Page 77 of Edge of Control

Theo blinked. He likely realized how bad his choice of words was. He shook his head, let it fall back against the dingy elevator wall. He rubbed at his chest. “It’s so tight in here. I don’t do well in confined spaces, Jace.”

The irony of that being that he was going to spend a whole lot of time confined.

But still, the pain in his voice, the way his throat tightened, almost strangled out my name. Fuck.

I pressed the Ground button again, repeatedly. The emergency call button wasn’t working, so we couldn’t speak to anyone. Just had to hope they heard that alarm go off.

Theo slunk to the ground. He wrapped his arms around his knees and brought them close to his chest. He started to hyperventilate. Was this another ploy? Was he trying to get me to go close to him so he could knock me out?

“Just relax,” I said, still keeping my distance—as much of it as I could inside this six-by-six-foot metallic box suspended from the ceiling.

“I fucked up. I fucked up. I fucked up.”

“You did.”

“I’m sorry,” Theo said. He started to cry. It tore at me, even though I knew it shouldn’t.

It was all an act.

But it sounded so real.

“I can’t breathe. I’m having trouble breathing.”

“Just take deep breaths.”

“I—I can’t. I can’t.”

“You can. It’s just a panic attack.”

“I fucked up.”

And so did I because I moved to his side and sat down next to him. This was wrong. So wrong. I needed to be banging against the doors, shouting for help, shouting for the police.

I put my hand on his knee. Took it off. He continued to rub his legs. His neck turned cherry red. He was clearly having trouble catching a breath.

Fuck.

I placed my hand back on his knee. “Calm down.”

“I can’t. I can’t.”

“You can. Listen to my voice. You fucked up, yes, but you are clearly open to fixing it… somehow. I can see that. And I—Jesus. I know you. I thought I knew you?—”

“You do know me. You know the real me.”

“The person that I know, the Theo that I know, they can handle this. They can, somehow, come back from this. I don’t exactly know how, but maybe that can be figured out later. Just breathe. Trace the path of oxygen. Ground yourself.”

“I feel like I’m losing it.”

“Focus on five things you can see, right now. Say them out loud.”

Theo pried his eyes open. “Elevator door. Buttons.” He scanned the space. “Graffiti. Lights…” His eyes settled on mine. “You.”

“Good. Now, four things you canhear.”

“My breaths, your breaths, my foot tapping against the floor, my own heartbeat.”

“Okay, now three things you can feel.”

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