And I'm split in half, but that'll have to do
The panic clawed up Everest’s throat faster than he could form words to stop it.
The sound of Isla’s voice cut through the rising noise in his mind, but it wasn’t what he needed to hear. It wasn’t comfort or explanation or I’ve got you, not like before. It was cold. Clinical. Directed at Remi.Directed at Remi who definitely wasn't some overzealous ex-lover come to steal her away.
"Knock him out, please."
His eyes snapped to her, wild and betrayed, but they didn’t focus—couldn’t focus. Everything was wrong. Her face. The island. The pressure on his arms. Every nerve in his body screamed for escape. He couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t think. The sun was too hot. The sky was too wide. His hands were stuck and his chest was going to cave in—
"Don’t—" he gasped, voice thready and sharp, shaking his head in short, spastic bursts. "Don’t touch me— what’s happening—why can’t—why can’t I—"
His thoughts spiraled so fast they tangled. He couldn’t understand her words anymore. Couldn’t remember what was real. The tension of Remi’s grip, the strange weight of his own body, the sound of Isla moving somewhere just out of reach—it was all fragments. Unconnected. Unbearable.
And then—
"No—" he choked, just before everything blinked out.
He felt it—the moment Remi’s hand connected. A sharp jolt of pressure behind his temple. The pain didn’t register so much as the sudden nothing that followed. His breath caught mid-sob, his head snapped to the side, and then—
—silence.
Blessed, black, complete silence.
The sound of Isla’s voice cut through the rising noise in his mind, but it wasn’t what he needed to hear. It wasn’t comfort or explanation or I’ve got you, not like before. It was cold. Clinical. Directed at Remi.
"Knock him out, please."
His eyes snapped to her, wild and betrayed, but they didn’t focus—couldn’t focus. Everything was wrong. Her face. The island. The pressure on his arms. Every nerve in his body screamed for escape. He couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t think. The sun was too hot. The sky was too wide. His hands were stuck and his chest was going to cave in—
"Don’t—" he gasped, voice thready and sharp, shaking his head in short, spastic bursts. "Don’t touch me— what’s happening—why can’t—why can’t I—"
His thoughts spiraled so fast they tangled. He couldn’t understand her words anymore. Couldn’t remember what was real. The tension of Remi’s grip, the strange weight of his own body, the sound of Isla moving somewhere just out of reach—it was all fragments. Unconnected. Unbearable.
And then—
"No—" he choked, just before everything blinked out.
He felt it—the moment Remi’s hand connected. A sharp jolt of pressure behind his temple. The pain didn’t register so much as the sudden nothing that followed. His breath caught mid-sob, his head snapped to the side, and then—
—silence.
Blessed, black, complete silence.
