The pristine walls of the fluorescently artificial compartment weren't a marvellous sight to behold but they worked as bulwarks, distancing himself from his faltering psyche and unsteady mind. He looked at those walls and noticed the smooth linearity of the dovekie routes furrowing the cerulean Arctic skies. He looked at the murky nothingness outside the undimmed windows and saw noctilucent clouds, winsome stars and ochre suns. His kosher asylum. Anything was better.

With fire in blood, Led attempted to lift his head from the pillows; he triumphantly did so. He tried to lift himself by the elbows, he triumphed as well. But he nearly fell back after a strong haze enveloped his mind; he tried not to give in. The dizziness resumed its endeavours of strangling his senses, and it finally succeeded.

***

A distant hallway, with portraits of people. A magenta design, with one white swirl in the middle. A sandy fog, with a sketch of a woman in thin black ink. A long straight container, viz. a grave.

A young girl's materialization in the air. Hooded and white. Dust. A cane. Centre of the mind. Centre of the mouth. Mouth open. Blood. Open mouth. Blood. Green around. Round. Land. Land!

The grave's half-opened door. Depth, with sea and sand. An out of mouth. A man's ghost. A boy's. Little.

Pearl bracelet. A roll. A roll. Come closer! Blinded. Dashed. Faded. Bright. Light!

Agony.

Land!

The soul chuckled, but prayed.

***

He came around. The instant he opened his eyes, he heard chuckles and prayers. His eyesight was blurry.

"Finally! God, we were worried about you!"

"Where's Miss Chaisson?" he asked. He couldn't comprehend who was mirthful.

"Dianne is on land. We'd said our goodbyes."

"Mr Meddles, thank you for rescuing me," Led thanked.

"Dear friend, it's not I who did so. We owe the pleasure to Miss Arlene."

A moment passed.

"Is she here? Am I on the sub?"

God, this youngster's mind had been really wrecked!

"Yes, you are, dear Led. Arlene will be here soon. Oh, she's right behind you!"

"You may need to check your vitals and see if there's enough nourishment we have offered you. Do try out some food, we've prepared it," the softness of Arlene's voice mused.

In this myriad of voices, in his mind and outside, Led tried to battle his mind haze by slowly hoisting himself up and keeping concentrated on Meddles' voice. Thankfully, everything went smoothly. He saw a leaf stand full of different foods and drinks, which were carefully placed on its surface.

"That's a good man, good effort."

He heard their words as if through a thick veil of, a thick pall of thermal insulation between them and him. It felt as if he couldn't comprehend their presence, or the actuality of someone's countenance. He perceived everything as if he was in the solitude of his ever-shabby walls. But not in a room bounded by the walls. Inside them. In the midst of their cemented structure.

His hand reached out to grab some food, a slice of pastry, he believed. He took a bite out of it, it seemed to have some chocolate flavour.

"Led, why are you picking a spaghetto off the meal?" Meddles gently asked.

Suddenly his vision cleared. His shoulders shook. His breathing quickened.

"Wha-I-did I do that?" He asked, looking at Meddles. The latter inspected him curiously.

"Led, are you alright?" Meddles repeated.

Led didn't know he had repeated the question. But he was alert now. The haze had suddenly left, as abruptly as it had started.

"Yes-yes, I am, I'm sorry - are we in the sub?"

Meddles concerned look told him he shouldn't have asked that exact question.

"Yes, dear Led, we are on the sub. You had a sudden loss of consciousness. Tell me, are you alright now?" Meddles worded.

"Yes, I guess. I don't know what happened to me. It feels like it's all gone though," Led weakly answered, recalling something that told him there was food that had been offered to him previously.

Then he lifted his hand to grab a pastry.

Meddles and Arlene watched worriedly.

"Assuming I've held something like this in my hand, I apologize for having embarrassed myself thoroughly," Led said, upon realizing the "pastry" he had grabbed earlier. Some excerpts and snippets had started to come up to him from his foggy memories.

A pause emerged, long enough for him to realize the accuracy of his statement.

The rest of the team didn't want to admit that.

"Let me check something, if you don't mind," Meddles said in a trice. Out of the blue, a cold hand felt his forehead.

"Oh my goodness, you have a fever," Meddles exclaimed in surprise but with a bit of relief that only Led caught on to. "The pressure change must have taken quite a toll on him. Arlene, dear, can you please go to the medical station and fetch out a therm?" Arlene affably nodded. "And also some Advil, while you're at it." The woman left the room to fulfill the given task.

The sub was 200 feet underwater.

(819 words)