But it didn't.
I don't know how long I laid there.
Time didn't matter anymore.
Not when the world was inside me.
But something changed.
Somewhere in the chaos, I found it.
A sound.
Soft. Gentle. Familiar.
My breath.
My own.
I latched onto it.
Focused on it.
Inhale. Exhale.
Deep. Slow.
The noise didn't disappear.
But I made it quieter.
The bacteria on my hands? Still there.
The filth in the water? Still there.
But I pushed it away.
Filtered it.
Dulled the edges.
I wasn't drowning anymore.
I was floating.
And for the first time since waking up—
I could breathe.