Under the Stars

5: Five

Sometime in the middle of the night, I was awakened by the sound of someone loudly calling my name. I was wrapped up in a tight hug by a calming presence. Suddenly, dad came running into my room and the realization hit me: someone else was holding me. Who was holding me when my dad stood at my bedroom door calling out to me?

"Lottie! Are you alright?" Dad asked coming over to kneel beside my bed. 

I felt panicky, but like a deer caught in the headlights, I could only stare at him, unsure of everything that was happening.

"El, it was only a dream. It's alright. Look. Your dad is here and so am I." 

I recognized that voice from somewhere.

"Stevien, we need to get her to breathe calmly. Can you talk to her to start calming her breathing? In for a count of five through her nose and out for a count of five through her mouth. I will be right back. I need to get her something to taste."

That's whose voice it was, Stevien's.

"Sure thing Mr. Romick," Stevien replied as he shifted around on the bed to face me.

"El, I need you to look at me." He told me firmly. When I failed to do what he asked, he gently reached up cupping his hands onto both sides of my face. He brought my face to look into his and smiled when my gray eyes met his chocolate orbs.

"There's my El. Okay, now I need you to look at me and breathe with me. We are going to breathe in through our noses for a count of five and then out through our mouths for a count of five. Are you ready, El?" He gently asked. I nodded in response.

"Okay. In...2...3...4...5. Good. Now out through your mouth...2...3...4...5. Good." He smiled at me again. I could feel my racing heart begin to slow a little.

"Now again. In...2...3...4...5...And out...2...3...4...5. Great El. Again. In... And out..." He squeezed my hands as we continued this for a few more times. He never once broke eye contact with me, trying to bring me back into the present and out of whatever nightmare I had been trapped in.

"Great job Lottie. You too, Stevien. Okay, Lottie. Let's find five things that you see, here and now." Dad said as he came back into my room with a glass of milk and a banana in his hands.

"Okay..." I meekly agreed.

"Five things, Lottie. Five things you see. Go."

"You, dad."

"One."

"Stevien."

"Two."

"My teddy bear from mom."

"Three."

"My favorite pictures on my picture board."

"Four. One more."

"The gray hairs starting to fill in beside your ears."

"Okay, smarty pants. Five." Dad snarked, while Stevien tried his best to hide his obvious laughter.

"This is good, Lottie. Now four things you can touch."

"Okay," I said, standing up from the bed. "My shag carpet rug," I said, running my toes through the soft, faux fur rug.

"Yes. One."

"Stevien's curls," I said reaching for his hair.

"Hey now! You know I don't let anyone touch the hair." He said as he tried to scoot away.

"Stevien, she is trying to ground herself to the now. So, just this once, please?" My dad asked.

"Fine..." He replied as he leaned back towards me. His curls were incredibly soft, just as I had imagined, and I was having a hard time stopping myself from running my fingers through them again.

"Okay, two," Dad said, breaking me out of my trance.

"Umm...my favorite sweatpants," I said as I placed my hands into the pockets. Each pocket had a soft piece of fabric sewn into it as a tool to ground me. Dad was the only other person who knew about that, so he smiled when he said three.

"And my keys," I said as I walked to my dresser to touch the set of house keys on my key ring.

"Good Lottie. Now three things you can hear." Dad said, taking me to the third step in our grounding exercises. As I focused on what I could hear, everyone in the room stilled, almost as if they were afraid to breathe.

"I can hear the sound of the T.V. playing downstairs. Dad, are you watching The Simpsons?" I asked shocked.

"Umm. One. And no, I fell asleep with news on, it must just be what is on now." He said in an almost guilty way. I wasn't sure if it was the guilt from being caught watching a show that he swore he had never seen before or if it was the fact that he admitted to falling asleep when he said he wouldn't sleep a wink all night.

"Okay," I said as I shrugged my shoulders a little. "I hear a drip in my bathroom sink."

"Two," Dad said. "I thought I fixed that... Okay, one more Lottie."

I desperately wanted to say I heard Stevien's heartbeat as I fell asleep, but I wanted to keep my best friend around, so I listened for something else.

"I can hear Stevien's stomach growling."

"What? No, you can't." Stevien said trying to defend his stomach just as it rumbled again. "Okay, fine you can." He said dejectedly.

"Good three. Now two things you can smell."

"Umm. My hair smells like my shampoo from my shower."

"One."

"My shoulder smells like Stevien," I said without thinking. Stevien laughed, but dad gave him a furrowed look.

"Okay," Dad said tersely. "Now one thing you can taste."

There was one thing I wanted to taste that I was sure he would not approve of at the moment. One thing I thought I was going to taste at the dance but was interrupted. Thinking about that made my heart begin to race again and my palms started sweating. Stevien noticed the quick change faster than my dad. He quickly got up and held out the milk in one hand and the banana in the other, desperate to help me stay in the now. I reached for the banana and began to peel it. I took a bite.

"I can taste the banana," I said before I took a second bite. I decided I didn't want anymore, so I held it out to Stevien who had been eyeing the delectable fruit from the moment dad brought it into my room.

"Are you sure you don't want the rest?" He asked me, trying his best to keep his growling stomach under control.

"No, I don't want it. Besides, I think you need it more than I do." I replied lightly, with a small laugh.

"Okay, Lottie. How are you feeling?"

"A bit better dad. Thanks," I replied as I walked over to hug him.

"Good. If you need me, just holler," dad said as he walked out of my room.

 

Word count: 1165