Page 4 of Damsel in Defense
“You’re okay,” he repeats.His voice is strong and steady.I can feel and hear him doing something beside me, but he never lets go of my hand.“I’m with you,” he tells me with another squeeze, “but I’m going to wet something and put it on your cheeks.Okay?Am I okay to do that?It will help calm your breathing.”
I nod, not caring what he wants to do as long as it helps me catch my breath.My lungs are on fire as I heave in and out.
“Oh!”I wheeze out when dripping fabric is pulled up to my face.The water is freezing and shocks my system.
“Okay, now take as big of a breath as you can and hold it.Focus on the cold.The sensation of the water on your cheeks.”
I have no idea why I’m not questioning or fighting this unknown person.There’s just something trustworthy about his voice, the calming aura of his presence beside me.
My lungs shudder as I take as big a breath as I can and then hold it.The burn is almost too much.What if I hold my breath and then am never able to catch it again?What if—
“Focus on the cold,” he repeats.The man must have felt my panic rising.
Focus on the cold.Focus on the cold.
It takes a second, but I fight through and do as he says.
The cold on my cheeks…it feels…good.
The skin is starting to prickle a little, the cold temperature seeping in.I can feel drips hitting my collarbone, sending surprising shocks to my system.Goosebumps break out across my arms.
With my mind focused elsewhere, my heart rate begins to even out.When I take my first real breath again, I fill my lungs.Noticing only a minimal uncomfortable burn, I take another and another.As I blink, the world comes back into focus.
And so does the man kneeling to the side of me.
Holy mother of God.
I must be hallucinating.Because there’s no way this man is real.
Had I stumbled upon an enchanted water fountain, and this was the Nymph King sent to save me?Was this good deed part of his mission to save his kingdom?
Oh Jesus.I bring a hand up to my temple.I have been reading way too much fantasy if this is the first logical explanation that came to my addled brain.
“Feeling better?”he asks, doing that damn hand squeeze again that brings me back into the moment with him.
I’m sure I must look like a drowned rat at this point, soaked, shaking, and apparently mute as I nod at him.Where the hell is my voice?
“Good.”He smiles.
We sit in silence for a couple of minutes, holding hands like we’ve known each other for decades, our breaths in sync as I slowly come down from my episode.
“Thank you,” I finally croak out.“I—” I open my mouth to tell him I have no idea where that came from or what happened but stop.It would be a lie.And for some unknown reason, the last thing I want to do to this man is lie.
“You’re welcome,” he replies when my sentence falls flat.“Just glad I saw you when I did.I’d hate to think of you here alone.”
I swallow and nod.I’ve gone through a couple of panic attacks on my own, and it had been scary.They lasted a lot longer too.
“How did you know that water trick?I’ve never heard or read about that before.”
“It’s a focusing tactic.My younger sister used to have panic attacks when she was younger, and this was a technique her therapist taught her.The cold stimulates the nervous system and makes your brain focus on the outward sensation instead of internal dread.”
I turn my head toward him, my lips tipping up ever so slightly in a grin.
“Areyoua therapist?Sounds like you know a lot about this stuff.”
His blue eyes widen a bit at my comment.I’m not sure why.The look is gone before I can even question it, and my curiosity turns to something new when he chuckles.The sound is deep and rich.It makes my chest burn, but for all the right reasons.
He smiles.“No, I’m not a therapist.I just pay attention.”
