Andy gasped for air as she returned to the small dingy she set out in. Her oxygen tank had run out hours ago but she persisted, drowning over and over again. As the water filled her lungs she could only think of Quynh, of how this was her reality her day to day. That each moment she rested was a moment of torture for Quynh. That her pleasure came always at the expense of Quynh’s. So she kept on despite the pain, despite the exhaustion, the hunger, all of it Andy kept going down pleading with Gods she didn’t believe in to help her find Quynh.
She pulled herself up shakily each arm pegging for rest but she got up. On the deck, she was so exhausted that she lay there spread out like a starfish heaving for breath. She was so tired that she barely noticed her crying which mixed with the saltwater like Quynh was stealing the very tears from her. Eventually, the heaving and the tears gave way and Andy slipped into unconsciousness.
In her dreams, Quynh was racing ahead of her confidently. She smiled easily, a joke in her mouth as Andy tried to catch up. They were in a port somewhere like the whole Iron coffin ordeal was just a dream and they’d stopped them before they threw her in. That they’d taken a boat away from England and they had just landed onshore. Andy ran as hard as she could but she couldn’t manage much more than a crawl. She reached out to grab Quynh but couldn’t the whole scene falling away into darkness. Andy was on her knees again. All alone in a prison with straw bedding and stone walls. There was a howling outside that Andy recognized.
“QUYNH!! QUYNH!!” Andy screamed. She woke with a start on the deck of her small ship. Andy stared at her hands watching them shake. She bit her tongue to stop a sob from escaping her mouth.
Hurriedly she set the boat into motion. She was heading further away from the coast. In her many trips, she’d gotten hundreds of miles away from the shore so at this point the shore was a distant memory. A book in the bridge unread and untouched after all it wasn’t for her. Beside it sat an old cellphone in case anything were to happen onshore.
Standing on the bridge Andy’s thoughts drifted to Quynh, to the easy trust they had, the promise of companionship. To her strength, to her love of fruit. I felt like Quynh was a piece of her heart and now without it, she’d slowly die. The boat plodded forward into the dark deep waves. Eventually, she came to a stop and prepared to dive again. She pulled another tank of oxygen and connected it to the suit. She was running low which meant she would have to go back to shore soon.
She dove down to once more commence the search. As she dove deeper and deeper she searched for a glint of metal. Maybe it had been covered by dirt she thought for a moment before expelling it from her mind. If that was the case she would never find Quynh and that was something she could not abide. In the deep murk, she searched fruitlessly till she ran out of oxygen and even then she tried to continue. Her first drowning woke her like a shock to her system but after that, the drowning was more distracting than shocking.
So she pulled herself back up onto the boat to grab another tank. She heard a noise in the bridge so ventured inside. Her phone was ringing. Hesitantly she picked it up.
“Andy it's Booker we need to meet up. There’s a mission,” Booker said. He sounded nervous which was unusual but Andy did not notice this.
“Who?” Andy questioned. Her eyes were starting to droop again. She had only gotten a couple of hours sleep and that certainly does not fix a year of sleep deprivation.
“Booker. Sebastian, le livre.” He said.
“Oh, Book yeah what did you say?” Andy almost yawned but swallowed it before it consumed her.
“We have a mission. Where meeting the client in Marrakesh,” Booker answered.
“Okay when?” Andy hoped she had a while at least long enough to finish this section. For her, the section was always increasing so she wouldn’t have time to finish this section.
“Now, It’s time-sensitive,” Booker answered.
“Okay.” Andy clicked the phone off and turned her boat towards the shore. She would have to find her love some other time.