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Chapter 22- Rigid Respiration

There were no more trials or mock exams left, no more time to study what you don't know perfectly. Exam season had officially started, students either overconfident or in a panic over the thought that these were the real things; that these were going to determine their acceptance into their chosen place of further education or work. Employers would take all of these grades into consideration when deciding whether or not they should hire the candidates and because of this, these grades would stick with them for decades, the thought of which frightened some of the teenagers.
In the exam hall, the only sound was the irritating ticking of the oversized clock on the wall, ticking the time away from them, the exam supervisors not aiding them in their effective time-keeping as they walked slowly around the room, distracting those they walked past. Time still wasn't up, the English paper that they were all sitting still set to take up the next twenty-five minutes, the first questions already been done and forgotten about, leaving the students writing analytical paragraphs and creative pieces. Many of them, by this point, had already paused a few times to give their aching wrists a break.
Connor finished all of his English mock exams early, his hand aching intensely after each one as he didn't seem to give himself these breaks, his handwriting eventually becoming evident of this as it slowly became much messier scrawls. The real exam wasn't an exception as the young man found himself already going back over the answers he'd given almost half an hour before the end of the exam, re-reading his creative writing piece and altering his vocabulary and punctuation wherever he could to earn himself some more marks.
At last, he folded his paper back over, seeing himself as having done the best he possibly could have on this paper, which would see him through to results day when he found out just how good 'his best' is. As he placed his pen back down on the desk, he felt the need to yawn becoming a very prominent sensation that gradually got worse and worse. However, as he let it escape, he felt a dry cough trying to escape with it, causing a very uncomfortable pulling feeling in his chest, which didn't seem to be going away as he let a few more minutes pass. When it still lingered in his chest, he lowered his head, afraid to interrupt the students still working with more coughing, swallowing saliva to try and suppress his need to cough or sputter.
That was until he felt this backfiring, the saliva he had swallowed getting somewhat caught in his throat, making the feeling much worse for him. He had to let it out, another cough, louder than before, escaping his mouth, followed by some more, much harsher and much more painful. Connor brought his hands to his mouth, muffling the sound as it continued, unable to prevent it now. The boy turned in his chair, leaning forward, doubling over in his seat, one hand still covering his mouth, clutching his chest with his other hand.
He definitely attracted some attention to himself, students raising or turning their heads to look at him, the girl in the seat beside him looking quite frightened by the alarmingly sudden and harsh choking fit he suddenly suffered. One of the exam supervisors eventually grew concerned for the same reason, approaching him cautiously before crouching to whisper to him, hoping that he could hear her so she wouldn't have to raise her voice and distract anybody else.

"Young man," she whispered, placing a hand on his shoulder, "do you have a drink with you?"
He could only shake his head, unable to speak, the motion alone causing him to experience a very sudden dizziness.
"We can get you some water, try to breath for now and just-" her words were cut off suddenly, just as she was about to stand up and turn to get him some water, she was forced to stop herself as she watched the boy in front of her hunching even further forwards, so much so that he fell off the chair, almost entirely limp. His lack of breath due to his choking was getting to him and it seemed that the rest of the supervisors in the exam room were also quite troubled by this outburst, as another one approached them, a taller and much stronger man than the older lady who was trying to hold him upright.

"Right, he's obviously not okay, so I think I'd better take him out of here and let him sit down somewhere," the male stated, his voice calm, which brought some temporary comfort to the teen before his sputtering continued. The supervisor took him from the woman's grip, taking Connor's arm over his shoulder to support him as he tried to slowly stand him upright. His legs were visibly shaking, his breaths laboured in between his choking and his steps were slow as the supervisor began to lead him out of the room.
Across the exam hall, a few columns away from him, Jonah watched the ordeal occur, having finished his own work and looked up as he heard the violent choking, met with the horrific sight of his boyfriend collapsing out of his chair before being escorted out of the room, unable to follow his instincts to jump out of his chair and run after him.