Trigger Word
Disclaimer: I own nothing!
Warning: This may be triggering to those who deal with this kind of thing. Read at own risk. Enjoy!
"Daphne, where's my breakfast!" Martin called in an impatient tone of voice.
"Oh, you hush! It'll be done in a few! Read the paper!" Daphne called back from the small kitchen.
Just then Frasier walked out of his bedroom and joined his father at the small round table.
"Morning, son. Sleep well?" Martin asked, continuing to read over the paper.
"Very well, thanks for asking." Frasier said, watching as Daphne brought out their breakfast and coffee.
"Oh, morning Frasier! Here's your coffee just the way you like it." Daphne smiled, setting the two mugs and a plate down on the glass table.
"Thank you, Daphne!" Frasier smiled, carefully picking up the steaming hot cup of coffee.
A knock at the door drew everyone's attention away from their food and coffee. Daphne quickly headed over to the apartment door and opened it to reveal Niles.
"Good morning, Dr. Crane! Come on in!" Daphne cheerfully said closing the door behind Niles.
"Father, Frasier, good morning." Niles said curtly, approaching the small round table and taking a seat by Frasier.
"Niles, what brings you here?" Frasier asked, setting his cup of coffee down on the table.
"Well, I just wanted to check up on everyone before I'm off to work." Niles explained, watching Daphne out of the corner of his eye.
"Right…how's Maris?" Frasier asked, noticing his brother's attention going somewhere else.
Niles suddenly snapped out of his trance and looked at his brother. "S-she's doing quite well!"
Martin finally sets his newspaper down and begins to eat his breakfast. "So, Frasier, how's the radio gig working out for you?"
"Really well actually, people love my station. It's a great success." Frasier explained, setting his cup of coffee back down.
"You know, the biggest failure of my career was when that thug shot me. Thank goodness, my two boys have successful careers going." Martin said, going back to eating.
Frasier's hearing suddenly became muffled, and his heart started to pound in his chest. A cold sweat breaks out all over his body and his breathing becomes shallow. The word "failure" was the only thing going through his panicked mind. It was consuming him! He had to leave, get some fresh air, something!
"Frasier, I was wondering if-" Daphne trailed off when she noticed something wrong with Frasier.
The man's eyes had a glazed overlook, and he seemed to be having trouble breathing. She began to approach him, when all of a sudden, he stood up shakily and backed away from her. His eyes were blown wide with a panic Daphne had never seen on the normally composed man.
Niles and Martin noticed the change in Frasier's composure and stood up as well to try and approach him. Niles was the first to get close to Frasier in his panicked state and regretted it. With a force no one thought possible, Frasier punched his brother in the jaw, sending him crashing to the floor. Frasier then backed himself up against one of the far walls and sat down, pulling his knees up to his heaving chest.
"Oh, my goodness! Are you alright, Niles?" Daphne asked, bending down to help him up.
Niles winced at the now huge bruise on his jawline. "Just dandy."
"Hey, what's gotten into your brother, why is he like this?" Martin asked, with complete confusion written all over his face.
"He's having a panic attack and a bad one. We need to calm him down before he passes out." Niles explained, continuing to rub his sore jaw.
"I can do it. I'll calm him down, since he obviously doesn't want you two near him. Just tell me what to do." Daphne said, slowly approaching Frasier's hunched form on the floor.
"Be careful, Daphne. I've never seen him violent like this. Just crouch down to his level and try to get him to do some breathing exercises with you." Niles said, watching as Daphne approached Frasier.
Daphne crouched down in front of Frasier and tried to stay a good distance in the process. She really didn't want to get a black eye today.
"Frasier, can you hear me?" Daphne asked in a calm voice.
Frasier looked up at the sound of Daphne's soothing voice, his blue eyes leaking with tears. His breathing was still shallow, and he felt like his throat was closing in.
"C-can't…breeee…athe…" Frasier choked out through his panic.
"You can Frasier, just take a deep breath with me. One in, two out." Daphne encouraged, watching as Frasier tried to follow.
"I-it's too m…uch! Too h…ot!" Frasier stuttered out in a panic, lifting his shaking hands up to his neck.
Frasier then began to pull his tie off and then unbutton his shirt. Once he got that far he began to try and pull off the shirt completely in a panic.
"Frasier don't pull your clothes off! It's okay, we will get through this. Just listen to my voice." Daphne said in the calmest voice she could manage at the moment.
Frasier stopped trying to pull his shirt off and looked up at Daphne, his blue eyes still glazed over.
"Can I get close to you?" Daphne asked, praying he would let her.
Frasier nodded his head in a "yes." Daphne smiled and scooted over towards him, still avoiding touching him. They were making progress.
"Can I touch you?" Daphne asked, watching as Frasier tried to suck in a breath of air.
"N-no." Frasier stuttered out through gasps of air.
"Alright then, I need you to try and focus on my breathing. Can you do that?" Daphne asked, wishing she could comfort him by holding his hand or something.
Frasier nodded his head and tried to follow her breathing pattern. At first it was a struggle for him, but after a few minutes, he began to follow. His breathing became normal, and his eyes began to look less glazed over and panicked. Frasier's body began to relax and pretty soon he was leaning on Daphne, asleep. With the help of Niles, she got Frasier into his bed, where he slept half of the day. When he woke up, he barely remembered half of the panic attack, but he remembered the trigger word "Failure."
