Attack

I fell to my knees shaking in uncontrollable sobs. "No…" I murmured as I flipped the unconscious Stan over. I brushed the powdery snow off of his face with shaking hands. He wasn't breathing.

"No Stan, no!" I shouted to no one in particular.

I put my hand on his heart, which was still beating. I then flipped out my cell phone and dialed 911.

A rough male voice answered, "Hello, please state your emergency."

"Yes, this is Wendy Testaburger and I have a huge emergency! I found my friend lying in the snow and he isn't breathing but has a heartbeat! You must hurry and get him to the hospital!"

"Okay, um, Wendy, calm down. I need you to calmly tell me your address and then we will send an ambulance right away."

Deciding that I would have to carry Stan back to my house, I gave him my own address. He accepted it, telling me help was on the way, and hung up.

"Oh god, oh god," I whispered with a shaky voice.

Somehow, being strong enough, I lifted Stan in my arms and proceeded to carry him to my house. It was only about forty yards away, but it was a struggle carrying him there.

I put him on my couch, and leaned down to attempt to give him CPR. I opened his mouth and tried to force oxygen down his airways, but it was as if there was something blocking them. I couldn't get any oxygen down.

Somewhere around here, Stan came around. His eyes shot open and he looked at me. "Wendy…" he wheezed, "Asthma…" and his eyes closed as he fell unconscious again.

"Asthma?" I worried aloud. I had thought I knew everything about Stan; I could tell his whole life's story to somebody, but he had never mentioned that he had asthma.

Unfortunately, I didn't know much about asthma (shocker, I know), so I ran over to the computer in the corner of our living room. I pulled up the Google search engine and typed in 'asthma attack'.

Wanting to know the basics, I clicked on the link titled 'Asthma, What Is". The definition on asthma read 'Asthma (AZ-ma) is a chronic (long-term) lung disease that inflames and narrows the airways.'

Reading further, I got the basics of how an asthma attack occurred which read, 'The airways are tubes that carry air into and out of your lungs. People who have asthma have inflamed airways. This makes the airways swollen and very sensitive. They tend to react strongly to certain substances that are breathed in.

When the airways react, the muscles around them tighten. This causes the airways to narrow, and less air flows to your lungs. The swelling also can worsen, making the airways even narrower. Cells in the airways may make more mucus than normal. Mucus is a sticky, thick liquid that can further narrow your airways.'

"Okay," I said to my self, breathing in and out to try to calm myself down, "I need to figure out what will happen to Stan if he doesn't get treated right away."

I exited the one sight and pulled up a promising website reading, 'Asthma Attack: Causes, Early Warning Signs, and Treatment'.

I scrolled down to the section titled 'What Happens If an Asthma Attack Goes Untreated?'

I was terrified of reading the answer, but I needed to know, so I read on.

'Without immediate asthma medicine and asthma treatment, your breathing will become more labored, and wheezing may get louder. If you use a peak flow meter during an asthma attack, your personal best reading will probably be reduced.

As your lungs continue to tighten during the asthma attack, you will be unable to use the peak flow meter at all. Gradually, your lungs will tighten so much during the asthma attack that there is not enough air movement to produce wheezing. This is sometimes called the "silent chest," and it is a dangerous sign. You may need to be taken to a hospital immediately with a severe asthma attack. Unfortunately, some people interpret the disappearance of wheezing during the asthma attack as a sign of improvement and fail to get prompt emergency care.

If you do not receive adequate treatment for an asthma attack, you will eventually be unable to speak and will develop a bluish coloring around your lips. This color change, known as "cyanosis," means you have less and less oxygen in your blood. Without immediate aggressive treatment in an intensive care unit, you will lose consciousness and eventually die.'

I screamed at that last sentence, and ran over to Stan who was still lying unconscious on the couch. Surely enough, as I feared, there around his lips was that dreaded bluish coloring. His blood was loosing too much oxygen.

"Stan, oh Stan, you have to make it through!" I sobbed, "You just have to!"

Luckily, I heard the approaching sirens of the ambulance. I ran over and flung the door open, waving my arms and jumping up and down like a maniac so the ambulance would know where to come.

The ambulance sped up and people started jumping out of it before it had even stopped moving. Two doctors ran to the back to pull out a stretcher, and one doctor ran up to me.

"What happened? Where is he?" he asked hurriedly.

I ushered him to where Stan lay on my couch. "He had an asthma attack, sir! I found him lying in the snow unconscious and I ran back here with him!"

The other men came in with the stretcher and loaded Stan on it and brought him into the ambulance and the doctor and I followed them as I continued my evaluation to him. But before we ran out of the house, I grabbed the little teddy bear I was going to give Stan and put it in my jacket's large inside pocket.

"He woke up and mumbled that he had asthma but then fell unconscious again. I researched it online and I found out that he had a severe asthma attack! Do you see this bluish color around his lips?" I said, gesturing at Stan's mouth, "that is called 'cyanosis' and it means he barely has any oxygen in his bloodstream. If Stan doesn't get the proper treatment incredibly soon, he could die!" I said, shaking with sobs.

The doctor and I jumped into the back of the ambulance as the other two men went to the front of the car.

"Guys!" shouted the doctor, "This boy is going to die if we don't get him to the hospital soon! STEP ON IT!"

The car went to an incredible speed and the trees seen out of the window where just a blur of green.

The doctor began to put an oxygen mask on him and pumping down on his chest to keep his heart rate going.

When I noticed that the oxygen mask was only on medium-high, I told the doctor, "You need to set that oxygen mask so that it's blowing as hard as it can, because Stan's airways are inflamed and the mucus is blocking air entrance. So if you put it on higher, there is a chance that it will blow the mucus out of the way."

"Good observation, um, Wendy is it?" the doctor questioned.

"Yes,"

"Could you pump his heart while I change the setting?"

"Yeah." I took his position and started pumping Stan's heart. The doctor went over and turned the oxygen mask up to the highest setting.

"Asthma attacks aren't really my field," he told me.

"Oh," I said, letting him resuming his position at Stan's heart.

At that point the ambulance came to an abrupt stop and the men in the front came around to the front and grabbed Stan out, running him into Hell's Pass Hospital with me on their heels.

They ran Stan through everybody, and flew into the emergency room. I ran in there too, but a man stopped me saying, "Woah, woah, little lady, you can come in here. This is an emergency and its staff only!"

"No, sir, you don't understand," I said, more tears welling up in my eyes, "that's my boyfriend, and I need to be with him, because he means the world to me." The tears poured out.

He must have seen the agony in my expression. "Alright, come on in," he said, gesturing my in.

The operation, procedure, or whatever they were doing to Stan was already in motion. He had about 5 needles stuck in his arms in random places and an oxygen mask on full blast was over his mouth.

A doctor then jammed a tube down his throat and the tube started to suck something. A thick, yellow liquid oozed down the tube, which could have only been the mucus that was stuck in Stan's throat. It was pretty revolting, but at the moment I couldn't have cared less because all that mattered to me was that Stan would be alright.

Stan then shot straight up and started gagging on the tube. The doctors quickly pulled it out of him, and he started to choke out more mucus onto the operating table he was sitting on.

After it seemed that he had gotten it all out of his system, he started wheezing, trying to take as much air as he possibly could since he was deprived of it for too long.

The doctors were all around him, telling him to take it easy and to breathe slowly.

What idiots! He couldn't breathe for so long and now they're telling him to do it slowly?

"SOMEBODY GET HIM AN INHALER!!" I screamed, my face reddening at the sonic blast of my voice.

The doctors stared at me for a second, and then somebody ran out of the room.

The person came back with a little white inhaler, and Stan accepted it gratefully. He took deep breathes with the inhaler, and eventually he calmed down. He put the inhaler down after a couple minutes, and sighed. He took a breath of fresh air cautiously, as if testing to make sure he wouldn't start coughing uncontrollably. However, when nothing happened, he took a deeper breath, and said, "Alright, I'm okay."

The doctors smiled and gave him pats on the back before exiting the room. After they all left, Stan looked at me and jumped out of his skin. "WENDY?!?!" he exclaimed.

"…Yeah…?" I asked him hesitantly.

"Who…what…why…how…?" he stuttered, wanting to ask too many things at once.

I told him the whole story of his asthma attack, though he didn't remember waking up and telling me he had asthma.

"…but you're okay now?" I asked.

"Yes," he said, smiling brilliantly.

I jumped on him, hugging him so hard it ought to have brought on another asthma attack. We both fell onto the operation table kissing fervently.

He then pulled away, taking my hand and guiding me out of the hospital. It was pretty cold and dark, but his house was only a ten minute walk away from Hell's Pass whereas mine was twenty minutes away, and seeing as we didn't have a car available, this was our only option.

He wrapped his arm around my waist, holding me tight to him. My teeth chattered together, but he brought his other hand up to stroke my cheek and warm me up.

Eventually we made it to his house. His mom, not even knowing what happened, only questioned, "Stanley, I thought you were hanging out the whole time at Wendy's house?"

We looked at each other. "Nah, we decided to come here instead. Is it okay if we watch the movie here?"

"Of course, Stanley," his mom said with a loving look in her eyes.

Stan and I ran upstairs and collapsed onto his bed, laughing.

"So Stan, you never told me why you got that asthma attack in the first place," I brought up.

"Oh…" he said, looking at the floor, ashamed, "Um, I had to run out to buy you a present because I never got the time to myself to do it. You know, I've been with you so often, and I needed to be by myself so you wouldn't know what I got you." He shifted his gaze to me. "Well, I lost track of time trying to pick out the best gift. I looked at my cell phone and it said it was already 4:45, so I bought the gift and sprinted toward your house. I was an idiot, totally forgetting that I had asthma. So I started coughing and wheezing and eventually passed out in the snow I guess…" he trailed off, looking thoughtful. "I'm pretty lucky you found me, because I would have died if you hadn't."

I cringed visibly. "I don't like the idea of you dying. You almost gave me a heart attack when I saw you were in the snow!" I said, recalling the horrific event.

"Well, I guess I can give you your gift now," he said, pulling a long black velvet box out from his pocket.

He opened it in front of me and I gasped. "Oh Stan," I said, my eyes tearing up, "It's beautiful."

Inside the box was a beautiful diamond necklace that sparkled incredibly in the light.

"Do you want to try it on?" he asked gently.

"Yes," I told him as he took the necklace out and undid the clasp. He put in around my neck and snapped the clasp in place in the back. I ran into his bathroom to get a good look at it with him following me.

"It's amazing," I whispered.

"So you like it?" he questioned.

"Love it," I corrected him.

He smiled contently.

"Okay Stan, I got you a present, but it barely cost me anything, and I feel incredibly bad now because I probably should have gotten you a flat screen 56 inch TV with this being what you got for me," I said, guiding him back t his room.

"It's probably awesome," he said.

"Eh, not really. I thought it was kind of cute though," I told him, giggling.

We sat on his bed and I reached into my jacket and pulled out the little teddy bear.

He took it, smiling, and examined it.

"Aww, it's so cute!"

"Stan, you just sounded like a complete girl right there," I commented.

"Oh well," he told me. His finger touched the little heart with the message 'Forever and Always' on it.

"The message is true," he said, pulling me close to him, "Forever and always." He leaned down to give me a gentle kiss, which I returned. After a minute, we pulled away, just looking at each other in awe, as if we had been meant to be, as if we had been waiting for each other ever since we were born.

This moment was so perfect, so right. I looked up into his ice blue eyes like I could see into his soul. He looked down at me as if he felt the same way. He stroked my cheek, and I could see the love and devotion in his eyes. "I love you," he whispered.

"I love you too," I whispered back serenely.

He grinning ecstatically and I grinned back at him the same way.

Even though we had been dating for a few months, we had never said 'I love you' before. It was like we were too afraid to say it, too afraid the other person might not feel that same kind of love. Now we knew the truth about each other, and it felt amazing, like I was soaring. I had never been happier in my life than I had been in this moment. Never.

"Shall we go watch our movie?" Stan asked simply.

"Yes we shall," I told him.

We got off the bed and began to walk down the hallway. As we went, we held onto each other's waists, never wanting to let go.

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AN: How was that chapter? I got the stuff about asthma from a website, because I didn't know very much about it and I wanted to make it somewhat correct. As for the operation, I just totally made that up; I have no idea what would really happen if had to go to a hospital because of a severe asthma attack. REVIEW PLEASE!!!