Page 90 of My Heart Still Beats
“Yeah, five minutes.” Then I look at Tessa. “Watch me. I’ll keep my eyes closed because I need to concentrate. All I need to do is breathe. Breathe and stay warm.”
“You’re not going to stay warm.”
“No I’m not, but just watch me.”
I close my eyes, draw in a deep breath, then shake my arms and legs to get ready.
Then I step into the tub, suck in a deep breath, and submerge myself up to my neck so that my chin is just touching the water.
Oh, coldness.
Sweet, sweet coldness.
I close my eyes and breathe in through my mouth and out through my nose and then in through my nose and out through my mouth.
Each time is different, and I do what feels right.
And though I know Tessa is there watching me, she flows from my mind, and all I do is concentrate on my breathing.
Five minutes is nothing, and Spencer’s timer goes off before I know it.
I pop out of the cold tub, and Spencer hands me a heated towel.
Tessa shakes her head. “I don’t know…”
“I’m certainly not going to force you,” I say, “but trust me when I tell you that this will help you.”
“Can you explain how?”
“I could, but I’d rather you try it first because I think you’ll see the benefits once you do it. Three minutes isn’t long, Tessa.”
“How about one minute?”
“One minute doesn’t really give you any benefit,” Spencer offers, “because it takes one minute to get used to the cold.”
“But you don’t really get used to the cold,” she says.
“No, not in the sense that you mean. You’re not going to all of a sudden feel warm.” I smile. “But you’ll see what he means. And that minute will go by quicker than you think. If you want, I can have Spencer tell you when each minute is over.”
She’s chewing on her lower lip. “Maybe…” She steps toward the tub. She gazes at it, clearly contemplating.
“Honestly, ma’am, the more you think about it, the more difficult it is,” Spencer says.
She darts him a look. “Fine. I’m done thinking.”
She steps in the tub, and a shiver racks her body.
“Do it, Tessa. Do it. You can do this.”
She breathes in deeply and then submerges herself up to her chin.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Tessa
I gasp for breath as the ice water covers my body.
“Easy,” Ben says. “Regulate everything, Tessa. You can do it.”
