“SNOWBALL FIGHT!”
In seconds, we were joined by his three siblings, throwing snow and dodging behind vehicles. It was hard to tell which snowballs were coming from where. Except for Jonah, of course. He got right up on us before basically high-fiving a handful of snow onto our clothes.
Ray swooped over and threw Jonah over his shoulder, parading him around like a giant monkey.
I laughed at them, trying to catch my breath, but then I couldn’t. My throat was getting tighter, and no matter how hard I tried to suck in more air, I couldn’t. Wheezing sounds were coming out of me, completely at odds with the happy laughs and shouts ringing through the air.
Panic rose in my chest and fanned my eyes open. I was having an asthma attack.
Forty-Six
I leaned against the pickup, trying to calm my heart rate, but that was next to impossible without being able to breathe. I fruitlessly reached for my inhaler, the panicked feeling rising in my chest.
“Giving up?” Ray teased from several feet away.
“Yeah,” his brother said. “I think we found our first loser!”
“You gotta keep up, girl!” Laura called from behind her mom’s car.
“Yeah!” Jonah cried from his spot hanging over Ray’s back.
But I couldn’t respond with how tight my throat was. I looked at Ray, desperately hoping he could read the situation and get me help. My inhaler was empty. All my breathing treatment equipment was at home. I needed to get to a hospital, and fast.
Ray’s eyebrows drew together, and he slowly set Jonah down. “Ginger?”
I tried to communicate with my eyes what I couldn’t with my mouth. He ran to me and knelt in the snow, taking my shoulders. “Ginger!”
Asthma attack, I mouthed through wheezes. Hospital.
Ray’s mouth went slack. But he didn’t stay frozen for long. “Colton! Call the hospital and tell them I’m bringing Ginger in with an asthma attack. Laura, bring Jonah inside. Get Mom and tell her where we’ll be.” They stood frozen, just as Ray had, staring at us. That was until Ray roared, “GO! NOW!”
As they turned to sprint away, Ray held my gaze with fearful eyes. “You’re going to be okay, Ginger.”
My wheezing cut the air, building the fear block by block until the tower threatened to crush me.
He hauled me into his arms and carried me to the passenger seat of the pickup. “I’m getting you to the hospital. You’ll be alright. I promise.”
He had no business promising such things, but it was all that we had. I clung to his words, just as I clung to his arms. Ray was the only solid thing in my fading world. Everything seemed to be getting further away, harder to hear.
I heard an engine roar to life, felt Ray buckling me in. Barely made out what he and his mom shouted back and forth, and then it all went black.
Forty-Seven
I woke up in a hospital bed, oxygen cannulas pushing air into my nose. I tried to move my hand, but there were tubes protruding from it. An IV. And then it hit me. I’d been on the ranch, covered in snow. Ray had carried me to the hospital...
I adjusted the cords and sat up, taking in the room around me. There was a big window with an amazing view of a brick wall. But there was some sunlight coming in. And when I swiveled my head to the other side, I saw my parents right next to my bed.
I jerked, surprised at how close they were.
“Ginger,” Mom said. “What happened?”
I found that I could breathe easily, but my throat still felt rough as I said, “We were having a snowball fight, and then I had an asthma attack.” I realized instead of warm sweats and oversized winter gear, I was now in a hospital gown. But something else was missing too. Where was Ray? What had he told them? What did they know? What were they thinking? Was he okay?
Dad rubbed his temples. “Did you do your breathing treatment?”
I wanted to lie, but this wasn’t just a white lie. It was my health. My answer might change their treatment plan. I simply shook my head.
The disappointment on Dad’s features killed me. Almost as much as the hateful look my mom sent my direction. “You snuck away to see the boy we explicitly forbid you to see, and it nearly killed you,” she accused.
“Mom—” I began, but she cut me off.
“You have no business talking right now. You and Rosie went against my wishes.”
The fact that