Breathe

         “Come on Nami, we can get out of this free and clear, but I need you to stay with me.”  Amon urged.  She was swaying on her feet, a sign he knew was not good.  Her eyes looked dazed and far away.  He growled and looked around.  The only doors in the room were the ones they had come through and the ones they had to go through.  He was sure that once they made it past all of this, then they could rest for a little while, but he wasn’t sure that Nami could make it any further.

         “Can you make it just a little further?”  He asked, cupping her cheeks and making her eyes meet his.  She nodded weakly and he decided that it was the best he was going to get.  He pulled her through the door and down the hall.  Immediately after the halfway mark, things started flying around them.  Chairs, potted plants, small tables; all started to come flying towards them.  “Damn it, Alma!  Leave us alone!”  He yelled.

         He got them out of the hallway, but upon exiting the door, Nami’s knees came out from under her and she collapsed.  “Shit…”  He cursed to himself.  He pulled Nami up and into his arms, cradling her to his chest.  He set off running down the room again, with Alma at his heels.  He honestly wasn’t worried about the cursed demon girl running behind him anymore, but rather the innocent fainting girl in his arms.

         He turned the corner sharply upon exiting the room and went into a small office and closed the door, locking it as a precaution.  He knew that it wouldn’t be able to stop the demonic woman if she decided to give chase, but it made him feel better nonetheless.  He didn’t wait to see if Alma was still chasing them, he immediately set out to find out what was wrong with Nami.

         “Hey, wake up.  Tell me what’s wrong.”  He gently patted her cheek.  “Nami, wake up.”

         Her eyes fluttered open, but every time she tried to open her mouth to speak, she would merely wheeze.  Amon bent down, intending to find out what was wrong, but she couldn’t say a word.  He listened to her struggle to breath, then moved his ears to her chest, listening for any anomalies there.  He noticed that there was a slight rattle, but other than that, her chest hardly seemed to move up at all.

         He looked back into her eyes to find that she was crying.  He stroked the trails left by her tears and said, “It’ll be fine…”  He frowned as she continued to cry, trying to figure out what was wrong.  “You’re asthmatic aren’t you?”

         She nodded weakly, feeling scared and embarrassed at the same time.

         “Why didn’t you tell me?”  He smiled weakly.  “It would have made things a lot easier.”

         She shook her head and tried to move her hand to her pocket but she was shaking and felt too weak to move anything.  “Inhaler…  is… in…”

         Instantly, he reached into her pocket and brought out her inhaler.  “Good.  How many puffs?”

         She tried to speak again, but her mouth just gaped open and closed like a fish.  He became worried as her eyes started to close.  “Nami!  Nami!”  He yelled.  “Damn it!”  He took off the cap and threw it to the ground, forcing the inhaler into her mouth and pressing down on the cylinder.

         He knew immediately that it was a failed attempt when he didn’t see her chest rise or fall.  “Damn it, Nami, breathe!”  He tried again, and failed once more.  “Fine!”  He yelled.  He held the inhaler to his own mouth, breathed in, pressed down, then held it there, bending down and connecting his lips to hers and forcing the air and medicine into her lungs.  He did it once more, and noticed that her chest was moving a little more now.

         He sighed as he laid back against the wall, her head in his lap.  The medicine went to his head making him dizzy.  He drew his gun, ready to shoot anything that was going to attempt to harm her.

         ~Breathe…~