Just One Touch (Slow Burn #5)(80)

Jenna stood as rigid and as ghastly white as a statue just a few feet in front of the television as it droned on. He could see even from where he stood that she was hyperventilating. As he started toward her, he heard a high-pitched, childish voice-Jenna, only not Jenna-and the only word that echoed softly through the room was, "Mama?" 

Oh fuck. A dull roar began in Isaac's ears just as he noticed that she'd stopped hyperventilating. In fact she was so still that it didn't appear she was breathing at all. She wobbled precariously like a drunk in heels and he lunged for her, shouting for the others to help.

He caught her just as her legs gave out and she slid toward the floor. He gathered her in his arms, fear gripping him by the throat. What the hell had traumatized her to this degree?

He carried her to the couch, sitting her up and holding her when she began to list forward as though she was about to pitch right off the couch onto her face. He grasped her shoulders, turning her to face him, and he shook her lightly, just enough to gain her attention.

"Breathe, god damn it! Breathe, Jenna!"

Her eyelids fluttered, and for a moment she stared at him in blank confusion as if she didn't even recognize him.

"Jesus Christ," he whispered.

Shadow pushed in on one side, pressing a cold rag to the back of her neck while Knight slipped his fingers around her slender wrist to check her pulse rate. Dex was focused on her near nonexistent respiration rate while Isaac tried again to get her to snap out of it.

"Mama?" she asked again in a trembling voice.

"Oh honey," Isaac said, his heart breaking for her.

He did not have a good feeling about what had prompted her panic attack. Not a good feeling at all. He turned to Zeke, who'd rushed into the living room when he'd heard the shouting, and quickly snapped an order.

"Rewind the current program at least thirty minutes and pause it. Whatever Jenna saw on it fucked with her in a big way."

"Anything we can do to help?" Brent asked quietly as he stepped up beside Zeke, while Eric and Capshaw crowded in behind them.

"I need to know what the fuck she saw on the news that caused her to completely lose it and go into nuclear meltdown mode," Isaac bit out to no one in particular. "But do not play it back until I have her out of the room."

He refocused his attention on Jenna, who was now emitting sounds reminiscent of a fish gasping for air out of water. Her pupils were dilated, her eyes wide, her face completely devoid of any color or life. She had the look of someone who'd just lost everything that ever mattered the most, everything good, leaving her with nothing. The soulless eyes staring back at him were his complete undoing. He had to get her back from whatever hell she was in. He refused to let her stay there a moment longer. She was exhibiting signs of shock and that, combined with all the other factors in play, scared the holy fuck out of him.

He grasped her cold hands in his and rubbed them to infuse warmth into her fingers, all the while speaking to her in a calm, soothing voice about nothing in particular. After a moment, he ditched the nonsensical shit and leaned in so their noses were mere inches apart.

"Baby, come back to me," he pleaded, framing her face with his hands, pushing back the strands of hair from her cheeks to behind her ears. "I'm here. I'm with you. Whatever it is that's frightening you, you aren't alone. I need you to take some nice, deep, even breaths. In through your nose, out from your mouth. Like this."

He made certain he had her attention and then he demonstrated, inhaling and exhaling, taking his time, slowing his breathing down. Slowly she began to show signs of heightened awareness. She looked into his eyes and he knew the instant she'd come out of the worst of it because he saw recognition on her face, but it was the crushing relief that exploded in her eyes right before she threw herself into his arms and wrapped her arms as tightly as she could around his neck that rattled him to the core.

"I've got you, baby," he soothed, rocking her back and forth as she clung to him as though he was her only lifeline. "I'll never let you go, honey. Just breathe for me and try to relax. Focus on the most wonderful thing you can think of. The most beautiful dream you ever dreamed. See only that and nothing else and let me take care of you. I'll never let you fall. I'll always be here to catch you."



       
         
       
        

He knew he was babbling, but he was precariously close to succumbing to a panic attack of his own. When her breathing had regulated itself to a more even rhythm, she went limp against him, as though her strength had been completely sapped. He gently collected her into his arms and cradled her in his lap before rising from the couch, settling her more firmly against his chest.