𝕆ℕ 𝔸 𝔻𝕀𝔽𝔽𝔼ℝ𝔼ℕ𝕋 𝕊ℍ𝕆ℝ𝔼

19

Yami was convinced that he was going to be dead once he woke up. He was sure that this was some kind of afterlife and that it was a bad one, too, because he was in pain. He could remember most of it - the storm, how it had picked up so quickly and how he was carried so far away from shore that it seemed like insanity to try and get back to dry land. He had decided to just wait it out and hope for the best, since he had already lost all sense of direction and had no idea where he was.

He remembered how cold he was, how there was wave after wave after wave crashing over the small boat. He was completely soaked to the bone and he was freezing cold and he was certain that if he didn't get washed out of the boat and drown or if the boat didn't get crushed by waves, he'd die from hypothermia at least. He had spent the last few hours that he was awake thinking of Y/N and his parents and apologizing over and over and over again for not making it back.

And then there was this massive wave that came crashing over him and that just broke the boat into small bits. Yami thought he wouldn't make it up to the surface again, but somehow, miraculously, he managed to get up and breath and hold onto a piece of driftwood. It was a fairly big piece, so Yami could just hoist his upper body onto it and cling to it and hope for the best.

He wasn't sure how long it took, but at some point he passed out and he was sure that he would never wake up again. He had tried so hard to stay awake, but he just couldn't do it. His eyes fell shut and before he knew what was happening, everything was black and he was gone. That was the last part that he remembered. He couldn't be alive. There was no way that he was alive after all of that. This had to be the afterlife. Some form of it. Yami had never really believed in it, but somehow it had to be true. What else was this supposed to be?

His head hurt and his lungs hurt and every muscle and bone in his body hurt and he hadn't even moved. Every breath was painful and Yami tried not breathing for a while, but that was worse. He had to breathe. Did people in the afterlife have to breathe? He wasn't sure why someone that was dead would need to breathe. It seemed a little pointless, if he was honest, but who was he to argue with death? Actually, if he could argue with death, he'd have a few choice words to say.

After what felt like ages, he finally opened his eyes. He had avoided it for so long, because he really didn't think that he wanted to see this shitty afterlife. What kind of afterlife was so painful anyway? Seemed like an awful one. But then his curiosity got the upper hand and he finally opened his eyes, just to be blinded by the bright sunlight shining into them. Why the hell was it so bright? He groaned and shielded his eyes from the sun, trying to wait until the stabbing pain in his head went away.

Maybe... Maybe he wasn't dead. Maybe he was still alive. Maybe through some weird circumstances he was alive and he had gotten washed ashore somewhere else. Wouldn't that be funny? Well, if that was the case he could probably make it back home somehow. He could see his family again and Y/N and he could apologize to them in person and make sure none of them ever had to go out and fish during storms again. If only it was that easy. He'd have to find out if he was still alive first.

He was breathing, that was a good sign already. Yami felt for his arm. Moving hurt a lot but he quickly found his wrist and he felt for a pulse. It took him a while, but then he found it. It wasn't a healthy pulse by all means, but it was there. He reached for his chest to check for a heartbeat. If he had a heartbeat, too, then he would entertain the idea that he was maybe still alive somehow. He felt for a little while and there it was - kind of weak, but it was there. A regular heartbeat.

Yami groaned and rolled on his side, opening his eyes again. It was still almost unbearably bright, but he could at least somewhat handle it now. It took a while for his eyes to adjust and focus. The first thing he looked at was a fairly big piece of driftwood. Was that what he had been holding onto this entire time? It had to be. Oh, for fuck's sake. He was actually still alive. That meant he had more work to do and he had to try and get back in good shape and get back home.