Jay is lying on a couch, barely aware of his surroundings. Each breath, a struggle. He tries to stay as still as possible, because when he moves, he coughs, and when he coughs, it hurts. He hears snippets of his friend's voices through the dense fog that seems to be surrounding his brain. "We need to get him to a hospital!" Yes. That would probably be a good idea.. so why wasn't anyone moving him? Why was he still lying here on this scratchy couch? They'll figure it out. They had to. Maybe they would bring help here? All he needed to do was just, keep, breathing.

He liked it when Nya was there, holding his hand. But sometimes it would vanish, leaving him isolated, the only things that felt real were those he could touch. Right now his whole world was just him and this couch, and the stupid air that would not cooperate. It was becoming harder, he wasn't sure how much longer he could do this. He was exhausted, death was becoming more and more appealing. It would be so easy to stop. To give up. Let the fog envelope him, and fade out of existence, the fire in his lungs finally put to rest. Nya's hand slipped into his one more, and he remembered why he was fighting, why he couldn't give up. Her face comes slowly into focus as she says, "Just breathe."

Jay wakes up with a start. He was in the monastery, and he was struggling to breathe. He desperately tries to hold onto that mental image of her face, seeing it again almost made the dream worth it.. almost. His lungs started to burn, now was not the time to wallow in memories.. He grabs his inhaler from the night stand, but it doesn't sound right as he takes a puff. It doesn't taste right either. He shakes it up again and does a puff into air to try and see what is going on, there is no mist coming out. "Oh no.." he mutters, panic rising inside him. He tries again with the same result, now fairly certain it has run out.

He goes to Cole's room, knocking rapidly on the door. Cole slides open the door, eyes half closed. "Jay, what's up?" He says sleepily.

"My inhaler.. ran out." Says Jay, panic seeping into his voice. He expected Cole to rush him to his vehicle like last time, but instead he gives a lazy yawn and says, "Oh, I guess those samples don't last very long huh?" He takes another big yawn, before walking past Jay towards the kitchen at a leisurely pace.

Jay's panic grows, Cole doesn't seem to be taking this seriously, and is headed the wrong way! Last time they barely made it to the hospital in time. Why did they live on a remote mountain! He was now gasping for air, unable to even yell at Cole about his pathetic attempt at helping.

"Come on!" Says Cole who is half way down the hall. Jay obediently follows, at the mercy of his friend. Leaning one hand on the wall for support, air whistling as he stubbornly forces it into his lungs.

Cole enters the kitchen and starts rummaging around the pantry muttering things like "where is it.." eventually he goes "aha!" And pulls out another inhaler. He shakes it up and removes the cap, then squirts it into the air, mist clearly evident. He then passes it to Jay. "The pharmacist said to prime it the first time." He explains.

Jay eagerly takes a puff, 4 breaths and then another before sitting down on the floor, leaning against the cupboards, body collapsing with relief. He is trembling slightly as his body tries to remove the now pointless anxiety.

Cole sits down next to him, close enough that their thighs are touching. "You ok?" He asks gently.

"I thought.. I was going.. to die." States Jay, noticing his breathing is starting to improve.

"Sorry." Says Cole, "I should have given this to you sooner, I got it the day after the memorial. I guess I was a bit nervous you would get mad and say 'I don't have asthma!' so I put it off, then forgot about it.. my bad."

They sit there together in silence for a couple of minutes as Jay slowly catches his breath.

"The first time I couldn't breathe, on that couch, I was so scared," Jay pauses, taking another deep breath, "you have no idea, just how close I was to giving up." Cole tenses slightly, giving Jay his full attention. "I couldn't talk, I couldn't move, the only thing I could do was try to keep breathing, and trust that help was coming, that my friends were doing something. By the end each breath was taking everything I had. I wanted to give up. I wanted to stop. But I couldn't do it, I couldn't leave her." Tears started to form in Jay's eyes. He paused, taking one more puff of the inhaler.

"Oh Jay.." Cole says with pity. "We were trapped, we couldn't do anything, we didn't know how to help you."

"I know that now." Says Jay gently. "I don't blame you." He pauses, taking some time to breathe. "I wouldn't leave her, Cole, so how could she leave me? Maybe if I gave up sooner, she wouldn't have done it, she would still be here."

Cole pulls Jay close into a tight embrace. "No, if you had given up, she would have had no reason to stay. She would have still done it to save the world. Better that she could do so while being powered by hope, instead of fueled by despair."

Jay's sniffles turn into full blown sobs, crying into his friend's embrace.

"Next time we won't be so useless. Next time we'll help you faster." promises Cole, rubbing Jay's back.