Whiskey River, Drown my Soul

Chapter Twenty-Four

Ip went to bed feeling sick to his very soul. He didn't know Paige had been in foster care. He felt like an insensitive ass talking about helping kids in foster care in front of her with no idea she had been one!

Her childhood had been awful. It hurt his heart to think about what she went through, and he meant what he said. He really did think that's why she didn't take good care of herself- because no one took care of her until she was nine and by then that had already been imprinted in her brain.

It might also explain her fear of being alone and why she couldn't seem to let go of men that weren't right for her.

After much tossing, turning, and praying, Ip finally drifted off to sleep.

He bolted upright in his bed as ear-piercing shrieks reverberated through the night. He grabbed his gun off the nightstand and flew out of his room, down the hall to Paige with Jose right on his heels. He paused outside of her room, gun ready. She had stopped screaming.

Jose flung the door open and Ip leveled his gun into the room. He saw no one except what he believed to be Paige in the bed.

Jose flipped on the light and then darted into the bathroom, probably to make sure she was alone. No one else was there. She was sitting upright in a purple tank top with sweat on her brow, hair wild, and wide eyes. She appeared terrified and was gasping for breath. Ip was momentarily confused.

"Panic attack!", Carmella urgently cried in Spanish from behind him and that brought his mind into focus. He dropped his gun on her nightstand and sat in front of her on the bed, grabbing her face between his hands.

"Paige, look at me. You're okay".

She started trying to shake her head no violently. She whimpered and gasped.

Ip vaguely remembered Rev's talking her through one of these over the phone.

I need to calm her down enough to start breathing normally.

"Take a breath", he instructed her.

She grabbed his wrists and squeezed her eyes shut. Her face was turning red.

"Paige!", he shouted.

Her eyes flew open.

"Look at me", he said sternly. "I'm right here. You're okay. Take a breath".

She tried and struggled to do so.

"Good", he said, more gently. "You can do this. Again".

She tried again with minimal results. She whimpered and tried to wrench her head away from him.

"Look at me", he said, bringing his face closer. "Take a breath. In".

She stared into his eyes and did. It went a little better. He could read pure panic in her wide emerald eyes.

"Again", he said, and then he started breathing with her as a guide. That helped a lot. After she started breathing normally, she started crying.

He let go of her face then and wrapped his arms around her instead, pulling her against his bare chest.

He looked around. Jose, Carmella, and Juan were hovering nearby, appearing distraught and helpless.

Carmella pointed to the nightstand. She had brought a glass of water and Paige's whiskey.

"Thank you", Ip said gratefully. "I've got it from here".

"You did good, son", Jose said, his dark brown eyes peering knowingly into Ip's. "Wake me if you need anything else. Anything at all. She's gonna be needing some extra rest tomorrow".