Rupture // h.s au

"She's having a panic attack."

Trigger Warning: Anxiety/Depression/Mental Health issues/Panic Attacks are discussed in this chapter. If any of those topics are triggering to you then please skip this one. Take care of yourself.

ily x

___________________________________________________________________________

Autumn

The kids were running around, chasing after one another after the graduation ceremony. Marianne had finished what used to be called her elementary school years of education earlier than expected; she wasn't even ten yet, but the girl had never failed to impress us ever since she was born. This was no exception. Like her father, it seemed like anything she did, she excelled at.

The two-year-old Christopher was standing in the middle of the circle of Marianne and her friends, clapping to a children song that they were all chanting for his sake, so happily entertaining the little boy. Harry and I were standing with the parents of the other kids; discussing the next step of their school journey, and all the difficulties of being parents in this day and age. One of the parents was a teacher at Christopher's kindergarten class, and she was laughing about his pronunciation of any th-word, and the slight lisp that he had. It was adorable in my point of view, but I was probably biased. I thought everything my kids did was adorable. I was lucky to have the best kids in the world.

One of the mothers was talking to Harry about a possible at-home educational program for kids with disabilities and mental health issues that left them unable to attend classes in larger groups. I stole a glance at the kids to make sure they were still okay, before turning my attention back to the conversation. The mother had twins who were two years older than Marianne, and a four-year-old little boy who was severely autistic, he had episodes every single day for the month of school they forced him into, before his mother had to take him out because it was negatively affecting his mental and physical health. Harry was thinking through all the ways they could implement this new system, trying to solve this mother's problems the best he could.

I turned to look at the kids again, both of them immediately waving at me. Marianne was showing me how much of a good big sister she was being, and Christopher was giggly and happy to be the center of everyone's attention. It was one of those moments when I couldn't quite believe this was my life. Harry had his arm around my waist, thoughtlessly as he spoke to the mother. My children were looking at me, radiating joy and contentment and pride. Like they were as proud to be mine as I was to be theirs. Everything was just.. perfect.

A car seemed to be backing up to deliver the food for the attendees of the ceremony, and the driver was looking at the mirror that was furthest from the kids. There was no way he would be able to see them since the car was larger than them so they would be completely hidden from both mirrors.

" Kids, get away from the car, come on." I advised, giving Harry's hand a gentle squeeze, before stepping away from the conversation. The kids were squealing, rushing away from Christopher, who had both hands covering his eyes, seemingly in a game of hide-and-seek.

" Christopher!" I yelled out, running to get to him. He let his hands fall away from his face, his eyes searching until they settled on me, his entire face lifting with a grin. He opened his mouth to call for me, to tell me about the new game he was playing with his sister and her friends, when the back of the car collided with Christopher, throwing his small frame a few feet away. His eyes were wide and horrified, his features contorted in discomfort when he started to crash, one body part at a time. I could almost see the layers of dust rising, clearing soon after, to reveal his body sprawled across the ground, his eyes closed, his face now losing all expression.