The Year I Stopped Being His novel Chapter 220

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Sloane slowly poked her head out of the ice hole; her movements were a bit sluggish, but remarkably steady.

Immediately after, she braced one hand against the ice, tightened her core, and vaulted herself firmly onto the edge of the hole, her fins making a dull thud against the frozen surface.

The crushed ice clinging to her wetsuit clattered to the ground as she pulled off her mask, shook the water from her hair, and took a deep breath.

The freezing air pierced her lungs like a knife, but Sloane managed to force a pale smile.

"I'm back."

Diego was the first to rush over, grabbing her arm and wrapping her in a thermal blanket.

"Sloane! Are you okay?! Does anything hurt? Is your chest tight? Do your ears ache?"

His questions fired off like a machine gun, his eyes already rimmed with red.

"Silly, I'm a professional diver. I'm not made of glass."

Sloane offered a casual, breezy smile. "Don't worry, I feel perfectly fine."

"Then... can I give you a hug?" Diego asked meekly. He desperately wanted to hold her right now.

Sloane gave a gentle nod. The next second, Diego stepped forward and wrapped her in a tight embrace.

Through the thermal blanket, he could feel the steady, powerful thumping of Sloane's heart. Only then did he secretly breathe a sigh of relief.

Diego quickly pulled away just as Professor Harrison walked over, holding a tablet.

"Sloane, any new discoveries this time?"

Sloane took the towel Josh handed her and wiped the water from her face.

"Yeah, I've pinpointed the source of the undercurrent. It's coming from the northwest." She tapped a spot on the tablet's map. "There's a cluster of The Hydrothermal Vents there. The water temperature is about two degrees higher than the surrounding area. I suspect that's where The White Microbe is. The current flows from that direction, sweeping the colonies out and scattering them across the lakebed."