Electing The Alpha

Chapter 66:

"Are you sleepy?" He asks me and I deny it but my eyes betray me again and he had to wake me.
I glance at the time on my watch and its half past eight. Its raining heavily outside and I shiver because of the cold. I should be in my room by now with my heater on by now. With my asthmatic condition, I shouldn't  be in the cold for a long time. I rub my hands lightly to ignite some heat but it doesn't help at all and I'm frightened I would have an attack.

"We need to go home! You are getting cold" Jake states firmly getting up and packing his stuff.
"No! We are not done with the project! Besides, who said I'm cold?"
"But its late" Jake retorts.
"I can write this! Besides, I am not allowed to walk in the rain"
Jake sighs and peels his grey hoodie off his body and throws it at me.

"What?" I ask
"Wear it" he instructs and I laugh.
"Its alright. I can't wear it"
"Just wear it Nikki! Stop being adamant"
I huff and slip the grey hoodie on.
A ghost of a smile appears on his face when he sees me wearing the hoodie but then it disappears into that wry expression.
"Okay so I drafted something" I tell him handing him the paper and then sneezed. He glowers at me before shifting his gaze to the paper to read whatever was on it.

Then another sneeze came and then another. Then I started to cough and sneeze even more making Jake shoot up from his seat. I couldn't breathe well now. My nostrils are blocked and am struggling for oxygen.

"What is it Nikki? Somebody help!" Jake yells and I struggle to breathe.
I point to my bag to signal Jake that my inhaler is in there. People have surrounded me now and someone tells Jake I'm having an asthma attack. I feel like my lungs are closing up and my chest feels tight. I don't know why I'm having this right now. I try to breathe but end up wheezing. The pain in my chest intensifies and I close my eyes as tears stream onto my face.

Many hands are touching my soft skin and I spot a woman digging  into my bag and she brings out my inhaler. She  puts it to my mouth.
"Suck it sweetie!" She says softly and I oblige even though I didn't know her. I wanted the pain to go! I wanted to breathe normally. Jake looks worried when I steal a glance at him.

"One more suck sweetie" the woman urges and I do it. Then the pain vanishes and my eyes are heavy.

"I think you should take her home" those were the last words I heard.

💚💚💚
I wake up and its still raining heavily outside plus its dark. I scan my surroundings and I'm not in my room. This room is different. I yawn and look at the time on my watch. It was exactly 13:46am in the morning. But where was I? Then the memories flooded in. Jake and I were at the diner or lemme say his former workplace doing the project and then I had an attack. It could be he brought me to his apartment. I look down at my clothing and I'm still in his grey hoodie. I get out of the bed. I can breathe normally now. I decide to look under the pillow to see if Helen's picture was still there but it wasn't and I didn't spot it anywhere. I shrug.

This is like another déjà vu situation. I walk out of the bedroom and head towards the hall. Jake sat there with head bent writing something vigorously. There were lots of books on the table which were opened and lots of papers both crumpled and straight. Some were even on the floor. He was in his shirt and jeans. His hair was messy but he didn't care, he was busy for our project. It warms my heart a bit and I smile.

"Jake" I call softly and he whirls his head up to look at me. I think I scared him.
"Are you okay? Can you breathe?" He asks concerned walking towards me. He stops right in front of me, our faces inches apart.
"Yes I can! Its better now" I reply with a grateful smile.

Jake smiles back
"I was so worried about you! I thought you were going to die! Your face was so red and..."
"I usually have those attacks. Its a part of me now. Since I was little"
"When did you realise  that you had it?"
"When I was seven"
"Sorry but why didn't you tell me you had that condition?"
"I just don't like telling people about it" I reply walking towards where the books and papers were.