It was like Athena filled in the rest of his sentence, except his thoughts didn't coincide with her correction. He felt embarrassed, disappointed, and angry with himself.  He tried to suck in his breath, hold the air in his lungs and release because he could feel the beginnings of a panic attack tremble under the surface.  

Her reprimand did nothing to comfort, sooth or calm Samuel Chavez. He balled his free hand and dug it into his thigh. The tension in his arms tightening, and he bit the inside of his cheek. "I'm not going to panic, I'm not going to panic, I'm not going to panic." Negative thoughts slammed into his own internal voice, trying to push him into the hopeless, empty abyss. He couldn't escape his mind. 

Sam ran through the empty maze of his mind, and he let a breath out, gasping in. He could feel the eruption of pain prickle in the center of his forehead and the panic ushered out. IN, OUT, IN, OUT, IN, OUT. His adrenal glands pumping too much cortisol, and Sam lost the battle. "I-I-I-I-I" He shuttered, "Ca-" He lost out. 

It felt like his lungs were closing in, and he wanted to disappear.

Oh, motherhen. Athena should have sensed it coming, but she was so caught up in her own indignation that she missed an obviously welling up panic attack inside Chavez. When she tuned into it with her Occlumency she could see that it was raw and rolling like a wave. It was too thick for her to pinpoint an exact cause, if there even was one.

"That's fine, Sam, that's fine," she said, her better bedside manner taking over. Sam couldn't help this more than he could a sneeze, or so she thought.

"Muffliato," she said, casting a muffling charm on their curtains so they'd have more privacy.

"You're alright, the bite's fine, just a bit angry," she told him. From the kit she held out a cool glass bottle of sparkling clear liquid. It was the revitalizing tonic they gave everyone who needed a pick-me-up after a vampire bite. "Here, take this, have sip when you can. Tell me if you'd a Cheering Charm."

It'd be really awful to just cast one on him when he was in a state like that. Like holding in a sneeze but a thousand times worse, plus it'd pop your ears.

He could hear something outside of himself, but he wasn't sure from where. Or who. He could see outside of himself, but resided inside of himself. Curled up in the middle of the maze, holding his head between his legs and hoping beyond a doubt that the thoughts would stop long enough for him to look up again. Look out into a world that wasn't blurred by panic. 

"That's fine, Sam, that's fine,"

Something in his brain hooked onto Athena's words, his metaphorical head raising up. Tonally he could hear her voice soften. Still, he was deep enough that he couldn't stop his shallow breathing that made him cough from gasping in too quickly. The cough was enough to wake him back up to the room.

She'd finished redressing the wound, and he opened his hand up. The cool glass bottle figuratively sizzled against his warm hand. With the gasping turning into hiccups, he felt some-what safe. If he timed it right, he could take a sip of it without choking.

Sam's timing was off and he sputtered on the tonic as it went down. It seemed to settle his nerves enough, but not to stop him from shooting it through his nose.

At least he was feeling better? "Y-yeah. It might help?"

"Yeah, yeah, you're alright, you're alright," Athena continued in her gentle but firm way. She wasn't at all thrown off by the extreme show of vulnerability from the young Healer. She had seen so much in her time as a healer, people on their worst days. A panic attack was heart-wrenching to see, but Athena could know from the outside that they were short-lived and, unlike vampire bites, they wouldn't kill ya.

Since Sam was well enough to accept a Cheering Charm that Athena felt comfortable casting one.

She drew her wand and waved it in the familiar way with the incantation. She kept her Legilmancy open while she did it, to quietly monitor his progress. Back on her stool she rolled to give him another arm's length of space to himself.

"Lay down if you like, give the Charm a moment."

There was comfort in Athena's commanding tone, and Samuel had to wonder if he'd ever get there. It was like she knew the panic would eventually end and he'd still be existing. In the present.

The Tell-Tale Tincture was working, and the heavy fatigue he felt lifted to a dull body-ache. His arm was still sore-as-hell, but he felt less like he was approaching death's door now. He nodded, his heavy eyelids drooping from the exhaustion of fright.

He watched her wave  the wand, and could see a warm yellow light enrapture him as the charm went to work. Sam wondered if other people experienced visual visages of spell crafting, like he did. Or maybe he was psychotic.

Though Athena provided a suggestion, Sam laid down like it was a command. "So I'm not losing my job?" He asked, tentatively.

"You, what?" Athena chirruped.

"I hope you've not been worried about that. No, you've been a silly man, which is not a sackable offense."

Athena stood up and enchanted a crisp white sheet to come up off its shelf and lay down over Sam's lower half. The curtains were drawn and the bed wasn't needed urgently.

"No, no," she tutted. "As much as I'd have you out on your arse," (little wink), "You're stuck with us here at old St. Mungo's. The bed's yours for awhile so have a bit of shut-eye. I'll send someone back to dress that bite for you."

Bandages were not really what the Healer-in-Charge typically did and if she kept on being Sam's Healer, that was an opportunity away from the Healers who were learning.

Relief washed over Sam as he looked into Athena's eyes. There was a playfulness behind them despite the problems he'd just put her through. The levity was appreciated.

He complied to her request and laid under the white sheet, closing his eyes under the large bulbous glasses clinging to his face. With his eyes shut, he could the rustling of her suit indicating Athena was taking her leave.

"Thanks Ms. Sawbones."  The nickname slipped with a sigh of relief.