This is the thirty-first part in a series, so if you have not already done so, you might want to read Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV, Part V, Part VI, Part VII, Part VIII, Part IX, Part X, Part XI, Part XII, Part XIII, Part XIV, Part XV, Part XVI, Part XVII, Part XVIII, Part XIX, Part XX, Part XXI, Part XXII, Part XXIII, Part XXIV, Part XXV, Part XXVI, Part XXVII, Part XXVIII, Part XXIX, and Part XXX before continuing.
The doctors wanted to keep Phil overnight for observation. He bitched and moaned about it, but Charlie didn’t budge. She tried to hide it, but I could see how much the whole ordeal had scared her.
If I was being honest, it had me pretty rattled, too. I thought for sure Phil was a goner when I saw him get swept up in the herd. Better men than Phil had met their end in just such a situation and I didn’t like to think how close we had come to losing him.
I waited until we had left Phil’s room before telling Charlie out of the side of my mouth, “I do not envy the nurses who have to take care of him tonight.”
Charlie laughed a weak laugh. “Yeah, they say doctors make the worst patients, but they haven’t met a Busch.”
“I wouldn’t put it past Phil to single-handedly change their minds.”
Charlie laughed. Then she laughed harder. Then she was sobbing.
“Hey, you OK?” I said.
I stopped walking and put my hands on her shoulders so I could look at her, but she avoided making eye contact with me. She put her hands on my arms and nodded, looking everywhere but at me.
Then she started hyperventilating, and that’s when I got scared.
“Can we get some help over here!” I yelled like a character in a movie.
Charlie shook her head and backed away from me, pulling herself out of my grasp. She leaned up against a wall and crossed her arms over chest as she struggled to breathe.
“What’s going on,” said someone in scrubs.
“She can’t breathe,” I said.
Charlie shook her head. “Panic attack,” she wheezed.
“You’re having a panic attack,” said the person in scrubs.
Charlie nodded.
“OK sit down over here,” she said as she guided Charlie to a chair. “I’ll get you some water.”
“That’s it?” I was incredulous.
Scrubs shrugged. “There’s nothing else we can do for a panic attack. She’s doing the right thing, crossing her arms over her chest and slowing her breathing.”
She disappeared and I looked at Charlie. Sure enough, her breathing had slowed.
“Have you had a panic attack before?”
She nodded.
“Since when?”
“Since forever.”
“You never used to get them when you were here.”
“OK, you want to be literal? My first panic attack was the first month after college.”
“And how many have you had since then?”
Charlie shrugged. “I wouldn’t say it’s a regular occurrence, but sometimes when things get really crazy at work, or my mom gets cancer, or my uncle almost gets trampled to death.”
She started wheezing again and crossed her arms back over her chest.
“OK, OK, I’m sorry,” I said quickly. “Forget I asked.”
Charlie started laughing, which, unfortunately, didn’t help her breathe any better.
Scrubs returned with a bottle of water, and Charlie wheezed a thank you.
“Still having trouble,” said Scrubs.
“I was feeling better until he started asking intrusive questions,” said Charlie.
Scrubs gave me a look that asked if I was trouble and needed to be dealt with.
I put my hands up like I was being held at gunpoint and tried to explain. “I was trying to help.”
Charlie laughed and waved off Scrubs. “It’s fine, really. I got in my own head and made it worse. It won’t happen again. Promise.”
Scrubs said, “You sure?”
Charlie made a cross over her heart.
Scrubs said, “I’ll be at the nurse’s station if you change your mind,” then gave me another warning look before heading to said station.
Charlie giggled before taking a sip from her water bottle.
“You think that’s funny?”
She giggled again as she nodded.
I was tempted to storm off, but I was still too worried about her to even pretend to be upset. Instead I said, “I take it that means you’re feeling better?”
“Much.”
“Good. We need to get you back to Phil’s house before Cordy destroys it.”
To be continued…