You Are On My Mind

Panic Attack

Officer Danny Reagan was very confident in his job.  He was the best rookie out there; he knew how to handle psychos, victim's family members, and knew a little bit about the medical world. By taking the job, he knew the basics like CPR and how to make a make-shift tourniquet. Being married to an RN nurse who graduated top of all her classes wasn't a bad factor. He could ask her about the medical jargon her didn't understand. He could ask her why sugar helped with headaches (he found the answer fascinating, because he had never thought it worked that way). He could learn some more make-shift, on-the-scene procedures. Danny Reagan was confident he could handle anything anyone threw at him..... anything except a panicking wife.
Danny wasn't quite sure what had happened. He was joking around with his wife, then she started crying. He hated to chalk it up to her over-active hormones, but he didn't know why else she'd laugh one minute then cry the next.
Linda Reagan didn't know what had happened. Her husband had made some perverted joke, prompting her to scold him and laugh along. As she laughed, her chest constricted, she felt dizzy, heat rushed through her body.
"Linda?" Danny was quickly by her side as she shook from head to toe. Hormonal crying never caused her to shake; and this crying was different. Usually her hormonal cries were soft, and could only be detected by her sniffles and flushed cheeks. This cry sounded like sheer and utter fear. "Baby, what's wrong?"
She couldn't talk, she couldn't breathe. She sobbed and sobbed as Danny rubbed her back. She tried to tell him to get her anatomy book, but she couldn't. She needed to show him what was happening. She knew the symptoms, and she had experienced it once before. A few years ago, when she was sixteen. She needed to get a vaginal ultrasound, and she was fine with that. After the doctor told her they might need to stick a camera up her vagina, she had furrowed brow, but nodded anyways. The Sunday before the appointment, she had a mental breakdown. Her Dad thought it was because she was upset that he didn't like the prom dress she had chosen. She was barely able to choke out to her mother that she was scared of the test. It turned out it was no big deal, and by the morning of the test, she was fine. She would never forget what her mother had said; Linda, sweetie, you're gonna be okay! You're just having a panic attack. Al they're going to do is put gel on your stomach and move a wand around.
"Linda, what can I do? What's happening? I know I was trained for this, but nothing's coming!" Danny was trying to stay calm. He was scared for his wife. He didn't know what was happening. "I know it's not a heart attack. What is it?"
Linda stood up, still shaking, and walked to the book shelf. She pulled out her big anatomy book and flipped to the index. She looked up the correct page, and turned there. She pointed to the words in bold.
"Panic attack." Danny read aloud. "Okay, I know this... focus on your breathing."
Linda was almost calmed down by the time she had shown him what was happening. She breathed deeply, her tears subsiding.
"You okay?"
"Yeah." She reached for the tissues.
"You sure?"
"Mhmm."
Danny sat Indian style, relic flushing over him. "I should've seen it was a panic attack."
"It wasn't your fault," Linda blew her nose. "That one came out of no where. They usually do."
"But I should've seen it. I should've known."
Linda shook her head, not releasing Danny would blame himself for a lot of things he had no control over. "You did. You knew something was wrong, and you knew you had to fix it. Unless you have high blood pressure, panic attacks shouldn't kill you....."
Danny looked at her, not convinced.
"Tell you what. I've got a friend, Brie— remember her? My roomie?" She waited for Danny to nod. "Well, she specialized in this sorta thing. She's a psych nurse; we'll go visit her on the weekend, and she can teach us how to calm each other down. Deal?"
"I don't know...."
"It'll be for free, and she'll be more than happy to teach us. You probably have most of the training anyways. And probably me, too. I minored in psych, y'know."
"I know. And that just goes to my point that you're the smartest person I know."
Linda grinned, "we okay now?"
"Long as you're okay."
"As long as you're by my side," she grabbed his hand, squeezing it firmly, "I'll be more than okay."