~ Breathe ~

{Chapter 11}

It was the middle of the night when Christella woke up suddenly, sitting up. She wasn't quite sure what caused her to wake up until she felt the familiar sensation of her hands and feet burning.

"No!" Christella groaned. "Not now!"

Making her way quickly to the bathroom, Christella sat on the cool wooden floors as it soothed the pain. 'Why does it have to happen at the most inconvenient times?' Christella thought.

Her breath hitching in her throat, Christella attempted to fill her lungs with oxygen as she inhaled sharply. She could feel her throat closing up. Christella knew she needed Heath, he's the only person who could help her. She stood up and gripped the wall as she felt the world spinning around her violently. Her vision blurred as she made her way to the room Heath was sleeping in. Stumbling to the door handle, she opened it only to remember that  Robert was sleeping in there too. She started feeling even dizzier as she fell to the ground, unconscious.

"Christella? Christella?!" Christella came to to find that she was up on a bed surrounded by people. As her eyes focused to the sudden light intake, she saw who was around her. Heath, Robert, Maggie, Flynn and Gabe were all standing around with concerned expressions.

"What happened dearie?" Maggie asked. She was suddenly very aware of the fact that the extreme pain in her hands and feet was still lingering. She seemed to have been numb before this point.

"I — I don't know." She answered truthfully. She didn't know what happened at all, nothing like this had ever happened to her, she had never passed out like that.

Christella's eyes darted over to Heath who looked at her confusedly. "What's the matter?" He asked.

"My hands — and my feet." Christella could feel her face going red as she had tried to hold in everything, and now it had all pent up and she began to breathe heavily to allow air to her lungs, alarming everyone.

"Shoot. Are they hurting again?" Heath asked. Christella nodded. Heath went over to envelope her in a hug but when he ouched her he pulled back. "Chrissy, you're burning up." He said.

Maggie placed a hand on her forehead. "Do you feel ill dear?"

Christella shook her head no.

"Maggie, Christella has Anderson's syndrome." Heath said.

"Oh my dear, why didn't you tell me?" Maggie had a look of sympathy and pity on her face as she saw Christella begin to cry.

Maggie was a retired nurse, so she knew all about all these different illnesses and it was a good thing she knew what Christella was suffering from. "I've only ever seen this happen in people who haven't had medication —"

"She doesn't. The Damien's refuse to get her any."

Anger flashed through Maggie's eyes now as she stood up abruptly. "Come on, we're going to get something to fix this."

"But it's —" Christella looked at the clock on the wall. "2:30 in the morning."

"I was a nurse, they'll give me whatever they want. We're going to make sure everything's sorted out by the morning Christella, I promise you."