Breathless Novels & Stories

Every breath. How cruel.

She looked up, confusion giving way to disbelief. "Then how is this possible?" Leonard held her gaze for a long moment before answering. "They're breathing." A heavy silence settled between them. "They're getting oxygen." Another pause. He lowered his voice. "Their bodies just... aren't using it."

Everyone holds their breath. “Nothing! Carter, give me a dose of adrenaline!” The medic, Carter, immediately rummages through his bag. As this happens, I kneel down and take a moment to breathe. I’m confused by what’s happening to me. My chest tightens with pain, but it’s not unbearable.

Chapter 26 Casper Collapsing on the bed, I tugged at my chest, clutching it through the fabric of my cloth as my breath failed me. A wheezing sound escaped my parted lips as I struggled hard to breathe. My eyes were tightly shut, and my mouth was now wide open. Still, no air entered through my lungs. It felt like an invisible force had their hands clasped tightly around my airways, blocking the supply of oxygen. I felt like I would pass out any minute.

My breathing stopped. Hickeys.

What’s he going to say when he finds out? A cold feeling filled my chest. Like two steel bands wrapped around me and tightened. Tightened till I couldn’t breathe. My throat clogged up. I grabbed my chest, hitting it with my fist, willing the air to go down to my lungs. My throat made a rattling sound. I reached out for anything. Anything at all. I can’t breathe! I can’t breathe! Oh God I’m dying! I can’t breathe! Why can’t I breathe? Darkness encroached the corners of my vision. I felt myself slipping away.

My breathing started to get harsher and rougher as incessant flow of tears gushed out of my eyes in wild fury while my nose constricted any air supply while I sat gaping through my open, frightened mouth. My body started to tremble uncontrollably while I just stared right back at him with a horrified expression on my face. “Zara ! Shshhhhhh honey. Breathe. It’s ok, babe. I will be alrigh- ,” he gently cooed while wincing but I just stayed in my place in numb shock with my tears not agreeing to stop even for a second. Breathlessness soon became an issue and only worsened when hiccups and sobs clubbed with it.

Love can hit you when you least expect it. It could be a soft easy wind that caresses you and gets stronger over time till it absorbs into your body and heart. Other times it can hit you like a gale-force wind and take every breath you will ever have, and breathe life into the person who took it in the first place. Laken stole my breath. She was my gale-force wind, and I will gladly give her every breath I have just to keep her safe, alive, and mine. If I have to live without her then I don’t want my breath. I don’t want anything but her. I will go to hell and back to get her from the grips of death.

The couple who had been standing at the side, calmly watching the so-called brotherly reunion, suddenly dropped their elegant composure and rushed over in a panic. My biological mother, Catherine Lynch, reached out with trembling fingers to check if I was breathing. She took a long moment before finally letting out a shaky sigh of relief. "He's still breathing. Call an ambulance now!" The second I heard that, I snapped my eyes open and grabbed her wrist. "No need. It's just low blood sugar. I'll be fine."

His breathing turned uneven, low and strained beneath me. Faster. Less controlled.