Then, to his surprise and annoyance, an overwhelming need to cough. He gave in, coughing hard. But the feeling didn’t go away — it was like his lungs were tightening and almost in pain. He coughed again. And again.
Tammy paused, and so did Conor.
‘You OK?’ Tammy asked, instantly out of the scene.
‘I’m fine,’ Finn managed, before coughing again. ‘I just need to—’ He coughed again, this time harder, with more force. Tammy looked worried.
Finn bent double, giving in to the need to clear his lungs — but no matter how hard he coughed, and how many times, he couldn’t stop. He started to feel light-headed. Then, with a strange feeling of detachment, he slumped to the floor.
CHAPTER 9
There had only been a few times in her life that Tammy had been truly scared. One of her earliest memories was lying awake at night, watching the shadows in her room, searching for faces.
She’d found them, of course. Big, scary faces of dragons and monsters, waiting for her to sleep so that they could do horrible things to her.
Fear — true fear — was much rarer now that she was an adult. Adults tend to get scared about ideas rather than things. The fear of death, the fear of being alone, the fear of being worthless.
But the minute that Finn’s eyes glazed over and he’d slipped to the floor, unconscious, Tammy’s blood had run cold, and her heart had felt as though it was going to stop entirely. She was a doctor, yes, and she was used to dealing with difficult situations. But a situation like this, during a scenelike that… it was impossible not to get flustered at first.
Thankfully, now, she was back in control.
‘This is going to be a little cold,’ she said, holding the business end of the stethoscope up to Finn’s chest.
‘Don’t worry,’ Finn said, ‘I can take it.’
He looked a little pale, but so much better than before.
She listened carefully to each side, then held the ring over his ribs and on his back, trying to listen carefully to his breathing. ‘Deep breaths,’ she said, ‘slow and steady.’
He did as she asked – an excellent patient. For a moment, everything sounded normal. But as he slowed his breathing, the wheeze was obvious. Even stronger than last time she’d heard it.
‘What’s the damage, doc?’ he asked.
She pulled the stethoscope away. ‘Have you been keeping that asthma record like I asked you to do?’
Finn’s eyes widened. ‘Oh shit. With everything that’s been going on the last few days, I kinda… forgot.’
Tammy shook her head. Seriously. These guys. So good at handing out discipline whensheslipped up. It’s a shame she couldn’t return the favor now and then. ‘Let’s test your peak flow now,’ she said, handing him the equipment. ‘Blow as hard as you can.’
‘Shouldn’tyoube the one doing that?’ he asked, his voice dripping with innuendo.
She felt a tug between her legs again. She was like a cat on heat around these brothers — everything they did, even in a professional setting like this — made her feel crazy with lust.
Finn wrapped his pink lips around the meter and blew. Hmmm. 540. That was definitely low for his age and height.
‘I’m thinking,’ Tammy said, once the peak flow meter was safely away, ‘that we might be dealing with eosinophilic asthma.’
Finn looked blankly at her. ‘Is it bad?’
‘It can be,’ she nodded. ‘But not if you catch it early. Your lungs sound good, and you’re a healthy guy. With the right drugs and lifestyle, it shouldn’t impact you too much.’
Finn looked worried for a moment, but the expression passed. ‘I’ll be a good patient, just you wait and see.’
‘I’m gonna need to send off another blood test to confirm the diagnosis, but in the meantime, I’ll give you a reliever inhaler, in case of another attack.’
‘I told you the inhalers don’t work.’
‘The steroid one hasn’t been working for you long-term,’ Tammy said. ‘But it never hurts to carry one of these around with you for emergencies.’