Lost and Found

14

There was a strange sort of haze over Elyse's vision upon opening her eyes. She immediately noticed a woman standing above her, staring down at her with a terrified look in her eyes. She seemed so vaguely familiar, though Elyse couldn't quite put her finger on why.

"Elyse!"

The woman called out her name frantically, sounding muffled even though she was in front of her.

"What-what is it? Do I know you?"

Elyse asked her, while she quickly fought to sit up and stand to her feet, which was incredibly difficult as she felt she was sinking into quicksand. She looked down to examine her body and saw there was nothing at all holding her down.

"Elyse listen to me! You can't give the device to Benjamin."

The woman begged, grabbing her by the shoulders now, though Elyse couldn't feel her grasp at all. She looked into the woman's blue eyes in utter confusion. She took notice of her sandy blonde hair and gasped when she realized who it was.
It was the woman she'd seen in the photo in the hatch.

"Penny?"

Elyse choked out, feeling utterly confused as to how she'd gotten here, and what was going on in the first place.

"Do not let him get the device!"

Penny begged one last time, squeezing her hand now tight enough that she just barely felt it.

Before Elyse could respond, or process what had been going on, her vision became spotted and Penny faded into darkness.

Elyse's eyes shot open again, only this time she could feel everything, very well, and she was met with Desmond frantically performing chest compressions on her.

She choked up all the water from her lungs and shot up to a sitting position instantly, while she fought to cough up the rest of the liquid that was trapped.

"Jesus Christ, are you alright?"

Desmond panted out of breath, looking down at her intently with a hand on her shoulder while he examined her up and down.

"Yes."

Elyse choked out, finally starting to get control over her coughing fit. She then noticed he was drenched from head to toe, with his dark blue shirt clinging to his chest like a glove and his dark, long hair dripping onto his clenched jaw.

She then remembered everything that had happened, and the reason he was soaked in the first place. She'd fallen off the boat... and he had to save her. Her face flushed a deep red, how could something so ridiculous happen to her? She wasn't even sure what to say to him now.

"Thank you, for... saving me. I-I didn't mean to.. you know.."

She trailed off, looking over at the side of the boat she'd just fallen over.

"Aye. Not a problem, I'd much prefer if I didn't have to do it again though, ya?"

He told her jokingly, though his eyes still seemed to be filled with stress while he kept them locked on hers.

Suddenly, the ankle monitor she'd forgotten about, beeped once and then went silent. It sounded the way a fire alarm with a dying battery would.

"Was I- how long was I under the water?"

She asked him immediately, trying to hide her fear though she knew she'd never been good at controlling her facial expressions.

"Certainly not 30 minutes, or you wouldn'tve needed to worry about explodin anymore.."

He trailed off, looking out at the water solemnly for a moment before continuing.

"It's been goin on and off for about 10 minutes now though, maybe it's a warning, to keep it dry."