RIKA
The thing about her attacks were that they always passed. Sometimes it took twenty minutes. Sometimes it took hours. But eventually she always found her way out of the fear. It just… hung around in the back of her mind waiting for the next time to take over.
So, as Gar's mother rubbed her back and they sat quietly against that wall, slowly but surely, Rika's heart slowed and her breath stopped hitching. She wasn't sure how long it took. It seemed like they sat there forever, and like it passed in a blink. As if it had all been a dream. But Rika knew if she looked up she'd see those blankets on the floor, the bodies beneath them…
She shuddered, and Elia squeezed her shoulder.
But eventually Rika felt calm enough to lift her head and a deep breath. The tension in the room seemed to ease away as she did—as if they'd all just been waiting on her. Which made Rika want to weep with sheer frustration.
