Journey of a one handed magician

Chapter 3

I was sick. Whenever I get too sick like that, I tend to think about my father even more than I normally do. That's because when I was a kid, he used to wake up every thirty minutes to check on me. My temperature, the sound of my breathing etc.,. I had asthma. So the sound of my breathing is always a concern to him. He'd rub Vicks or whatever vapor rubs we had on my neck and chest. He did this till I went away from home to college.

"Man just stay here. Right next to me. Please", I tell my friend who is browsing something on my laptop. Not sure if he was browsing on the internet or just checking what I have in all my drives or just checking my browser history. I'm sure he is a type of guy to find something on someone he knows so that he could use it as a leverage or blackmail to get things done. I knew him only for the past three months.

"I am not going anywhere", he said, "Just tell me what it is you got now. Why do you think something bad is gonna happen?".

"I don't know. I just can't breathe normally. My heart is beating too fast"

"How sick are you man?"

"I had Asthma when I was a kid. My father would take care of me", I tell him, "I don't know what it is now. It is not asthma", cough cough, "It's not.."

"What is it then?", he said with eyes on my laptop, clicking something seriously. No way he is gonna find anything in my laptop except my browsing history asking some stupid questions regarding my life.

"I don't know."

"You shouldn't have smoked that last joint man. Don't worry it will just go away in few minutes", he said closing my laptop. He placed it on the floor close to wall as if it needed additional support. He crouched to the front edge of the chair, flexed his legs and laid back with his nose pointing the ceiling.

When I opened my eyes, he was having a sound sleep. May be the sound of his snore woke me up. The Pizza that I bought in the evening was laying cold and open on my laptop desk. cough cough.

I know I am going to be coughing non stop the whole night from all that smoke inhalation. I knew it was bad and still did it anyway. Sometimes you need to do what is really bad for you as a punishment for missing something that was natural and easy. What did I miss? I don't remember that much now. Mission accomplished, I think.