Page 58 of Breathe Again

She’d had a good day, but socializing was always wearing on her, and that, combined with the frustration of her chosen decompression tool not being available to her, had put her over the edge.

“Let me take a look, see if I can fix it.”

I was standing beside her, and I put my hand out to gently lead her to come to the bedroom with me. She slapped my hand away and looked at me furiously. I held her gaze, being sure that nothing more than curiosity and compassion were reflected in mine. If she sensed anger or frustration from me, it would set her off even more.

After several moments of intense eye contact from her, she spun and headed toward the bedroom.

“Hopefully, I’ll be back in a few minutes.” I threw over my shoulder at Bex and Willa.

Willa relaxed at the table while Bex took over at the stove, stirring the potatoes. She tapped the wooden spoon on the edge of the pot, satisfied that they were not sticking to the bottom, and rested the spoon on the plate beside the stove.

“No problem, chickie. Take your time.”

“We’ll finish the dinner and let ourselves out if you’re still wrapped up,” added Willa.

“Thank you…” I only half heard what they said but trusted they wouldn’t let my kitchen catch on fire.

“Mom!” Olivia screamed from the other room, and I hustled to get to her.

It turned out that it was not a simple fix. This required negotiating a new plan with Olivia, who was determined to watch her shows.

“I always watch my shows when I’m tired.”

“Yes, you do. But the internet is down, which means we can’t access Netflix. So, what can you do instead?”

“I always watch my shows.”

Her lips trembled. This was not a welcome change in plans.

“May I make a suggestion?”

“Can I watch my shows?”

“Right now?”

“Yes!”

“Right now, the internet is not working…”

She started to yell, her hands back in fists.

“Hold on, Olivia, let me tell you what needs to happen.”

“Then tell me!” Hands in fists, face red, lip trembling, and then tears sprung from her big brown eyes.

“I need to call and get the internet sorted out. That’s going to take time, and I’ll need you to be quiet while I talk on the phone. I’d like to get you comfortable doing something else while I do that, andthen, hopefully, you can watch your show. Does that sound like a good plan?”

“I want to watch my show,” she replied quietly.

Slowly, she began to accept the necessity of changing her plans.

“I know, and I want you to watch your show.”

“I want to watch it now.”

“I know, but can you watch it now?”

“No, because the stupid internet is down. It’s stupid! I hate it!”

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