Baby of the Family

Chapter 11 : Panic attack

Chapter 11

The next day...   

Riker POV

"Guys, wake up. It's time for breakfast and then we have an interview," Ross said, shaking me.

I opened my eyes. I was still in Rocky's bed from last night.

"Why are you guys in the same bed?" Ross asked.

Ross looked down at my wrist. It was bandaged from last night.

"Riker," Ross said, giving me a look.

"You knew he did this?" Rocky asked.

"No. I mean, yes. He's only done it once," Ross said.

"Well he did it again last night," Rocky said.

"Riker, you promised me you wouldn't do it again," Ross said.

"I'm sorry! I've just been really anxious and upset lately!" I said, starting to get panicky.

I was scared they'd tell mom and dad about my cuts.

"That's why I said you need to go easier on him," Ross said.

"I had no idea," Rocky said.

"I know. But you need to because I don't want him doing this to himself anymore. Please just pretend to get along for long enough so dad will let you two go back to your own rooms. I'm handling it, ok?" Ross asked.

Rocky nodded and went downstairs for breakfast. Ross sat down next to me and pulled me into a hug.

"Calm down," he said.

"You won't tell?" I asked.

"I won't tell this time."

I clung onto him and just tried to relax. I've just been so stressed out lately. It's making me so tired.

"Come on. We need to go eat. Then we have an interview."

Later...

Ross POV

So for the interview, it was mostly for me about Austin and Ally. But then everyone else was going to come out and we were going to play 2 songs.

But when everyone came out, Riker wasn't with them. And I was really confused. And worried.

I couldn't just ask where Riker was during the interview. I was looking at my siblings, trying to get some sort of clue about where Riker was.

For both of the songs, I almost missed a bunch of cues. I was too busy wondering about Riker.

As soon as the songs were over, I practically ran out of there. Dad was waiting for us in the other room.

"Where's Riker!?" I asked, looking around.

"I'm not sure. He was about to go on stage with everyone else, but then he ran off at the last second," dad said.

"Well where is he!?"

"I don't know. I was watching the interview."

I sighed and turned around. I looked down the hall, wondering where he might've gone and why he might've run off.

My first guess is the bathroom, which was down at the end of the hall. So I took off for it.

I tried the door, but it was locked.

"Riker?"

I started knocking and then I heard the lock click. I tried again and got it open. Sure enough, Riker was inside and he was crying.

"What happened?" I asked, going inside.

"I can't calm down. My heart just started racing and I got really scared, so I ran. I can't stop my heart from racing! I don't know what's happening to me!"

"Ok, let me get dad-"

"No, don't leave!"

He grabbed my arm tight and I could feel him shaking. It was almost scaring me a little too. So I opened the door so I could call for dad instead of leaving Riker.

"Dad! I need you! It's sort of an emergency!" I yelled.

I saw dad and he came running down the hall. I held the door open for him.

"Riker, what happened?" Dad asked.

"He can't calm down. He said his heart won't stop racing and he just got really scared," I said.

"I think he's having a panic attack," dad said.

"Well how do I make it stop!?" Riker yelled.

"You need to focus on breathing. Slowly," dad said.

"I've been trying!" Riker cried.

Dad stepped so he was behind Riker and put his hand over Riker's heart.

"Now start taking deep breaths," dad said.

I think he was feeling Riker's heartbeat to see if it was slowing down or not. But Riker was still panicking.

"Riker, deep breaths," dad said again.

"I'm trying! I can't do it!"

"Breathe only through your nose. It'll help slow you down."

Riker started sliding towards the floor. Dad grabbed under his arms, sat on the floor, and pulled Riker onto his lap.

"Riker, it's ok. But I need you to breathe. That's how you can make it go away," dad said.

Dad put his hand over Riker's heart again.

"Breathe through your nose," dad said.

"I can't."

"Yes, you can."

"No, I can't!"

Dad put his hand over Riker's mouth, forcing him to breathe through his nose. Riker started panicking even more, so I sat down on the floor too and took Riker's hands.

"Riker, just breathe. You can do it," I said.

Riker's breathing started slowing down. Dad took his hand off Riker's mouth.

"See?" Dad asked.

Riker nodded, but he was still crying. He turned in dad's arms and wrapped his arms around him tight and cried into his shoulder.

"You're ok. It was just a panic attack. It can't hurt you," dad said, rubbing his back.

"Well why did it happen?" Riker cried.

"I don't know. It could be because you've been more stressed out lately," dad said.

"Well what do I do?" He asked.

"Just try to stay calm if it happens again."

"It could happen again!?"

"Riker, stay calm."

"How can I make it not happen ever again?" Riker asked.

"There's no way to make sure it never happens again. But there are things you can do to try to reduce your stress level," dad said.

We all just sat there for a few minutes while Riker calmed down and stopped crying.

"We need to get going. Everyone has probably packed up already," dad said.

We all stood up and went back to our dressing room.