We spent the morning showing Mr. Perkins what little we had so far, and listening to his empowering speech about how we can do anything we put our minds to. Then around mid-afternoon, he left us to put his words into action with a couple of scenes.

Emily, Shawn, Kendall, and I went onstage first, while everyone else went into a couple of back rooms to rehearse their next scenes.

We ran through it a couple of times, frustrated about how it still wasn't right despite three hours of motivational speeches.

"What's the trouble?" Shawn asked, almost to himself, after the fifth failed attempt.

"I think we need to stop focusing on trying to get it perfect the first time, and break it down one part at a time," Emily said.

Standing next to her, I couldn't help but notice her panting, but I assumed it was just from frustration.

"A great idea!" Shawn replied. "If only we'd have thought of that back when we had the luxury of wasting three days!"

"I say the people who've got it down take a break," Kendall suggested, her voice raised, "and the people who are dragging us down stay here and work out their issues."

"We all just need to calm down!" I heard myself shouting, "Nothing's ever going to get done if we keep freaking out!"

Shawn and Kendall kept arguing. I was so done with this group. Rolling my eyes, I turned to Emily, who hadn't spoken in a while. Her eyes were closed and her face blank. I wondered if she was trying to mentally shut them out, and if it was working.

After another minute of feeling like I was going to go mad, I tapped on her shoulder. Emily's eyes flew open, startling me, her chest rising and falling rapidly.

"Are you okay?" I asked her.

She smiled weakly at me and nodded. I shrugged and turned back to the arguing pair.

"Okay!" I shouted to be heard over their bickering, annoyed that I should have to be the one to take charge, "Let's take a five minute break and cool down. Then, we can figure out a more civil approach to this."

I caught a flash of movement from the corner of my eye, and turned just in time to see Emily fall to the ground. For a second I thought she had fainted, but her eyes were wide open, a wild look about them. She was writhing, her chest heaving violently. Her mouth was open as if to scream, but the only sound that came out was an awful choking noise, or rather, a suffocating noise.

I was suddenly knocked to the side as Shawn rushed over, kneeling by her side. Emily clung to his arm like a drowning person, and he had to wrench it away from her before yanking her up into sitting position.

"Emily," he said, pulling her face toward his, "Emily!"

She stared into his eyes, her own wild with panic.

"Emily," Shawn said urgently, "can you breathe?"

Emily shook her head violently. She and Shawn seemed to come to a silent agreement as he nodded. He then threw her forward, his arm across her chest and clutching her shoulder. Shawn raised his  hand and began pounding on her back firmly. Emily closed her eyes tightly and pressed her forehead against his arm.

After a minute, she began to heave and cough up phlegm. This continued for maybe thirty seconds before stopping. Shawn started to lessen the force he was using against her back, but she shook her head vigorously, a sound I imagined would be a sob if supported with enough air escaping her now blue-tinted lips.

"It's not working," Shawn said, almost to himself.

He stared at Emily, trying decide what to do, before laying her down as gently as he could back onto the floor. She was still writhing, trying desperately to suck air into her clogged lungs.

"Emily," Shawn said, lowering himself beside her, trying to get her to focus on him, "Emily, I think I know what might help."

If it were possible, Emily's eyes widened even more at that, as if she knew what he was talking about and knew she wouldn't like it, but she nodded.

Shawn sat up and moved until he was kneeling over her. Then, taking a steadying breath, he raised his hands slightly above his head and balled them into fists. Before I had time to process what was about to happen, he brought his fists down hard against Emily's chest.

Emily's mouth opened and a pained expression filled her pale face. Shawn raised his arms again and repeated the process, moving more and more quickly each time.

My eyes flitted back and forth between them, torn as to which person I should pay attention to. After about the fifth time, enough mucus was knocked from Emily's lungs for her to start heaving again, but not enough for her to get her breath back. Shawn's face darkened with every passing second. Perhaps I realized this was of no use too late, but he didn't.

It had been maybe two minutes since Emily had collapsed, but it felt like hours longer. her lips were now completely blue, and her hands were flailing so much that I didn't notice the discoloration of her fingertips until she grabbed hold of Shawn's shirt, desperate for something tangible to cling to.

Shawn suddenly forgot his current battle and grasped Emily's face in his hands.

"Emily," he said, trying to capture her fading attention, "Emily, look at me."

Emily's eyelids had begun to flutter, and more and more time passed between when they closed and when they opened.

Shawn leaned so close their noses were almost touching and whispered, "Stay with me."

His dull hazel eyes were the last thing she saw.