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[onlyforthedream]

There are a lot of neat contraptions in the island compound. There's something that makes all the rooms cool at the same time, so much so that I had to go downstairs to the box people told me about to find a sweatshirt, like what boxers wear when they're practicing. It's grey and too big but it keeps me warm when I'm in the compound rooms too long

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[starchilde_lost]

Rachel saw the kid as she was on a run of her own, speeding around at a fast clip and she chuckled. Looked like another victim of the island's amusements, but when she saw him cutting into the jungle she swerved, intending to follow. No matter who he was usually, he was a kid and cutting through the jungle wasn't the safest thing to do. His path was easy to follow, broken leaves and disturbed soil made for a clear mark, and it wasn't long before she caught up to him.

Holy, shit.

"Hey, kid, kid, look at me." She took his hand, ice cold and crouched down, looking up at him. "Are you having an allergic reaction?" She paused, looking for a nod. "An asthma attack?" She waited again.

[onlyforthedream]

I can barely open my eyes against the pain and the feeling of squeezing around my heart, but there's a red headed lady with marks on her face and she's asking me questions like the teachers or the nuns have, before. I'm glad she knows what asthma is- I wait for her to ask about that and then nod, as clearly as I can as I try to pull in a breath.

[starchilde_lost]

"Okay." Rachel kept herself calm and tried to search through her memory, trying to remember if she knew anything that could help.

"Keep calm, try and breathe in and out. Do you have an inhaler on you?"

She prayed he did.

[onlyforthedream]

I don't know what an inhaler is, but I'm trying real hard to breathe in and out. Once, a doctor rubbed something that was cold and stinging and smelled real bad on my chest, and that had sort of helped, and once someone stuck me with a needle with... what was it... epinephrine. But I don't really know what that is or where someone might get some around here.

So I shake my head and struggle to cough, to do anything that'll free my throat up.

[starchilde_lost]

"Okay, let's get some of the layers off you, they can't be making things easier." She started to pull at the heavy sweatshirt, why he was wearing it in this heat was beyond her. "Then we're going to see if your breathing improves. And if it doesn't, I'm taking you to the clinic, okay? There are doctors there, they can help you better than I can, but I won't leave you, okay?"

[onlyforthedream]

I wish I could help get the sweatshirt off more, but she seems to handle it okay. There's not a lot of me to have to move around, so I guess that's useful.

I try to answer her and all I do is wheeze a little.

[starchilde_lost]

That... wasn't a good sign and Rachel racked her brains trying to think of what to do next.

"Look at me, okay, I want you to breathe with me as best you can. In really deep and out again... but we're going to slow down each time, okay? Hold each each one a little longer before letting it go."

It worked for her when she took a shot to the solar plexus, maybe it could help him, because she was increasingly worried about the look of his lips and fingers.

[onlyforthedream]

I force my eyes open, make sure I look at her, and focus real hard. I try to breathe in real slow like she says- it's easier when someone's there focusing with me. It's hard, and it hurts- it doesn't work real well, but then I focus on the breathing out and something gives, a little. I won't let the panic win- I never have before, and with someone here with me, I'm not about to now.

It takes all the self control I have, but my chest relaxes, suddenly. Not much, but enough for me to suck in a breath- and start coughing something awful.

[starchilde_lost]

Rachel smiled. The coughing was a good thing, Rachel knew that you couldn't cough if you couldn't get air into your lungs. Choking 101.

"That's good, real good, just keep breathing through it, I know it probably hurts, but you gotta keep going."

Reaching behind him, she rubbed his back a little, hoping to help him relax even more. "I'm right here with you."

[onlyforthedream]

It'd be too embarrassing to say out loud, but it's kind of nice, the way she's rubbing my back. She's really pretty, even through the fit I managed to notice that, but more than that... I don't know. She has red hair and a nice smile, and she's rubbing my back like mom used to when I was smaller and one of these spells would come up.

It helps in its own way.

After a while I'm breathing, barely coughing at all, just breathing slow (and kinda shaky) in and out.

"...thank you," I say quietly.

[starchilde_lost]

Rachel kept rubbing his back as she watched the kid get his breathing under control, still worried but not nearly as panicked as she'd been before. The color was returning to his lips and fingers, and the coughing was easing into deeper and deeper breaths.

So when he spoke, she could give him a very genuine smile in return. "Hey, just glad I saw you dashing into the underbrush here. What were you in such a hurry for anyway? Late for something?"

[onlyforthedream]

"Something I found, in the cuh..." My words trail off into coughing, which lasts a while. Eventually I get my breath back again.

"Compound. I got... I guess I got excited and ran off to look for my fuh, friend. I forgot about my asthma. And that I had that sweat-shirt on. It..." I shake my head, a little embarrassed.

"I just didn't nuh- notice."

[starchilde_lost]

After the first set of coughing she interjects a comment, giving his back a few more rubs as she apologized. "It's okay, take your time, I'm not going anywhere."

So with patience she waited, letting him talk at his own speed. It was a cute idea, typical kid, she could remember doing similar things when she was little. Finding new and fun things and rushing off to find Scrapper or her family, or their friends.

"I can see that. How are you feeling now?"