At the base, they stood in awe at the four-hundred-foot falls, the mist shimmering, the walls of the hills bursting with moss and ferns that grew right out of the shale. They swam in the frigid water, laughing and wrapping their arms around each other. Ate the picnic lunch they’d packed, then sat in a silence that wrapped them in honey-golden contentment and wonder.

But the ascent was harder; a brief rain shower had turned the trail to slick mud. They stopped to rest a few times, and Lauren felt so tired she wondered aloud if she could just lie down and grab a nap. Her limbs felt heavy and achy, but what choice did she have? When they finally made it to the car, both damp with sweat, she was breathing fast and hard. Josh, damn him, caught his breath almost immediately. She shouldn’t be this winded, she thought. She was in great shape, she’d drunk plenty of water, had two granola bars, a sandwich and mango slices, she . . . whoops . . . things were graying out, and she seemed to be flowing down toward the earth, just like the waterfall.

The next thing she knew, she was lying on the ground, staring at a flower, because there were flowers everywhere on this island. So pretty. They should move here. Also, it was hard to breathe. Her damn asthma. It felt like there was a leather belt cinched around her chest, getting tighter with every second.

“Honey! Lauren! Honey!” Josh was there, and she tried to smile, but her chest hurt, and her breath squeaked.

“Inhaler,” she whispered. He was already fumbling in the backpack and quickly pulled it out and handed it to her. She took a hit, then another, and her breathing eased a bit.

“Your lips are blue,” he said, and his voice was shaking.

A small crowd had gathered. “Want me to call 911?” someone asked.

“No,” she said at the same time Josh said yes. He scooped her up and carried her to the side of the road to wait.

“Thank God you . . . work out, babe,” she said, still puffing. “It’d be so embarrassing . . . if you had to drag me.” Big breath. “For you, that is. Not me.” He smiled, but it didn’t quite fool her. He was worried.

Blue lips. That was a first. Residual cold from the swim? The elevation? Some weird allergic reaction to the fruit?

The EMTs gave her oxygen and said fainting wasn’t that uncommon after this hike, especially if a person wasn’t in great shape.

Rude. She was in great shape. She just had asthma. “Ride in ambulance, check!” she said as they unloaded her at the hospital. “This was thrilling. Thanks, guys! Mahalo!” They did that cool thumb-pinkie wave and wished her well.