Elias had forgotten what silence felt like.
“What thing?”
Cool, clean, real air rushed up his left nostril, then his right. The pressure didn’t vanish instantly, but it began to drain away, a heavy tide receding from a flooded room. He could smell the eucalyptus again, not as a sharp assault, but as a complex, layered scent: minty, camphorous, alive. He could even smell the faint dusty sweetness of the rosemary. sinus congestion relief
Lena was watching him. “Well?”
He lifted his head from the towel tent and took a slow, experimental breath. Silence. Not the muffled silence of congestion, but the true, quiet silence of a clear head. He blinked. The world seemed sharper, the kitchen lights less glaring. Elias had forgotten what silence felt like
“Thank you,” Elias croaked. He tried to laugh, but the vibration sent a fresh wave of pressure across his forehead. He pressed two fingers against his brow. No relief. He could smell the eucalyptus again, not as
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