I forced myself to calm down for now, taking slow breaths and trying to keep the shaking in my hands from getting any worse. But honestly… even as I told myself to relax, even as I forced my shoulders to drop and unclench, I knew damn well I was only buying time. That calm felt fragile, like a thin sheet of ice I was pretending was solid ground. One wrong move, one wrong thought, and it would crack under me again.
