"I'm not going to let anything happen to you, I promise!"
I drew back slightly and he said, "I'm especially not going to let a sea monster get you!"
"How can you promise that?" I asked, a little hysterically, as he stepped back from me and kicked his shoes off and slipped over the side into the dark waters of the harbor.
He held a hand up to me and said, "I won't let anything happen to you Lisa, but we have to make this swim. I won't leave you alone out there."
My fingers clenched into fists, but I kicked my shoes off and slipped into the water beside him. I don't know why, but ever since this man had come into my life I had been made to face each and every one of my old fears.
I really wished that cycle would stop! But even though being in this dark water was bad, Flint was there helping me in the midst of my nightmare. He always seemed to be doing that. What would I ever do without him?
We started off. I didn't really focus on how far the distant yacht was from us. I only looked to see where Flint was. As long as I could see him splashing along beside me I was okay or at least functional. Fear closed around me like an icy prison and as time wore on I could feel its grip on me draining me of all my energy. Panic started to settle in.
I wasn't going to make it! Dimly, I heard shouting and I glanced at him to see him gesture ahead and I glanced there too. The yacht was close. I could make it a little farther, I thought. We bumped into the side of the yacht and then Flint was gone.
I was alone and in the panic of that thought my body locked up and I began to sink. Strong hands grabbed a hold of me and I was jerked up out of the water to the deck of the yacht, as water streamed off of me.
I was so cold! My teeth were chattering so hard I thought they would rattle out of my head. Flint swung me up into his arms and I latched onto his shirt front like he was a life preserver, which in a way he had come to be for me. Suddenly, he put me down and hot water began to course down my back and it shocked me so much that I half screamed and latched onto Flint tighter.
"Sshh, its just hot water. It's a shower."