"Ahhhh!" A piercing scream erupted through the still night.
Everyone instantly jumped up and rushed to the source of the sound. Being in the same room, Jemma reached Daisy who was shivering and crying.
"Dais?" Jemma called. "What's wrong?"
The girl sat there, her eyes wide, and replicated her shivering body. Her whimpers grew load.
The door suddenly swung open and Melinda rushed to the girl and embraced her. "Jem, give us the room."
"Right." The older girl nodded as she stepped outside and closed the door. She sat on the floor accompanied by her father and her cousin.
"So now what? We just wait here?" Bobbi asked.
"Yes," Phil replied. "Daisy will be fine but when she's like this she only wants Melinda close to her. We ran this race long enough to know what works."
"It's been quite a while since she had a night terror, especially one this bad," Jemma reported.
"Yeah, She hasn't had on since she was eight." He agreed.
Bobbi sighed as she looked down. "You called it a night terror. Why?"
"Well as you know nightmares are pretty bad in themselves. This isn't that but much worse." Jemma explained. "It affects Daisy even after She wakes up and chances are she won't go back to sleep and it will attack her for a couple of hours like a terror in the night."
"That is terrible." She frowned. "Doesn't ice cream or a movie or something work."
"Unfortunately no." Jemma sighed. "It messes with her psyche, I think. I hate this."
"We all do," Phil added. "It sucks and there's nothing we can do."
"Are night terrors the only thing that affects her?"
"Also unfortunate that the answer is no." He frowned. "She used to get very bad panic attacks and would only calm down when she's with Melinda."
"Poor kid."
He nodded as he yawned. "Five years without them and now they're back. I hope we can get rid of them again, fast." He checked his watch.
Meanwhile, Melinda kept Daisy in her arms; her voice, merely a whisper. "It's okay, baby; mommy's got you. You're good."
Daisy's face was pressed against a wet stain on her mother's nightshirt. She added to the wetness with more tears. "Make it stop!"
"Baby, you're alright. There's nothing here but you and me." Melinda was struggling to keep her emotions in check. Although it was hard, she had experience with this one predicament.
Seven Years Prior
A six-year-old Daisy screamed as she was jumped up from a very bad nightmare. Tears filled her eyes and she started to shiver a lot. Her body was stiff as it refused to move.
Even though her door flew open in less than thirty seconds after her scream, it felt like hours for her. Her concept of time was disoriented and all she could see were flashes of her dreams attacking her.
Phil was the first to see her and his heart broke. Tears filled his eyes as he moved to hug the girl but as he got close enough to touch her, her body reacted and moved away as she screamed. "Stay away!"
"Daisy, it's me."
His words didn't help; the girl wouldn't let him get near her. Her body tensed up even more as her older sister came to her side. "Stay away from me!" Her cries became screams as she defensively backed away from and lashed out at her family.
As Melinda entered, she pulled Phil away slowly. "Jemma, give Daisy some space, she feels cornered and uncomfortable and that's not going to help her get out of this state."
Jemma curiously looked at her mother. "You've seen this before? I don't recall this happening to me."
"You don't recall because it never happened to you." She replied as she looked at Daisy. "It used to happen to me."
"Will Daisy be okay?"
"Yes, honey. Go back to bed and I'll come to you when I'm done calming Daisy down." She commanded. "Phil, go with her and try to help her fall back to sleep."
"Okay." He nodded as he yawned. "Let's go kiddo."
Jemma nodded and walked out of the room with her father. They were both distraught and worried about Daisy. As they left, Melinda knelt on the floor, a few spaces away from her. She wanted Daisy to know she was there but also she was only going to go closer if the girl wanted her to. With her voice calm and as soft as a whisper, she called out, "Daisy, honey? Mommy is here."
The girl's stiff body began to slowly relax.
"Hey, can I come closer?"
Daisy's hand slowly reached out to her mother. Melinda slowly crept forward until she was by Daisy, who's arms snaked around her. She slowly hugged the girl and continued to talk in her calm tone. "It is okay baby. Everything is going to be alright; Mommy has you."
"Mommy? What's happening to me?"
"You had your first night-terror." She said as she lifted the girl, rubbing her back. "It's going to be alright. You don't have to worry because I will always come to your aide."
"I'm still seeing it."
"I know baby but it's not real. I need you to focus on me and my voice." She softly said as she kissed the girl's cheek. "Focus on me."
After a few hours, Melinda got daisy to fall asleep. As she yawned, she realized the sun was rising. "Looks like we're both taking an off day."
Present Day
"Baby, focus on me." Melinda tried. "Just listen to my voice and know I'm not leaving you."
The girl held her mother tightly even though her tears were gone. She was almost paralyzed in her current position.
"Deep breaths. Nice and easy, in then out."
"Mama, it's back." She whimpered.
"I know but we will get through it together just like we did before."
"Okay."
After a couple of hours, Daisy finally started to settle down. Her eyes started to close although she fought it. Ultimately, her tiredness won and she dozed off.
"Nice and easy," Melinda whispered. She placed the girl to lie down and gave her a light forehead kiss. "I hate night terrors."
She finally snuck out of the room to see both of the other girls asleep on her husband's shoulders. The trio was quite cute as they slumbered together. "Seeing the time, I would make breakfast but no one likes me in the kitchen."
After watching them for five minutes, she shook Phil awake. "Daisy's down; it's six. Jemma and Bobbi are going to need breakfast and lunch for school."
"Okay." He smiled. "Let's put these two to bed."
"Man, I'm tired. After my Tai Chi, I'm going to bed."
"You deserve the rest." He rose, lifting Jemma while Melinda held Bobbi. "I'll get started on breakfast as soon as we get these girls to bed."
"I think we all should take the day off." She yawned. "Especially since we were all robbed of sleep and comfort."
"Do you think Jemma would want to?" He asked knowingly. "Even with Daisy's night terror, I can almost guarantee that she will insist on going to school."
"You're right." She agreed. "Thing is, Bobbi will not let Jem go by herself and would end up going as well. I guess we can let them sleep for another hour then."
They placed Bobbi and Jemma on their bed due to the risk of waking Daisy. Covering the girls with a blanket, Phil and Melinda left to go to their respective morning activities.
Melinda spent her time meditating and practicing her Tai Chi. Phil on the other hand donned his apron and began building a big breakfast. The way he saw it, the girls would need all the energy they could get especially after The Night Terror attack on Daisy.
After an hour, Jemma came down to the family room followed by Bobbi. She yawned as she sat. "Morning, what time did you get Daisy down?"
"About an hour ago." Melinda voiced. It was evident that she was exhausted. Her eyes were bedded with bags. She moved extremely slow around the room as she took her seat next to her daughter. "It took a while but she finally settled down and went to sleep."
Bobbi looked towards Melinda with concerned eyes. "You must be really tired."
"I am but I'll manage the day." She answered before yawning. "I know you two will be going to school so I have a little assignment for you two. Since Daisy won't be at school, I need you to take care of Raina and make sure that nothing happens."
"Consider it done! She's like my unofficial sister at this point!" Bobbi smiled.
"And to besides, Daisy would be upset if we didn't." Jemma added. "Just take care of her and get your rest, mom."
"Thank you."
After Phil and the girls left, Melinda slept on the couch. She was way too tired to climb the stairs and the couch felt like a good place to crash. There was this bad feeling in the pit of her stomach that The Night Terror was only the beginning. She prayed that this was just a feeling, knowing just how hard it must be to experience these things.
Her sleep lasted for four hours. Getting up, she rubbed her eyes before yawning. "This little will have to do." She quietly walked to her daughter's room to see if she was still asleep. Seeing that Daisy was still asleep, Melinda closed the door and returned to the couch. "Maybe I should order Daisy's favorite pizza today. That should cheer her up."
After another hour and a half, Daisy finally woke up. Her head was pounding and she felt afraid. Flashes of her nightmare tormented her thoughts. She slowly stood up and walked to the hallway. "Mom? Dad?" Her voice was shaky.
"I'm down here, honey." Melinda replied from the kitchen. "I'll make you some tea. It should calm you down a bit."
"Thank you." She said very softly as she sat at the table. "So...ummm... they're back, huh?"
"Yes, they are."
"I'm sorry." Tears crept down her face. "I am just a lot of trouble and I make you worry in ways you should never have to. Maybe it would've been better if I weren't born."
"Daisy! Don't ever say that again." Melinda scolded, rushing to the girl's side. She looked her daughter in the eye sternly while wiping the tears. "I love you and it's my job to worry. You're just as important to me as Jemma, Phil and even Bobbi. I'm forever grateful to have you as my daughter."
"Don't I cause you lots of pain and regret because I'm a lot of trouble?"
"Pain, yes; Regret, No! The pain you cause me is because I love you so much and I only feel it when you're hurt or something is wrong." She explained. "Same with Jemma, Phil and Bobbi. You four are my world and I don't want anything to happen to you. Okay?"
"Okay."
The duo held each other until the doorbell rang.
"That must be the pizza guy." Melinda smiled. She walked to the door and completed the transaction. She placed two pizza boxes on the table and walked back to the kitchen. "Let me get you this tea."
"Thanks." Daisy eyed the pizza; unsure of eating. She was still, waiting on her mother. Her breathing began to speed up; she tried to slow it down but failed. She knew this feeling all too well and she tried fighting it. She didn't want to have a panic attack but here was one rising. "Mom! Help!"
Melinda rushed to her side as sweat fell down her face. "Hey, hey, hey. You're okay." She wiped the sweat and held Daisy. "Breathe slowly; breathe with me." She breathed slowly to set the pace for her daughter. Usually, this helped the girl but this time that wasn't the case.
"It's not working!" Daisy cried. "Why is this happening to me?! Why now?!"
"I don't know baby but we will fight this, together." She calmly replied. If there was one thing Melinda knew, it was that if she showed her panic or hurt Daisy wouldn't snap out of this state any quicker. "Focus on me, I'm not going anywhere." She brushed Daisy's hair with her hand as she softly encouraged her. "Do you remember what I told you about my mother and me? About when I had panic attacks?"
"You two are together to the end?"
"Exactly! That's the same for you and I; together to the end."
Daisy started to calm down at her mother's words. She felt safe again and used that to tether herself to normalcy. "I love you, mom."
"I love you too, my little flower." Melinda smiled as she heard the growl of Daisy's stomach. "Now let's get some pizza in your angry tummy."
