Delia's voice was almost cold, the words like a blunt instrument, and she all but stormed out of the room after refusing her offer of a ride. It left Elise sitting there, stunned at the exchange. It had been like she had done something horribly offensive to the other woman. But she couldn't think of what she had done.

Thinking soon became hard, though Elise didn't notice it at first. She paced the motel room, flicking through her phone and ignoring the multitude of missed calls, voice-mails, and texts in order to find a number to call. She picked Amy's. 

Her roommate answered after the first ring, and her voice was all but frantic. [color=f7976a]"Hello? Hello, Elise? Is that you?"[/color]

[color=00aeef]"Yes. Amy, it's me."[/color] Hearing the fear and desperation in Amy's voice was like the confirmation Elise didn't want. The confirmation that she had really been missing for three days. Amy must have noticed when Elise didn't come home from work. She must have called everyone all of their friends, all of Elise's coworkers, her parents and sister, in order to alert them and try to find her. She felt guilty and horrible, and she didn't even have a good reason or excuse to give them.

[color=f7976a]"Oh God... Thank God, I was so scared... When you didn't come home the other night I knew something was wrong... Everyone's been looking for you, your mother's been calling everyday... The police couldn't help, we were starting to think you were dead! Elise what happened to you, where are you?"[/color]

Amy's words hit her like bricks. They made Elise feel worse and even more scared than she already was. It was like they were suffocating her, that it was getting hard to breath...

It was getting hard to breath.

Elise's felt like she had finished running a marathon, or she had suddenly developed terrible asthma in the last few minutes. Her breathing was shallow, sharp, and fast, like she was trying to take in a good deep breath but was physically unable to do so. She could almost feel the stitch forming in her side, feel her head spinning from her lack of proper breathing, and she was almost gasping for air.

She was afraid she would pass out, that she would stop breathing and die.

[color=f7976a]"Elise?"[/color]

[color=00aeef]"Amy, I...I need you to come and get me. Please..."[/color]

[color=f7976a]"Where are you?"[/color]

[color=00aeef]"I'm at...I'm at...it's a motel... It's name is...."[/color] Elise squeezed her eyes shut, trying to think of the motel name that she had known only seconds before. But she couldn't think, could barely focus enough to form a sentence or a though. She glanced at the pad of paper again. [color=00aeef]"...Sunset Motel. I'm at the Sunset Motel, it's still in the city. Amy...please...I'm...afraid."[/color]

[color=f7976a]"I'll be there as soon as I can." [/color]

Amy hung up and Elise felt the phone nearly slip through her fingers as she stumbled forward and out of the motel door. Air...fresh air. That would help. She leaned against the railing, almost doubled over as she tried breathing. She was gasping now, her gasps ragged and wheezing, but air barely touched her lungs not matter how hard she tried. Elise couldn't breath, she couldn't think.

[color=00aeef][i]What's happening to me?[/i][/color]

She felt someone touch her shoulder gently, heard words being spoken, and she looked up at the motel maid's concerned face with eyes that were close to tearing up. Elise tried nodding or shaking her head, and the motion was erratic and confused. All she wanted to do was run. So she managed to move forward, away from the maid who called after her in a worried voice. But Elise couldn't process the words, couldn't process anything. Then she became aware that the closer she got to the motel exit, the more she could breath. The more she could think.

She found herself on the sidewalk outside of the motel, watching cars pass on the street. Elise's eyes blinked in the sunlight, and she realized that she could breath clearly, or almost at least, and her mind was no longer a traffic jam. Why? What had changed?

Her head turned and her eyes scanned everything on the sidewalk until they found a familiar face. Delia was still there, a little ways off but coming closer. Like she was coming back to the motel. Elise looked at her in confusion for a long moment, then called out to her. [color=00aeef]"I thought you were leaving."[/color]