her warm smile and perfume washed over him . he gulped air and the small throat swelled like a frog 's with the effort to breathe and speak at once . my back felt like it was exploding with pain when i opened my eyes . `` you know exactly what i 'm going to say . '' he faded back into his body so that i could rise to the surface . well need to stay south of it from here on . she laughed a little , but jake frowned at her and she stopped . 