Exhale by Joel Abernathy

Author:Joel Abernathy [Abernathy, Joel]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Fifteen

“What the fuck happened to him?” Nicolae bellowed as he and my professional stalkers stood aside in a mostly white room while a woman in a white coat held an oxygen mask over my face. They weren’t the first words Nicolae had spoken since our hectic return to the condos, which evidently included an entire floor made up of medical facilities, but they were the first he’d spoken in English. “I told you to watch him, not get him killed!”

“He was fine,” Vasil protested. “He just had too much to drink.”

I wanted to interject on their behalf, but I was still coughing too hard to speak. “Just breathe,” the doctor ordered. She was American, which explained the change in language.

“You sure he’s not a fish?” Lon asked dryly.

“Fuck you, assh—” That was all I could make out before I started coughing again, but he got the message.

The doctor shot me a scathing look. “Breathe, Jack.”

I tried to take a deep breath, but my lungs burned in protest. To my humiliation, once I’d finally gotten enough air to bother looking up, Nicolae was watching me. He always seemed to find me at my lowest moments. In this case, I’d been brought to his doorstep in the middle of one. I was expecting irritation in those stormy blue eyes, not the concern I found.

Somehow, that was worse. At least when he was mocking me, I could defend myself. I didn’t know what to do with his pity, and I didn’t want it. I’d been vehemently opposed to the idea of the hunt, but the idea that he might think twice about it because he saw me as fragile or weak made me want to have a go with the three of them right there.

I tried to tell myself I only cared about appearing strong around Nicolae because he was my romantic rival, but the oxygen deprivation was making it hard to keep lying to myself.

“Here,” the doctor said, pulling the mask off my face to offer me an inhaler. “Try this now, I think you’re breathing enough.”

I took the small red canister and wheezed out as much air as I could without starting up another fit. Always a thin tightrope to walk. I pressed down on the aerosol pump and breathed in deep, letting the acrid vapor fill my lungs. It burned, but in a good way. I held my breath for as long as I could, which ended up being half of the recommended ten seconds. I coughed a few times and did it again. This time, the medication actually stayed in my lungs long enough that I felt the spasms subside.

I’d had my share of bad ones, but they’d never lasted quite that long or been that severe. Then again, I usually wasn’t stupid enough to forget my inhaler. As soon as I could breathe again, I stopped wanting to. Nicolae, Vasil and Lon were all looking at me in varying degrees of pity and concern. “I’m fine,” I coughed. “It happens.

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