I Didn't Know...
"Where is my coffee?" Miranda called from her office.
Emily frantically dialed Andrea's cell phone number. It wasn't like her to be running late—at least not anymore.
Though Emily was upset she didn't get to go to Paris three months ago, she was delighted to receive the clothes from Andrea, and more importantly, they became friends over the whole ordeal. After the media fallout with Miranda's divorce while Emily was still in a cast, she acknowledged that her brunette counterpart was not worthless, and was actually pretty good at her job.
Shortly after returning from Paris, Andrea and Emily had another opportunity to bond. Andrea's ex-boyfriend Nate moved out of their apartment while she was overseas, and she hadn't heard from him since he returned. Her former friends—Doug and Lily—were also ignoring her, and it wasn't until a few weeks later that she learned why.
Her mother called and told her the news—that Nate and his father were killed in an auto accident while they were driving to Boston. Andrea was in shock, and her mother blamed her for breaking up with him and making him drive out to Boston in the first place. Emily consoled the brunette, reminding her what warped logic her mother was spouting, but it deeply affected Andrea.
For the weeks following the news, she was very depressed. She lost weight, and her color paled. Emily tried to keep her spirits up and engaged in different topics when she was in the office, because the last thing she wanted was Miranda to catch wind and turn on Andrea. They had a good thing going—the three of them. Miranda was acting reasonable, and Andrea and Emily were competent and responsible. It worked, and Emily would do whatever she needed to protect that.
Today, it had been a little over three months since Paris. Andrea seemed to be doing a little better, at least from what Emily could tell. She was back to a size six, and she spent the past few weeks preparing for a 5k run. She explained that running helped her to clear her mind, and while it didn't help her to fit back into her size four clothes, she was at least feeling healthy. She hadn't been dating anyone, but from what Emily could tell, she was beginning to move on from the whole Nate thing.
Andrea finally burst through the office doors with Miranda's coffee, handing it to Emily who ran it to Miranda and apologized profusely for the delay.
Emily returned to her desk and looked over at the brunette, who was wincing as she took off her jacket. "What's wrong?" Emily whispered. Andrea was wearing ankle boots and leggings, and on top she wore a black tank under a black long sleeve shirt and a black sweater.
"My back—I must have pulled something yesterday. I can hardly take a deep breath," she said.
"Are you on your period?"
"No, but," Andrea paused for a moment, thinking about how irregular her cycle has been with work stress, then her depression after the accident. "Maybe all that running finally kickstarted things," she said. She groaned as she sat down and turned to her computer screen. "I don't think I'm going to last all day like this."
Emily rolled her eyes. "Don't let Miranda hear you say that."
"Say what?" the editor asked as she walked out of her office.
"Nothing, Miranda," the girls said in unison. Miranda breezed by with a smirk on her lips. Everything in her office was running so smoothly and it was entirely due to the collaborative spirit between her two assistants.
As the day progressed, Andrea was feeling worse. Her lower back was throbbing, and it felt like someone was sticking knives in her stomach. Sitting was only comfortable for two or three minutes at a time, and it seemed like bending over gave her the most relief, so she tried to spend as much time as possible standing and leaning over her desk.
Emily went down for lunch at 12:30 and offered to bring Andrea something back, but she couldn't think about food—not when her cramps and backache were this bad. After lunch, Emily rearranged things so that she would go with Miranda to Calvin Klein and Andrea could stay at the office, thinking it would be more comfortable for her.
And Andrea was grateful—that is, until Ralph Lauren called and needed one of their gowns back immediately. She got the dress from Nigel and practically sprinted down the street to drop it off, but walked back to the office. Running felt better, but the minute she stopped, the cramps and back pain returned twofold, and on top of that, she was feeling exhausted. Glancing at the clock, she figured Emily and Miranda would be gone for another hour at least, so she tried to get comfortable on the floor behind her desk—squatting, curling up into a ball, laying on her back—and nothing helped.
A thin layer of sweat was beginning to form on her forehead, and she took off her sweater. On her phone, she pulled up WebMD and researched her symptoms, reading all about ovarian cysts, fibroids, and endometriosis. She made a note to call her doctor's office after work to make an appointment.
Just when she thought it couldn't get any worse, she felt a shooting pain that caused her to cry out—just as Miranda and Emily were walking in. Miranda stopped and looked at her curled up on the floor behind her desk, her eyebrow raised high.
"Sorry," Andrea said, biting her lower lip and holding her breath.
"What on earth is this? Are you dying or something?" the editor asked. She was trying to act indifferent, but it was clear that she was concerned about the brunette.
"I—I can't—" she gasped.
"It's that time of the month," Emily said quietly.
"Andrea, go home and rest. Take a warm bath or whatever it is you need to do," Miranda said, with a flick of her wrist. "And take a taxi—expense it."
"Thank you," Andrea said, wincing once again as Miranda continued into her office. She pushed herself up, grabbed her coat and bag from Emily, then headed towards the elevators.
"Call me if you need something," Emily said.
Andrea nodded and stepped into the elevator. Her cramps had never felt anything like this before, and as she rode down the elevator, she was scared that something was seriously wrong.
After stopping on nearly every floor, she finally stepped out into the lobby. Her hands were shaking and she was sure she looked like a wreck, but she couldn't care. Just as she made it past the security turnstiles, another cramp swept over her and she collapsed to her knees.
"Ms. Sachs!" one of the security guards called, rushing to her side. After taking one look at her, he pulled out his phone and called for an ambulance. She was writhing and groaning, and he awkwardly stayed next to her until the paramedics arrived.
As Nigel was getting out of a cab, he saw a small commotion around someone being wheeled out on a stretcher. Realizing who it was, he hurried over to her.
"Six! What happened?!" he shouted, following them towards the ambulance.
"Sir, you'll need to step away," the paramedic said to him. "We're taking her to Presbyterian—you can meet her there."
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TBC - let me know what you think...is it worth continuing?