Gracie Rose | tracy beaker returns {on hiatus}

22

THREE DAYS LATER

I couldn't bring myself to go downstairs. I didn't know what was wrong with me. I hid under the covers in my bed and tried to breathe normally, but the more I thought about it, the more upset I got. At the complete wrong time, Liam knocked on the door.

"Are you coming down for breakfast?" He asked. I sat up and shook my head.

"I'm not hungry," I replied.

"Okay. I'll tell Mike you're awake. See you later." Liam said before walking out of my room.

I didn't have a clue what was happening to me, but I knew it was something bad. When I heard everyone laughing downstairs, I let tears fall from my eyes uncontrollably. I started to feel my heart beating faster and faster, and my head was pounding. I stood up, feeling my legs go to jelly again. I was panicking and I didn't know why, so I screamed, falling to the floor, feeling myself having a panic attack. But I didn't know why. Mike came running upstairs to find me, and was shocked when he saw me.

"Gracie? What's wrong?" He asked. I couldn't answer him. I couldn't actually string a sentence together. I just tried so hard to get my breath back, but everything I tried didn't work. He heard the door opening downstairs, meaning Tracy had arrived.

"I'm going to get Tracy to help. She's better at this than me." Mike said. He ran down the stairs and looked for Tracy.

"Mike! What's going on?" Tracy asked.

"Gracie's having a panic attack." Mike said.

"And you've left her on her own?" Tracy said.

"You're better at helping her than me." Mike replied. Tracy dropped her bag in the doorway of the office and sprinted up the stairs, finding me struggling on the floor. I knew she was there, I just couldn't speak to her. She sat down next to me and asked me the questions she always asks me during a panic attack, like what do you see, what do you hear, things like that. But it was when I didn't reply that she started to worry.

"Can you talk?" Tracy asked.

I shook my head while trying so hard to calm down. Tracy looked worried, and when I told her I couldn't speak, it made it so much worse. She lay me down, with my head resting on her legs, and stroked my hair gently.

TRACY'S POV

She couldn't speak.

That killed me.

I lay her down and played with her hair, trying so hard to help her. I was panicking too at this point, and it was making me really scared. Nobody knew why Gracie was having a panic attack, which made it even worse.

"Shhh. It's okay. I promise, you're safe here." I said, my voice wobbling every time I spoke. I could feel tears falling from my eyes, but I couldn't hold it in. The kids began to argue downstairs, which Gracie heard, so she sat up and started crying even more. I sat against the wall with her and burst into tears with her in my arms.

"Don't worry, it's okay." I sobbed. I stroked her hair gently, while repeating things along those lines, calming her down luckily after about twenty minutes.

"What's happening?" I heard Gracie say quietly.

"You've had a massive panic attack, and I don't know why. Nobody does. Please, talk to me." I trembled.

GRACIE'S POV

"I don't know." I said. "Honestly, I haven't got a clue."

"There's got to be something." Tracy said.

"I don't know. I just woke up and felt so horrible, then fell to the floor when I tried to stand up." I said. I looked down at my wrist, after feeling sharp pains coming from it. "I must've fallen on my wrist. It hurts."