Trauma
Ellen's chest felt squeezed, making it hard to breathe. Each breath became a battle, the air in the bus thick and heavy like it was slowly pressing in on her.
Her thoughts spun out of control, flashing between the present and the past, between the bus she was on now and the wreckage of the one from before. She had told herself she was okay with everything, that she could move on from the accident that had brought her here, to this world. She hadn't expected the fear to rise so quickly, to choke her like this.
I thought I was fine.
The thought hit her with a pang of frustration.
I thought I could handle it.
But clearly, she wasn't as fine as she had convinced herself to be. This was her first time on a bus since the accident. She realized it now, how naive she had been. She had never thought this small detail could trigger so much fear.