The Colour of Your Aura (Enoch O'Connor)

Chapter 8

"This is all your fault."

"No, it's not. It's your fault."

"You're the one who grabbed her in the kitchen and terrified her in the first place"

"If you hadn't insisted on bringing Victor back then she would be fine right now."

"Stop it, you two! She doesn't need this right now! You are both equally responsible but blaming each other isn't going to wake her up!"

It was Emma's squeaking that made me open my eyes. Her squeaking could have made a dead man open his eyes. I looked around and saw that Emma, Enoch, Jake and Miss Peregrine stood around my bed, studying me as if I was an insect under a microscope.

"Oh good, you're awake. Mr O'Connor said that you had a 'panic attack' or whatever that is and then you fainted. What is a panic attack?" Miss Peregrine asked and I raised my eyebrows.

"You don't know?"

"I tried to explain it to them but they didn't believe me. I get them sometimes too," Jake said and I nodded. At least he tried.

"It's where someone feels incredibly overwhelmed and anxious and it can have physical symptoms. I couldn't breathe, it made my crying worse and then I fainted," I explained and Miss Peregrine nodded.

"I'm not very competent when it comes to the topic of mental health. I'll have to read up on it in case this becomes a regular occurrence. We'll be going for our daily walk in ten minutes, will you be able to join us?" Miss Peregrine asked and I nodded. She then excused herself from the room and I was engulfed in a hug by Emma.

"Oh my god, we were so worried about you. Does this happen a lot?" She asked, not loosening her grip one bit.

"It's been happening about once every two weeks for the past two years. I'll be okay," I said and she nodded.

"Try not to squish her Emma. I don't really want her to faint again," Enoch sighed and Emma hopped off me as if I had suddenly lit on fire. She was light as air and I could barely feel her on me but her rose perfume was going to give me a headache.

"Jake, we should go and get the others ready for the walk," Emma said, winking at me as she dragged me from the room.

"Glad you're feeling better," Jake shouted behind him before the door slammed shut, leaving me by myself with Enoch.

He didn't speak for a couple of minutes, avoiding my gaze as best as he could. I played with the hem of my bed sheets as I waited for him to finally say something.

"I'm sorry," He said, so quiet that I barely heard it.

"Why?" I asked, confused as to why he felt the need to apologise.

"Because if I hadn't insisted on bringing Victor back and scaring Jake then you wouldn't have been reminded of your parents and had the attack." Enoch said and although I knew that what he was saying was wight, I felt guilty that he blamed himself.

"You didn't know about my attacks and I'm sure that if you did, I would have been fine because we would have avoided that situation completely. I'm fine now so it doesn't matter. Don't blame yourself," I shook my head at him.

"Next time just tell me long before you faint. That was a serious test of my upper body strength," I giggled at him as he shook his arms out, scrunching his face up in mock pain.

"We need to go for the walk," I said, swinging my legs out from under that covers and standing up. Enoch moved forward as if to catch me. "I'm fine now," I chuckled and he stepped back, his face reddening in embarrassment.