Page 10 of Sully

I wanted to tell her to be still, just in case. I was sure the timer had stopped. But what if there was some secondary trigger? I wanted to be as careful as possible until the vest was out and away from anyone it could hurt if it did go off.

But she was losing her shit. Even if I asked, there was no way she could stop the shaking.

So as carefully as I could manage, I lifted the vest up and off of her.

“Sull, how’s it going?” Callow asked, pulling open the door slowly.

“I cut this,” I told him, holding up the vest. “But do you mind carrying it out to the backyard, away from everyone? Just in case.”

Callow nodded.

“Carefully,” I said. “Really fucking carefully,” I told him, getting a nod from him.

Then I turned back to the girl, still standing stiff, her hands curled into fists at her sides, her body shaking, tears flooding down her cheeks.

“It’s over, Bonnie,” I told her, reaching out to press a hand to her shoulder.

And she just… crumpled.

“Okay. Alright,” I said, my voice soft as I dropped down in front of her, reaching out and pulling her against me. “You’re okay now,” I assured her, wrapping her up tighter and tighter as her body seemed determined to shake apart.

I murmured to her, running my hand down her back or over her hair, trying to ground her.

I was aware of Fallon, Brooks, and some of the others filing back inside, moving nearly silently around, giving the poor girl a chance to try to work through her panic.

The problem was, it didn’t seem to be getting better. If anything, her breathing was getting faster and faster, like she was gasping for breath, like she felt she couldn’t catch it.

She was going to pass out at this rate.

Glancing to the side, I spotted Nave.

Ice packs,I mouthed to him.

He came back a moment later, and I took one of the ice packs, slipped it under her shirt, and pressed it against her bare back.

The response was immediate. She stiffened and hissed, but her breathing immediately evened out.

“Little better, right?” I asked, reaching for the next one and pressing it to the back of her neck. “How about we breathe together for a bit?” I suggested. Her gaze was down, but she nodded. “In for four,” I instructed, breathing with her. “Hold for seven. Good. Exhale for eight. In for four more...”

Little by little, the shaking slowed, and the tears with it.

“There you go,” I said when she finally pulled back. Reaching up, I wiped the tears from her reddened cheeks. “What can I get for you? Coffee? Tea? Something cold? We can do somethingbetter than the hard ground, too,” I said, getting to my own feet, reaching for her hands, then pulling her to her feet with me.

She became aware of all the men at once, her head ducking so her hair curtained her face from their gazes as I led her past them.

“Want to go somewhere quiet for a few minutes?” I asked, thinking of my room. It would give her a chance to finish pulling herself together. And I could get a few minutes with the guys to share in our collective ‘What the fuck?’

“Okay,” she whispered.

I kept my hand in hers as I led her into the hall, then to my room.

“Help yourself to anything in here. Blankets, change of clothes. There’s a bathroom through there with anything you could need. I’ll come check on you in a couple minutes, okay?”

“Okay,” she agreed, moving immediately to the chair in the corner of the room and lowering numbly down onto it.

“If you need me before then, call me, okay?”

“Call you what?” she asked, finally glancing up, those gorgeous gray eyes of hers all red from tears.

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