Monophobia [DNF]

Chapter 5: Unknown number

Everything was so peaceful, so quiet, so painless. 

At least until repeated shouting pulled him out of his slumber. Someone was determinedly rocking George's shoulders. All he wanted was to remain in the calming darkness. But the person was stubborn, and George finally caved and opened his eyes.

The burning in his lungs hit him like a wall. He rolled to the side and coughed up what felt like the entire ocean. The coughing continued for multiple minutes before he could breathe properly again. 

That's when everything came flooding back. He stirred around in horror, afraid that he would see Clay or any of the other guys that had pushed him into the water.

A pair of dark eyes filled with worry were looking at him. George realized that the eyes belonged to Sapnap who was kneeling beside him. Karl was there too, and George saw traces of tears on the brunette's face. 

He carefully forced himself to sit up but immediately regretted it when his head felt like it got struck by lightning. The pain caused him to fall back down, he expected it to hurt but the sand made the fall a lot less horrible.

"How ya feeling?" Sapnap asked carefully, almost like he was afraid that the question would give George a mental break down. He tried to answer but it only resulted in more coughing. So, he gave Sapnap a thumbs up instead. Though none of the boys appeared convinced.

"George, we need to get you to a hospital. You nearly drowned." Karl stated anxiously and George still noted the aftermath of the panic that the brunette must've felt.

In all fairness, he probably needed to go to the hospital, but George knew that his mom couldn't afford it. 

He shook his head but instantly regretted it. The pain struck again. All he wanted was water. His mouth felt like a desert. Never in his life had he craved water like he did now.

"Water." Was all he was able to say. His voice was hoarse from the lack of moisture left in his body. Every breath hurt and so did speaking as well.

Karl and Sapnap exchanged a glance before Karl grabbed a purple backpack and pulled up a water bottle. The trio subconsciously must've agreed that George shouldn't be laying down while drinking. So the two guy grabbed ahold of each of George's arms and pulled him up in a sitting position. George's head protested for a second, but the throbbing pain faltered after a few minutes. He felt pathetic as they pulled him backwards until they reached a rock that George used as backrest.

Every muscles must've died as George barely managed to grab the bottle that Karl handed him. The effort it took to bring the water bottle to his mouth was embarrassing, but never before had George tasted water as wonderful as this. It felt like being he had been reborn when he emptied the bottle. Afterwards he handed it back to Karl and thanked him.

Slowly his brain felt like it was returning and the weight of what had happened began rushing back.

"What happened?"

"They pushed in." Sapnap answered sourly

"Yeah, I'm aware of that. I'm just curious at how I got out of the water. For a moment I was convinced that I was knocking on Death's door."

Sapnap rubbed his neck and gave George a weary look. "Well, we all panicked when you fell. Dream and I was yelling at Olivia as it was clearly her idea. Of course, she wasn't the one to push but that girl has everyone wrapped around her finger." George furrowed his brows, not sure what this had to do with how he got out of the water. But Sapnap continued.

"It was a high fall but we all kinda assumed that you'd get up on your own. However, after a few minutes and you were still under the surface, we got worried that something wasn't right. So, Dream and I ran down and dove in. We managed to pull you out of the water. Dream tried to give you chest compressions but then Olivia came down and started screaming before dragging Dream away. Karl and I stayed behind. You were thankfully breathing so after few minutes, you woke up. The rest you know." Sapnap shot George an apologetic glance when he finished the story.