Sink or Swim - (Linctavia)

Zoran

Octavia's POV:

   I could hear muffled sounds in the distance. However I was too weak to even open my eyes. My whole body ached and I found that my legs would send a sharp pain throughout my body if I dared to try to move them. But at least I was alive.

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3 hours later...

   I woke up to a young boy cleaning my face with a cool washcloth. He couldn't have been older than twelve. When he saw my eyes flutter open, his filled with fear and excitement.

   The boy ran off and returned with a bottle of water that he had clearly found. He said something in a language that I couldn't understand. So He opened the bottle and carefully lifted my head to drink.

   I yelled in pain when the boy had moved me. Quickly, he put me back down.

    "I thought you were dead," the young boy said to me. He spoke in English, but he was speaking slowly and thinking of how to say each word before they rolled off his tongue.

   I couldn't reply. I couldn't do anything. It pained me to even breathe. With every breath, I felt a tightening in my chest, and pain filled my body.

   "I'm Zoran. You washed up to me after the second wave. It's a miracle you lived. But I don't think I can remove the pole from your stomach. It's the only thing keeping you from bleeding out."