Page 16 of Angel

Chapter Five - Angelo

A nearby thump finished waking me up. I’d already been halfway to consciousness, but the sudden noise sent me bolting up to sitting.

I looked around the room in confusion. “Paige?”

No answer.

Stretching my arms above my head, I languidly stood up. Just enough sun entered through the thick curtains for me to easily make out the room. Just how long had I been sleeping for? And where had Paige gotten off to?

I turned out of the doorway and froze, momentarily taken aback by the strange, crumpled mass in front of me.

Had I left something out here the night before?

But no. It was no bunched-up rug or pile of clothes on the floor.

It was Paige.

“Paige!” I shouted, dropping to my knees and taking her head in my hands. Her face was pale, her eyes closed.

“Paige!” I tried again.

Had she just randomly fainted? From what?

An asthma attack! That could do it, right?

No. That couldn’t be it. She’d been telling me just the day before about her asthma, about how it could unexpectedly flare up and that’s why she always carried her inhaler with her.

But there was no other answer. There was nothing in the hall she could have hit her head on.

Asthma had to be it.

I thought fast, my mind working at warp speed. Where had she put her purse?

The bedroom.

Putting her head back down, I flew into the bedroom. Her purse sat on the floor, just underneath the footstool holding her duffel bag.

Something in the unzipped bag caught my eye.

Her inhaler. Thank God.

Snatching it up, I leaped back into the hallway.

I’d never had to administer a dose of whatever was in these inhalers before today, but it seemed pretty easy. Craning her head back a little bit, I put the mouthpiece between her lips and pumped the device.

“Come on,” I muttered, my heart beating so loudly I could hardly hear my voice. “Come on, Paige.”

The relief over finding the inhaler quickly disappeared. It wasn’t working.

What next? CPR?

What if that did no good either?

I needed to call for an ambulance.

Nearly tripping over my feet, I ran into the room and grabbed my cell phone. Each second without a medic there was precious time. I didn’t know how long it had been since Paige became unconscious, but even minutes could be long enough, without the right medical care.

I stammered my address and an explanation of the emergency into the phone line. The operator instructed me to administer CPR until the medics arrived.