I've heard it said, while reading about asthma and apneas, that the most frightening possible experience is being unable to breathe and not knowing why. And as an adult, I can't imagine anything more terrifying than finding myself unable to help my loved ones, terrified and helpless, never knowing what hurt them or whether they'll be ok.

I had to rewrite it with the daughter as the focus, because writing it from the perspective of the mother was too terrifying for me to process correctly, and it initially came out as gibberish.