Page 90 of On a Fault Line

“Penny? I’m going to lift you up and carry you to the SUV, okay?”

Gently, I place an arm under her knees and one around her back. It’s like lifting a feather. A fragile feather…that can fall at the first sign of wind.

It’s as if the life in her no longer is there, and the weight from that vibrancy is hollowed out.

Turn on the light, Princess.

Within minutes, I have her—in ball form—in the passenger side of my SUV.

Rounding the front of the vehicle, I keep my eyes trained on Penny.

I’ve seen her like this before, but it was when she was first brought to Soulful Mind. She wasn’t talking to anyone. It terrified and destroyed the Hoffman family, and it will destroy them again if she slips back into that state of mind.

I open the driver’s side door and slide inside, rolling my shoulders back.

I’m tense.

But nothing compares to the emotional torment Penny must be feeling.

She is paralyzed by fear. But what got her this shook?

Reaching for my phone, I find the number for Dr. Saber.

“Hey Mitch, it’s Collins.”

“Hey, is everything okay? I mean, probably not if you are calling.”

“It’s Penny. She’s slipped into an unresponsive state.”

“Where are you?”

“I am down at the waterfront”—I scan the area for a landmark—“just two blocks from High River Cafe. North.”

“I’ll be right there. But in the meantime, just keep talking to her and try to lure her back to the present. She’s likely stuck in the past and just needs a reason to be in the present.”

“Okay. I’ll try.”

“I just hopped in my car. I’m ten minutes away.”

“See you soon.”

I disconnect the call and find Chris’s name in my contact list and shoot him a text.

Collins: I need you to investigate everyone present at the photoshoot. See if they have a head count or list of those present. Check if anything seems off. I need to know what happened with Penny.

Chris: On it - going to request video footage from any of the parking lots and area businesses

Collins: I also need you to alert Graham Hoffman that I have his sister and that I’m getting her help

It’s the unknown of what has caused her to freak out that is bothering me the most.

I don’t do well with the unknown.

Because I am a fixer. And I can’t fix things when I don’t know what caused the breakage.

Using my phone, I pull up the Grace and Jace soundtrack that Penny insists on me storing on my phone, and play it lightly through the car’s sound system.

Penny can’t stop shaking.

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