Back To The Roots (REWRITTING)

5: Panic

It was him somehow he'd found her! How had he found her? Did he track her phone maybe? No it had been off. So how had he found her? More importantly what could she do about it now? If he got ahold of her again she'd never get another chance! She ran her hand through her hair, leaned back against the wall and slid to the floor. It was over there was nothing else she could do, he had won. Tears tried to force their way out but she held them back, the least she could do was hold onto a little bit of her dignity and not cry. Her breathing started to speed up, her chest suddenly felt heavy, like an elephant was sitting on top of it. She took breath after breath but she couldn't breath. What was happening to her? The blonde girl crouched down to her level and started talking to her but she couldn't understand her, all she could focus on was trying to get air into her lungs.

Jen crouched down in front of her and lifted her head up with her finger. She knew exactly what was going on, she'd had plenty of these herself. If it was her abuser in the other room she'd be the one in this position. Maybe she could help her, at least she could try.

"You're going to be okay. You're having a panic attack. He's not going to get to you, he doesn't know you're here, he can't hurt you any more." she said calmly, but Kyla still couldn't calm down enough to understand.

She hugged her to her chest, "Breath with me. Listen to my voice. You are okay. Just breath."

They sat there that way for about thirty minutes until she calmed down. Jen didn't know how much she'd helped if she'd helped at all but at least she didn't get to the point of passing out. When she felt her breathing even out, she let go of her and scooted back to lean against the other wall.

"Are you okay now?" Jen asked.

"I'm okay now, thank you," Kyla responded, blood rushing to her cheeks as she realised what had just happened.

"No big deal. It's happened to me lots of times," she said, trying to make her feel less ashamed.

"I guess it happens to a lot of people but it's still embarrassing."

"Yeah, I get that. So, do you wanna talk about it?"

"Not really, but I guess you have a right to know. That was my fiance, Mark. We've been together for three years. For the first year everything was great, and then all of a sudden it's like one day he just flipped a switch."

"Was it shortly after he proposed?" Jen asked, with a knowing look.

"Yeah actually. How'd you guess?"

"That's kinda how they work, they get you good and committed or trapped and then they show their true selves."

"How long were you with yours?" Kyla asked.

"Seven years," she said, with a deep sigh.

"What made you leave?" Kyla asked, a look of sympathy clear on her face.

"He started trying to go after Josiah too. But I'd left several times before that I just always went back. He really had a hold on me I guess," Jen said as a tear slid down her cheek. "Any way it's all over now," she said," putting on a brave smile and giving her son a hug.

The blonde girl came walking back down the hallway, her short high heels clicking against the tile floor alerted them to her presence. They'd been so wrapped up in each other neither of them noticed when she'd left to give them some privacy. The two women stood up simultaneously, dusted themselves off, and put on their strong faces.

"All better now?" the blonde asked, smiling at them both. She waited for their response which was only a couple of nods and then continued on with her news.

"So, as you saw, a man came looking for you," she said, turning towards Kyla. "He saw your car in the parking lot and came in to ask about you. We told him you weren't here as is our policy. However if you leave and he sees you, there's really nothing we can do."

"Okay, thank you," she said, much more grateful than she could express.

The blonde woman smiled and clacked her way back down the hall to her office.
They gave each other a knowing look and walked back to their room to talk.

"Now what? Is it over?" Jen asked, as soon as the door closed behind them.

"No we'll just wait until tomorrow," Kyla answered trying to think up a new plan.

"Are you sure? What if he's out there watching for you to come out?" Jen asked, worried.

"We'll go really early in the morning and we'll call a taxi. Fingers crossed he won't see us getting into it," she said, trying to seem less scared than she actually was.

"Okay, in the morning."

That night they all had trouble sleeping from fear and excitement. Their minds ran wild, flitting from one thought to the next until they fell asleep.