Brotherly Love

Show and Tell

The sun stood bright against the blue sky, reflecting on the clear, turquoise-colored water of the ocean before me. Feeling the soft white sand between my toes, I closed my eyes in quiet delight, letting the warm breeze flow over my face and body. Over the sounds of the breaking waves, I could hear seagulls squawking in the distance and a feeling of peace washed through me. I opened my eyes and walked towards the ocean, my bare feet soon covered in the lukewarm water and the soft waves lapping at my shins.

Walking further away from the shore until I was immersed to the hips, I watched in fascination, when I could see small, colourful fishes swim around my legs. Just as I was about to lean closer to get a better look, I heard a familiar deep baritone calling out my name. I tried turning towards the shore, but I wasn't able to lift my feet anymore. Looking down I saw that tendrils of algae were coming out of the sea-bed, they wrapped themselves tightly around my calves and proceeded to climb up my legs. Panicked, I tried to get rid off the twines, but they were unrelenting and I couldn't get my fingers under them to pull them off. My name was called again and I turned my head towards the voice, seeing Sherlock standing at the edge of the water, waving and shouting. No sound left my mouth, when I tried to call out for him to help me. Petrified I grabbed at my throat, screaming with everything I had, but no noise came forward. The ground beneath me seemed to soften up and I began sinking, the water already reaching my ribs. My arms flailed through the water, searching for leverage, my mouth opened in a silent cry for help. There was splashing behind me and I could faintly hear Sherlock shouting to me, telling me to hold on. Twisting my body, I could see him drawing closer, the rising water slowing him down heavily.

A wave washed over me and I inadvertently inhaled some water, making me cough and sputter. Only my head and shoulders weren't immersed fully at this point, but I hadn't stopped sinking and soon the water reached up to my collar. Trying to keep my head over-water, I craned my neck and looked for Sherlock. He was close now and I could see the scared look in his eyes, as he fought his way towards me. Just as his outstretched hands grazed my fingertips, I was pulled under the surface, air bubbling above my head as I opened my mouth in a scream. Through the clear water I could distortedly see him looking down on me, wearing a resignated expression and then turning away. I tried swimming back up, but my body refused to function, just sinking down like a dead-weight, the water turning darker and darker around me. Suddenly my feet hit solid ground, my arms were jerked up above my head and fire spread from my shoulder down my whole back.

I jerked awake with a scream, immediately slumping back against the mattress because of the pain that ripped through me at the movement. My whole body felt like it was on fire, but especially my shoulders and back, which explained the end of my dream. Sherlock... Tears filled my eyes, as the remnants of my dream replayed inside my head. Even in my dreams he wasn't able to reach me, I thought bitterly. Carefully rolling onto my side, suppressing my groans, the night-stand came into view. On it was a tray filled with a covered bowl, a bottle of water and a package of salted crackers. Someone had been in here when I was out cold and it send a shiver down my spine, thinking about how vulnerable I had been. There were two white pills laying next to the tray and I remembered Sebastian saying he would leave me something for the pain. I inched closer to the table and was able to grab the pills and the bottled water, with only a moderate amount of discomfort.

Popping the pills in my mouth and swallowing them down with some of the water, I slumped back against the pillows. This little bit of exercise had already exhausted me and I closed my eyes against the fatigue that overtook me. I didn't want to fall asleep again, it made me feel too exposed, so I sat back up, inspecting the covered bowl. It contained some sort of vegetable soup, still warm, which meant it couldn't have stood there for long. Of course there was no cutlery, lest I tried to remove their eyes with a spoon, I assumed. The thought made me chuckle humourlessly.