Page 5 of Daddy's Little Survivor

If he didn’t get her to breathe, she was going to pass out and possibly hit her head on something.

The girl's hand flew to her neck, hitting one of the bruises, and he watched as she flinched. She started to scratch at her neck and he knew she was making the bruises even worse.

Michael got onto his knees, hoping that by making himself smaller, she would relax some.

“Can you focus on my words?” he asked softly, as if speaking to a child.

The girl stared at him and took a little gasp of breath. Tears sprung to her eyes, and he wondered what he could have done to make her cry. He had no doubt this was scary and all he wanted to do was comfort her.

“Just listen to my voice and try to calm down. Everything’s okay. You’re okay. Take a deep breath in. Hold it for a second. Let it out now,” he said, trying to walk her through it.

Michael watched as the girl followed his instructions and started to calm down. Until she took too deep of a breath in and started to cough uncontrollably.

“No, no. Don’t panic. You’re okay,” he said. “Look at me.”

The girl didn’t look at him, though. Michael wanted to growl. He didn’t like when someone didn’t follow what he said in dire situations.

“Look back at me,” Michael commanded. “That’s it. Good girl,” he said when she turned to look at him. “You’re doing great. Now, I want you to take a small breath in. Not too big.”

She shook her head and looked away from him again.

“No, look back at me. Focus on my voice. Small breath in. Hold it. Now let it out. Good girl, you’re doing so good.”

Her eyes closed and Michael saw her slowly starting to relax into the seat.

“Can you unlock the door?” he asked. He wanted to get her out of the car and sitting somewhere comfortably where he could help her better.

She opened her eyes quickly, staring at him with wide eyes as she pushed her body further away from the window. Michael sucked in a breath as she flinched but kept pushing herself away from him.

Shit. He shouldn’t have asked so soon, but he wanted to get her out of the car. He had no idea how long she had been sitting in there and he needed to get her into the fresh air. It was getting colder and colder as the night went on and he knew she had to be starting to feel the cold.

Well, maybe. He could see the beads of sweat on her forehead. Probably from not breathing and then hyperventilating off and on.

“Shit,” he mumbled as her breathing started to pick up again. “Look at me. It’s okay, you don’t have to unlock the door.”

Her eyes stayed on him, almost like she was trying to keep him in her line of sight in case he tried anything. The only thing he wanted was to get her to calm down and out of the car.

“You’re doing okay. No one is going to hurt you. You’re safe now,” Michael kept saying. “No one is going to get you. I promise.”

He didn’t know if she was running from someone, but his gut told him she was. All the bruises on her exposed skin and the way she was acting were signs that she was abused and running.

Michael had seen his fair share of women come through the hospital, and now the clinic, beaten and skittish around anyone. It broke his heart every time he saw a girl like this, and he vowed to help and protect every one he could.

He watched her body language as a couple of seconds went by. She was starting to shake uncontrollably, and her face was scrunched up in pain. How long had it been since she’d gotten out? How long had she been in the car? Was all the adrenaline wearing off?

“Little Bunny? I need you to breathe for me,” he said.

She looked at him, but her eyes were glassed over. Not a good sign. He needed to get her out and soon. Michael didn’t want her to go into shock because then he wouldn’t be able to do anything.

“No one is going to hurt you,” he said. “I promise.”He would do everything in his power to keep her safe.“Bunny, focus on me. Focus on my voice and calm down.”

Her eyes went wide. What could have her possibly shocked and on alert even more?

“Little Bunny.” He used the nickname again. “Deep breath in. Hold it and then let it out. Good girl. Now, I don’t think you heard me the first time. You’re safe now. I’ll keep you safe.”

Michael knew a lot of people who were abused needed to hear that they were safe and nothing was going to happen many times and he was prepared to tell her every minute if she needed it. He wanted her to calm down and relax a little.

The girl's breathing came out as pants, which concerned Michael.

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