She leaned back against the granite, letting the sun warm her face while the steady hush of waves steadied her pulse. The water smelled clean, the wind combed salt through her hair, and for the first time in weeks she felt her lungs fill without hitching.
After a while she rose and walked the shoreline, toes sinking into cool foam. She stopped to pocket a smooth piece of sea glass, laughed when a shy crab darted from her shadow, and let the cold water numb the ache in her calves.