I woke up with the worst headache I had ever had the misfortune of feeling. I was convinced someone placed dynamite inside my cranium. I looked around for a second and saw I was back on my beach towel, still shirtless and now kind of chilly. I groaned as I sat up, and realized that Feliciano was sitting next to me, with the most worried expression I had ever seen him have.
"You're awake, fratello!" He jumped into me with an embrace, something I hadn't anticipated.
"Si, si, Feli, I'm awake. What is wrong with you?" I began to push him off of me. I was mostly rubbing my head. I had no idea how much time had passed, and for some reason my most recent memories were sorta dark and blurry.
"Fratello, you almost drowned." Feli had complete seriousness in his expression. And it all flooded back. I took off my shirt, went for a swim, and got caught in the current. I must've lost consciousness when I got pulled under.
"How... What... What happened?" My head was reeling. I couldn't comprehend anything. If I almost drowned, how was I saved? Who saved me?
If it was an almost drowning, I should've woken up immediately, so the only thing that worried me was the fact that I passed out. All of a sudden, I wasn't so sure of my safety.
"You swam out, and..." Feliciano didn't seem entirely comfortable with telling me. This was new. "We think you were under for a good few minutes... we didn't expect you to live."
"WHAT?! WHY?!" I was horrified. Weren't there lifeguards or some stupid shit like that?!
"No one had noticed you got up and went swimming..." Feliciano was afraid to look at me. I didn't know such a thing could happen.
"Then how in HELL am I alive?!" I was disgusted. I didn't know any person could almost die and no one would notice. But then I remembered. I wasn't exactly the center of attention like Feliciano. I cooled down as soon as I realized it was surprising anyone saved me at all.
"Well..." Feliciano looked down at his toes as though with sudden interest, "Antonio was swimming from afar. He was watching some of the girls, when he looked over and finally realized you weren't above the surface. He swam over and pulled you out." He seemed nervous telling me this, but I couldn't really tell why.
So the person who placed me in the water INSISTING I swim forgot about me completely. I suddenly had an even stronger annoyance, almost downright hatred for the damn Spaniard. But I remembered, saving a drowning person isn't exactly a walk in the park. "And where is he now?" I started to get kind of worried. Did... did he die because of me?
"He's by the bus. We'll be leaving soon. We were just waiting for you to wake up." Feli looked up at me, but his normal smile came back as he hugged me again. "But at least you are okay now!" He stood up and started pulling my hand. "Come on! Let's go!" I stood up and walked with my fratello back to the bus. Before we got on, I managed to catch Antonio.
"Hey, idiot!" I said sort of shouted. He looked up, and he had this odd expression. It was a mix of excitement and relief. I'd never seen it on him before. I got kind of quiet.
"Lovino! Hola! Que pasa?!" He beamed, apparently glad I was okay.
"I'm fine, bastard. And how many times do I have to tell you, Italian and Spanish aren't the same..." I was kind of embarrassed having to say this next part. "Thanks for... you know, saving me..." Antonio smiled even brighter, worsening my headache. However, I noticed a bit of darkness in his eyes, like something was wrong.