“No, no we weren’t arguing. And she was being really supportive. She didn’t seem upset, but maybe inside she was. You know? Maybe she’s getting sick of having to cater to me because I’m such a loser, that I can’t trust our relationship.”
“I don’t think so, but I do know that she wanted you two to be on the same page. She wasn’t that upset before she came up though.”
Alex hand a shaky hand through his hair. “I just keep thinking I did this to her by adding more stress to her plate.”
“I’m going to check her pupils…the last time I did this–”
“She woke up and ran away,” Alex said.
“Yeah. Maybe…close the door and block it or something?”
Alex scrambled to his feet, swinging the door closed and pressing the lock button before he stood in front of it as he waited for Kyle to proceed.
He gently lifted her eyelid, shining his cell phone’s flashlight at her eye before he dropped her lid. “Equal and reactive. And no panicked wake up.”
“What do we do now?” Alex asked.
“We wait for her to wake up. And hope she’s Ava, not Neuroprisol-X Ava.”
Alex’s heart pounded hard against his ribs as each agonizing second passed. He eyed her chest, making certain it still rose every few seconds to suck in air as they waited.
After what felt like an eternity, Ava groaned, her head rolling to the side before her eyelashes fluttered open.
“Ava?” Kyle asked.
“Yeah,” she said, her features pinching. “What happened? Did I do something crazy? Where’s Alex?”
Panic sounded in her voice as she tried to sit up.
“Easy,” Kyle said, pushing her back to the floor. “He’s right here. You didn’t do anything crazy, you passed out, but you woke up as you.”
She settled back to the floor as Alex hurried over to her and grabbed her hand. “Avs, I’m right here.”
“Good. I was afraid I stabbed you with a pin and ran off.”
“Nope,” he said with a chuckle as he squeezed her hand. “I’m all good. And so are you.”
“You mind telling me what happened leading up to this? Different symptoms from the blackouts? The same?”
“Uhh, similar, but not the same,” she answered. “Nausea, which is new, but just a little. Then the heat, blood rushing in my ears, and blackness at the edges of my vision, then I passed out.”
“Okay,” Kyle said with a nod. “And was your stress level higher than usual?”
“No,” she answered, “Alex and I were just talking.”
“About…the thing?”
Alex scrunched his features as he stared at the man. What thing? What was Kyle discreetly asking about?
“We didn’t get to that part before I passed out. Maybe it was stress related.” She frowned as she said the words.
Kyle puffed out his cheeks. “Well, the good news is you’re still you. So, either the drugs are helping to counteract you waking up as emotionless Ava or this was just a regular old fainting spell.”
“A case of the vapors?” she asked, a coy grin playing on her lips.
Despite the levity of the comment, Alex couldn’t get passed the secret conversation between Kyle and his wife.
Kyle nodded, his voice changing into a thick southern drawl. “Yes, Miss Ava, you ought to be in bed with a hot toddy.”
