Page 21 of Hypothetical Heart
“Please, not on me.”Howreassuring.
All of a sudden, the heavy, hot oxygen that I was breathing in is gone, leaving me gasping for air.
My eyes widen as they water. I become acutely aware of how little space there is in this closet.
“Winnie.” I feel a hand on my cheek. “Winnifred!”
I’m still gasping. One of Logan’s hands is still holding my face, the other scrounging around the closet, looking for something, anything, to help.
Through my panic, I can faintly hear him cursing under his breath.
“Win, look at me.” He stops rushing around, both his hands on either side of my face now. “Look at me, Win!”
My eyes snap open. I can barely see through the tears welling in my eyes. My lungs are barely taking in any air, and I’m wondering how I haven’t passed out yet.
“Breathe.” He demonstrates. “Breathe with me.”
Still nothing. My arms come up from my sides. They’re flailing around, clashing into his chest, and begging him to do something because I can’t.
This feeling is so unfamiliar, and I can’t grab hold of it. I can’t figure out where it’s coming from or why it’s happening.
He grabs a hold of my hands, his hands leaving my face. “Hey, hey, hey.” I look at him again. “You’re okay, Win. Calm down for a minute.”
Finally, I’m able to take a steady breath.
My arms drop back down to my sides, and one of my hands comes up to hold at my chest.
My whole body collapses forward, falling into Logan’s.
“I’m trying to stay awake, I promise,” I whisper softly.
Logan’s hands are in my hair. “It’s okay, Winnie. You don’t have to stay awake anymore.”
“Are you sure?” I try to look up, but his hand on the back of my head stops me.
“I’m sure,” he answers. “I’ll catch you if you fall.” And with that, my body gives out, and my vision goes black.
The next thing I remember is waking up in my bed. It must not have been long since I fell unconscious that we got out of the closet, because the sun still hadn’t gone down.
It’s a good thing I notice my surroundings. That means I’m not in the hospital or the morgue. I didn’t even come close to dying. Go me!
“Hi honey.” Dad smiles lightly from where he sits in the chair in the corner of my room, a book in his hand.
“You’re home?” Usually, he’s on call weeknights, and there are not many nights that he’s on call and doesn’t get called in. People need heart surgeons.
“Yeah, I just got here a bit ago.”
I sat up, rubbing my eyes to adjust to the sunlight coming in through the window. “Who called you?”
“Logan’s mom.” His answer doesn’t shock me.
“Do you know what happened?” I’m more asking so he can tell me because I have no idea what transpired after I fell asleep.
“Eloise and Genevieve got you and Logan out of the closet because Logan told them you had passed out,” Dad tells me as he stands up and takes a seat on the edge of my bed. “From the way Logan explained to me, it sounds like you had a panic attack.”
“I’m mad at them right now,” I say, more to myself than my dad.
“Eloise and Genevieve?” he asks.
