Once again, blind panic won over. She inched back into the corner, hugging her knees to her chest and stifling a hoarse scream that was really more of a whisper. She had to take a while to go through the motions of getting herself through it, which was made all that much more difficult by not having Neptune's steadying presence. First, she reminded herself that Jeffrey was dead, and was absolutely never coming back. Then she did it again, and again, and again – over and over until it started to feel true. Then she began mentally tallying her symptoms, separating what was the anxiety attack – her pounding heart, her terror, the flush on her face, her sweating hands, the nausea – and what was new. Her neck hurt, she felt groggy, she felt weak, as though she had not moved in days. She allowed herself five seconds as she fought to get her breathing back under her own control, and then she got dressed. It took a little extra time to dress under the hospital gown, but it made her feel better. Her pajamas were a little on the revealing side, but at least they were comfortable. After, she took the gown off and put it on backwards, like a robe. That made her feel a little better. Not so exposed, at least. She could have tried again to disable the camera, but ultimately decided it was a pointless step. The priority was to leave this room. So she climbed to her feet, and forced one foot in front of the other.
Just as she was opening the door, she heard a voice. Cecilia froze in her doorway, automatically setting her feet apart into a more defensive stance. She did this without thinking. One deep breath, and she returned the call. "Hello? Who's there?"