Day 6: Nebuliser
Breathing was important, but sometimes it sucked.
As in, he literally was trying hard to suck in the next breath and the next. And the next.
He was on his knees, wheezing away, while Scott sat beside him, rubbing comforting circles as he continued to concentrate on getting oxygen into his lungs. John was kneeling in front of him, pump and nebuliser at the ready, while Gordon had taken Alan out of the way, the four-year-old in tears.
Virgil hadn't had an asthma attack for years, he'd almost forgotten that he suffered with it since it had been so long. Fortunately, Grandma had kept his medicine up to date, all he had to do was stop the wheezing cough enough to take the pump.
The nebuliser helped. It meant that Virgil would get a good dose of the medication, and it also prevented him from coughing on the particles of medication. John had already pumped the first dose into the clear oval ball, and was hovering it beside his face, waiting for Virgil to reach out for it.
Eventually he managed to get the cough under control enough to take the first dose. Breathe in from the nebuliser, count to ten, breathe out through his nose. He counted in his head while John prepared the next dose and the cycle was repeated.
John then disappeared to prepare the hot water bottle while Scott continued to sit beside Virgil to keep him calm.
The hot water bottle on his back helped to open his airways. And Virgil sat back, leaning against the couch, comforted by the presence of his older brothers and the knowledge that they knew exactly how to help him. Once his breathing was better, there was a coffee ready and waiting. By the time he'd drunk that he was virtually asleep, leaning heavily on his brother.
Thankfully, he grew out of his childhood asthma, but he never forgot the horrific feeling of not being able to breathe. Years later, he made sure as part of the infirmary on Two he had not only the pumps but the nebulisers too. And the hot packs.