He sighed.
He had enough of waiting. Apparently, she wasn’t interested in seeing him that night. Or maybe she was busy. He put the phone on his nightstand and called for his bloodhound Charlie to come on his bed. Caleb pulled the crisp, white cotton sheets over his shirtless body and turned off his lamp to go to sleep. He had to be up early, as most contractors and active military people had to, so he didn’t have time to wait around. Let her think and think.
But then the darkness of his closed eyes illuminated with blue light and rolling over, he saw she messaged him.
“I’m sorry. I don’t know what’s come over me. I don’t feel well all of a sudden.”
She was getting second thoughts, he presumed. But he asked, although he didn’t really like to play games with people. He was giving her the benefit of the doubt. Evie didn’t seem like that kind of person on social media or even in real life to him, so perhaps something was truly wrong.
“What’s wrong? Are you okay?”
“I don’t know. My chest feels weird, I’m having trouble breathing, and I can’t stop shaking and my feet are tingly.”
He knew exactly what that was. “Don’t worry. I’m coming over. You’ll be okay.”
Evie was gasping for breath. Unlike Pawpaw, this wasn’t because of a sneeze. This was because of something else far more frightening and unfamiliar to her. “Please hurry,” she wrote. “I don’t know what’s going on.”
He sent her his cell number. “I’m on my way. Call me if you need to. I mean it.”
She saved his number and sat up straight in bed. It wasn’t clear if she was going to faint or worse. This had never happened before, and she clutched Teddy with her heart pounding hard and fast. The grip on chubby Teddy tightened a little, and her hands violently trembled. “Pawpaw, I’m scared,” she whispered out loud.
It was the longest fifteen minutes of her life, but Caleb occasionally checked on her and found out the situation was getting worse. In her living room, Evie paced around, and the unsettled nerves in her stomach weren’t helping. Not the most romantic first time. As her hands raked through her hair, her legs felt weak, and she knew she was going to faint.
The lights of a big truck came pulling up her driveway. He was there.
Please hurry.
Caleb ran up the uneven stairs, opened the door and rushed to her without even bothering to close it.
All he saw was Evie reaching out to him, her eyes wet and wide, her face pale and her hands shaking badly. All over she shook like she was being electrocuted.
And then she fell into his arms.
She cried horrendously and pressed her face into his chest. It was warm, soft, strong, and enveloping. Caleb put his hand around the back of her head and squeezed softly around her lower back with his other arm. “It’s okay,” he hushed deeply. “You’re having a panic attack.”
Through her sobs, she mumbled, “I am? Is that what this is? It can’t be. I feel like I’m going to die. I don’t get panic attacks.” She felt embarrassed as she choked for air through her cries.
He smiled and rubbed her lower back, gently swaying her left and right in his embrace. “Apparently now you do. It’s probably from your grandpa passing away. It happens with sudden trauma.”
She opened her emotions and clutched his shirt fabric on his chest. “But that was over a year ago. My mom died suddenly, and my dad died quickly. I didn’t have this problem then.”
His chin was on her head. His squeeze now came with both arms,and she melted. “The body can only handle so much. And believe me, sometimes it takes that long for the trauma to set in.”
That thick accent. That deep voice.
But her heart suddenly felt like it was going to burst, and the rise came again. She whimpered his name and said, “I think I need an ambulance!”
He removed his arms from around her and led her to the beige couch, tossed the throw pillows aside, and sat next to her. He held her hands. “Listen to me, you’re having a panic attack. The tingling in your hands and feet is because of the disruption of carbon dioxide and oxygen. You’re hyperventilating.”
Caleb flicked on the nearby end table lamp and looked back to her. “Breathe in deeply with me. Smell the roses and blow out the candles.”
Their eyes met. Hers watered and full of fear, his calm and certain of the control he had over the situation.
As they breathed together, they watched each other’s shoulders rise and fall. Evie tried to match his pace. Within minutes, the shaky hands he held steadied. Slowly, he reached over and felt her pulse. It was steady. She was steady. The room was quiet.
He smiled. “There. You see? Feel better?”
Evie wiped her eyes. “I can’t believe it. How did you know?”
