When Hai Luwei first woke, he couldn't seem to tell reality from nightmare. Lost in terror and confusion, he struggled desperately to get out of the car, his face slick with sweat and tears, his voice somewhere between a sob and a scream. "Let me go! Let me go!"
"Shh, shh... It's okay, it's okay."
Mai Mingle held his shoulders tightly. She took a couple of his frantic blows without letting go, keeping him firmly pressed into the seat. "It's me, it's Mai Mingle. It's all over. You're okay, I'm here."
Trapped in her arms, Hai Luwei gasped for breath for a moment, and the violent heaving of his back finally began to subside.
After a few seconds, he said softly, "...Mai Mingle?"
"Yes, it's really me."
Once he'd calmed down a bit, he seemed embarrassed. Mai Mingle let go and patted him lightly on the back a few times. She had a knack for calming children; a man approaching thirty wasn't all that different from a child, anyway.
"Feeling better? Can you talk?"
