My heart raced in my chest, thundering against my rib cage. No matter how many breathing exercises I tried in the space of one minute, none of them did what I wanted. My breath hitched in my throat, and my palms felt clammy. Beads of sweat streamed down my forehead as I swallowed in fear and disbelief. 

When I had rounded up my shift in the kitchen, I wanted nothing more than to run upstairs and bury myself into my mattress. My hands ached and the tip of my fingers burned, like they ...