Gianna walks over fast, takes me by the shoulders, and looks at my face. Her own face is sayingI am being calm because I love you. I can see her not freaking out.
Mara walks up and scans my face. “It’s so swollen.” She frowns. “I’m so sorry, Lucy. Should we take you to the ER?”
Gianna looks at my neck. “Urgent care.”
“I think I just need Benadryl.”
Mara says, “Girl, that only lasts four hours.”
Gianna agrees. “You’re going to need something much stronger.”
“I’m Camdenthing.”
“Thank God!” Gianna’s eyes widen. “Can you imagine if your throat closed, and I wasn’t home?”
Mara says, “Go get dressed. We should go now before the lines get really long.”
“Did you eat something different?”
I shake my head.
Gianna’s eyes widen. “What if it was your mom’s cooking? You said she never cooks, right?”
I think about it for a moment, and then I nod because I don’t know what to think.
Mara drives.
I sit in the back with Gianna. I have a baseball cap pulled low. The cap is Gianna’s. It says WOLVES in white block letters on the front.
The receptionist at urgent care looks up when I walk in. She looks at my face once and then back at her computer.
“Allergic reaction?”
“I don’t know.”
“Can you Camdenthe?”
“Yes.”
“Someone will call you soon. Take a seat.”
She gets me back fast. There are people in the waiting room who have been there longer. They look at me as I walk to the back. The intake nurse is a woman in her forties with a French braid. She does all the things and then starts asking questions.
“Allergies?” she asks.
I shrug.
She looks at me. “Trouble Camdenthing?”
I shake my head. She tilts my head back and then to the side. She looks at my lips.
“Tongue swelling.”
“No.”
“Tightness in the throat.”
“No.”
