"Oh uh - hey, Adam," I laugh as I lean against the door.

"Hey," he says and raises his eyebrows then leans against the wall with folded arms. "How was your date with Red?" He asks.

My face falls. I can feel it.

"What happened?" He asks, raising his eyebrows.

"Uh - Em came in, interrupted it as we walked back to the car and before I got out of the car to
walk up the driveway- we both agreed that maybe we shouldn't date.. Just for our safety, and... yeah.."

There's silence for a couple of seconds before I go to walk to my room, but Adam steps forward and pulls me into a hug.

I suck in a breath and hold it before sighing and slowly wrapping my arms around him.

"I had to act like I wasn't hurting because of my choice but.. I.." my chest heaves and I feel a tear slowly slipping from one of my eyes.

My chest heaves once again, and I find it suddenly difficult to breathe - where I'm gasping for air.

"Tee?!" Adam asks, suddenly leaning back to look me in the eyes.

"Adam I c-"

And that's when everything turned black.

Like all the lights shut off.

I'm standing in a dark room, looking around until I meet someone's eyes.

I stare at him and blink. Once. Twice.

"Who are you?" I practically whisper.

He doesn't answer my question.

"Do you want to live or die?" He asks.

That struck me in the chest.

My heart is racing.

"What is this - am.. Am I dying?" I ask, nearly whispering.

He nods once, smoothly, making my heart skip a beat.

"But I can give you another chance. This is limbo. Do you want to live or die?"

"I.." I look around, for some sort of answer and my eyes land on Red. They look hurt. In pain. Like he's going to cry.

I look to the other side and see my mother. Is she.. No. She's not. She can't be.

I close my eyes. "Stay. I want to stay." I say and look back at the mystery man.

He nods again. "You will see me again soon." He says, and in a snap of his fingers, I'm awake, the beeping of a heart monitor going crazy, and something is strapped to my face.

I take a few steady, deep breaths before I look around and see a sleeping Adam.

How long was I out..?

I look at Adam again and shake his shoulder, unable to speak.

"Adam," I whisper.

I feel my lips moving, but nothing is coming out.

Oh no.. No no. Not this again - please!

He wakes up slowly then looks at me, his eyes widening before he lunges forward and pulls me into a hug.

I smile a bit and close my eyes. But my heart is pounding.

"What's got your heart racing?" Adam asks, looking at the heart monitor then at me.

I feel my face fall and I look down.

"Tee wh- oh no.." He mutters, catching on.

I nod a bit then look at him with a raised eyebrow.

"You had an asthma attack. The doctors don't know how your asthma was never detected." He says and slowly sits back. "They say you're going to need a breathing apparatus, because if you have an asthma attack at night, you may not wake up during it and either slip into a coma or.." He trails off, but I know exactly what he means.

I nod a bit and look down then sigh.

Why did this have to happen now?

Why did I have to lose my voice again?

And why did I just now find out about my asthma? Why did I just have an attack when I had it most likely for my whole life?

I see a red haired man walk in quickly.

"Tee -!" He says then strides forwards and pulls me into a hug.

I hug him back and close my eyes.

"I was so worried.. When I got the call from Adam -"

I just squeeze him tighter as if to say it's okay. I'm okay.

"Tee?" He asks. "Did you lose your voice again?"

I nod slowly and sigh.

Well, life just got a lot harder right after it got a lot easier.

Shit.