Her eyes flicker toward the rest of the group as Adam directs them around and away from the situation, but she doesn't stop swinging or shouting at the mountain lion. The animal neither retreats nor attacks, but the fact that it hasn't pounced feels reassuring. Maybe this is working and the animal is taking its time trying to decide whether to run or back away slowly.
She's so engrossed with focusing on the cat that the sound of the lightning striking the tree is lost under the roar of thunder and before she can even feel triumphant because the mountain lion takes off in the other direction, a solid body is thrown into her and she hits the ground so hard that it knocks the wind out of her. Caitlin doesn't have time to feel disgusted with the face full of mud that splashes up from the ground because she's too busy flapping her jaw in a failing attempt to gasp for air. It's a frightening sensation she'd, up until now, had the fortune of avoiding over the span of her life, but now she knows exactly why they call it having the wind knocked out of you. Her head feels a little fuzzy for a second and it feels like it takes minutes — in actuality, only a couple of seconds — before the attempt to gasp for air is rewarded with a lungful of oxygen again and her wide, panicked eyes narrow into something less terrified as she's panting to catch her breath again.
Her fingers grasp tightly, twisting fabric of his shirt beneath them as if she needs to keep herself steady even though she's on the ground and there's nowhere to fall; it's reflex. To his question, at first she just nods as she looks around and finally registers why he's knocked her to the ground. Her eyes snap back to his face and she lets out a heavy huff as she finally manages to get control of her breathing again. "I'm okay," she says, nodding again. "I'm okay. Thank you..."
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She's so engrossed with focusing on the cat that the sound of the lightning striking the tree is lost under the roar of thunder and before she can even feel triumphant because the mountain lion takes off in the other direction, a solid body is thrown into her and she hits the ground so hard that it knocks the wind out of her. Caitlin doesn't have time to feel disgusted with the face full of mud that splashes up from the ground because she's too busy flapping her jaw in a failing attempt to gasp for air. It's a frightening sensation she'd, up until now, had the fortune of avoiding over the span of her life, but now she knows exactly why they call it having the wind knocked out of you. Her head feels a little fuzzy for a second and it feels like it takes minutes — in actuality, only a couple of seconds — before the attempt to gasp for air is rewarded with a lungful of oxygen again and her wide, panicked eyes narrow into something less terrified as she's panting to catch her breath again.
Her fingers grasp tightly, twisting fabric of his shirt beneath them as if she needs to keep herself steady even though she's on the ground and there's nowhere to fall; it's reflex. To his question, at first she just nods as she looks around and finally registers why he's knocked her to the ground. Her eyes snap back to his face and she lets out a heavy huff as she finally manages to get control of her breathing again. "I'm okay," she says, nodding again. "I'm okay. Thank you..."