Tales of the First

“I know,” her mother said. “But worrying will only make it worse. See you later.” She patted her daughter’s arm again and headed out the door. Lucy watched her go then looked back at Sienna and Wendy. “So how are you? I heard you two saw one of the shootings yesterday. That’s got to be worse than this.”

“We did,” Sienna said. “And I don’t know about Wendy but I don’t want to talk about it. Let’s go upstairs until dinner is ready.”

“Yeah, I don’t imagine you would.” Lucy said. “And sure, upstairs sounds good.”

Watching her usually fit friend climbing the stairs slowly and having to pause at the top to catch her breath really brought home to Sienna how sick Lucy still was. When they got into Sienna’s room Lucy immediately collapsed on to the bed.

“That was so hard,” she said after a pause. At least she was able to speak but she was still breathing heavily. “I hate this.”

“I can imagine.” Wendy said as she shut the door. “But we need to talk to you.”

“Oh?” Lucy said. “You mean about Sienna? I saw the videos people took of what happened yesterday.” She shuddered briefly. “No wonder you don’t want to talk about it, but it definitely makes me believe you about Sienna.”

“Good, because it’ll make this easier.”

“That’s right,” Wendy said. “Can you watch the door, Sienna?”

“Oh, very cloak and dagger,” Lucy said. “What’s so secret?”

Lucy listened in silence as Wendy told her what she wanted to do while Sienna listened for anyone coming up the stairs. When Wendy has finished Lucy started chuckling but it soon segued into a fit of racking coughs and they had to recover her breath before she could speak.

“Ah! Of course,” Sienna’s mother said. “Another time.” She looked back at Sienna and Wendy. “Good news, Lucy is out of hospital and her mother has brought her over.”

“Lucy!” Sienna raced past her mother into the sitting room where Lucy sat along with her own mother. “How are you? Are you better.”

“They wouldn’t have let her out if she weren’t.” Wendy followed Sienna in more sedately.

“I’m… well I’m not fine but I’m much better,” Lucy said. “I don’t need Oxygen any more and the tests look okay so they let me out but my chest still feels really tight and even walking short distances makes me out of breath which is why mum brought me over.” Her face tightened. “I have an inhaler now as well. I hope the damage isn’t permanent.”

Lucy’s mother Irene laid a reassuring hand on Lucy’s arm. “You know what the doctor’s said, dear. Whatever caused that reaction doesn’t appear to have done any damage but your lungs have been sensitized and need time to calm down. You have an appointment with the specialist to work on your rehabilitation.”

“But my training…” Lucy trailed off unhappily.

“Will have to pause just like if you injured your leg,” her mother said reasonably. “Call your coach in the morning, I’m sure he’ll have some good ideas for rehabilitation.” She stood up. “Anyway I’ll leave you to catch up with Sienna and Wendy and pick you up about nine.”

Lucy stared at her mother for a moment and then nodded. “Thanks, mum. It’s just scary not being able to walk to car without gasping for breath. I’m worried it might never improve to allow me to run again.”