Fly High, Butterfly

Chapter Seventeen

Camilo leapt in surprise as he felt it. Looking down, he saw four rats speeding around, one having dashed over his foot. He started to laugh at the display until he realized with just how much frenzy they were darting back and forth. He hadn't ever seen the rats in such a panic. His stomach sank as one of them looked up at him and then back to the staircase leading to Bruno's room.

Walking with speed, Camilo did his best to avoid the rats which were now all but circling him, clearly trying to get him to continue his path towards Bruno's room. He creaked open the door cautiously.

"Tio Bruno?" he called as he stepped inside, closing the door, "Your rats are really freaking out. Is everything—" his words died in his chest as he finally spotted his tio.

Bruno sat on the floor against a wall, knees brought up tight against his chest. Even from where Camilo was, he could see how bad the man was shaking. His head was up, but his eyes were unfocused, more occupied with pouring tears than seeing.

Camilo rushed forward, kneeling beside him, "T-Tio Bruno, what's wrong?" he asked, "You gotta calm down!" he realized just how quickly Bruno was breathing. He was already hyperventilating.

He didn't even seem to register Camilo was there for a long moment, but eventually his eyes darted over to his nephew. He seemed to try and speak, but his words died in his chest the moment he attempted it.

"Breathe, Tio. Okay, you-you gotta breathe." He held his hands out placatingly, as if he could subdue the man's panic. It didn't work.

"It's—" he once again tried to talk, but his breath hitched almost immediately, drowning out whatever he had tried to say. Camilo shook his head.

"Don't, you've gotta calm down first, Tio." Camilo urged him. He watched Bruno seem to try once again to calm down, silently going through his knocking rituals with violently shaking hands.

Suddenly, the door opened, revealing a wide-eyed Dolores, "What's going on? I-I heard..."

She trailed off as she saw the state her Tio was in, quickly rushing over. She took a seat beside him, holding her hands up.

"Hey, Tio, look at me," she spoke with that calming urgency only someone who knew what was happening could muster, "Come on, four-seven-eight, okay?"

And she slowly counted to four, showing it on her hands as she did. Camilo watched as Bruno shakily inhaled, stopping as she reset the count to begin counting to seven. He only made it to three before he broke, sputtering with the same level of panic.

Dolores shook her head, a patient but determined smile on her face, "It's okay, come on. Try again. I'll do it with you, okay?"

And they did. It took several minutes, Bruno struggling as he tried to get himself calm. Camilo watched helplessly as his sister managed to fix things. The tears that had been aggressively flowing from Bruno's eyes had slowed considerably, and his breathing no longer hitched. His legs were still brought up to his chest, but looser.

Dolores smiled gently, "There. Are you alright, Tio Bruno?" she spoke softly. Bruno nodded shakily, still having some residual trembles wrack through his frame.