Respira

by The J.A.M. a.k.a. Numbuh i

Partially inspired by “The Rat From Perfecto” by José Ramiro Acosta Pérez. The sniper scene from “Mary”, from Rhubella's point of view. One of my shorter fanfics. A few corrections done on it.

6. Respira

IV — RESPIRA

Roddy took me home, and seeing the condition I was in, decided to stay with me for a while, perhaps to make up an alibi that the two of us were on a date and never on that cursed street. So we just sat on the couch of my living room, doing nothing, and saying nothing.

Nothing could be done or said, nothing that we knew of.

Never had either of us encountered a situation like this.

…breathe…

As the evening wore on, I gradually stopped needing to remind myself to breathe, and my trembling had subsided, at long last.

"R—Roddy?" I asked, finally.

"Yes, babe?"

"Did—did we kill that girl—Mary?" Normally I never bothered to learn the names of any looser, but the jaguar's roar had laser-burned Mary's name into my brain.

"Of course not, babe! She's a toon, remember? You can't kill a toon!"

"Um—right—right, I—forgot about that." Then why did the charts warn against FATAL overdoses? Was it referring to non-toons?

Roddy tried to get my mind off today's events and turned on the television. A familiar song played, and an announcer said, "—CME Breaking News Special Report."

The scene switched to a news desk, where some guy with a beard was sitting. "Good evening, I'm Biff Windsock, filling in for our regular anchorwoman, Mary Melody."

My eyes widened when I heard that name. I perked my ears as high as I could.

"Updating our previous report, Acme Acres General Medical Centre has confirmed that K-ACME's Mary Melody has fallen into a coma…"

…hold your breath…

"…working furiously to counter the drug overdose she received earlier today while commuting from Acme Looniversity…"

…hold your breath…

"…still unclear how Mary Melody was shot, but witnesses say that she appeared to be protecting a furry toon, apparently also a student of…"

…hold your breath…

"…still unclear on whether she or the other toon, or both, were the intended targets. Acme Acres Police is beginning investigations…"

…hold your breath…

"…furry toon she protected, a male jaguar or leopard, was the first to respond to the shooting and began CPR when he realised she wasn't breathing…"

…hold your breath…

"…first responder was not available for comment…"

…hold your breath…

"…news team standing by when the ambulance arrived at Acme General…"

…hold your b—

I leaned forward when I saw Mary's inert body being taken down from the ambulance. All the cameras were on her, obviously, and with all the flashing lights, anyone else who was nearby practically disappeared into the background, and all I could see was the blank stare in her beautiful dark brown eyes—

…hold your breath…

But then I saw him.

As a First Responder, he was required to ride with her and stay in the hospital until dismissed by authorities, so he was there.

…hold your breath…

The jaguar was in the ambulance, in the shadows, practically hiding from the lights and the cameras.

He no longer had that "smug" face he had earlier.

I had succeeded in my mission.

…hold your breath…

Now he had an expression of inhumane worry, of fear of losing something precious to him, as well as determination to fight for her life in whatever way he could.

…hold your breath…

He seemed to be praying to whatever God he believed in.

…hold your breath…

Suddenly, the emblems that hung from his gold chain seemed to jump out at me. Was he truly as evil as Montana said he was?

…hold your breath…

Perhaps it was because someone swung a boom around as Mary was wheeled into the hospital, but right there, I clearly heard the jaguar say:

"…ua, respira…"

And what was even more frightening was that at that exact instant, his orange eyes were staring straight at the camera—

—straight at me.

…hold your breath…

The cameras followed the stretcher, and the jaguar stealthily followed the cameras, instinctively staying in the background. Maybe he was very shy, or maybe he just didn't want to be seen at the moment, but still, I could see where he was. His movements were graceful, feline, and perfectly practiced by someone who had been hunted before.

Roddy's phone rang again, but I didn't care. The jaguar's word and face were also embedded in my head now:

"…respira…"

I was getting suspicious of Montana: the news weren't saying anything about the jaguar causing any trouble whatsoever at the Looniversity.

"…respira…"

His face was pleading. And it almost seemed as if he was talking to ME—

"That was Montana," said Roddy, hanging up. "He's going to wait until things cool off, and then he'll call us when he comes up with a better plan. I think that this time we're going to HAVE to hunt that stupid jaguar in the foreHURK!"

I don't know what came over me, but right there, I grabbed Roddy by the neck and jerked him to his foot-paws.

"Listen, Roderick! You tell that furless brat that I don't care how much money he offers me, but I am NOT picking up a gun again FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE! I don't care how badly he wants that jaguar gone, or how badly he wants his hide, I don't care what the jaguar has done or HASN'T done, I don't care what Montana's plans are or who he hires now, but I don't want ANYTHING to do with him EVER AGAIN!" And I slammed the door on his face.

It took me a moment to realise that I had just pushed Roddy out of the living room and shoved him out of my house.

…hold your breath—
"…respira…"

And then I got the most sickening feeling I had ever experienced, welling up from the pit of my stomach. I was suddenly so disgusted at Roddy, Montana, that duck, but most of all, myself, that I clamped my paws on my muzzle and stumbled to the bathroom, where I—literally—tossed my cookies.

…hold your breath—
"…respira…"

At myself. I had NEVER felt so disgusted at myself. After some impromptu cleansing, I stumbled back into the spinning living room and flopped on the couch.

…hold your breath—
"…respira…"

"…send our well wishes to her family and friends. Private vigils are springing up among our staff and Acme Looniversity students and faculty…"

Vigils?

"…more news tonight at 10…"

I shut off the television, and buried my face in my paws. I still couldn't scream or even cry.

…hold your breath—
"…respira…"

I sat there and sat there in total silence, shivering in fright whenever I heard a distant ambulance or police siren.

The trembling was creeping its way back.

I was glad my mother and sister weren't home to see me like th—

Vigils?

…hold your breath—
"…respira…"

It suddenly dawned on me that Montana's opinion of Mary being a "no-name" was completely wrong.

Mary Melody was everything BUT.

She had friends.

She had family.

She had a CAREER, (CENSORED) it!

…hold your breath—
"…respira…"

…and I had just sent Acme Acre's favourite news girl into a coma…

…hold your breath—
"…respira…"

I felt weak, very weak.

…hold your breath—
"…respira…"

I felt afraid, very afraid.

…hold your breath—
"…respira…"

I slumped off the couch and onto the lush brown carpet

…hold your breath—
"…respira…"

I had no idea what else to do, but the news staff and the looser students seemed to be on the right track.

…hold your breath—
"…respira…"

I wobbled on to my knees, weakly leaning against the armrest, waited a bit for the room to stop spinning, and looked up.

"Um…hello…"

…hold your breath—
"…respira…"

"…uh, look, I—I'm not sure what Your Name is—or what direction I'm supposed to be facing—or if I'm supposed to be looking at something—or if I'm supposed to be in a particular position, but—uh—this seems just about right. If it isn't—I—I apologise in advance, but—"

…hold your breath—
"…respira…"

"Listen, I—I know we've never talked—or—I never bothered to talk to You—and—I—suppose You frown on that——(sigh), look I know I'm no angel or even a saint, and yes, I did this for the money. I don't know if that jaguar is anything that Montana said he was, or if he deserved anything of what we were about to give him but—but—"

…hold your breath—
"…respira…"

"—it's just that—Mary Melody—she—she had nothing to do with this, okay? She—looks like she's a good person, and trust me, with all the friends she appears to have, it really looks like she—like—"

…hold your breath—
"…respira…"

"Look, what I'm trying to say is that she doesn't deserve to be in a coma. She—doesn't deserve to die. If anyone does—it's—it's me. I—" The tears began flowing, at last. For some reason I felt a gentle release.

…hold your breath—
"…respira…"

"Yes, she—she got in the way. And—just—understand that—that—I—I'm not asking anything for myself. I—don't think I deserve any favours from You at this point—or that I ever will. And if she or the jaguar find out I did it and decide to get back at me—I—I won't blame them—and I'll try to bear whatever they dish out against me. If they never forgive me—I—I won't hold it against them—"

…hold your breath—
"…respira…"

"But—as I said before, Mary looks like she's a good person—though You probably know her better than I do. The—the thing is—that—that————I'm———I'm asking for is—if—if——————"

…hold your breath—
"…respira…"

"Well, You know—if—You could—You know—pull some strings——————here and there————and————and give her back to her family————and her friends———just———————————just—"

…hold your breath—
"…respira…"

I finally collapsed, sobbing into the couch.

"—————just————————don't———————let—————————her———————die——————"

…hold your breath—
"…respira…"

I don't know for how long I kneeled there, just crying my eyes out, and trembling all the more. All the time I was there, however, the jaguar's word, "respira", kept repeating in my head. Also, his face would not leave my mind either, and I kept looking at how he looked at me—

—pleading?

…hold your breath—
"…respira…"

Remembering carefully, the jaguar expression didn't seem to portray a desire for revenge. Yes, he was very upset about what had just happened to his friend, but his expression had no malice whatsoever. It was as if he was telling ME, ASKING me to…to…

…hold your—
"RESPIRA."

Suddenly, I stopped trembling.

Grunting, I got up and stumbled to my computer, waiting a bit as it powered up.

"…respira…"

I quickly went on-line and did a search, hoping I was spelling that word correctly.

"…respira…"

A quick spelling correction and I was on the right track.

"…respira…"

Finally, it was there. A one-word message that the jaguar had "sent" me, a message that, while it only had one word, conveyed volumes of information.

"…respira…"

I didn't know how, or why, or even when, but I somehow felt the assurance that Mary would pull through.

"…respira…"

There was still the issue of how I would deal with this, and how I would recover, if ever, but the jaguar's message would help me pull through as well, one day at a time, one moment at a time—

"…respira…"

—one breath at a time.

"…respira…"

That was what I needed to do, for now.

"…respira…"

The rest would come later.

"…respira…"

"I will, Mister Jaguar. And thank you."

"…respira…"

It was what he was praying, what he was pleading Mary to do—what he was pleading me to do.

"…respira…"

And it would be what I would do.

"…respira…"

At last, I smiled, weakly, but I smiled.

"…respira…"

Don't hold your breath, Rhubella. Respira: breathe.

THE END / DAS ENDE / DIE EINDE / EINDE / EL FIN / O FIN / LE FIN / IL FINE / SFIRSIT / KONIEC / KONEC / BEIGAS / LOPPU / TELOS / SOF / TAMAT / LIAU LIAU / DANEH O' / WAN-LE / OWARIMASU / SLUTT / SLUT / UXUL