I swallowed as my heart punched the underside of my chest hard enough to make my throat hurt. The world brightened, and I sat on the edge of Mom's chair as my vision swooned, moving left-to-right and left again, like a pendulum. I shivered again, and then I took a deep breath that sounded extra loud to my ears. I released it, then took another, and released that in a tunnel of wind through my lips.

"Are you okay?" Mom asked.

"Yeah," I said as my prick hardened fully. "I'm fine."

"Okay," Mom whispered.

The cap to the oil was one of those push-down on one side and spring-up on...