"Go up to his room and get it now!" Her voice was firm yet calm, but to Jake, it sounded muffled, like she was underwater. His chest felt tighter, his lungs rattled, and panic seeped in. He knew better but couldn't stop the fear from rising to the surface and overwhelming him. As if a constrictor had wrapped its body around him with whip-like speed, pressure mounted around his midsection. Shallow noisy breaths quickened as his body unwittingly sank into a familiar rabbit hole-- one that was foreboding and always felt like a place from which he might never return. His windpipe, like a broken straw, failed him, resulting in a creaking sound reminiscent of an old door slowly closing.
"Now!" Her voice interrupted the impending gloom as another hazy figure raced from the room.
"Relax, Jake. You'll be okay. Lie down, put your shoulders back, and open up your lungs. You'll be okay." Gasping for air in panic, her words were soothing like a warm blanket and somehow so familiar. She seemed so certain, cooing, "Slow down. Deep breaths." She stretched his hands to the side, palm up, opening his shoulders.
"Slow... slow." The words came unhurried, convincing him by their speed as well as their meaning. Staring up, his eyes followed a long crack that ran across the length of the ceiling, his brain recalling his tools of distraction. Would it be enough?
His lips tasted the coolness of steel beneath them, and a puff of air expanded his chest like a great push from a bellows. An inhaler, yes, that's what that is. His mind seemed to reboot along with his body. Blood rushed to his face, reddening his cheeks, and carrying the needed oxygen to his brain, and then, almost as if it hadn't happened, it was over.
"You, okay?" she breathed, her voice tinged with concern.
He nodded and smiled wanly. "Haven't had one of those in a while." He paused and caught his breath once more. "I almost forgot what they're like and how tired they make me."
As the haze began to clear he looked up at Jessica. His mom had told him umpteen times about how he'd stood for the first time and then leaned down and somehow encouraged her to do the same. She'd lived across the street from him for as long as he could remember and had been akin to a sibling. She was undeniably attractive, but he'd never considered her that way. Hair golden like the sun, blue eyes reminiscent of a cloudless sunny sky, and delicately featured with a small, upturned, pixie-like nose-- what wasn't there to like? Perhaps that was the problem. Thinking of her that way might jeopardize their friendship.
"Well next time, try not to eat while you're laughing," she scolded, somehow managing to balance a frown and a smirk at the same time.
They had doted on and protected one another for as long as he could remember and were virtually inseparable. With his severe childhood asthma and frequent bouts of illness, she was the one who came over and reviewed the school day with him when he missed class. She spent hours recounting the day for him and helped him imagine how things would be different in the future. They even played a 'secret game' where the stuffed animals were superheroes and had an entire world of their own. The idea of suspending disbelief and being able to imagine a body without weaknesses had always had a special appeal for Jake.
At school, Jake and Jess were in the advanced class together and in what they called 'the nerd pod.' She was the only girl in their group but seemed to fit right in. As they aged, he overcame his asthma-- at least until tonight, when a laughing spell combined with choking on a peanut had brought it rushing back.
Even though he had, for the most part, overcome his childhood asthma, he remained frailer than his peers. Tall and lanky, he could be described as good-looking, with intense eyes and a grizzled countenance, but his chest was nearly concave. Physicality wasn't necessarily in his nature, and so he was determined to make his path in life through studying and learning.
Though Jess remained in their group, her swim practices took up more and more of her time. Each time he saw her she seemed to have wet hair and to be clad in an oversized sweatshirt. It became like a uniform for her. They were a collection of oddballs-- so she fit right in.
Perpetually late for their appointed Saturday D&D nights, Jess became the butt of many of their jokes-- most of them prepared. By the time she'd arrived only five minutes before the group broke up the previous evening, they'd devised several.