Page 37 of Catching the Mistletoe

She looked at the RV, then back at me, her eyes searching mine for answers I didn’t have. “What’s our next move? Hospital?”

I shrugged, feeling helpless. “I don’t know, Ev. I really don’t. But we need to figure something out, and soon.” I’d never felt so useless. Chewing my bottom lip, I frowned heavily. There was only one person who could really help here, and he was fucking miles away. “Can I phone Noah?”

“Yes, of course.” She retrieved her phone from her back pocket, brought up Noah’s number, and handed it to me.

My hands were shaking as I took it from her. I wasn’t even sure what I was going to say.

“We’ll just be over here,” Evelyn said softly. “Call out when you need us.”

I nodded, just as the line clicked and I heard Noah’s voice. “Hello?”

“Noah…” My throat clogged with tears and I squeezed my eyes shut.

“Bella? What’s the matter?”

“Um, it’s Mack. Something’s happened, I’m not sure what. But we can’t…He won’t… I mean, he’s okay. Not injured. At least, I don’t think he’s injured…” Wow, I was really fucking this up.

“Okay, first up. Take three deep breaths for me.”

I did. Maybe I felt a bit better. It was hard to say.

“Where are you?”

“Twin Falls, Idaho.”

“Be more specific.”

“We’re at an RV park. Evelyn and Sam are here.”

“That’s good. And you’re okay?”

“Yeah. I’m okay, but Mack…”

“Not injured, you said?”

“Not on the outside.”

“You’re gonna have to tell me what you mean by that.” His voice was so calm. Deep and reassuring.

Two more deep breaths and I could actually get the proper sentences out. I managed to relay all the information he needed for him to make sense of what was happening.

Noah was quiet for a moment, then I heard his slow exhale. “Look, it sounds like Mack might be experiencing a dissociative episode. You know what that is?”

I shook my head, even though he couldn’t see me. “Not really, no.”

“It’s like a mental time-out. Something’s triggered him, and his brain’s gone into self-protection mode. It’s like he’s not fully here. You get me?”

“Yeah, I get you.” Immediately joining the dots, I gripped the phone tighter, my heart pounding in my chest. “Is it…is it about the Newmans?”

There was silence on the other end of the line. It lasted long enough that I thought I’d lost Noah. Then, “Jesus, Bella, if you managed to get him to tell you about that, you’re definitely the best person to handle this right now.”

“But I don’t know what to do.” My voice broke.

“You can’t just snap him out of it. But you can be there, make the environment as calm as possible. He needs to feel safe, even if he’s not fully aware of what’s going on around him.”

“Okay. I can do that. But what if…”

“What if what?”

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