Bell quickly closed the door to the empty room, turning to Alice, who had gone pale as a sheet with Axel’s final words over the radio.
“Breath,” Bell whispered, rubbing Alice’s arms as she spoke. “You need to breathe, Alice.”
Alice took a short breath and then another.
“Come on,” Bell said. “A little more, just let me hear a nice even breath."
Alice closed her eyes. She pushed back against the noise and the fear and focused entirely on taking a simple breath, and then two and three.
“Good…” Bell smiled, “good.”
Alice opened her eyes and looked at Bell.
“Thank you,” she whispered.
“Of course,” Bell replied.
“That was… unexpected,” Alice said. “I’m usually really good at handling terrible surprises.”
“It’s not your fault,” Bell said, then stared pointedly at Alice’s belly. “It’s the hormones.”
“Well, that’s… great,” Alice laughed. “Looking forward to it.”
