I watch Ria turn pasty, and her eyes go glassy.
“Ria, babe, you okay?” I ask. Then her knees buckle, her eyes roll into the back of her head, and she goes completely limp in my arms. I hold onto her as her entire body drops into my arms,and I tense up completely, looking down at her. “Ria, babe…” I call out while I shake her slightly.
Lunar rushes over along with Danger as I shift her over to the sofa and gently lay her down.
“Jesus… she’s out cold,” Lunar says.
I pull her hair back from her sweaty face and stroke her cheeks. “Ria, baby… can you hear me?”
Her eyes flicker a little beneath her closed lids. “Mmm… Nate?” she murmurs.
“I’m right here. Stay still, keep taking in deep breaths.”
Her eyes slowly open as she swallows hard, and I sigh a big breath of relief. I lean my forehead down and kiss her nose. “God, you scared me.”
“What happened?”
“You passed out… fell for me completely.”
She blinks lazily. “I fell for you completely a long time ago.”
“Help! We need a medic in here. She’s delirious,” Ryan calls out as he walks in, making us all laugh.
As if on cue, Tillie walks through the door with a glass of water and a medic.
“Ask, and ye shall receive,” Ryan says.
“Jesus! Did you actually pass out?” Tillie asks, rushing up to us with the water, the medic not far behind her.
“Yeah, I don’t know what came over me. I was agitated, and I got so hot that everything started spinning, and then I woke up on the sofa with Ryan cracking jokes.”
“Hi, Miss Shafir. Can I take your blood pressure?” the medic asks, stepping in beside me.
Ria nods, and I move so he can check her over properly. He uses an automatic machine to pump up the sleeve while I notice the color returning to her previously pasty face.
“I’m sorry, guys. Didn’t mean to worry you,” Ria murmurs.
I reach out, grab her hand, and smile at her. “Hey, I’m supposed to worry about you. It’s what I’m here for.”
The medic looks at me sideways, and I swallow hard, remembering that the public doesn’t know about us. Still, he’s a medical professional, and he has confidentiality clauses, so I think we’re safe.For now.
“Okay, blood pressure is quite high, but I think it’s stress-induced, and that’s why you passed out. You need to keep up your fluids and try to keep your anxiety levels down… if you can.”
“Thanks, sorry for wasting your time,” Ria says to the medic.
“It’s never a waste of time to get checked out. If you can hang around for at least fifteen minutes to make sure you’re okay before you head off, just to ensure you don’t relapse, then I’ll be happy to let you go.”
“Okay, thanks.”
“Thanks, buddy,” I say to him, and he nods.
Tillie hands Ria the glass of water, and with a shaky hand, Ria takes the glass before she sits up slowly on the sofa.
“Thanks, Tillie, you even got me a straw,” Ria says with a giggle, and Tillie nods.
“Yeah, straws make everything better, right?”
It’s good that Tillie and Ria seem to have bonded, and Ria smiles at Tillie while sucking the water through her straw.
