Page 52 of Quiet
He was vaguely aware of the feeling of cement under his hands. He was on the ground. How did he get on the ground?
Someone was touching him, shaking him. It was too much, and he slapped the person’s hand away. He couldn’t open his eyes to see who it was. If he did, he was afraid he would go insane.
“Briar?”
Soft. The voice was soft cotton, and it wrapped around his mind, giving him a tiny barrier against the sensory overload battering away at him.
Something touched his face, and it gave him another layer of softness to wrap around himself. It wasn’t enough, but it was better. The knife-like sounds and smells were muted now, giving Briar room to try and think.
“Briar, what can I do? How can I help?”
Briar opened his eyes a crack and saw Isa staring at him anxiously. Over his shoulder, Briar could see a small crowd of people forming. Isa crouched between Briar and the crowd like a shield.
Chapter21
Isa
He hadn’t even been sure he was going to come to the art show until the last minute. After getting bawled out by Will for forgetting to text him when he’d decided to stay at Briar’s, Isa had paced back and forth in his room endlessly as he tried to figure out what he should do.
Eventually, his body made up his mind for him. When his phone chirped to tell him the art show was starting, Isa found himself throwing on a nice shirt and running out the door.
He didn’t know what he’d expected when he got there, but finding a small, excited crowd of people surrounding Briar wasn’t it. He barely spared a glance at the painting of himself dominating the room. Instead, he pushed his way through the crowd. It was magnificent, but he needed to get to Briar. There was something horribly wrong and he needed to fix it.
He slipped through the crowd—for once, his small stature was an advantage rather than a hinderance—to find Alex hovering over Briar, trying to support his friend as he sank further and further to the floor.
“Christ, Briar. Buddy . . . what happened?” Alex stumbled backward when Briar lashed out. “It’s okay, it’s okay. I won’t touch you again. Nobody’s going to touch you.”
Someone next to Isa whispered, “Should we call the campus police?”
Isa saw red. “He’s not dangerous, he’s having a panic attack. Give him some fucking space.” Isa didn’t give the person a chance to respond, he just shoved them out of the way.
“Alex, get everyone out of here.” Isa kneeled down in front of Briar. “And don’t let anyone call security. That will just make things worse.”
Briar was shivering like a newborn colt, and he held his head between his hands.
“Briar,” Isa said softly. He wasn’t sure, but Briar seemed to relax a little when he heard Isa’s voice. He felt emboldened to reach out to touch Briar’s face, wanting to ease the tension he saw there. “Briar, what can I do? How can I help?”
He hadn’t been mistaken. Briar had stopped shivering. Whatever Isa was doing seemed to be helping.
When Briar opened his eyes, his gaze latched onto Isa like he was a lifeline. Something big had happened to him. Something Briar didn’t understand.
“What happened?”
Briar took Isa’s hands and held them so tightly it hurt, but Isa didn’t care. Briar could take anything he needed right now, and Isa would give it willingly.
Something shimmered brightly inside Isa’s mind, and it was like being hit with a brick made of sparkles that shattered into a million motes on impact. But instead of glitter he got a random series of disjointed images. Somehow, he knew they were from Briar. “Slow down. I don’t understand,” Isa murmured. Noise was bad for Briar right now. He needed to speak as quietly as possible.
Briar closed his eyes, and the images shut off.
“Look at me, Briar. Yes, I know it hurts, but I need you to look at me. Just a little bit longer, okay? I’m going to make it better, I promise.”
Briar took a deep breath and opened his eyes. Isa got another flood of information, this time clearer than before.
It took some time before Isa could sort through what he was seeing. It all seemed impossible. If Isa hadn’t been in the process of literally reading Briar’s mind, he wasn’t sure he’d have believed it.
“Alex, I’m taking him outside. He needs to be away from people.” Isa felt Briar squeeze his hand and he got another small piece of information. “And he needs quiet. It’s too loud here.”
Isa put his shoulder under Briar’s arm and tried to help him up. It was like trying to pick up a car.
