QUOTE : Breath!’ A voice, wild with anxiety, ordered, and I felt a cruel stab of pain where I recognized the voice because it wasn't Marcel’s. <br /><br />I could not obey. The waterfall pouring from my mouth didn't stop long enough for me to catch a breath. The black, icy water filled my chest, burning. <br /><br />The rock smacked into my back again, right between my shoulder blades, and another volley of water choked its way out of my lungs. <br /><br />‘Breathe, Bell! C'mon!’ Marcel begged. <br /><br />Black spots bloomed across my vision, getting wider and wider, blocking out the light. <br /><br />The rock struck me again. <br /><br />The rock wasn't cold like the water; it was hot on my skin. I realized it was Marcel’s hand, trying to beat the water from my lungs. The iron bar that had dragged me from the sea was also… warm… My head whirled; the black spots covered everything… <br /><br />Was I dying again, then? I didn't like it. This wasn't as good as the last time. It was only dark now, nothing worth looking at here. The sound of the crashing waves faded into the black and became a quiet, even whoosh that sounded like it was coming from the inside of my ears… <br /><br />‘Bell?’ Marcel asked, his voice still tense, but not as wild as before. ‘Bells, honey, can you hear me?’ <br /><br />The contents of my head swished and rolled sickeningly like they'd joined the rough water… <br /><br />‘How long has she been unconscious?’ someone else asked. <br /><br />The voice that was not Marcel’s shocked me, jarred me into a more focused awareness. <br /><br />I realized that I was still. There was no tug of the current on me-the heaving was inside my head. The surface under me was flat and motionless. It felt grainy against my bear arms. <br /><br />‘I don't know,’ Marcel reported, still frantic. His voice was very close. Hands-so warm they had to be his- I brushed wet hair from my cheeks. ‘A few minutes? It didn't take long to tow her to the beach.’ The quiet whooshing inside my ears was not the waves-it was the air moving in and out of my lungs again. Each breath burned-the passageways were as raw as if I'd scrubbed them out with steel wool. But I was breathing. <br /><br />And I was freezing. A thousand sharp, icy beads were striking my face and arms, making the cold worse. <br /><br />‘She's breathing. She'll come around. We should get her out of the cold, though. I don't like the color she's turning…’ I recognized Sam's voice this time. <br /><br />‘You think it's okay to move her?’ <br /><br />‘She didn't hurt her back or anything when she fell?’ <br /><br />‘I don't know.’ <br /><br />They hesitated.