InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "I'm imaging you as a turnip."

Shannon Rutherford (ballerinadreams) wrote in vas_captio_rpg,
@ 2009-04-06 00:05:00

Entry tags:

!complete, day 03, location: pharmacy/liquor store, shannon rutherford, shizuka domeki

Day Three - Daybreak
Who: Shizuka Domeki and Shannon Rutherford
Where: The Pharmacy
What: Looking for an inhaler and anything else that might provide useful
When: Sun up
Rating: PG-13 for language
Status: Complete

Between having frozen her ass off all night - hey, it had seemed like a good idea at the time to get so cold she'd never be able to sleep - and being under so much stress, by the time Sam woke up the following morning, rendering Shannon's shift complete, she could barely breathe at all. She croaked a hurried explanation to Sam as to where she was going and breathed in through her nose and out through her mouth as calmly as she could manage while writing to Domeki that she was leaving. She hoped he'd be awake.

The sunlight was a nice surprise and it felt amazing against her bare arms and shoulders. The tank top wasn't so bad in this weather. A little chillier than it had been on the Island, but she barely noticed because it felt infinitely warmer than she'd been feeling the past two days. Shannon took her time, keeping a slow pace and occassionally stopping entirely to gasp and wheeze after looking around to make sure no one could see or hear her. If she didn't find an inhaler in the pharmacy, she'd be so screwed at this point. Domeki would have to go fetch the Doctor or Martha or something, because she wouldn't be able to walk anymore by then. Panic would only put her into full blown attack mode and she'd probably be too close to passing out and crying to do anything for herself. She really, really hoped it didn't come down to that.

When she reached the thrift store, she was still alone and she frowned as she leaned against it, exhausted. It wasn't a hideously long walk, but it had felt like miles and miles. Hopefully he was up, around, and would show up in a few minutes. The sooner the better. ...and he'd better fucking keep the knowledge of her asthma to herself. Domeki would be the first person to learn Shannon's weakness, but he would also be one of the last. He and the Doctor had exclusive knowledge and the Doctor had already promised to keep it to himself. There'd be hell to pay if Domeki told, that was all Shannon knew. He'd be sorry, that was for sure. That was Shannon's biggest secret and she'd almost spilled it for the whole town to see. Stupid move, but she wouldn't make it again.

Shannon looked up the road and then down it again. If he wasn't there in another fifteen minutes or so, she'd leave without him and drop him a line to have him change course, complete with directions on how to do it. It wasn't like she was impatient (okay, she was, but that wasn't the problem this time); she just didn't know how long she could hold out before the panic started to set in and made things exponentially worse.

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ballerinadreams
2009-04-06 12:28 am UTC (link)

Shannon closed her eyes and focused her breathing.

"This isn't just the asthma, it's anxiety. It's in your head. Yes, you know your medicine's run out and you're panicking. Shannon. Shannon, look at me. We can fight this. Breathe in through your nose. See? Got your breath? Keep doing that. That's perfect."

Somehow, Jack had managed to calm her down when she had her first attack on the Island. She wished like hell he was here now to look her in the eye and say it all over again. But, he wasn't, so she let the memory of his words in his voice play in her head and she breathed in through her nose, trying to ignore the crackling sound in her throat and let it out again through her mouth in soft rushes that stung in her chest.

The wheezing had calmed enough that it wasn't audible, but she could still feel the rumbling by the time a voice broke her concentration and she looked up. Shannon shook her head in response to his first question and waved a dismissive hand as she nodded in response to his second.

"One sec," she gasped, pushing off the building and starting to walk, gesturing for him to come along. She wasn't going to send some kid who didn't even read English into a pharmacy looking for Albuterol. It wasn't a short walk and if he grabbed the wrong thing, that'd be even longer she'd have to wait. Besides, she knew what they looked like; she'd had asthma for her whole life. The box holding the inhaler was just as familiar to her as the inhaler itself, which was to say, she'd know it a mile away.

A few minutes down the road, she felt her chest open a little and she slowed down, not wanting to aggravate it again. Pushing her sweaty hair off her face, she looked over at him. "It just...takes me a minute," she explained, pausing for another labored breath in between. "To calm...down. Don't...tell anybody...okay?" she asked, looking him in the eye for the first time since he'd appeared by her side.

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