After resuscitating Carolyn, Nathan fills her in on recent events before they climb back to a higher level of the cave system.
“Frost... you killed him, didn't you?”
“Yes. After pushing you off the ledge, he charged me, and I couldn't do anything else.”
(Carolyn kisses Nathan.) “You jumped in to help me without a moment's thought. I owe you my life, Nathan. We’re not engaged or anything. It's just a kiss to say, 'Thank you.'”
“I appreciate that. Now we have to think about getting out of here.”
“Let's stay a little longer, shall we? I'm trying to regain my strength, but I feel very cold.”
(He embraces her.) “Is that better?”
“Yes. It's the fear. Death by drowning must be truly terrible. Terrible. I couldn't control my body. The whirlpool dragged me down. But I wanted to live, despite everything. I clung to the water, as if… as if it were a solid thing, to get back to the surface. I tried hard, but then I felt a pang in my lungs, and I had to breathe the water. That was the worst moment. When I ran out of oxygen, I thought about my brother. In the end, what a terrible thing happened to him, and there was no one to help him, like what was happening to me. And now I want to cry.”
“Go ahead and cry, Carolyn. You should have done this a long time ago.”
As explained several pages before, Carolyn's younger brother drowned in a swimming pool, and her father was also drowned by Frost. Whereas the main story is about an absence of water.