Chapter 3

"Why didn't you tell me before?" It came out as if I was mad, but I wasn't. I was just worried. He looked at me, giving me an evil look. He didn't want to talk about it. It wasn't anyone's fault though. Between the stress, the running, the dusty radio, it was almost really clear to me now. I should have know what would happen. Now I was really afraid. And he was probably just as afraid as I was. Only he would never say he was scared. Even if he really was. Dawson wouldn't tell you if something was wrong with him either. I should have known before when we were having the pillow fight. He often worried about everyone else first. That's why I liked him so much. I tried the next best thing. I knew what could happen if I didn't go to get his medicine. I also knew what could happen if I did go. The sirens were sounding. No sane person would run through their house while the sirens were on. "I'm going." I had no idea where that came from.

"Don't go." he paused. "I'm fine, really." He swallowed. "I just need to." He paused. "sit for a little while. Please." I could tell he was struggling a bit to get the words out and some air in. I sighed. But you couldn't hear it because the thunder clasped loudly. I looked at Dawson. He had his head against the wall and his eyes were closed. His hand was still on his chest. It was rapidly moving up and down. He was getting worse by the second. I felt really guilty. I didn't-well, I did know what to do, but I didn't want to do it. I should go and get it. I kept saying that. I was scared to go. But he must be even more scared than me. If it was me there, he would go. That did it. I was going. I didn't really know what else to do. I had to find his inhaler. Dawson could die. There was no way I was going to let that happen. I got up and ran for his life.

"Joey!" He yelled. "Don't!" But I ran away from him. I could hear him yelling now and then. He was scared. I was scared, more than I had ever been before. The sirens stopped when I reached my living room. The TV was still on. I kept running, all the way up the stairs, and into the bathroom. I didn't notice if I had really even loved him before. Right now, I knew I had truly started to love him. I opened the cabinet, and I knew I had found his inhaler. Relief came over me as I sped down the stairs. The sirens went on again. I heard a loud rumble. The kitchen shook, and I managed to find the basement steps. A sound louder than a train was coming and getting louder by the second. I closed the door and ran as fast as I could. In the darkness, I found my pillow just as it felt like it was about to get bad. The drains sucked loudly. I couldn't hear Dawson, even if he was yelling, just the drains and the wind. It seemed like forever. My ears popped. They couldn't endure the volume. The wind. The drains. I couldn't take it. Suddenly, it lowered. My ears popped again. The drains stopped. The wind had diminished. I took in a breath of relief. I found the flashlight and turned it on. I looked at Dawson. By now he was really having trouble breathing. He was not taking in much air. He was blue, and his head was cocked to the side. I wish I had his nebulizer, but I didn't even know what outside looked like.

I gave him his inhaler. He shook it and placed it in his mouth. He took a deep breath and pressed down the canister. He held his breath. I waited for a reaction from him. He let his breath out. "Thanks." He said. He was leaning against the wall again, but his eyes were open and his breathing a little bit better, but he still sounded really bad. He took another puff from his inhaler.

"Are you okay?" I was hoping he was okay enough to make it up the stairs.

"Yea. Just give me a few minutes." He looked exhausted. I sighed and sat next to him against the wall. I hoped he was all right. All I wanted to do right now was kiss him. But I couldn't. If he had another attack, I didn't know what I would do. I looked over at him. Still struggling. I closed my eyes and I looked up. God, please let him be okay. Please let him be okay. I opened my eyes and looked up at the ceiling. The house. Oh my gosh. I had forgotten about the rest of the house.

"When we go upstairs, we are going to check on the house." I pushed his hair away from his eyes. He smiled. We sat there for about five minutes and finally, we both decided to go upstairs. He took a puff from his inhaler and I helped him up. I balanced him on one shoulder and we trudged up the stairs.

"I'm fine Joey." He insisted. But he didn't pull his arm away. I opened the door. And saw something unbelievable.

My house was still standing.

Amazing. Except that when I went upstairs, most of the ceiling was gone. Rain was coming in. I slowly let out a breath. Nothing else had been broken. I closed my eyes. Thank God. I opened them to the sound of police car sirens. Looking out the window, I saw some police cars and ambulances coming down the street. When got to the front lawn and a policeman came running towards us.

"Is anyone hurt?" He took one look at Dawson and called an ambulance over.

"I'm fine!" Dawson was being stubborn. I could hear he still wasn't breathing right. I glared at him.

"Dawson, you sound terrible."

"You do. But if you want to go to the school, they have a first aid station there." The policeman said. The ambulance pulled up.

"I want to stay with Joey." He said. I looked at him. He smiled back.

"Take the bus over there. Your sure your all right?" He said.

"Thanks, but I'm fine." He walked towards the bus. I followed him. Dawson found a seat. Some of our neighbors were around us. But I wasn't in the mood to talk to any them. I could sense Dawson looking at me.

"What?" That was all I had said. He grabbed me and kissed me. It was a slow deep kiss. Our lips broke apart. He took a hit from his inhaler. Then smiled. I smiled back. "I love you." I whispered.

"I love you too." He said back. Sometime after the kiss, he fell asleep. I looked around from the windows. Mostly just roofs were ripped off. There was stuff everywhere.

When we got to the school, I woke him up. We walked inside, and gave them our names. "Dawson, you should go to the first aid station." He looked at his inhaler in his hands. I knew he wasn't feeling much better than he had before.

"I want to see my parents." He said. He looked around, and finally found them near a table. He ran.

"Oh my gosh, Dawson!" Dawson's mother was running towards him. My sister saw me. They ran. We all hugged and kissed and exchanged greetings. "Dawson, what happened? Did you. Oh my gosh." He was wheezing. Loudly. "Dawson, we have to get you to first aid." His mom walked him over. I walked to go with them, but Bessie pulled my shirt. I turned around to yell at her, but instead I looked at her and hugged her. If someone hadn't broken the VCR, Dawson and I would have never been watching TV. I hugged her harder. I don't think I had ever loved her more than that moment.