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Drowning, Boyd knows, is a terrible way to die. You spend the entire time trying to breathe, all the while swallowing water and filling your lungs with water, hoping that the burning in your lungs will subside before coming to the agonizing realization that you'll never taste air again.
Boyd has been drowning since his sister disappeared.
The difference is that in the water, it only takes six minutes.
He's been grasping for that last breath for eight years.
It's a relief, in a way, when Derek's claws burst through his chest. It's better than his own half-hearted effort in a motel bathroom. Scott said it was the darach, but Vernon knows better.
He uses his last words, his last breaths, to ask about Erica. He wants to know if he'll see her, if maybe he can be forgiven for every step he's taken without Alicia in his world. In the last seconds, he still tries to breathe.