Page 130 of Guarding Over You
“Sure.” He took her cup and filled it with more water from the jug against the wall on the way to the break room, then sat in one of the comfy chairs with her next to him.
“How was Gracie this morning?”
“Good. She still doesn’t know what is going on. I mean, that you’re there when she’s in bed.”
Last night, he’d read Gracie a story with Arden and the little girl thought nothing of it. Didn’t even ask when he was leaving. Maybe they could just slide into a routine without explanations.
Might be the easiest thing at this point.
He opened the wrapper on his sandwich and pulled out half of the roast beef on a hard roll, taking a huge bite.
“You’re still good with me being there at night?” he asked quietly. They weren’t alone in the room, but no one was that close by either.
“I like having you there,” she said, her head close to his as he ate. “More than I thought I would.”
“Why is that?”
She shrugged, a small, uneasy movement. “I don’t know. I’m just so used to having privacy and now there’s someone else there more. It’s… comforting, not annoying. Which is horrible to say, but I can’t find the right words.”
Her hand twitched on her thigh. The other pressed to her chest in a move so unlike her.
His head snapped up. “What’s wrong?”
“My chest hurts,” she said quietly. “Like my heart’s racing.” Her breath was coming in quick gasps.
He was already moving, pulling his stethoscope from his pocket. “Hold still.” The moment the bell hit her chest, his pulse stuttered. “Jesus. Your heart’s going a mile a minute.”
“Blaze—”
“Lie down,” he said sharply, rising to help her to the couch. But before she could move, her body went rigid. Her neck twisted, arms jerked tight, then she dropped to the floor in a violent seizure with her entire body twitching and convulsing.
“Get a gurney in here now!” His voice cut through the room.
Two nurses and a doctor rushed in. He dropped to his knees, steadying and cushioning her head and keeping her airway clear while the others scrambled to help. Within seconds they were loading her onto a gurney, racing her toward the ER, the sound of rubber-soled sneakers rapidly squeaking down the hall.
“What’s happening?” Maddy’s voice broke through the chaos as Blaze ran alongside holding his hand under her head.
“She’s seizing. I don’t know why,” he ground out. His voice barely sounded like his own. His hands in front of him worked on automatic.
Maddy abandoned her station to stay beside him, Shelly and Erika close behind. The team worked fast. Monitors on, IV started, oxygen flowing.
He reached for the crash cart, yanked open a drawer, and grabbed a syringe. “Lorazepam. Two milligrams IV push,” he said, administering it himself. The tremors slowed, but Arden was still unconscious.
“What happened?” Maddy asked again.
“We were talking. She said her chest hurt, that her heart was racing. Then she just went down.”
“She’s running a fever. 101.5,” Erika said. “Was she sick? She was coughing.”
“Not this morning,” he said. His hands were steady, but inside he was unraveling. He flicked a penlight over her pupils. “Dilated. Too much.” His stomach sank. “Get me a tox screen and blood work, now. Run it to the lab yourself, Maddy.”
“On it,” Maddy said, holding his stare as the blood filled the syringe and she was out the door.
He could feel the dread crawling up his spine. Something was wrong—terriblywrong—and he had no answers. No clue what she’d eaten today, who she’d seen, nothing. She couldn’t even tell him.
He was flying blind, and the woman he loved was slipping away in front of him.
“She’s crashing!” someone shouted.
