It Had to be You

Chapter Eight: Hot Chocolate

Tw: Panic Attack

Max was empty. In one part of his mind, he knew he was crying in David's arms. He could feel that lump in his throat making his eyes burn. But another part of his mind was perfectly fine. He could objectively feel himself crying but he didn't feel sad. He felt like nothing.

David had rushed him into his personal cabin, although Max wasn't really aware of it yet. Max wasn't aware of much really. David placed Max down on his bed. Max slumped down and curled up like a cat in the blankets.

"Max?" David said, nervously. "I need you to breathe."  David had been trained for this. It had been part of a summer camp counselor training camp he had gone to. In real life though? It was so much harder. This was a real boy in front of him. A real cowering, shivering kid falling apart as he watched. But he had to be professional. For Max.
                                                                           
"Breathe in with me okay? One. Two. Three. Good. Very good Max. Now out. One. Two. Three. Good. In, two, three. Out, two, three. Good. Can you keep doing that?" David watched Max until he saw him nod. He didn't want to leave Max right now, but he had to go grab a hoodie. The one that Max had been wearing was presumably still lost in the pond.

David walked over to his dresser. Rummaging through one of the drawers, he found his only hoodie. It was far too big for Max, but David didn't have much else to give him.

Walking back over to Max, he gave the child a one over. Max looked a little better. At the very least, he was sitting up now, clutching the comforter around him like a wall against the world. David silently reached towards Max and handed him the hoodie.

Max grabbed the hoodie and pulled it over his tank top.

"Thanks," Max murmured.

David was at a loss for words. There were words he was supposed to say. There was something he was supposed to do. But now, this wasn't a training dummy. This was his son. And maybe it was too soon to say that. But it felt like Max had been his son for a while. Since the grumpy kid had showed up for his first summer, Max had felt like his son. Now it was just official.

"Can I do anything?" David asked.

Max shrugged almost helplessly. "No."

"Hot chocolate?"

"It's summer."

"It's never the wrong time for hot chocolate!"

Max almost smiled. "Okay."

David hustled over to a table in the corner of his cabin, where a coffee maker sat, with some packages of coffee and Swiss Miss. He switched the machine on, grabbing a mug from another corner of the room. Humming, he poured hot water into the mug and then tore open a packet of the hot chocolate mix into the boiling water. Stirring it with a spoon he had seemingly grabbed from his pocket, he walked over to Max.

"Here you go, one cup of hot chocolate," David handed Max the mug, which Max grabbed and held close to his chest with both hands.

David took a closer look at Max now, as he blew on the hot drink. David wished he could say that Max looked better now. That the breathing and the chocolate had finished the attack. But it hadn't. Inbetween blowing on the drink, Max drew in large shuddering breaths, his whole body shaking with each inhale. When he picked up the spoon to drink the hot chocolate the spoon shook and clattered against the ceramic mug in his hands, often spilling off onto his clothes and the blanket that remained wrapped tight around him.

But Max was smiling. It was a small smile, quivering almost as much as his hands, but it was a smile. And a smile was better than nothing.

Slowly, Max finished up his drink. Placing it carefully down on the nightstand next to him, he shook off the blanket over his shoulder. Setting a careful foot on the floor, he slid off the bed.

"It's about time for dinner," David began. "Do you want to join the group? You don't have to if you don't want to. I can bring you food here if you're uncomfortable."

"No, I want to go." Max said. "The longer I wait, the worst it's going to be." Max took in one last long, shuddering breath and then let it out.

"Okay." David said simply. "Let's go."

An: It's another part! Thanks for the votes on the last chapter! You are what motivates me! Another part out soon. Enjoy! :)