My Panther Mate & Our Little Cub novel · Chapter 4 of 24

Chapter 4: The Cough

"Don't panic," I said, mostly to myself.

Croup is loud and frightening and almost never kills a child who is kept calm.

I knelt in front of Tuck and made my voice slow.

"Look at me, little man. Breathe with me. In, and a long out."

He couldn't.

Each breath came in, and his amber eyes were enormous.

Darek was already across the room.

He had Tuck in his arms before I finished the sentence, and I saw his big hands shaking.

"I'll fetch Corra," he said.

"Not yet. Give me five minutes."

"He can't breathe."

"He can breathe, he's just scared. Cold air and steam. Do you have a kettle?"

For one second I thought he'd refuse.

Then he jerked his chin at the shelf.

I filled the kettle at the water barrel and hung it on the hook, and while it heated I wrapped Tuck in a blanket and carried him to the open shutter.

The night air was bitter.

"Breathe that," I said. "Slow. It shrinks the swelling."

The whoop eased by a fraction.

When the kettle boiled I poured it into the big basin on the floor and put a cloth over my head and Tuck's, a small tent of steam, and sat on the rug with him in my lap.

"Tell me about your favorite thing," I said.

"Rabbits," he croaked.

"Good. Tell me about rabbits."

He told me, in wheezing bursts, that rabbits had soft ears and stupid feet and that he had once almost caught one.

I made all the right noises.

Over the edge of the cloth I could see Darek crouched beside us, close enough to touch, his hands hanging between his knees.

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