Chapter 164 - Nik

The swirling black slowly eased away. Gone was the bone crushing pain and the struggle to breathe. I could feel my fingers and toes as my body yearned for a full stretch.

I coughed around something in my mouth. Felt my entire body tense up as I realized something was hooked against my lips. It invaded my mouth, slid down my throat.

A beeping went crazy behind me as my heart rate seemed to match the loud, irritating signal.

Blinking away the tears of fear that flooded my eyes, I saw two familiar faces appear at the side of my vision. One of them leaned forward. The other went back out into the hallway.

"You've got an intubation tube in. You're fine," Willow said. She looked at something over my shoulder. "On my count, you're going to take a big deep breath." She slid her hand into mine. "Ready...now."

She squeezed my hand as I took as big a breath as I could handle. My head went a little fuzzy, but I pushed that part away.

"Good, Nik. And push it out." She squeezed my ha