The water is warmer than the air. It's almost nice in here like a warm bath. I surface and start treading water, resting my head against the water and letting the rain pelt my face. When my cheeks start going numb from the wind, I allow my body to fall completely under the water again. Much better. Let's see if I can break my holding my breath record of forty-five seconds. Some good should come from this day.
At twenty-three, a heavy splash above me draws me from my isolation. Before I can process this, something grabs me around the waist and hauls me to the surface. I'm so shocked I inhale water. Suddenly, I'm airborne and coughing up the ocean. As I glide through the air toward the boat, I glance up at my assailant. Of course.
Nightingale sets me gently on the deck before landing himself. I'm still hacking my lungs out when he asks, "Are you okay?" He smacks my bare back until I can breathe enough to talk.
"Jesus fucking Christ, were you trying to fucking kill me?" I ask through the coughs.
"I…" At that moment I think he realizes I'm naked, as do I. His eyes rove from top to bottom.
"Turn the fuck around!" I screech as I reach down for my clothes.
He doesn't need to be told twice. "I'm-I'm-I'm so sorry. I--"
"Well, you should be! You could have fucking drowned me!"
"I-I thought you were trying to…you know," Nightingale says.
My clothes are so wet I can barely get them on. "Kill myself?"
"Y-Yes. You seemed distressed earlier. I-I-I was worried."
"So you decided to stalk me?"
"Fo-Follow you," Nightingale corrects.
"Stalking me!" I start walking to the stern to get out of the rain. He trails behind. "Since when? The hospital?"
We go below deck where it's dry. "Be-Before that."
I need to change before I catch pneumonia. Nightingale takes a step into the stateroom, but I hold up a finger to stop him. "No." I shut the door, pick up the discarded sweats, and undress. "So you've been stalking me since the memorial?"
"Following," he says. I grab a towel and dry off before opening the door enough to toss another at him. "Thank you."
I shut the door again. "I know you're still in grade school when it comes to social learning, but you do realize it is batshit crazy and downright creepy to fly around all over town even into the middle of a storm, to watch me without my knowledge? You're a genius, you should know this." Now fully clothed, I throw the door open again with a scowl. He's still wiping his purple suit off. "And to top it all off, you try to drown me."
"I didn't try to--"
"You are not responsible for me. I am an adult, it's not your job to save me. I don't need saving."
"Okay," he says.
"I came out here to be alone. I don't want you here. You-You complicate my life. I don't like it. I-I can't do this with you anymore. I can't. Not today, not ever. Just leave." I slam the door in his face again, staring at it. It takes me all of three seconds before I feel like total shit. He hasn't moved when I open the door again. For some reason I didn't think he would. "I'm sorry."
"It's fine."
"No, it's not. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I just, I'm fucked up." I sit on the bed and pull the comforter around my freezing body. "I am so fucked up. I'm not fit for human consumption, especially today."
Nightingale strolls over and sits beside me. "Today is a bad day. Tomorrow will be better."
"Promise?"
He shrugs. "Could it get worse?"
I actually chuckle at that. "Oh, let's see. I've turned an entire city against me, am probably suffering from hypothermia, you saw me naked, oh and I could have possibly ruined things with someone I really, really care about. So yeah, it's gonna be hard to top all that."
"See?"
I half smile. "How'd you get to be so smart?"
A pause then, "Made that way." I chuckle but he doesn't smile back. "No, really. I was made that way. In a lab." My face falls in confusion. "They spliced my genes," he adds, mouth twitching. "Engineered me before conception. I was made to be…perfect. In every way. I'm a science experiment. So you're not the only one not fit for human consumption. If that makes you feel better." I just stare at him for a few seconds. "Please don't look at me like that."
"Like what?"
"Like I'm a freak."
"You're alive because of science, I'm alive because Pop forgot a condom. I don't think you're a freak. I could never think that."
He studies me for subterfuge, but of course finds none. His shoulders relax, but he looks away. "I've never even told the others that."