Ian is 13 and for the first time in a long while, he wishes he had better parents.

Because Fiona's not home, Lip's with a girl, and he just sat down to his school work only to discover he doesn't understand shit that's not ROTC when Debbie comes to him and says-

"I can't breathe."

Fuck.

So he pounds on her back and peers down her throat and reassures himself that if she's talking she's not choking. But she's still wheezing and red in the face and fuck the health teacher that told him that because it sure as shit looks like she's choking.

"Come here," he orders, sounding more sure than he feels. He catches her by the arm and drags her to the bathroom, a little more roughly than he means to because he's freaking the fuck out, okay?

"Lip!"

He's scrawny, but so is she, so he manages to hoist her up on the countertop without much effort. Debbie's breathing more shallowly now, tiny little half puffs that get caught in her throat and don't fill her chest.

Is it his imagination, or is she really turning blue?

"Shit." Ian swallows. "Lip!"

Fuck Lip because it takes him what feels like a fucking hour to drag his ass up the fucking stairs, and by that time, Debs clutching her stomach like it's about to burst and making this pitiful little noise in the back of her throat, so high pitched that she's probably attracting neighborhood dogs.

Lip shows up in the doorway, not even slightly out of breath, and Ian scowls.

"You think I didn't hear you the first twelve ti- oh shit, Debs. What happened?"

"Says she can't breathe."

He lets himself be nudged aside so Lip can go through the same motions he just did, going as far as sweeping the back of her throat like they would when she was three and they didn't want Fiona to find out she tried to swallow their Legos when they weren't watching her like they were supposed to.

"Take a deep breath, Debs," Lip says weakly. "Just try."

Debbie manages a look that communicates she wants to deck him.

She's crying now, and fuck, they've never been good with a crying Debs. A crying Debs almost means an ER trip and medical bills they can't afford- christ, they can barely afford the little payment people who are actually insured make- but at the last minute Carl passes the bathroom and Lip barks, "Hey! You do this?"

Because you never know with Carl.

"No!" Carl scowls. Then, "There's a guy out front. Says he's gonna kill Frank."

And then they understand. And it's over.

"It's fine, Debbie," Lip sighs. "Anyone's going to kill Frank, it's us. We earned it."

Debbie's still shaking and no, sue him, she's not blue, but she doesn't seem to be breathing any better as Lip helps her down off the counter and takes her downstairs to see what his girl got up to in his absence.

Ian frowns. And goes back to work. But either the homework got harder or he got more useless because he gets nowhere.

He looks in on Debs later that night, and feels like it's probably the second one.