Page 6 of Real Forever
“Christ, Mads, don’t look. Don’t let her see us.”
Madison stared at her sister. She was sweating and her breath was growing faster and faster. She clamped her hand on Madison’s arm in a death grip and squeezed her eyes shut tight. She tried desperately to hide her face behind her hair and her sister.
Madison squeezed Lauren’s upper arm. “Lauren, are you okay? Seriously, you need to calm down. I don’t think she saw you. It’s fine. Take a deep breath or something.”
Lauren tried to take a deep breath, but her breath came out shallow and quick. “Something’s wrong, Mads. I feel like I can’t breathe. I feel dizzy.”
“Okay, okay, I got you. Follow me, I’ll get you out of here.” Madison grabbed Lauren’s hand and turned to lead her out of the coffee shop. But it was close to eight a.m. and customers packed the small shop for the morning rush. The line snaked through the store in a narrow path winding between two guide ropes.
“Excuse me,” Madison tried to squeeze past the older couple behind them in line. They huffed and reluctantly moved a few inches to the left, forcing Madison and Lauren to nearly trip attempting to pass by. “Excuse me. I’m so sorry. Can we sneak through here?” Madison pleaded as she tried to lead Lauren through the sea of frustrated, un-caffeinated morning commuters.
“Excuse us,” came a loud, deep voice from behind Madison. A tall, dark haired man in a navy blue suit stepped in front of Madison, placing one hand on her back, and outstretching the other arm in front of her like a shield. He led Madison and Lauren straight through the line, out the front door, and over to a stone park bench on the corner.
“Are you okay?” the man asked Lauren.
She grimaced. “No. I feel like I can’t breathe.”
“Sit here,” he said, motioning to the bench. Lauren sat down and the man crouched in front of her. Madison followed behind.
“Do you have asthma or any other medical issues that might make you feel this way?” he asked.
“No.”
“Have you ever had a panic attack?”
“No,” Lauren replied, flinching and placing her hands on her knees.
“Okay, look at me,” he told her. “Look right in my eyes. I want you to focus on your breathing, okay? I want you to take a big slow inhale through your nose, like this.” The man inhaled slowly. “Now I want you to exhale like you are blowing out a birthday candle. Like this.” The man pursed his lips together and slowly let his breath escape. “Now I want you to keep breathing exactly like that, okay? And while you breathe, I want you to look around and list five different things you can see.”
“What?” Lauren glanced above the man’s head to Madison, with fearful, questioning eyes. Madison wrinkled her nose, just as confused as her sister.
“Trust me, okay? Five things you can see.”
“Okay,” Lauren said, glancing around her. “I see a tree, a stop sign, a blue truck…” Lauren glanced back to Madison, her breath quickening again.
“You’re doing great. You’ve got three things already. Keep breathing and tell me two more things you can see.”
Lauren clenched her fists and scanned the street. “I see…. I see a bird flying…. and…. and I see my shoes.”
The man tipped his head to catch Lauren’s eye line. “Good job. Okay, now I need you to tell me four things you can feel.”
“What do you mean?”
“Anything you can feel. The wind on your face, for example.”
“Okay. I can feel the wind on my face.” Lauren closed her eyes and lifted her face to the sky. “The wind, and I feel the bench underneath me. I feel my hair on my cheek. And I can feel my heart racing.”
“Perfect. Keep it slow and steady. You are doing great. Now I need you to tell me three things you can hear.”
“I hear you talking to me. I hear the cars driving down the street. And I hear a dog barking somewhere over there,” Lauren said, pointing to the left.
The man continued in his calm and even tone, “Perfect. Keep breathing and tell me two things you can smell.”
Lauren took a deep inhale and closed her eyes. “Okay, I can smell the coffee brewing from inside. And I can smell the fall scent of the leaves and grass.”
“Now one thing you can taste.”
She focused. She swirled her tongue around the inside of her mouth and along the ridges of her teeth.
