Star Trek Imagines (Character x Character)

Dicso. Ash x Michael - "Breathe with me."

He couldn't remember what triggered his panic attack. He was fine one minute and the next he was hyperventilating with images flashing before his eyes and the memory of pain coursing through his body. The panic attacks usually occurred when he was alone, when his thoughts had the opportunity to creep to the surface and overwhelm him. But he wasn't alone this time. Michael was with him. The two of them had just finished a date and were spending the rest of the evening in Ash's quarters.

Ash's vision was blurred from the lack of oxygen and he reached out to something—anything that could stabilize him. He needed to ground himself. He needed to feel something other than the utter panic that was filling every inch of his being.

He felt his hand grip something and he held on for dear life. He didn't realize it, but it was Michael's hand, fingers gripping Ash's hand tightly.

"Ash," a distant voice said. It sounded muffled, like the speaker was behind a glass wall. In reality, Michael was a mere foot or so away.

Ash took in a gasp of air. Memories of everything he had gone through were running through his mind at warp speed. All of the pain, the fear, and the hopelessness resurfaced and that was all Ash could feel.

"Ash, you need to breathe," the voice said. "Try taking in a slow breath. Can you do that?"

Ash blinked hard and tried to take a deep breath. He got halfway before his chest felt the urge to squeeze all of the air back out in a rapid burst.

"Focus on my voice. Ash, please. Try and focus on me. Hear my voice. Let it guide you out of this."

Ash's eyes darted around the room, his head spinning. He saw a figure in front of him and was about to flinch away when the calming voice came out of the figure and he remembered that it was Michael. He knitted his eyebrows together in focus as he tuned in to her voice, praying it would be loud enough to overpower his jumbled thoughts.

"Listen to my voice. I need you to breathe slowly. Try to breathe with me, can you do that? Breathe in... and out... in... and out..."

Ash did his best to breathe with Michael. She kept repeating the same phrase as she breathed with him, in and out. It started to work after a few minutes. He started to breathe normally and his mind was starting to calm down.

"Are you okay?" Michael asked, gently holding Ash's face in her hands.

Ash nodded slightly. "I will be," he said, voice hoarse. "Thank you."

Michael nodded. "I'm just glad I was able to help you. If you ever need me when I'm not here with you, call me, okay?"

Ash nodded again.

"Come on, let's lie down. I'll hold you and you can go to sleep if you want. Or we can talk. It's up to you."

Ash managed a small smile. "Thank you, I'd like that."

Michael pressed a soft kiss to his cheek and brought him to the bed. Michael lay down first with her arms open.

Ash was quick to move into them. He lay with his head on Michael's chest and Michael wrapped her arms around him. Ash listened to the steady thrumming of Michael's heart, the sound helping to keep Ash's mind grounded and calm.