[Allison can't. She can't do any of it. She can't let herself be comforted, she can't breathe, she can't sit, she can't she can't she can't...
But she's not strong enough to resist Lydia's gentle physical and verbal urging, so she sinks when she's steered to sit on the floor, and she clings to Lydia when she tries to draw a strained, clogged breath of air through the tears that are knotted in her throat, choking her to death. She ends up in a huddled sort of heap, tucked against Lydia, coughing and heaving as she tries to do what she's told.
Sit and breathe. She can't think, can't function, but those two words join the panicked, animal jumble in her head, things that require no action or survival. She has to breathe to live, and that panicked, animal jumble of nothing can understand that.
So she sits. She breathes. It takes a long, long while, but eventually the sobs and coughing and wet, choking heaves settle into something steadier, actual free breaths that start to make her vaguely dizzy after a little while.]
[Monday Spam]
But she's not strong enough to resist Lydia's gentle physical and verbal urging, so she sinks when she's steered to sit on the floor, and she clings to Lydia when she tries to draw a strained, clogged breath of air through the tears that are knotted in her throat, choking her to death. She ends up in a huddled sort of heap, tucked against Lydia, coughing and heaving as she tries to do what she's told.
Sit and breathe. She can't think, can't function, but those two words join the panicked, animal jumble in her head, things that require no action or survival. She has to breathe to live, and that panicked, animal jumble of nothing can understand that.
So she sits. She breathes. It takes a long, long while, but eventually the sobs and coughing and wet, choking heaves settle into something steadier, actual free breaths that start to make her vaguely dizzy after a little while.]