Chapter 15
Later...
Riker POV
I woke up from a nightmare about being back at home with my parents. And it instantly turned into a panic attack.
Mark woke up pretty quick. He almost seemed a little worried seeing me like this.
"What's going on?" Rocky asked.
"He had a nightmare and now he's panicking," Mark said.
I buried my face in his chest. But I feel like I can't breathe.
"Riker, take some deep breaths. It's ok. It was just a nightmare. It wasn't real," Mark said.
But what if it becomes real? I might still go back home to live with my parents. And then I'll just get hurt again.
I couldn't stop panicking. And it was starting to hurt my chest.
"Riker, come on," Mark said, holding me tighter.
I can't.
I heard Rocky get up and sit down on my bed. He wrapped his arms lightly around me. But I don't feel any better.
Later...
Rocky POV
I don't know what kind of nightmare Riker had, but whatever it was, it was bad. He couldn't calm down for over an hour. And at one point he started crying so hard that he wasn't silent anymore and we could hear what his voice sounded like a little bit.
His voice sounded kind of hoarse though, probably because he never talks.
Finally he calmed down, but I kind of think it was just because he got so tired.
He ended up between me and dad in his own bed. He was laying on his side, facing me. And he had a tight grip on my arm. And dad was rubbing his back, trying to get him to fall back asleep.
To be honest, I'm kind of scared of this happening again. What if dad hadn't slept in here tonight and I had to handle this by myself? I'm not sure I would know what to do.
I just hope he can sleep through the rest of the night.
The next day...
Rocky POV
Riker was absolutely exhausted today. And so was I. So dad let me stay home from school.
I brought Riker down to the kitchen for breakfast and then brought him to the living room after we ate. He seemed really upset, probably because of last night.
He ended up asleep on the couch, so I spread a blanket over him. And then I went back to the kitchen to talk to dad.
"What the heck was that last night?" I asked, quietly.
"I have no idea," dad said.
I sat down at the kitchen table across from dad. He was still drinking his coffee, trying to wake up. I think we were all super tired.
"Well what do I do if it happens when you're not in there?" I asked.
"You can wake me up if you need help. Otherwise you might just need to wait it out, like we did last night. He can't panic forever. At some point, he's going to get too tired to panic anymore."
"I just don't like seeing him like that. It's kind of scary."
"I know. But it's just a panic attack. He won't get hurt from it."
"How could he have a nightmare so bad that he would get a panic attack like that?"
"I don't know. We don't know what he's been through. It could've been about something that happened to him when he was still living with his parents."
"That's awful."
"I know. But he has you. He really trusts you, Rocky. And if it happens again when I'm not there, I think you can calm him down."
"Really?"
"Really."
I sighed. I feel so bad.
"Ok, well I'm going to go hang out in the living room so Riker's not alone when he wakes up. Hopefully he won't have another panic attack. I know he was scared, but it made me kind of scared too. We got to hear his voice a little bit though. Do you think he'll ever talk?"
"I really don't know. I was talking to the foster center about that. They said sometimes kids will just start talking again once they're been away from their parents long enough. But sometimes they never start talking again. We won't know."
"It would just be so much easier if he could talk. They we would know what's wrong and how to help."
"I know. But we're getting better at figuring it out. And if we can't, he can just text us."
I got up and went back into the living room. I sat down on the end of the couch since Riker was spread out, asleep.
I wish there was something I could do to help him.