" Pike dug his thumb into the side of the man’s neck where the C3 nerve root emerged from the third vertebra, crushing the root into the bone. This caused the man’s shoulder and chest to go numb with a sharp flash of pain. His diaphragm locked and his breathing stopped mid-breath. The C3 nerve controlled the diaphragm. “If you get up, I’ll do this again. It will hurt worse.” Pike released the pressure, and knew the man’s shoulder and arm now burned as if they had been flushed with napalm. “We "

― Robert Crais , The Sentry (Elvis Cole, #14; Joe Pike, #3)