Page 23 of Rupture

She threw one arm around MARV, while the world tumbled around her, her teeth clenched so hard she was sure they would shatter.

God. When will this end?

“Wyndhammmmm.” Harris still clawed at her, his fingers rigid and bony against the neoprene of her dry suit. Could he pierce it? The thought of the icy cave water rushing her system made her lungs contract.

Reluctantly, she pushed free of MARV. “Harris. I’m here.” She sheathed her knife then caught his free hand, stopping it mid flail. “I’m here.” Her chest was shuddering, making it hard to speak. “Calm down. Slow your breathing.”

“I can’t. Can’t.” Even over the comms, she heard the labored suck of his lungs. His eyes bugged with the effort. Gray froth ridged the corners of his mouth.

Shit. She was no medic, but her dad had drilled dive safety into her for many hours. “Harris, you need to slow down.”

“No. I need to go back up.”

Back up? They were marooned in a hurricane of grit. Where the hell was up? She had no idea. There was no up, there was only here.

“Harris. Listen to me. Listen.” She rapped his faceplate, attempting to focus his attention. “We don’t know which way is up.” She reached for his waist, searching for the line that connected him to Luca.

She patted his waist frantically, sure she was missing it, but she wasn’t. It was gone.

Fuck.

“Harris. Your guide rope. Where’s Luca?” She seized his shoulders with aching hands.

Harris groaned, his eyes rolling upward. “Gone.” His body jerked. “I see. Light. Light.”

No.

“No, Harris, there is no light. Stay with me. Harris. Harris, listen to me.”

He faced her. The visor of his mask spittled from panic.

Her gut cramped.Shit.Where were the others? She couldn’t do this on her own.

Harris scrunched his eyes closed, his lips peeling back from his clenched teeth. “It hurts so bad.”

“Where, what hurts?” She ran a hand down one arm and then the other, searching for an injury, but found nothing.

“Make it stop.” Pain compressed his voice, and he hunched over, releasing her as his body curled into a fetal position.

“Rose.” Finn exploded out of a dirt choked cloud, his muscular form dwarfing Harris. “You okay?”

Hot needles of relief pricked her skin as he clasped her shoulders, his eyes wide.

“Finn.” Her voice wobbled as she pointed. “Harris. Something’s wrong.”

Finn released her, spinning the stricken man to face him. “Harris?—”

Harris’s face was tinged blue through the glass of his dive mask, his tongue protruding between swollen lips.

“Shit. How long has he been like this?”

Rose hugged herself. “I...I don’t know. A few minutesperhaps. He was freaking out, saying he was in pain and then he stopped…do you think it’s a heart attack?”

“Hypoxia can trigger one if the heart’s in poor condition.”

Finn pressed two fingers to Harris’s neck, while he urged his teammates to hurry on his comms.

Luca and Duke appeared seconds later, their bulky shapes powering into view as the maelstrom of dirt calmed. Duke swam straight over to Harris as the cave edges materialized out of the cloudy water.

---