Page 33 of Right Next Door
It wasn’t enough.
She tried again, the sound wheezing past her mouth, her throat. They felt so weird. So tight…
She choked again, coughing harder as she struggled to breathe, hands shaking.
“Misty?” Flik was there with a cup of water, taking the plate of half-finished cake from her hands. She took the cup, but she didn't bring it to her lips. She couldn’t breathe, much less drink.
She couldn’t breathe…
Why couldn’t she breathe?!
There was no fear. Not at first. Just confusion. Determination to fight her body and try toforcethe oxygen into her throat.
Her face felt funny too.
“Misty!”
Flik caught her by the arms before she could fall. He lowered her gently onto her butt as she shook, struggling. Gasping. Confused.
The others were yelling something, but she couldn’t pay attention to them. Could barely hear them over the determined, aching pounding of her own heartbeat in her ears.
Her head, her throat, her mouth, her tongue...
Swollen. They were swollen. She was choking on her own flesh, she realized as the others moved around her. Panicking. She thought she heard someone say something about calling for help, but like the rest of their jumbled words, she wasn’t really paying close attention.
Still, she wasn’t afraid. Just stunned. She was shaking, focusing on drawing in each ragged, wheezing breath, tears trailing down her cheeks. Flik was holding her up, allowing her to use his shoulder to rest against as he encouraged her to keep breathing. To not be afraid. Help was coming. She just needed to keep breathing.
Misty felt so disconnected from herself. Her body was disobeying her, refusing to accept the air she struggled to draw in. Refusing to stop shaking. She was crying. Was she sad? Shedidn't think so. Just out of it. Trying to gasp, trying to make her lungs do what they were supposed to be doing!
Help came faster than she would have expected.
People in light green uniforms were suddenly there, bending over her. Saying something. She didn't really understand over the rushing in her ears. She was pretty dizzy. All the lights were floating.
A sharp pain, jabbed right into the side of her neck, made her whimper.
And broke whatever strange barrier had come over her mind, trying to protect her against the horror of what was happening. The terror of choking on nothing, of being completely at the mercy of a foe she couldn’t resist.
It all hit her in a flash.
She let out a wheezing wail as she was picked up and placed on something soft, floating. A gurney. Oh, these were medical professionals. Because she had almost died.
No, she was dying right now. Suffocating on her own tongue.
She took in another breath, and the rush of air, sweet and relieving, made her even dizzier as she cried out in fear and pain.
???
“An allergic reaction?” Misty asked, blinking in surprise.
“Yes, honored charina,” the male healer who was working on her said, giving her a soft smile as the lights of the mediring continued to spin around her. “You appear to be deathly allergic to righsling berries.”
“B-But I ate them before just fine!”
“Yes, my lady. That’s how it works. The first contact, nothing happens because that’s when you become allergic. It’s the second contact that will give you the reaction.”
“Holy crap,” she mumbled, earning a startled look from the white furred male, his ears pricking up as he blinked, surprised.
But she was too busy being blown away. Putting a hand on her heart. Feeling her heartbeat. The one that seemed that much harder now. Like her brush with death just made it more determined to pump and keep her alive.
