Halstead Sister

Asthma Attack

This was requested by @shreejita23

Tess POV 9 years old
I was super excited. Will and his girlfriend, Natalie, were taking me to the zoo.
"C'mon, let's go!" I begged Will.
"Ok, ok, I just wanted to make sure I had everything." He told me as he put some items in a backpack. I tugged at his arm until he finally got up and led me out of the apartment. We picked up Natalie on the way.
"What are you most excited to see?" Natalie asked during the drive.
"The hippos!" I answered. "Oh wait, maybe the giraffes. Or the elephants. No, the frogs!"
"So all of them?" Will chuckled. I shrugged and stared at the window.
When we got to the zoo, it was crowded and the parking lot was super full so, Will dropped me and Natalie at the front so we could wait in line. After what felt like forever, Natalie got the tickets and we waited for Will.
"There he is!" I pointed out my brother as he walked toward us.
"Find parking?" Natalie asked him.
He nodded, catching his breath. "Nearly a mile away." Natalie laughed and gave him a kiss on the cheek.
"Gross" I scrunched up my nose. "Let's go see the animals!" I started to run ahead of them.
"Tess!" Will called after me. He sounded mad so I stopped in my tracks and turned around. "You do not wander off, understand? You have to stay with me or Nat, ok?"
"Ok" I sighed. "Will you two hurry up then?" Will smiled and held my hand as we entered the zoo. We started in the 'Africa' section and saw elephants and giraffes and hyenas and lions. As we headed to the 'Aquatic Arena', I was getting tired from all the walking. I started to breathe heavy.
"You ok, T?" Will asked, as he noticed I slowed my pace.
I nodded. I didn't want him to think that I was too tired to see the rest of the animals. "My legs are littler than yours, I can't walk as fast." I told him. Will accepted my answer and we got to the seals. I was starting to feel really out of breath. I rested my arms on the railing and stared at the seals.
"Ready to move on?" Will asked after a few minutes. I nodded, breathing too hard to talk. "You sure you're ok? You seem to be breathing hard." Will looked worried.
"Maybe we can take a little break?" I huffed.
"Sure. Let's go find a place to sit and have something to drink." Will held out his hand and I held it weakly. My chest was starting to feel tight but I didn't want to let Will know because there were so many animals I still wanted to see. As we kept walking my chest hurt more and more and it was harder to get air in. I stopped walking and Will looked down at me. "What's wrong?" He asked. He could see the fear in my eyes and knelt down beside me.
"Hurts" was all I managed to croak out.
"Damn, Nat, I can hear her wheezing from here." Will said. "Her inhaler is in the backpack, can you grab it?" He passed her the bag as he picked me up. "Let's sit on that bench." He quickly walked over to the bench with Natalie a few steps behind us, still rummaging through the bag. He put me on the bench and sat next to me.
"It's not in here." Natalie passed the bag back to Will.
"It has to be." Will said urgently as he quickly tore through the bag. I started coughing and Natalie sat down on my other side and gently rubbed my back. "I must've left it at home. I have an extra in the car." He said. He looked at me nervously as I still struggled to breathe. "Here's the plan; I'll run to the car. I'll try to find a zookeeper on the way who can hopefully help you guys get to a first aid station where they should have some oxygen. I'll be back as fast as I can. Hang in there for me, ok babes?" Will stroked some of my hair off my face. I coughed but nodded. I didn't have much of a choice. He got up and started running toward the zoo exit.

Natalie POV
I sat on the bench next to Tess as she struggled to get in air. She started coughing again and I tried my best to keep her calm.
"I know it's hard, honey, but try and take slow deep breaths, ok?" I said calmly as I rubbed her back. "You're doing great." I reassured her. It didn't take a doctor to know Tess was having trouble. She was leaning forward, her chest muscles moved awkwardly with each breath, and her wheeze could be heard from a few feet away. Tears started running down her face. "It's ok, sweetheart, Will will be back soon. Try to calm down." I tried to comfort her.
"Bur-" she breathed. "-urns."
"I know. But you are doing so good and Will is going to be back soon and you'll take your inhaler and feel so much better." I kept my hand on her back to try and ground her. After maybe 5 minutes, a golf cart pulled up in front us. A zookeeper and another employee hopped off.
"Natalie and Tess?" The zookeeper asked. I nodded. "We were told she's having some trouble breathing?" I nodded. "This here is James, one of our EMTs. Why don't we head up to the first aid station?"
I was grateful to get some help. "That's great, thank you." I helped Tess stand up and sit on the back of the golf cart. I sat next to her and wrapped my arm around her shoulder. A few seconds later, we arrived at the first aid station and James led us inside.
"Tess have a seat, right here." James pointed to a chair and had Tess sit down. "I'm going to give you a mask to help you breathe better, ok?" Tess just nodded. James hooked up an oxygen mask and placed it around Tess's face. "Ok?" Tess shrugged.
"Try and breathe, Tess. That should make it easier." I told her. James pulled over another chair so I could sit beside Tess. I put my hand on her back again and resumed rubbing gentle circles. I was relieved when Tess's respiratory rate decreased ever so slightly. "Good job, honey. Does that feel a little bit better?" Tess nodded. Finally, there was a knock on the door and a very sweaty and out of breath Will stood on the other side.
"Hey, got the inhaler" he held up the much needed item. He knelt down in front of Tess. "Ok kiddo. Here you go." He shook it up, pulled back the oxygen mask, and helped Tess take a puff. She wasn't able to hold it very long and coughed almost immediately after inhaling. "Try again." Will told her as he prepped for another round. Tess held it longer but still not enough. He placed the oxygen mask back on her. "Give that a minute and we'll try again," he said. Will then helped Tess with the third puff and she was able to inhale deeply and hold it. "Perfect, Tess." Will smiled. "How do you feel."
"Better." Tess was still trying to catch her breath but her respirations were much more regular and no audible wheeze could be heard.
"That's what I was hoping for." Will smiled. "I think we should probably head home and rest."
Tess shook her head. "We barely saw any animals." She looked so disappointed.
"What if we came back next weekend?" I suggested. "And on our way home we can get some ice cream?" I wanted to try and make the day a little less upsetting for the young girl.
Tess thought for a second and smiled. "Cookie dough ice cream?" We both looked at Will who rolled his eyes but nodded. "Ok then." Will picked up Tess, thanked the EMT, and the three of us left the zoo.

A/N: sorry for the abrupt ending. Endings have never been my strong suit. Thank you for reading and please send me more ideas. Also, happy new year!