Page 44 of Rescuing Nathaniel

She felt a lot better physically, but her doctors wanted to keep her for another day or two while they ran more tests and ensured that she was fully recovered before they discharged her.

Which meant she was stuck there with her parents.

Forced to listen to her mother ramble on and on about how it would be so lovely if she met an eligible doctor and they got married. When she wasn't rambling about that her mother was trying to convince her to leave her job and marry the man they’d chosen for her so she could live a nice, comfortable lifestyle.

As though that was what she wanted.

Or as if she’d be any safer.

It wasn't because of her job at Prey that she’d been abducted, she’d just been in the wrong place at the wrong time. It could have happened to anyone no matter their financial standing, job, or marital status.

Feeling trapped in the bed just like she’d been on the boat, surrounded by people who didn't really care about her other than what they could get from her, had the bubbling of emotions getting stronger.

How much longer could she hold them in?

All of a sudden, the squeak of an approaching meal trolley cut through the sounds of her mother’s voice.

The trolley that brought her food on the ship had a squeaky wheel.

Just like that, the lid on the bottle of her emotions came off, and all of her pent-up terror came springing out.

She couldn’t breathe.

There was no oxygen in the room.

And what was that petrified keening sound she could hear?

Was that her?

Was she making that awful sound?

If she was, she sounded so broken, so utterly destroyed that for a moment Ava had to believe she was never going to get any better. That what she’d been through had affected her on such a deep level that it would be impossible to get past it.

Vaguely she was aware of people moving about her, of a steady hand on her shoulder, of an oxygen mask being put over her face, of a soothing voice murmuring that she was safe, that she was just having a panic attack, that it was completely normal.

Normal.

The last thing Ava felt right now.

But the cool puff of air against her lips helped her to drag in more oxygen, and the reassuring voice and hand did help to calm her racing heart. At least a little. Enough that she could work on slowing her breathing and remind herself that she was no longer on that ship of death, she’d escaped, Nathaniel had got her home, and she was safe in the hospital.

“There you go, Ava, you're doing great,” the voice encouraged, and she realized it was one of the nurses who had been taking care of her. The woman was older, with soft, fluffy white hair and a round belly, reminding Ava of Mrs. Claus, and that helped her calm further.

Just a panic attack.

Normal, apparently, for someone who’d been through what she had.

Still, the clearer her mind became, the more she noticed. Like the fact that her father hadn't moved from the chair by the window where he’d been tapping away on his phone from the moment he sat down. Obviously, he would rather be anywhere else but there.

Her mother had her arms crossed over her chest and a disapproving look on her face. Like Ava had had a panic attack just to annoy her. Her mother didn't really want to be there either so why had her parents even bothered to come? They’d been notified as a formality apparently, because they were her next of kin, but that didn't mean they had to come. They could have stayed home and sent a card and some flowers.

“Do you know what triggered the panic attack?” the nurse asked. Apparently knowing her triggers would help her avoid them. Too bad no one realized just being there was the biggest trigger at all and she would actually heal better and quicker at home.

“The wheel on the meal trolley squeaked, like the one on the boat,” she replied, tugging down the oxygen mask since she could breathe more easily and the feel of it against her skin made her claustrophobic. She well remembered the mask that was held to her face as she was knocked out for her surgery, how utterly helpless and terrified she’d been.

“Okay, we’ll get that fixed ASAP,” the nurse assured her.

After more assurances that she was okay, the nurse left, and since that was the only barrier between her mother staying quiet and saying exactly what she wanted, her mother stepped forward and opened her mouth.

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