Because I Love You✔️

Chapter 85: Post Traumatic Shock

He stroked her cheeks with his long claws, trying to soothe her with little avail.

"Shhh," Xaphile shushed, feeling a little sick. "Ella, you're fine... it's over."

"Papa!" she cried, rapidly hyperventilating and wearing herself out. "PAPA!"

She couldn't hear him. Nothing he said would get through to her. And he knew exactly why.

She was having an extreme panic attack.

It was likely a direct result of being forced to relive the disaster that had molded her into the girl she was.

Forehead slick with sweat and white hair sticking to her face, Ella finally stopped screaming, but that was only because her breathing had skyrocketed.

The hyperventilation had completely taken over.

Gently shifting his hand, he set his fingers against her throat to feel her pulse. Her veins throbbed against the inside of his fingers so hard and quick that it felt like they were trying to jump out of her body.

"Ella," he urged, gripping her shoulders again and leaning close to her ear. "You need to breathe. Calm down."

Struggling to do just that, but not the right way, she blindly thrashed around in his grip. Xaphile gave her a shake with the hopes that it would bring her out of the state she was in, but to no avail: unresponsive, her wild eyes sightlessly darted about.

"Ella!" Xaphile finally bellowed, shaking her yet again. "WAKE UP!"

She couldn't hear him.

He tightened his grip on her shoulders but she only flinched and shrank down like a frightened animal... then the tears started streaming down her cheeks and he jumped in shock.

Gently setting a hand on her head, he tried his hardest to soothe her by stroking her hair, shaken by the sight of her tears.

"Shhh... shh, it's okay, it's okay..." he whispered. "Calm down... you're safe... everything's okay, shhh..."

Ella's struggling lessened, but her body continued to tremble and her eyes were still sightless.

This was getting nowhere and there was really only one thing he could think of doing.

Recalling how Ella Richardson had always soothed him when he'd had his own panic attacks, Xaphile slowly slid his arms beneath Ella Rochard's body and lifted her into a sitting position.

With the gentlest of movements, he pulled her onto his lap and wrapped her up in a tight hug.

She attempted to flail around and let out a small scream, but he locked his arms and held her cheek against the warmth of his chest, rocking her back and forth. They stayed like that for a long time, and slowly but surely, his attempt to calm her down worked.

After a few minutes of rocking and soft murmuring, she blinked herself back to proper consciousness, breathing a bit more naturally as she finally started to see her surroundings.

"W-w-w-what happened?" she croaked, eyes utterly devoid of emotion. "Why... I can't... I..."

Shakily lifting her hand, she touched Xaphile's claws, which were threading through her hair.

"Shh..." he soothed. "You're safe."

He waited until her breathing had somewhat returned to normal to loosen his grip on her, but when she was merely staring off into space, he gently gripped her chin and tilted her head back to make her look at him.

She stared at his eyes for a long moment, face completely blank until a flash of recognition sparked across her features.

"I... I am fine," Ella replied with deadened eyes; lowering her head, she gently pushed him away. "Don't worry about me. I've dealt with worse."