~Elsie's POV
I still do not know how the sea could look so calm while everything inside me was breaking apart.
The water kept moving like nothing mattered. Soft waves, slow rise and fall, like it had all the time in the world. But I could not breathe properly anymore. My hand stayed pressed over my stomach without me even thinking about it, as if, if I let go for even one second something would happen to my baby.
Gianna was right beside me, gripping my arm so tight her nails were starting to hurt my skin. I did not even tell her to loosen it. I think I needed that pain to remind me I was still here, still awake, still not dreaming.
"Elsie, tell me this is not happening," she whispered, her voice shaking in a way I had never heard before.
I swallowed hard, looking at the edge of the ship again, like maybe the island would reappear if I stared hard enough.
"I wish I could," I said quietly. "But I do not think it is a dream, Gianna."
