They stood together at the front of the queue, talking quietly between themselves until they were interrupted by Connie's phone, ringing.

"Oh for goodness' sake, I took the day off and still-" She broke off as she looked at the screen of the phone to see Grace's name and number. She looked quickly up at Jacob, before turning away and answering the call.

"Grace? Gracie?" There was no answer, and Connie felt her stomach give way. "Grace?!"

"Con, what's happening?"

"Grace, what's going on?!" She pressed the phone closer to her ear, willing her daughter to answer. After a few seconds, she heard what she thought was a faint groan, she turned to Jacob, who was holding her steady as she began to visibly descend into panic.

...

"Come on. Keep talking to her." Jacob jumped into gear, leading Connie towards her car that was parked right outside the shop. He pulled the keys from Connie's hand, opening the door for her before he climbed in himself, the tyres screeching as he did a U-turn to head back towards Grace. "Is she still having panic attacks? Has something upset her?" Jacob fired questions at the doctor.

"Sometimes, but not as bad. I don't know. I don't think so. Gracie? Just stay calm, sweetheart. I'm coming, I'm almost there." She listened hopefully for a noise but heard nothing. "Jacob, she's not talking. She's not replying!" Connie cried.

"It's okay, we will be there any second." Jacob tried to reassure her, but Connie continued to panic.

When Jacob pulled up outside the building, Connie was out of the car before it even stopped, rushing towards the front door. "Gracie?!"

She ran through into the living room where she had told Grace to stay, to see her bent double on the sofa, trembling, and her hands placed tightly over her ears. She stood, frozen, feeling Jacob push past her and kneel in front of Grace, taking her hands from her ears and hold her sides as she shook.

"Okay, I'm sure you know all of this Grace, but I need you to breathe. In... And out."

"Jacob, what's happening?!"

"Con, come here. Hold her other side." She did as he told her, bending down in front of her daughter and holding her as she began to take more breaths.

"I... I feel-"

"You don't need to try and talk, sweetheart, okay I'm here. Just keep breathing."

Grace could feel her head start to spin, and her mouth felt dry, and choked. Her entire body trembled and her ears were ringing, the most part of what people were saying to her felt too far away to hear properly. She brought her head up as her chest started to feel less tight, and she struggled to swallow against the feeling of rolls of sandpaper clogging her throat. She looked directly at Jacob, too confused and scared to really process that he was really here, her eyes shutting as she felt her chest constrict again.

"Jacob..." He turned to see Connie, distressed and helpless, as she watched her daughter struggle in front of her.

"Con, listen to me. We need to get it to pass, and go from there. Please, trust me."

Connie looked down at her daughter and then back at Jacob before giving a tiny nod.

"Okay, you remember what we talked about last time? Just copy what I'm doing, okay Grace?"

She nodded, Jacob's calm, even voice getting through to her. Forcing her eyes open, she reached out as she had done the last time and gripped tightly to one of Jacob's shoulders so she could feel when he took a breath in and when he released it. Soon, she began to calm, her body relaxing into her mother's as she coughed.

Smiling, Jacob pushed himself to his feet. "I'll get you some water."

Grace nodded, tears in her eyes as she buried her face into her mother's top. "I'm sorry."

"You have nothing to be sorry about, sweetheart. What happened?" Connie asked gently, her eyes on Jacob as he re-entered the room and held out a glass of water.

Grace took it, sipping a little from the glass in the hope it might stop her throat tickling.

Connie reached out and brushed some tears from her daughter's cheeks. "What happened, Gracie?" She repeated.

Grace looked down at the floor, her breathing still a little shallow and laboured. "You... You left and..." She struggled, and Connie reached under her daughter's hair and brushed her cheeks once more. "I don't know, Mum. Everything just went funny and I started thinking about how... If something did happen then... Then there would be no-one here..." She started crying, and Connie took her into her arms, having difficulty balancing on her knees. Jacob came to sit on the sofa beside Grace, where he could reach Connie and hold Grace at the same time, looking down at Connie's head as she whispered softly to her daughter.

"I'm sorry..." Jacob rubbed her back as she talked to Grace, before she brought her head up to shift Grace back onto the sofa. "I thought you'd be okay on your own here... Gracie, I'm so sorry."

"I thought I would be too." She spoke quietly and a little shakily, she didn't want to admit that she had felt nervous as she had heard her mother's car drive away. She was twelve, not nine, it was silly.

She turned her head as she heard Jacob say her name, and she frowned. "How often does this happen, firecracker?"

"I don't know... This is the worst it's been."

Connie turned to look up at Jacob, but her attention was quickly diverted back to her daughter as she spoke again.

"Why were you with him, Mum?"