Page 8 of Claimed By the Mountain Man

My adrenaline levels were through the roof, my heart was pounding so hard I thought it might explode, and my thoughts were positively racing. In my mind was a constant litany of, “We’re going to die. We’re going to die. We’re going to die.” I’d somehow wound up in a fetal position that I didn’t remember getting into, and I felt myself rocking back and forth. It was like I had no control over my own body. And I didn’t know where Gage was.Was he hurt? Was he dead? Oh, god, please don’t let him be dead. Please!I screamed for Gage, then just started chanting, “Please let him be ok. Please let him be ok.”

I felt strong arms grab me. And at first, I fought them, thinking I was being attacked. But then I realized it was Gage who had grabbed me, and I was overcome with relief. I felt all the excess adrenaline leave me in an instant, and I collapsed into his arms, shaking violently. All of a sudden, my chest felt impossibly tight, and I couldn’t get a good breath.

Panicked, I clutched wildly at Gage and met his eyes. “C-can’t breathe. H-help me. Help.” I was choking and wheezing, clutching my chest with one hand and holding tightly to Gage with the other. Was this a heart attack?

Gage held my gaze and spoke calmly to me, breaking through the panic a little bit. “Cooper, I think you’re having a panic attack. I need you to breathe, ok?”

I shook my head violently. “Can’t. Can’t breathe.”

“Yes, you can. Just trust me, ok? Do you trust me?”

I did trust him. I didn’t know why because I barely knew the man, but I instinctually knew I could trust him. I nodded my head.

“Good,” he said. “That’s good. Now, I want you to breathe with me. Just look in my eyes and do just what I do, ok?”

Again, I nodded.

“Ok, good. Just keep looking at me. Now, we’re going to take deep, slow breaths. In through the nose, out through the mouth. And we’re going to count to four with each breath. Like this.” He proceeded to demonstrate the breathing technique for me. “You ready?”

I just nodded at him yet again, and he smiled at me.

“Just follow me, ok? Here we go. Deep breath. In through the nose, and hold it for 1, 2, 3, 4. Out through the mouth, and hold it for 1, 2, 3, 4.”

I breathed as he did, though mine were quite a bit shakier. He seemed happy with my effort, though.

“Again. In through the nose. 1,2,3,4. Out through the mouth. 1,2,3,4.”

We did that several more times, until finally it became easier and easier to take the breaths. And I eventually began to calm down a bit. My heart was still racing, though.

“You’re doing great, Cooper. Now, we’re going to try something else, ok? It’s just an exercise to focus your mind, to help get you out of panic mode. Will you try it for me?”

“Y-yes, I’ll t-try,” I stammered out. At least it was a step above a head nod.

“That’s great. Now, I want you to look around and tell me three objects you can see. It can be literally anything, any kind ofobject at all. As long as it’s something you can see, you can call it out. Go on, Cooper. Tell me three objects you can see right now.”

I looked around and tried to focus my mind, but it was difficult.

“Come on, Cooper. What’s the first object you can see?” he asked me.

“You. I see you.”

“Good, that’s good. Now, is there anything more specific about me that you can see? An object?”

“I can see your shirt.”

“Perfect.” He smiled reassuringly at me. That’s two objects. Do you see anything else? Maybe an object that doesn’t involve me?”

I looked around. There wasn’t much to see sitting underneath the table as we were. Then it came to me. “Oh, the table leg. I can see the table leg.”

“Excellent,” Gage praised. “You’re doing so well. Now, tell me three things you can hear. You can do this.”

“I can hear your voice, and I can hear the rain outside.”

“That’s perfect. That’s two. Can you hear anything else?”

I had to really think about it before it came to me. “The wind. I can hear the wind outside.”

“That’s right. Fantastic, Cooper. You’re doing wonderfully. Now, last thing. I want you to move three body parts, one at a time. I don’t expect you to move them all at once or anything. Trust me, it’s not one of those ‘pat your head while you rub your stomach’things. Just choose a body part and move it. Go ahead and try it for me, ok?”

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