Chapter Fourteen

 

 

 

 

Nick

 

 

 

 

 

“Sweet all of the time is a little bit of an exaggeration, hot stuff,” I said to Kelly with a grin as I looked around for a snow cone stand. When she didn’t respond, I turned to glance at her.

She looked dazed, as if she was lost in thought, and she suddenly muttered “shit” under her breath and started trying to get into her purse.

“Kelly? What’s wrong?” I reached for her as she brought one hand to her chest. Her face paled as red blotches started to appear. When I heard her wheeze, I realized that she was having an allergic reaction.

“Kelly.” My voice sounded calm but I was fucking panicking inside. I’d never seen a reaction advance so quickly. “Do you have an EpiPen?”

“Bee… my… purse...side…” Her voice was barely audible and it took her a lot of effort to get those four words out.

She tried to hold up her purse but stumbled backwards. I caught her in my arms before she hit the grass and I dropped to the ground, propping her up in the crook of my knee. I grabbed for her purse but the strap was still slung over her shoulder and precious time was spent trying to untangle it as she gasped for air below me. I finally got it off and glanced down at my wife. Her blue eyes looked scared and her whole face was swelling up.

“I’m getting it, Kel, I’m getting it.” I felt around in her purse blindly and wanted to scream when I couldn’t find the pen. I turned the whole fucking purse upside down next to me and shook it until the contents spilled on the grass. I pushed everything aside and shook my head frantically.

“I don’t see a pen here, sweetheart.” I looked at her and shook my head again. “Kelly, where’s the pen?” A small crowd had formed around us and I glanced up at someone. “Call nine-one-one. We need an ambulance.”

I gripped Kelly’s hand with one of my own as I continued shoving shit around in the grass, looking for the pen. When I couldn’t find it, I laid her flat on her back and listened to her breathe as I felt for her pulse. The realization that I might have to do CPR on my wife made me want to vomit.

Megan suddenly appeared from the crowd of people with a concerned look on her face and her hands full of corn on the cob. After taking one look at her sister, she dropped the corn onto the ground so she could reach into her own purse and relief rushed through me when she pulled out an EpiPen. She quickly uncapped it and stabbed the needle into Kelly’s thigh. She held it there for a few seconds before pulling it out and massaging the injection site with her fingers.

“You’re okay, Kelly. Stay awake.”

She grabbed her sister’s other hand and we both watched for a moment, Owens hovering of us after he’d appeared. Finally, Kelly gasped for air and I took a much needed breath, too.

“Oh, sweetheart.”

Megan kept Kelly’s hand in hers as she brought her other up to take her pulse. Her eyes were closed as she kept count and she suddenly stood while shaking her head. “It’s weak. We need to get her to the hospital or else she’s going to need a second dose.”

I nodded and lifted Kelly in my arms. Owens and Megan shoved everything back into her purse and we jogged towards where Owens had parked. I heard him on the phone behind us as he spoke to the dispatcher to cancel the ambulance because we were taking her in ourselves.

As we ran, I glanced down at Kelly. Her eyelids were open about halfway as she looked up at me. I tightened my hold on her and was happy when we made it to the truck. Megan grabbed the back door and I carefully stepped up to maneuver in with Kelly still in my arms.

Owens pulled out of the parking lot quickly and I focused my gaze on the woman in my arms. She was taking shallow, raspy breaths but I was just glad she was breathing. Her whole face was swollen and she had hives on her arms, face, chest, and legs.

“Megan, do you have a second pen?”

She was already turned in her seat and staring at her sister when she nodded. “I carry two at all times. Kelly should have two, too.”

“What was it?” Owens asked from the driver’s seat. “A bee?”

“I didn’t see what happened, just the aftereffects. I didn’t even know she was allergic to bees.” I looked down at Kelly again. “We’re going to the hospital, sweetheart.”

She nodded and let her eyes close slowly. I swallowed and dropped my face into the crook of her neck, inhaling the sweet smell of berry, sunscreen, and Kelly. We stayed like that until the truck had come to a stop and Megan had the door open. I rushed her inside the emergency room doors and a lady behind the desk immediately stood.

“She’s in anaphylactic shock.” My words were hasty and but she obviously understood me because she nodded.

“Bring her back here.”

We pushed through some double doors and I was directed to place her on a bed. I laid her down gently and looked up when someone asked what happened.

“Twenty-six-year-old female, severe anaphylactic reaction, likely due to a bee sting. She received point three milligrams of epinephrine about ten minutes ago.”

“We’re got it from here, sir.” A nurse put her hands on my chest to stop me from following the bed and I shook my head as she spoke again. “Let us work and we’ll come find you.”

I stopped and ran a hand down my face as they wheeled Kelly into a curtained off area. Megan’s hand gripped mine as we were directed back out to the waiting room and I glanced over at her.

“I panicked. I’m a fucking paramedic and I choked.”

She shook her head and let out a long sigh. “Not being able to find the pen is probably what caused you to panic. I was walking by with our corn when I heard you asking her where it was. She keeps them in the inside zipper pocket.”

“I didn’t even know she was allergic to bees,” I muttered quietly. “She’s my fucking wife and I didn’t even know she was allergic to bees. Owens knew but I didn’t.”

“Stop beating yourself up, Nick.” Megan led me to some chairs that were against the wall and forced me to sit. “Si only knows because I randomly told him about it during a game of twenty questions. I’m allergic, too.”

The man in question came rushing in and shook his head. “Sorry, took me forever to find a parking spot. How is she?”

Megan just shrugged and I dropped my head when the two embraced. I didn’t look up as Megan whispered that she was going to call her parents. Owens fell into the chair next to me a moment later and his hand touched my shoulder for a minute.

“She’s going to be fine.”

I nodded my head and straightened up. “I choked. I’m so ashamed.”

“Don’t be,” Owens replied with a shake of his head. “I can handle a lot of emergencies with a cool head but if one of them involved Megan…”

We didn’t say anything else but I appreciated Owens’ silent reassurance. Megan reappeared and the three of us sat, just waiting. At some point, someone came over with a clipboard full of paperwork and Megan accepted it to fill it out. When she dug around in Kelly’s purse for her insurance card, I reached into my wallet and pulled out my own.

“She’s on my insurance, too. It should be secondary.”

“Okay,” Megan replied with a nod. “Thank you, Nick.” She paused and glanced at me. “Is she using Gold or Christos?”

I let my head fall back as I closed my eyes. “Still Gold.”

We sat out there for forty-five minutes before a doctor appeared from the double doors and walked over to us. “You’re Kelly’s family?”

All three of us stood and nodded quickly but it was Megan who spoke.

“How is she?”

“She’s going to be just fine. Her reaction was severe and her airway was almost completely blocked when you arrived. Her blood pressure had also fallen dangerously low but we’re treating her with IV antihistamines and some steroid breathing treatments. The swelling has already gone down significantly but we want to keep her here for a few hours to observe. We want to watch to ensure she doesn’t have a biphasic or repeat reaction.”

“Can we see her?” I asked and the doctor nodded.

“The medication has made her very drowsy so she might not be awake but you can come on back.”

We followed him through the double doors and to where we’d seen them take her earlier. He pulled the curtain back and Kelly was lying in the hospital bed with her eyes closed. She was still blotchy in some areas but the swelling had gone down a lot. An oxygen mask was covering her nose and mouth and she looked so small.

Megan swept some of her sister’s hair off of her face before grabbing one of her hands. Kelly’s eyes fluttered open tiredly and they locked onto Megan.

“Hey, troublemaker.”

Kelly used her other hand to reach up and pull the oxygen mask off so she could speak. “Hi, Gan. Asshole stung my shoulder.” Her voice was raspy and sounded like it took a lot of effort to get the words out. “Where’s Nick?”

“I’m right here, sweetheart.” I stepped forward and she slowly turned to her head so she could look at me. Her eyes fluttered shut for a moment and reopened when my hand touched her shoulder. “You scared me.”

“Did you get my funnel cake?” A small, tired smile appeared on her lips and I just chuckled.

“You just couldn’t wait in line. You’re so dramatic.” I took the oxygen mask out of her hands and placed it back over her face. “Get some rest so we can take you home.”

They kept her there for six hours but Kelly slept for most of it as the antihistamine flooded her system. She had been awake for about ten minutes when the doctor said she could go and she was being wheeled out to Owens’ waiting truck fifteen minutes later. Her body was weak and she let me help her into the truck without any complaint. I forced her to buckle in the middle so she could lean against me.

“My EpiPens are in the side pocket,” she mumbled tiresomely. “I tried to tell you but…”

“It’s okay.” I pressed my lips to her head and shook my head. “It’s really okay.”

Kelly didn’t say anything else for the rest of the ride home. When we were pulling into the complex, I realized that she’d fallen asleep against my chest. I carefully unbuckled her seatbelt and lifted her out of the truck. She stirred as I was stepping down and shook her head.

“I can walk.”

I laughed softly when she didn’t make any attempt to open her eyes. “Yeah, you can walk later.”

Once she was in her bed, I tugged both of her sandals off and turned on the TV even though I knew she was going to fall asleep. Her heavy, tired eyes followed me around the room and she pat the spot next to her.

“Come here and bring my octopus.”

I moved to the bed and settled onto the pillow next to her so our faces were just inches apart. Her fatigued face was still slightly red in some spots but the hives were gone for the most part and she looked like herself. I handed her the purple octopus and she immediately tucked it against her chest. My hand came up and touched her cheek softly, earning me a small smile.

“Only you could be beautiful while completely swollen.”

“Life goals accomplished then.” She let out a long sigh. “Nicky, I’m very allergic to bees.”

I couldn’t contain my huff of laughter as I brushed my lips against the tip of her nose. “I noticed. Anything else I should know?”

“My blood type is A positive, I don’t have my tonsils, and I’m an organ donor.”

“I’m going to file that in my head under ‘Things the husband should know’.” I ran my fingertips down her bare arm. “Sleep, Kel.”

“Okay.” Her voice was a whisper and her blue eyes closed. I stared at her for a moment and memorized every detail of her face. She had freckles that lined her nose and tapered off as they spread to her cheeks. The stud in her nose was a pinkish silver color rather than the diamond one she normally wore and she had a beauty mark immediately above the left side of her lips.

My chest hurt as I remembered her struggling to breathe earlier. I had no idea what I would do without Kelly. We were close before the whole marriage thing but that didn’t even compare to how close we’d become. She was the first thought I had in the morning and the last before I closed my eyes at night. I briefly wondered what that meant but decided not to analyze it. Kelly was physically in the bed next to me, breathing normally, and healthy. That was all I needed.

Once I was sure she was asleep, I snuck out of the room and found Megan in the kitchen. She was opening a few pizza boxes and smiled when she saw me.

“Are you are hungry as I am?”

“You’re my hero,” I replied as I accepted the plate she handed me. “I’m starving.”

Owens appeared from the bedroom and the three of us sat on the couch with our plates. It was already after nine and none of us had eaten since breakfast that morning.

As we ate, Megan told me about the time she’d almost died from being stung by a bee when she was eleven. After that, they found out that both girls were very allergic and Megan had never been stung by a bee again. That had been Kelly’s second time, the first being when she was seventeen.

“We’ve both done immunotherapy since to try to reduce our reaction to the venom but apparently it didn’t work on Kelly.”

I finished off my fourth slice of pizza and shook my head. “I’ve seen anaphylactic reactions before but that was pretty scary.”

“Keep an EpiPen near the bed tonight,” Megan replied as she stood with her plate. “Just in case.”

“I will.” I followed her into the kitchen and put a piece of the vegetarian pizza on my plate before picking up Kelly’s water bottle. “I’m going to see if I can get her to eat.”

Owens nodded and slapped my back once. “I’m going to take her to bed. We’ll see you in the morning.”

Megan hugged me tight before releasing me and I told them both goodnight as I headed back to Kelly’s room. She was still asleep where I’d left her but I knew she had to be starving, too. I put the plate and water on the nightstand next to me before touching her face and saying her name softly.

Kelly’s eyes fluttered open after a moment and I smiled at her.

“Hey. It’s not as sugary as funnel cake but do you want some pizza?”

“I’m so hungry,” she responded slowly. “Pizza sounds perfect.”

I helped her sit up until she was propped up against the headboard and I handed her the plate. She immediately took a bite and her eyes fluttered shut again as she released a small moan. I just grinned and watched her eat.

“Did you already get some?” she asked as she held her slice out to me. I nodded my head but took a bite of her salad pizza anyway.

“Megan, Owens, and I put away almost two whole pizzas earlier.”

I ended up getting her another slice before she proclaimed she was done. I watched her carefully as she stood to use the restroom and get ready for bed. She was a bit unsteady on her feet at first but otherwise fine and she rolled her eyes when she caught me watching her.

“Does that concerned look on your face mean I’m not getting lucky tonight?” Kelly flashed me her best sassy smile, one that was mingled with fatigue from the lingering medications, and I just nodded seriously.

“We’re not doing anything that overexerts you until we’re sure you’re not going to have a repeat attack.”

“Marriage has made you soft, Christos,” she said as she lay back down. “The old Nicky would have had me naked by now.”

I smiled as she shifted so her head was on my shoulder and I wrapped my arm around her. “I’ll have you naked tomorrow, Kel. That’s a promise.”

“I’m going to hold you to it,” she mumbled drowsily. Her breathing leveled out after a moment and it was the most amazing sound in the world.