Rafaela woke up with the feeling that she'd been startled awake by some dangerous sound, but could hear nothing at first. The fact that she couldn't move to look around alarmed her and dragged her attention away from the half-remembered noise.
It was hard to restrain her own panic, and calm her heart, even though the fact that she needed to calm her heart was the most reassuring sensation she had at the moment. She could feel her own heartbeat, and as she searched within herself instead of her surroundings, her own breathing.
Her heart rate responded to her thoughts more than her breathing did, as though it had been automated. Her fingers and toes felt like they were there, but were unresponsive, she decided after an internal struggle with her own nerves.