“This could be a good sign or a bad sign.”
Finally, the door opened. Tony appeared. “Sonny is throwing up and in a lot of pain. Jerry called for an ambulance. He thinks it might be food poisoning.”
“Food poisoning…from Ravello’s?” Carlita could feel the blood drain from her face. “I haven’t heard of anyone else getting sick.”
Mercedes strode down the corridor, catching her mother’s eye. “We got a woman in the restroom complaining about not feeling well.”
Carlita rushed past the others. The woman, an employee of Elvira’s, stood in an open stall, her head hanging over the toilet.
“Blargh.” She heaved, coughing loudly as she vomited.
“What happened?”
“I…uh…think I ate something bad.”
Elvira appeared. “Yvonne. You got it too?”
“I feel like my insides are coming out,” she groaned. “I’ve never been so sick in my life.”
Mercedes reached for the door handle. “I’ll go wait for the paramedics.”
“Thanks.” Carlita grabbed a stack of paper towels from the dispenser and handed them to the woman. “Can I get you some water?”
“No. I…” The woman ran back into the stall.
A terrifying thought popped into Carlita’s head.What if there were more?
Heavy footsteps echoed. A paramedic appeared.
Carlita briefly explained what had transpired. “I believe the other guest, the man, is in worse shape.”
Yvonne leaned against the stall wall, dabbing at her face with a wet paper towel.
“I hope it was nothing you ate here, but if you don’t mind me asking, what did you have?”
“Mostly the fettuccine Alfredo. I went back for more and someone had taken the dish away. Based on how I’m feeling right now, it’s probably a good thing.”
Carlita motioned to Mercedes, who stood hovering in the doorway. “Keep an eye on her. I need to check on something.”
“Sure, Ma.”
She hustled to the kitchen where she found an employee loading the dishwasher. “We have two guests who might have gotten food poisoning. Where are the leftovers?”
“In the fridge.” The woman led her to the storage refrigerator in the hall. She opened the door and showed her the stacks of leftovers. “All of these on this side.”
Carlita carefully removed the nearest stack. “Let’s put these in our walk-in fridge until I can figure out what’s going on.”
Arnie, realizing what had happened, began helping Carlita move the leftovers to the other refrigerator, one used to storeingredients not yet prepped. She taped a “do not touch” sign on the front. “I had better go check on the guests.”
Reaching the main dining room, Carlita was relieved to find only a handful of guests still there. The ambulance sat parked on the street with its lights flashing. A group of onlookers had gathered on the sidewalk.
Dernice made her way over. “Sonny is in rough shape. Luigi said they’re gonna take him to the hospital.”
Carlita clutched her gut. “I wonder how Yvonne is doing.” She made a move toward the hall when a stretcher appeared. A pale Sonny Skidz lay on top, his eyes closed, as the paramedics wheeled him through the restaurant and out of the building.
She held her breath, watching them load him into the back of the ambulance. Moments later, with lights flashing and horns blaring, it sped off.
“How is the woman?”
