Imprisoned Love 2

Awkwardness

Tori's POV:

I shift in the comfort of Jade's bed, frowning with my eyes still closed as I subconsciously hear low unidentifiable sounds coming from a distance. It takes half a second longer for my body to react, however, with my eyes slowly flickering open and my brain eventually gaining full consciousness as I remember where I am.

I sigh at the memories that come flashing back to me from last night. It was incredibly tough to go through it all.. but I'm glad we did. It's been a long while since I'd so openly talked to anyone.. and as much as it pained me to see her hurting.. I think she needed it the most.

Looking over at the bedside clock, I internally groan when I see that it's still extremely early in the morning, and I'm almost about to shut my eyes again when I hear another cough, causing every alarm bell in my head to start ringing as I realize that it's coming from the room opposite us. Jade's gran.

Hurriedly yet gently removing Jade's arm that was lazily thrown over my waist, I swing my legs to the edge of the bed; speed-walking my way to plant two firm knocks on Karen's door with a worried expression when I hear the heaviness of her breathing from out here.

I don't wait for her to tell me to come in as my instincts force me to open the door in a panic, only to see her chest heaving and a hand clutching onto it.

Shit..

"Karen.." I rush to her bedside so fast that I think I may have startled her as she didn't seem to notice me even enter the room, and she holds up an index finger to give her a second just when I'm about to start shouting 'what's wrong'.

Luckily her coughs start to become less frequent, and I realize that this is just a shortness of breath and not.. I dunno a heart attack or something.

And although I'm not an expert when it comes to medical stuff, I also happen to know what to do when it comes to scenarios like these. So without wasting another painful second, I calmly place a hand on her back to help her up into a sitting position, ensuring that her back is inclined to about 45 degrees before I'm quickly grabbing a couple of pillows to support her lower back.

I hear another dry cough. Followed by another.

"It's okay.." I whisper reassuringly before rubbing her back ever-so-softly, tucking a strand off my distracting hair behind my ear as I sadly watch her struggle to properly breathe in a sufficient amount of oxygen, but it'd almost always end up being cut off; almost like her body refused to take in anymore. Like her lungs were just giving up.

But I made sure to stay and reassure her. Patiently and comfortingly as I know that there's not much more I can do apart from stay with her until she eventually regains control over her breathing pattern.

I'm not gonna lie. The entire time I was scared shitless.. but I made sure to remain calm. To some extent at least. It was obvious in my eyes that I was beyond super worried, not to mention ready to start panicking myself as I'm unsure whether I should call for help despite her clutching onto my hand tightly for me to stay.

I don't know how long I'd been here exactly. Possibly over fifteen minutes as I softly wring her right hand with both of mine. But the sleep doesn't encase me even in the slightest as I make sure to let her know that I'm right here for her, vocalizing it too so that a small appreciative smile forms on her pursed lips as she nods before going back to her wheezy breaths.

Every so often, I'd tell her to follow my breathing in attempt to get her back on the right track. Sometimes it'd work, while sometimes it didn't. But that didn't stop me from being as encouraging yet quiet as possible, and soon enough, her crushing hold on my hand loosens and I shift so that I'm sitting more on the bed, rather than hanging by the edge.