Bubbles streaming from his mouth, he swam almost straight down into the murky gloom. His shoes were soon waterlogged, lead weights to his unnatural speed, so he kicked them off without even pausing in his descent.

Swimming had always come so naturally to him. At 2, he was already in the deep end of the pool. At 4, he was surfboarding on a kickboard on vacations to the ocean. He hadn’t known why until 3 weeks ago, though he had always idly wondered.

Now he knew. Now he wish he had never found out.

As he swam, his thoughts turned to her. He knew she would be waiting for him anxiously on the old plaid sofa. He could envision her, twisting her hands in dismay, caramel eyes wide with worry. But she was so positive he would return.

“I’ll see you tonight, ” she had said with a sweet, light, innocent kiss. “I love you.”

Matt knew it was his fault he had downplayed the danger to her. But he also knew he loved her too much to see her that distressed.

Now, he could only hope he would return to her.