”
“Promise you won’t do anything like that again?” He held her chin and looked sternly at her. She nodded. “Good. And you’re staying the night here. If you won’t go to the med center, then I want to be able to keep an eye on you and make sure you’re okay.”
She flushed. She’d spent plenty of time in Monroe’s room but had never slept there. No matter how late it got, she always went back to her dorm.
“I’m kind of a bed hog,” she joked, trying to bring the intensity in the room down.
He smiled and pulled her back in. “You say that like it’s a problem.”
She snuggled back into him. Despite his warmth, the softness of the blankets, and her DEFCON 1 level of exhaustion, it took her ages to get comfortable. And when sleep finally came, it took the day with it.
“What?!” Monroe bolted upright, woken up by Caitriona gasping for air. He blinked a few times, his brain catching up with the sudden invasion of consciousness. “What’s wrong, what happened? Are you okay?”
She shook from head to toe and her pajamas were drenched in cold sweat.
It was the nightmare. Again. She’d had it almost once a week since that first one the night before her birthday. The darkness, the eyes, her father’s medallion sinking away from her, and drowning. She always woke up panic-stricken and sticky with sweat, her heart pumping her body with adrenaline. But this had been the worst. The terror and burning lungs felt real because she’d really experienced it. Her body had first-hand knowledge of the sensation of drowning and used it to fuel the nightmare.
She swung her legs over the side of the bed and put her head in her hands. She took long, steadying breaths. “Bad dream.”
“Oh.” Monroe’s warm palm pressed against her back and rubbed gentle circles. “Anything I can do?”
“No, I’m fine.” Her spiked heart rate was calming down, but she still felt clammy and she couldn’t stop shaking. She used the sleeve of her shirt to wipe her face and then pushed her hair aside to wipe the sweat off her neck. She’d always been a dreamer and often had recurring dreams. But never recurring nightmares. A chill ran down her spine and she shivered. “I think I’m going to take a shower.”
He helped her to her feet. “Let me know if you need anything.”
Caitriona nodded and went into the bathroom, sectioned off from the rest of the room by curtains of seaweed. She instinctively reached for her medallion. But she’d set it next to her bed the night before when she’d changed into her pajamas in her dorm. In the wake of the dream, it left her with a hollow, aching need to hold it.
She shook the feeling away. It was fine. She’d get it in the morning. Right now, she needed a shower.
The hot water felt good, but the adrenaline crash washed the microscopic amount of energy she’d gained during sleep down the drain. She could barely keep her eyes open as she wrapped up in a towel. Her pajamas were gross and she scooped them up. She left the bathroom to ask Monroe for a t-shirt and sweatpants but the bedroom was empty. She collapsed onto the bed to wait for him.
She woke up disoriented in the morning. A headache pulsed at her temples. She watched the light shifting like undulating waves across the ceiling, and listened to the rain, recalibrating where she was and why.
She was in Monroe’s room. She was in Monroe’s bed. Naked.
Wait, what?
A blanket was tucked in around her over the towel she’d so prudently fallen asleep in. A blaze of embarrassment flooded through her. She rolled over to find the other half of the bed empty. She fumbled for her phone and checked the time.
“Shit!” Class started in five minutes.
She leaped out of the bed, clutching the blanket. A ringing filled her ears and little sparkles popped in her vision. The room tilted.
“Oof. Too fast.” She slumped back onto the bed, squeezing her eyes shut, and waited for the head rush to settle.
Monroe stepped out of the bathroom and greeted her with a smile, holding a towel around his waist. It hadn’t been rain she’d heard, but the shower. His hair was still wet and sticking out at odd angles. Little droplets of water dripped onto his shoulders and ran down his chest before whizzing towards the wall.
“Morning. Feeling better?”
Caitriona blinked. She’d seen him without a shirt on before. And her eyes weren’t the only part of her familiar with the muscles along his arms, his shoulders, his chest, his stomach… but there were usually other pieces of clothing involved. His body was a tribute to two and a half years of ELA training and it was very distracting.
The heat from her flush of embarrassment deepened. She became highly aware of her own lack of clothing. As well as something very aware happening along every inch of her skin and in deeper areas of her body. Her stomach fish worked themselves into a tizzy, leaping and swirling around her stomach till she thought one might pop out her mouth.
Her response was lost as she sized him up, feeling like the shark her roommates accused him of being. And her inspection didn’t go unnoticed. Monroe’s eyes dilated, turning from their misty gray to dark storm clouds that caused a fluttering feeling to sweep through her.
“I’m going to miss class.” Her voice was croaky, her throat sore from the previous day. It rose barely above a whisper and sounded like more of an invitation than she’d intended. She tried to stir up the reasons she’d convinced herself to wait. Her brain responded with a buzzing.
He traced her shoulder and collarbone where the blanket had slipped away.
“It’s Sunday,” he said into her ear before giving it a gentle nip.
Whatever worries or decent thoughts she’d managed to hold onto, evaporated.
chapter twenty-six
The world was more crowded than Caitriona remembered as she stepped off the airplane in the San Francisco airport. And there was constant noise. The drone of hundreds of people talking. The radio in the car and the traffic outside. Her ears felt assaulted by the vibration of activity.
But she was home. She’d not stopped smiling since she and Fianna had run to each other in the airport and collided into each other’s arms. And now she looked up at her house and her smile widened. Home.
Georgia and Wyatt came out and Caitriona bolted to them. They stood in a group hug, her heart fit to burst and tears falling from her eyes.
“Oh man, I missed you guys.” Caitriona squeezed tighter.
A black and tan, long-haired corgi came bustling out of the house, barking at the intruder. She bent down and held her hand out to the little dog.
“And hello, Murphy,” she said.
He reached his nose as far as he could to sniff. Deciding her scent was unoffensive, he started wagging his butt enthusiastically, causing his whole body to squirm and he licked her fingers.
“It’s nice to meet you, too.” She scratched his ears and he leaned into her. “I still can’t believe you got a dog.”
Caitriona had been begging her mom for a puppy for as long as she could remember. She’d been stunned when she’d called her mom the morning of her birthday and heard the barking in the background. She’d been downright flabbergasted when Fianna said that noise was her birthday present.
“He was just too cute to pass up. Look at him.” Fianna smiled at the little creature now rolling on his back to give Caitriona a good canvas for scratching. “And he’s such a good snuggler.”
Caitriona imagined the little dog cuddled up to Fianna in her bed and the vision made her heart break. She hadn’t considered the source of her mom’s sudden change of heart on the pet front. But now she realized that Fianna must have been feeling lonely and the thought almost crushed her.
“Damn kid, you look good,” Wyatt said, assessing her as she stood up.
“Psh. You look starved.” Georgia pinched Caitriona’s arm to demonstrate the lack of fat.
“It’s called proper diet and exercise, G. Something you wouldn’t know anything about,” Wyatt said.
“Like you’re one to talk.” Georgia poked his side. “Putting on a little freshmen fifteen are we?”
“Now that is something you know all about.”
Georgia smacked Wyatt’s arm. Caitriona smiled. It was good to be home.
“Come on,” Georgia linked her arm with Caitriona’s and turned her back to Wyatt, “let’s get you some food. I’m hungry just looking at you.”
Murphy followed them into the house, barking the whole way.
Inside, the kitchen bar exploded with an array of foods. Tomato tarte Tatin, roasted red pepper and goat cheese focaccia, caramelized onion rye loaf, blackberry pound cake, sticky toffee pudding, croissants, madeleines, and more.
“I didn’t realize you’d moved the bakery to our kitchen.” Caitriona took in the sight. The plane ride across the country had turned her stomach and she hadn’t been that hungry. But looking at the cornucopia, Pavlov’s bell rang in her head.
“I just wanted everything to be special for you when you came home,” Fianna smiled.
Caitriona hugged her mom, for the fifth time in an hour. “It would have been special if all you had was moldy cheese and stale bread.”
Georgia gave a “Hah!” from her barstool. “Cheese and bread never last long enough in this house to ever get moldy.”
Caitriona laughed. “Too true.”
She sat down next to Georgia and cut off a chunk of the focaccia. She’d been traveling for over thirteen hours but she was home. Even if she’d wanted to, she wouldn’t have been able to sleep.
“Alright, come on,” Fianna handed Caitriona her backpack. “Pictures, let’s see ‘em!”
Caitriona pulled out her laptop and set it on the bar. She’d taken an insurmountable number of photos during her first few weeks on the island, and rather than try to pick through them, she just clicked on slideshow and let the laptop scroll through. Everyone gathered around, snacking as the pictures slid from one to the next.
