Not wanting to disturb anyone else, I found a secluded spot in an alcove behind the waterfall and relaxed back against one of the benches. The rush of falling water echoed around the cave like white noise, and I easily fell into a meditative state as I closed my eyes and relaxed.
It didn’t last long. A few minutes later, I heard splashing that didn’t coincide with the sound of the waterfall and felt a disruption to the rhythmic current of the water. Someone else had come into the cave. They didn’t say anything, so either they hadn’t noticed I was there, or they didn’t care.
Without moving, I cracked open my eyes just enough to look over at them.
Their back was to me, so I couldn’t see their face, but I still recognized them by the pink highlights in their hair.
Jordy.
The witness with the eidetic memory. The one who was probably going to end up being the key to the bell ringer case.
He hadn’t noticed me yet, and I didn’t want to startle him. All of the witnesses were twitchy when it came to close contact with strangers, which wasn’t surprising considering what they’d been through.
So, I closed my eyes and didn’t react as he wandered closer, waiting to see what he would do. It was obvious when he finally noticed me. His gasp was loud enough to be heard over the waterfall, and he splashed water everywhere as he ducked into the adjacent bench.
I chuckled to myself without showing any outward reaction. The young man was certainly no master of stealth.
Glancing over at the other alcove hidden behind a curtain of water, I wondered if Jordy was going to say anything.
Would he acknowledge my presence or were we just going to ignore each other?
The silence persisted.
So, ignore each other it was.
That was fine with me, but just as I was about to continue relaxing, I noticed a slight part appear in the water curtain between us. Quickly closing my eyes, I willed myself not to smile.
Did the other man really think he was being sneaky?
I could feel his gaze on me as heavy as if he ran a hand directly over my skin.
Oh well. I wasn’t self-conscious. If he wanted to look at me, then I was happy to let him fill his eyes as much as possible.
The watchful stare persisted for a few minutes, before suddenly disappearing, and I was left feeling a little disappointed. The other man’s shy attention was cute, and I certainly didn’t mind the ego boost.
With a shrug, I sat up. It was probably time for me to get back to work anyway. Or maybe I should actually do the healthy thing and get some sleep. Either way, that was enough late-night swimming for now.
I didn’t manage to take two steps away from the bench before I was brought up short. The waterfall made it hard to hear anything else, but just below the insistent rush of water, another sound caught my attention.
Breathing.
From Jordy’s alcove, I could hear short, labored breaths, and not the kind that came from pleasure. This breathing was distressed.
I hesitated for only a moment before approaching him. If he didn’t want my help, then he was free to tell me off, but there was no way I could leave until I was certain he was okay.
Inside the alcove, tucked amongst the shadows, I found Jordy curled into a ball on the bench, knees tucked up against his chest. He didn’t respond when I called out to him, or even when I touched his shoulder. The young man was locked deep inside a panic attack.
What had caused it?
Just a few minutes ago he’d been fine, and now, he was completely catatonic.
My thoughts drifted back to the papers on my desk. Along with the two dozen faces of Jordy’s abusers, each also came with a list of their transgression against him. I’d read through enough to get the general idea and dreaded when I’d have to examine everything in more detail. Such vile acts would have been bad enough if done to an adult. The fact that they had been done to the young man right in front of me when he was only a child, was enough to turn anyone’s stomach.
No, I didn’t need to ask why Jordy was having a panic attack. With such trauma in his past, it was probably a miracle that he didn’t panic more often.
But what should I do about it now?
Everything I knew about panic attacks said that it was important to ground the person in reality by getting them to focus on their different senses. The atmosphere in the cave was a horrible place for this. The lighting was dark, the sound of the waterfall drowned out almost everything, and we were surrounded by water, which dulled physical touch.
