The moment Jack's hands pulled away, air rushed back into Gale's lungs like it had burst from a dam, and he dragged in a ragged breath, his chest heaving, his throat feeling like he'd swallowed sandpaper. He began coughing, sputtering, and he couldn't quite seem to get enough breath, one hand clasped to his bruised throat.
Jack had collapsed somewhere to the side, screaming in pain, which was simultaneously satisfying and disgusting all at once. Gale rolled over onto his stomach, which took a great deal more effort than he thought it would (his legs felt like jelly), and pushed himself up onto his hands and knees.
It took him a minute or so to actually get fully vertical, and even then Gale was swaying dangerously. There were red ringed imprints on the sides of his neck, Jack's attempts clearly having left their mark, and he staggered forward a few steps in an attempt at getting away. The dizziness overtook him and he fell back to his knees, nausea rising in his throat, Gale slapping a hand over his mouth to prevent him from emptying his stomach right then and there. A combination of the lack of oxygen, the sudden rush back into his lungs, and the realization of what he'd just done making him feel terribly, terribly sick, sicker than he'd felt in a long, long time.
Nothing more was said to Jack; Gale had lost, and he knew it - they both knew it - knew that instinctively he had screwed things up royally, painfully, achingly, and now all he wanted to do was get away as fast as he could. He could still feel the way Jack's neck had felt beneath his bare hands, and Gale pushed himself back up, desperate to run, but his legs didn't have the strength to carry him that fast. A light sheen of sweat dampened his forehead, sliding down his cheeks.
He managed to at least make it out of sight, hidden behind one of the ugly crash test dummies, before Gale collapsed, his head spinning so much he thought he might pass out.
He did, a second later, but only after he'd thrown up all over the grass; which, thankfully, when he tipped sideways, he missed actually falling into, his eyes fluttering shut, his aching neck throbbing; and Jinhai was trying to get his attention again, this time with quiet, soothing words, but Gale still couldn't seem to decipher them before he let go of his consciousness and allowed himself to slip into the darkness.
ol-j-man
