“Are you okay? Do we need a medevac? What do I do?” The words tumble out of me, but Paige puts her hand on my shoulder. When I cover it with my own, I notice her tremble.
“No. I’ll be fine in a minute. I’m sorry, Wyatt. I thought I was okay, but that’s the way it goes with asthma. I believe that last uphill stretch was too strenuous for my lungs.”
“Don’t apologize. I’m the one who should be sorry. I pushed us too fast. I screwed up, Paige. Fuck.”
I drop her hand and stand up abruptly to pace up the trail and back, needing a minute to let the adrenaline coursing through my veins stop pumping. I want to hit something; hell, I want to hit myself. How could I do this to her? How did I not notice she wasn’t doing well? My hands come up to tug through my hair as the panic turns into self-flagellation.
“Wyatt.” Her voice is stronger, which calms me slightly, but I don’t stop pacing.
“Wyatt, stop. Look at me.”
I slowly turn to face her.
“I’m okay. This isn’t your fault. I know my body, and I know my limits. If I felt we were going too fast, or the hike was too hard, I could have said I needed to slow down. But I didn’t. Sometimes my asthma catches me by surprise.”
She stands up and I hurry over to her, holding her hips as she seems a little unsteady. The grateful smile she gives me just makes me feel even more shitty.
“See? I’m fine.”
“You’re not fine, Paige,” I growl, my fingers digging into her.
“I will be. I used my inhaler, and with a little bit of a rest, I’ll be good to keep going.” The way she pats my arm is probably meant to be reassuring, but it’s not.
My eyebrows hit the sky at her words. “Are you fucking kidding? We aren’t hiking anymore, we’re going home. I’ll carry you to the car.”
“Don’t be ridiculous.”
Great, now she sounds angry. I guess it’s better than the scared, breathless voice that asked for her inhaler earlier. Still, I’m not being ridiculous. There’s no goddamn way I’m going to put her in any more danger. I couldn’t help Ryder, but I can help Paige. That comparison may be totally unfair, but I can’t avoid it.
“I’m not. You just had an asthma attack, Paige. Your…your fucking breathing was screwed up.”
Paige’s hands come to her hips, and man, if looks could kill, I would be a smoking pile of ash right now.
“Thank you for stating something I have known my entire life. My breathing was screwed up. Such an eloquent way of describing a mild exacerbation.”
“Don’t use fancy words on me right now, please.” I swallow down my anger at myself and look at her. I mean, really look at her. And she seems okay. “You scared me,” I say hoarsely.
Paige’s shoulders drop and I am unable to look away from her face, so I see it soften in understanding. She steps in toward me and my hands lift to circle her waist, tugging her forward until she falls against my chest. The reassuring thump of her heartbeat against my body slowly soothes me as we stand there, nothing but the sounds of nature around us.
“I promise you, I am truly alright.” Her words are mumbled against my chest, and I tighten my hold on her. “Although, if you squeeze me any harder, I may suffocate.”
I release her with a small laugh. “Sorry.”
When she steps forward and lifts my hands to circle around her back, I laugh again, and the last of my stress lifts away as we hold each other.
“I didn’t say stop hugging, I just needed you to not squeeze so tightly.” Her voice is steady, calm, and light. Thank God.
“You got it.”
After a few more minutes, she looks up at me, chewing on her lower lip. “Okay. You’re right, we should head back to the car.”
My eyebrows draw together and I frown. “Are you okay? Do you need your inhaler again?”
She shakes her head, her eyes widening. “No, no. I’m fine. Well, my lungs are fine. As fine as they can be, I suppose. That is to say, they’re never truly fine, but right now they —”
My lips find hers, effectively stopping her rambling. I keep it quick, nothing more than a chaste peck, really. But it works. She opens her eyes and lets out a soft sigh.
“Thank you. I could feel my nervousness taking over.”
