Fragments of life from her past and maybe even her future whirled inside her skull, there at the periphery of her consciousness but never quite close enough for her to take hold of and fully understand. The thoughts jumbled and flung together before being ripped apart and flung into the deepest recesses and furthest corners of her skull, she felt like her very being was being swept away. If only she could surface, take a deep breath, get some air in her lungs and oxygen in her brain before she went mad… The physician could hear herself gasping, noisily sucking air into her lungs to the point where she might hyperventilate, even before her eyes had opened. For a moment she didn’t know where she was, thought that perhaps she had been dropped into a deep well and her body was reacting to the change in pressure by giving her the bends. It was only when she felt Doc’s hands on her, bony yet strong, lifting her so that was sitting upright, his calm voice urging her to breath slower, more shallowly, that she started to remember where she was and how she had gotten there.
