Are you okay?

03:14AM

Although appearing calm, the only sign that there was some sort of inner turmoil beneath her surface was the look of utter torment etched across her face, entailed so subtly into her expression but clear enough for me to notice. All of her facial features were tensed: her lips slightly pursed, her eyebrows partially furrowed and her jaw taut; even the extra lines in the corner of her eyes revealed a glint of the terror she was immersed in.

And then before I could even finish my observation, Cassie began to tremble in my arms, her entire body shaking with trepidation as she ducked her head into my chest. My soul shattered to pieces when she began to whimper quietly, tearless cries pouring from her lips as she attempted to hide from an unseen adversary by leaning further into me. Whether she was conscious of her actions, I didn't know, but I was certain that whatever state she was in was harming her immensely and was bound to have negative repercussions.

I should probably wake her up, I decided at last, unable to bear the sound of her heart-piercing cries any longer. "Cassie..." I called out her name softly, overcome with guilt when she flinched at my voice and pulled away from me, relying solely on own her strength to hold herself together. "Cassie, please-" I began, but she began mumbling again, her words incomprehensible as they came out in frantic gasps of breath while her entire body continued shaking vehemently.

I didn't know what to do.

Waking her up was clearly no longer an option since my attempt had only ended up increasing her anguish, but leaving her asleep would cause more harm than good. Catch-22, I thought wryly to myself, debating over which of the impossible options I should take: I didn't want to hurt her, but both leaving her to sleep and waking her up left no choice for me not to.

In the midst of my internal conflict, I hadn't noticed when Cassie's hands began to trail up towards her neck until her low wails and whimpers became more and more panicked, drawing my attention to her frenetic state:

Her body was fighting against itself.

Thrashing against an invisible enemy, Cassie was kicking and twisting as though someone was attacking her, squirming hysterically while pained cries spilled from her lips. It was a wonder how she hadn't woken herself up as she continued to wrestle in her sleep, and I could do nothing but watch in pure agony when I caught sight of what she was doing to her neck.

Red, angry lines burned across her skin as she dug her nails into the flesh of her neck, like she was attempting to pry off hands tightened around her throat. If she continued I feared she would cut through her skin, since it was already pink with irritation and her nails were incessant with their scratching. "What do I do...?" I whispered aloud to myself, lifting my hands to hold her own and stop her but then dropping them again instantly as my doubts overcame me.

"Romeo," she wheezed out, her hands still clawing at her neck as she writhed in her seat. "Romeo please-" she gasped, her breaths strained and winded as she remained trapped in the imprisonment of her sleep. "You don't... I thought..."

Distressed and confused, I finally found the courage to grab hold of her wrists and stop her from dragging her nails down her neck, blaring bright crimson as a result of Cassie's self-inflicted torture. I was sure she would awake any moment due to her shortness of breath and continuous movement, resembling the beginning of an intense panic attack. 

And then she started screaming. Manic and neurotic, her torturing shriek bounced off the walls, reverberating through station as the echoes enhanced the utter torment plaguing her. Her eyes burst open as she sat up suddenly, hyperventilating while her eyes searched around frantically, scanning across our empty surroundings.

"Cass it's okay, you're okay," I soothed as her tear-filled eyes met mine, a frightened look in her hazel orbs as she stared at me like I was a monster. "I'm right here Cass, I'm here."