Blackout ✓

24 | spring break

His expression was mockingly indignant. "What is that tone for?"

"You don't do yoga."

"Yes, but I've had to stretch for football," he reasoned. "I'm in peak shape. And you're bent over like an old lady right now, so with my inexperience and your condition, we'll be at the exact same level."

I narrowed my eyes at the man, immovable at the foot of the bed. But I wasn't really mad or insulted. In fact, I appreciated how Jamie hadn't baulked at my endometriosis symptoms. Jake, bless him, was sweet and caring, but he'd reacted to an incapacitated menstruating woman much how I expected. The uncertainty—the sympathy—that had tremored in his eyes was not present in Jamie's.

He arched his eyebrows, jaw tensing impatiently. "Get out of the bed, Viv. Or do I have to carry you like a baby?"

"Ugh," I moaned, slowly throwing the duvet off me. "You're ruining my spring break. Just let me marinate in my misery like a sad burrito."

"I know, I know. I'm sucking the fun out of this."

I rose slowly, careful of twisting my torso and unleashing another barrage of agony through my back and abdomen. Yoga, or running, or any movement at all, was always my go-to coping strategy when I couldn't take any more painkillers. But I'd ruled it out here, not having any gear or nearby facilities to practice.

Shaky on my feet, I watched with a dry mouth as Jamie pushed the bed away from the window, closer to the other bed, to increase the floor space. The muscles in his back tensed, and the tendons running the length of his forearms rippled. Then he slid open the glass door, sweeping fresh air and the sound of the ocean into the room.

Jamie dusted invisible debris off his hands and turned to me. "What's first?"

I sighed and walked closer, breathing through the twinge in my spine. I adopted a solid stance, feet together, facing the sunlight.

"Sun salutation," I said.

Jamie snorted.

"What?" I snapped, my arms already raised above my head.

"Nothing," he insisted, wiping the amusement from his face. With a sombre expression, he copied the sweeping movements of my arms, shifting as if to herald the skies. "I salute you, sun," he intoned.

I chuckled, shifting to the next asana. "Exhale down," I told Jamie. "Inhale as you take your leg back." I could only progress the flow once every ten seconds, such was the discomfort I felt in my back.

Jamie seemed to like the pace, however. It probably gave him enough time to adjust to each unfamiliar position.

"Exhale," I told him, holding myself in a plank. "Inhale into downward dog." I drew my hips high into the air and relished the deep stretching in my hamstrings, a distraction from the pain.

Jamie attempted to mimic me until some bone in his body clicked audibly. "Oh, fuck," he squeaked.

I laughed breathily. "You alright?"

He was certainly not as flexible as me, given the slight bend to his knees and discomfort on his face.

"Yeah," Jamie grunted, his face going red as all the blood flowed down to it. "Can we stop now? Is this enough yoga?"

Ha, we hadn't even started yet.

I gave Jamie a wicked wink. "Breathe through it." The boy was asking for it when he made me leave the warm, cozy bed.

"But—"

"Breathe."

"If I hurt myself—"

"Breathe."