As if all her functions had ceased, she tried to open her mouth but failed.
“Open it, Luke.”
“All right, Moira, here it comes. Take a breath.”
The first squirt hit her throat since Luke had her mouth open so wide. Her jaw hurt. But not more than the elephant on her chest trying to kill her. She couldn’t remember ever being this bad, except her first time. Her parents had looked scared before the doctor diagnosed her. Then he’d explained it was a lifelong illness, but there were things she could do to lessen the chances of an attack.
If she hadn’t already been frightened, confused, and excited over Danny’s kiss as well as running for blocks, she wouldn’t have had this attack.
The breaths weren’t coming. Harder and harder it became to get any air in her lungs. When the darkness rimming her gaze crept in closer, her panic grew.
Of course, she’d been instructed not to panic when an attack happened, but those doctors weren’t the ones who couldn’t breathe. Who wouldn’t fight for what little air they could? With the lack of oxygen getting to her brain, she felt ready to allow the darkness to consume her gaze, so the pain, pressure, fear, and inability to control what happened to her would go away.
“Dammit, Moira, work with me. Once more,” Laura directed. Her friend was a take charge kind of woman who treated her like she had been given paddles to shock her back to life.
“Inhale.”
After the last squirt into her mouth, Luke let go of her jaw. She still couldn’t breathe. It’d been too late. She couldn’t afford to go to a hospital because her name could end up somewhere that would make her found. Which would contradict her death in Dublin.
Laura’s face swam in front of hers. “Moira, calm down. You can breathe now, but you can’t keep panicking. You’ve got to settle some and we’ll get you through this.”
Easy for her to say. Laura wasn’t the one dying.
“Look at me, Moira. There you go. Take slow, easy breaths.”
As she listened to the hypnotic voice, Moira obeyed and began to get her wits about her. The elephant squatting on her chest had moved on, but the burn remained. She knew it’d go away soon.
It took a few minutes, but Luke and Laura stayed with her as her attack passed. With much relief, Moira bent her head down and regained herself. Luke stepped back into the house and she knew why. His way of fixing everything was through hot tea. She’d bet he hurried to set up the kettle.
Laura’s hand soothed her back. “How are you feeling?”
Moira generally didn’t have an attack because she noticed the signs and got ahead of it. Once, at her friends’ home, she’d had one, and Luke and Laura had taken steps to educate themselves on how to help her. With that, Laura had recommended she keep one of her inhalers at her and Luke’s place, since she spent so much time there. Thank goodness Laura had recommended it. Otherwise, Moira would be at the hospital that her brother—and Danny—had instructed her to avoid at all costs.
“I’m better.” She looked over at Laura, who sat on the stoop beside her. “Thank you. You saved my life.”
Laura laughed. “Of course I did. I need my Irish friend to finish teaching me how to speak Irish Gaelic, so I can go back with you and find me a hunk of an Irishman.”
Moira laughed. Laura had said that when she’d met her but had yet to start a lesson.
Sadness and determination slid into her body. Would she ever get to go home again?
Laura stood. “How about we go in? I’m sure Luke’s almost ready with the tea. Do you need his help to stand?”
Her recently oxygen-deprived body didn’t want to cooperate. She worked to get up from where she’d fallen to the ground, shifting on unsteady legs but only made it to her knees.
Laura’s arm went around her. “Come on, I’ll help you.”
Instead of getting a moment to prepare her, the arm Laura had placed around her to help disappeared, and disorientation wrapped itself around her. Moira fought that frustrating panic that lived in her life for the moment. Her immediate thought was she’d suffered something permanent from her attack. When warm arms wrapped one under her knees and the other behind her back, she relaxed into Luke’s big arms.
After the steps into their home, Luke settled her on the couch. Then he strode into the kitchen and returned with a cup of hot tea. Either noticing her hands still shook or just out of choice, he placed the cup and saucer on the end table beside her.
Laura sat in the armchair while Luke took an oak chair from the kitchen table and swung it around and sat backward. Both friends looked at her expectantly. Weakness and burning lungs still plagued her, but moment by moment, everything eased.
“Thank you. I felt like I was dying.” She scrunched her eyebrows into a V. “Did I wake you two?” It couldn’t be more than eleven, but she wasn’t sure.
“Noooo,” Laura dragged out the word. She looked at Luke and grinned. Luke, on the other hand, looked like he’d just eaten a lemon. “Loverboy over there had a blind date but said no after seeing him.”
“Well, you would’ve too. My men don’t need to be as large as I am, but I don’t like them looking like a waif.”
“Tell all,” Moira said.
After knowing them only a couple of months, she felt comfortable with them. “This guy’s name was Danny.”
Moira stiffened. “Uh—” She stopped because she wasn’t sure she wanted to know the truth.
Luke waved a hand as if to ward off a fly. “Not your Danny, although yours is one tantalizing package.” He winked and laughed. She couldn’t agree more.
“He is hot. Since you’re not dating him, would you mind if I do?” Laura’s question took Moira by surprise.
Jealously flashed through Moira at the thought of Laura with Danny.
