A few more followed, but they felt distant and light. He stayed within this colorless womb, floating in blissful awareness of being unconscious. In the distance, he could hear the buzzing of voices, soft, irritating, but easily ignored. He couldn’t feel a thing. The numbness, he relished it. He had somehow lost all sense of time in here as well, wherever here was. It was ironic, he thought, to have that happen. He had spent his entire career, most of his life, in fact, keeping track of time. Now that he had let go and stopped worrying about it, he felt so free. He hiccupped and suddenly had trouble taking in a breath. That was strange; he shouldn’t be breathing at all. However, as he continued to choke, his sense of time returned. He could tick the seconds that he was drowning. His body spasmed and he woke. James opened his eyes and saw a steady stream of water pouring onto his face like a waterfall. It went into cavities it had no right to go up and he sat up choking and coughing.
