He lay on his back, mouth-breathing like a beached whale, staring at the water stain on the ceiling that looked vaguely like a disapproving face. The disapproving face seemed to mock him. You should have bought that humidifier, it seemed to say. You should have changed the air filter. You should not have eaten that entire cheese platter at midnight.

This is a relaxation technique that targets the muscles in the throat and nose.

For a moment, nothing changed.

Leo smiled, took one more perfect breath, and fell asleep three minutes before his alarm was set to go off. He didn’t care. For now, in the silent, sacred hour before dawn, his nose was open, and the world was full of air.