Fading

~F i f t y - o n e~

Ch.51

Hayden POV

"Hey sweetheart I'm glad you're awake, I was worried about you" I said, sighing as my shoulders relaxed. I went to sit by her side on the bed.

"What...what happened?" she asked, her eyes glossing over as she looked at me and around the room.

"No...no.no....you...you can't...no!" She shouted, pulling at the leads covering her chest. She was going to hyperventilate if she didn't calm down.

I knew this was coming and yet I still wasn't prepared to see my baby cry.

"Amara honey, it's okay you're safe, you're with me and Hudson in the hospital. You fainted in the coffee shop and Hudson brought you here so I could look you over" I explained slowly, trying to stop the panic she was feeling.

Her chest continued to expand rapidly as her head shook repeatedly.

"I need you to look at me sweetheart. I am not going to hurt you. I won't let anyone else in here it's just me Mara, it's dad. No one else is here, I won't let anyone hurt you."

She was frantically looking around the room as if there were monsters lurking around.

I wish she wasn't so scared. It kills me to see her like this.

"Take some big deep breaths for me sweet girl. Let's slow that breathing down" I instructed, taking a hold of her hand and placing it on my chest. My hope was that her heart would start to mirror mine.

Her eyes widened and met mine as tears flowed from them. What I didn't expect was for her whole body to be shaky and weak. It was almost as if all of her energy had drained trying to keep her awake. What could have caused this?

"Dad I-I'm scared. I d-don't want to be here" she cried, her tears turning into sobs. My poor baby.

"It's okay to be scared sweetheart, but I need you to be really brave for me and take some deep breaths. We need that heart rate down before we can do anything. I'm not going to do a single thing until we have you calm and we can talk first" I reassured, trying my best to keep her calm while keeping myself steady.

She focused on her breathing and her heart rate slowly went down, as well as her sobs started to subside. I cautiously brought her into a hug as she clutched onto my scrubs, hiccupping every once in a while. Her body was still shaky and I could feel her trembling.

"There we go, just like that. How's your chest feel? Still pressure?" I asked, knowing how much it hurts her chest to have a panic attack. She was going to be exhausted after using up so much energy.

"A-A little. Do I have t-to be here?" she asked meekly, her head still buried into my scrubs. I was glad she wasn't so worried about the scrubs, that would have been another issue.

"Yeah sweetheart you have to be here. But only for a little while. Can we talk for a minute?" I asked, getting a nod in response.

"Can you tell me what happened today in the coffee shop?"

She sat up, still holding onto my hand for comfort.

"Goodness there is no parking in this place! Sorry it took me so long. Amara you're awake!" Hudson shouted, bursting into the room. I felt Amara jump and grab onto my hand a little tighter.

She nodded to him, biting her lip. She only did that when she was deep in thought.

"Hud volume!" I chastised, watching as he gave me a guilty look.

"We were just starting to talk about what happened today. She just needed a little reassurance that she was safe here with us. Right, Hudson?" I gave him a look.

"Yeah honey, you're perfectly safe here with us. We won't let anyone else in, no one's going to hurt you" he reassured. Her shoulders sagged and her grip loosened a little. It made me happy that Mara was starting to find comfort in Hudson as well.

"Okay sweet girl, I'll have you tell me your account of what happened and then Hud can fill in the rest. Sound good?"

She nodded and took a deep breath before starting.

"Me and Hudson were talking and I got really dizzy. Everything started spinning but I didn't say anything because it went away really fast. We kept on talking and I felt really weak....I thought maybe it was because I had too much coffee so I shrugged it off....We got up to leave and I got really dizzy again but that time it didn't go away. I felt really shaky and I remember grabbing onto the table for support....I remember my legs buckling but nothing after that" she explained, having to take a couple of breaths in between.

My poor baby.

"After her legs buckled I caught her and brought her here. I had noticed her eyes become unfocused and glossy, but it happened too quickly for me to ask her about it" Hudson finished, looking from both me to Mara.

"Okay. What have you eaten today?" I asked, not wanting to put her on the spot but having to. I knew eating was a sensitive issue but I needed to know.

"I had breakfast and coffee. Hudson make eggs and pancakes" she said, furrowing her eyebrows in thought.

"It couldn't have been food poisoning, I ate the same food as her" my brother told me, leaning his forearms on the bars of the bed.

"I figured. I'm thinking a deficiency in something. Possibly iron" I said, mainly thinking out loud.

If she hadn't had any meat in a while then it could have caused an iron deficiency. It's possible she's had this for a while, especially if she never ate much at her old home. It could be causing her tiredness and her body always being cold. I hadn't really thought much into it since we were just focused on getting her to eat, but thinking about it now makes me realize how much I've missed.

This is my fault. I should've checked her hemoglobin a long time ago.

"Hayd don't even go there. I know what you're thinking and you need to stop. Focus on what Amara needs now" Hudson ordered, pulling me out of my thoughts.

Giving him a grateful nod, my eyes focused on my daughter, who was anxiously picking at her nails.

"Okay honey, we need to do some tests to confirm what I'm thinking and then we can get you home. Sound good?"

Her watery eyes told me what she wanted to say, but she nodded anyways.

My sweet girl.

Comment let me know what you think!