Chapter 2

Episode 10 - Whistle Down the Wind

Brady wasn’t sure exactly what had woken him, but some instinct had him sitting up in bed, gripping the sheet as his head protested the sudden motion. He sat still for a moment, waiting for the darkness to stop spinning around him, then slid out of bed and stumbled to the door.

The faint glow of the emergency lights showed no one in the hall, but the door across from his was open, and Brady moved toward it automatically. Before he’d fully crossed the hall, his ears caught the deep wheeze of one of Marcus’s worst attacks, and he rushed the remaining distance to the boy’s side.

Marcus lay propped up by a stack of pillows, straining as though attempting to suck air through a coffee straw. Brady turned to get the doctor, but Marcus’s fingers stretched feebly toward him, and he hesitated just a second before gripping the teen’s hand tightly.

“Hang in there, buddy. Let me go get Dr. Mattox, okay?”

Marcus jerked his head in what might have been a shake and squeezed Brady’s hand a little tighter. Brady opened his mouth to argue, but the sound of footsteps in the hall stopped him, and a few seconds later, Rachelle hurried into the room, followed closely by the doctor. Brady let out a relieved breath and turned his full attention to Marcus as Dr. Mattox prepped the sedative.

“It’s okay, Marcus. Relax as much as you can.”

Brady rubbed the teen’s hand gently with his thumb, and Marcus continued to cling to him, even after the doctor administered the sedative and then the injection. Rachelle slid next to him, fitting almost perfectly into his side as she watched Marcus with a pitying look.

Marcus’s breathing was easing slightly—if sounding like he was now breathing through a dinner straw could be counted improvement. Dr. Mattox left the room without a word, and after a few seconds of silence, Rachelle spoke softly.

“Sorry. Did I wake you?”

“No idea. If you did, you had good reason. He managed to call?”

Rachelle hummed an assent and watched Marcus for a moment before finally looking up at him.

“You should go back to bed, Brady. Waking up’s one thing, but staying up might kill you tomorrow.”

Brady winced and looked down at Marcus’s hand still clasped around his before shaking his head slowly.

“I know you’re right—usually. But I feel okay right now, honest. And I don’t—don’t think I could sleep right now if I tried.”

Rachelle sighed, but she didn’t offer the obvious arguments, only leaned her shoulder against his chest in what he guessed was meant to be a gesture of comfort.

“It’s hard to leave him when he still sounds so bad. More than any of the rest of us.”

“Yeah.” Brady’s answer came in a whisper, and Rachelle offered him a sad smile.

“And when he’s the only one who might die if it doesn’t work?”

The answer to that was too obvious to bother with. They stood in silence a few more moments before Rachelle shifted and gently tapped his arm.

“If you’re going to wait with him, will you at least sit down?” She nodded to the single chair in the room, and Brady’s forehead creased as he glanced down at her.

“Tell me why you don’t need it more than I do.”

“Because if you’re going to stay, I’ll go back to bed?”

“Should I believe that?” Brady’s eyes narrowed, and the corner of Rachelle’s mouth twitched up.

“I’ll go lie in my recliner, then. If you go back to bed, I’ll wait with him. If you don’t, my knee’s bugging me, and yes, I’ll rest it. Promise.”

“Go put it up, then. And yes, I’ll sit.”

“Thanks.” Rachelle pulled the chair up and waited for Brady to take it before slipping out of the room, and Brady rested his arms on the bed and watched as the uneven rise and fall of Marcus’s breathing slowly leveled.

It was hard to believe it had only been a matter of months since he’d first met the teen, distraught and terrified, wedged into a hole in the wall by the force of his own uncontrolled lung power. And yet in that short time, Marcus had woven himself into the very heart of their small team and makeshift family and become like the little brother Brady had never had.

Time slipped by in a stream that Brady didn’t even try to trace, punctuated only by the changing sounds from Marcus’s chest—the wheezes finally growing fainter, and an odd scratching sound rising to fill their place. Brady frowned and bent his head to listen; it wasn’t something he’d ever noticed in Marcus’s breathing before, as far as he could remember. But he couldn’t swear he’d always stayed awake for the full treatment periods, so maybe this wasn’t unusual. Or then again, maybe it was, and Marcus had something more going on today, like the flu Brady had picked up just a couple weeks ago.

Brady listened as carefully as he knew how, torn between the idea of calling the doctor to check it and the possibility that this might just be a completely normal part of the process that he had never experienced before. But no sooner had he decided to chance it and get Dr. Mattox’s opinion than Marcus’s chest kicked hard and he suddenly sat up straight, just barely missing smacking Brady as he jumped out of the way.

“Brady?” Marcus’s confused tone was refreshingly normal, and Brady held up his hand with a rueful chuckle as his head sharply protested the sudden movement.

“I’m good, buddy. Your lungs sounded a little funny, and I leaned too close. How do you feel?”

Marcus frowned slightly as his hand automatically reached for and rubbed at his chest.

“Fine, I think.” He drew a deep breath and let it out quickly, and Brady instinctively braced for the incoming blast.

But instead of rocketing off the walls like his usual uncontrolled morning breath, the resulting breeze barely ruffled Brady’s hair, and he glanced up in surprise.

“Whoa. That’s some impressive control for your first breath in. You’ll have to teach me how to do that right out of the box sometime.”

Marcus’s eyes widened, and a look of bewilderment crept over his face as he slowly shook his head.

“I—I didn’t. Not on purpose. I—I mean, I wasn’t trying to, but—”

He sucked in a deeper breath, apparently by reflex, and gasped it out again, and this time the previously expected blast rushed back into Brady’s unprotected face. Brady couldn’t help a gasp as his head spun and his whole body tipped, and a little cry from Marcus echoed in his ears as he attempted to swim back to equilibrium.

“Brady? Brady, I’m sorry. Are you okay?” Marcus’s voice was closer now, and his cold hand gripped Brady’s arm, grounding him in the space.

Brady clasped the teen’s hand back and gulped air, and his head cleared a little. He attempted to blink the blur out of his eyes and grinned weakly at Marcus.

“No apologies. Totally my fault for falling into the false security. You’re okay, bud. And I’m fine. Good to have you back to normal.”

Marcus’s grunt held a hint of disbelief, but he let go of Brady’s arm and flopped back onto his bed, staring up at the ceiling with a frown. He took a few regular breaths, then filled his chest and let out a huff toward the super-absorbent ceiling panels. A look that might have been alarm flashed over his face, and he drew another long breath and blew it out in a stream that stirred the air next to Brady and vibrated the panels above them. Marcus’s shoulders relaxed again, and a grin curved his mouth, but Brady’s forehead creased, and he leaned forward uneasily.

“Doing okay, Marcus? Is something wrong?”

Marcus hesitated just a second before shaking his head decisively, but that slight pause tightened the knot in Brady’s stomach.

“Not wrong. Stuff’s still working. I just—have to do it on purpose. It’s like—I’m controlling it without—really working at it. Sort of backwards, you know?”

“So it’s…reversed the settings? Changed your default to controlled instead of uncontrolled? That’s definitely different.”

“But not bad, though. I mean, I could have used this setting a whole lot sooner. Just ask Dash and whoever else had to clean up that first day.”

“No, yeah, I get it.” Brady shook his head slowly. “It’s just—I’ve never heard of it working that way. Not for any of the rest of us. It always takes time and concentration to control it, not to use it at all. And honestly—just the fact that it’s acting weird makes me want to keep you home and test things out again until we’re sure it’s safe.”

Marcus’s face fell, and he swallowed hard and turned away. Brady winced and laid a hand on his arm.

“Hey. Talk to me, bud. I’m not saying you can’t go out. I just—want to be sure we’re being smart about it.”

“It’s just…” Marcus sighed, and the surrounding air barely stirred. “I’m barely used to helping people at all. Do I have to miss all that time testing everything over again—when it’s really still working?”

“I mean, nobody made me the king around here. Or the doctor either. I can’t make you do anything, and if you feel okay going out, I won’t argue. I just want to make sure you’re safe out there, okay?”

“Yeah, I know.” Marcus’s eyes dropped for a second, then he met Brady’s gaze again with a pleading look. “If I have Car test me out a little before I try anything big?”

His face was so wistful and so hopeful—and so overall like a cute puppy begging to play—that a smile forced its way to Brady’s face even as he sighed in resignation.

“Okay. But you have to listen to her if she notices anything off. And if you start feeling weird—more than just the flipped default—come back here and get it checked out right away. Deal?”

“Deal.” Marcus’s grin flashed on at full power, and Brady couldn’t help a chuckle.

“All right, Microburst. Go prep for your big day. Backup’ll be there as soon as you’re ready.”