castillagrey:

Castilla jumped back from Dylan. He was angry and confused and it seemed that she was right, his hearing was gone. If they yelling and frustration weren’t enough of the sign, when Castilla was in his eyesight, he repeated the fact over and over like he was unsure she could hear him. She had never had to placate someone who couldn’t hear and she was at a loss for what to do to help. What was more worrying was Dylan’s breathing, he was panicking and he needed to know it would be okay. Castilla got down onto her knees in front of him and gently cupped his face, tilting it up so he would look at her. “You need to take a deep breath.” she said slowly, hoping he could read her lips. 

When that didn’t work, Castilla used her hands to try and explain what she was saying. “Deep breaths. In…. and out.” She demonstrated what she was asking to help them along. “In and out.” If Dylan’s breathing could get back to normal, she could get him to the hospital and they could stop any further damage to his hearing. She would stay with him the entire time to make sure that he was okay. She tried to give him a small, reassuring smile as she repeated her mantra. “Deep breaths, in and out.”

At this rate it wouldn’t be long before Dylan passed out. He struggled to catch his breath but the fact that he couldn’t only made him panic more. His eyes finally focused on Castilla as he felt her cool hands on his face. He stared at her lips as they moved slowly but felt frustration resurface as he struggled to understand what she wanted. His focus wasn’t there and his efforts were in vain.

He watched her hands as they fell away from his face and instead began to mimic what she was telling him. The meaning clicked and he tried to obey but his efforts fell short. His lungs felt like they couldn’t hold enough air no matter how hard he tried. He was suffocating- the random thought wasn’t helping to calm him so he tried to watch Castilla again as she repeated the gesture. His gaze moved back to her face as she continued instructing him to breathe, in and out. The words clicked with the help of the gestures as he watched her lips and he tried to inhale a full, deep breath. 

There was something oddly calming about her. The small smile that flitted across her face- it was forced. He knew it was. Because there was nothing about this situation that warranted any kind of smile. He tried to focus, told himself he had to. Logic. Logic worked better sometimes. After a few minutes passed, he managed to slow his breathing down to something resembling normal. He tried to focus just on Castilla instead of the world falling apart. Instead of the pain in his head. But it was there and it wasn’t going away and he could feel himself slipping again. He focused his eyes on hers instead.