“Don’t say bullshit.” He’s still approaching, and I step even farther back.
“Bullshit, you say? Jeremy, what color was my shirt tonight?”
“It was red,” he replies without thinking.
“Really? I had a light blue dress. You’re incredible!” I back away again. He takes my arm and draws me to him.
“That damn vanilla scent she uses makes me nauseous. Leave me alone!” I struggle backward, then I no longer feel the floor under my feet. I lose my balance and fall backward on the steps.
“Hailey!” I hear Jeremy shout as he reaches me. “Baby, don’t close your eyes. Stay with me.” My head is rumbling, and my eyes are getting heavier. “Baby, we’re heading to the hospital now. Stay with me.” I hear the roar of the car. “Hailey, please don’t fall asleep.”
My eyelids are getting heavier.
I don’t feel anything anymore.
The darkness.
Danny...
A heavy smell and a powerful light make me open my eyes.
“Hailey, can you hear me? I’m Doctor Hewitt. Do you know where we are?”
“In the hospital,” I reply.
“Well, your husband told us you fell down the steps in your house. We have to keep you here one night for routine exams.”
“I have nausea,” I tell him.
“Yes, that can happen. We’ll take care of it immediately.”
I fall asleep again for a few minutes, I think. Then I hear my cell phone ring.
Jeremy replies, “Hello…yes, I think so, only we’re not at home. I took her to Memorial Care. She fell down the steps…of course, you can come along.” He hangs up and comes toward me.
“Hey, baby, how do you feel?”
“I have a headache.”
“You took a bad hit, love.”
“I know.”
“Danny called a little while ago. He wanted you to have some chapters he wrote, but when I told him we’re in the hospital, he said he’d come straight here.”
“No, don’t make him come here.”
“Too late. Ah, there he is.” Jeremy points toward the hall, where I see a furious Danny running toward us.
“Jeremy,” he says, then looks at me. “Hailey, what happened?”
“A little carelessness. I judged wrong and fell down the stairs. It happens!”
“You have to be more careful. What did the doctor say?”
“We haven’t seen him yet, after the preliminary visit,” Jeremy replies. “Actually, here he is.”
“Gentlemen, good evening,” greets Dr. Hammilton. “Hailey, we’ve known each other for a long time, and never before have I been able to tell you how lucky you were.”
