Disclaimer: None of it is mine, of course...just briefly borrowed.

A/N: I promised a chapter over the weekend to make up for Chapter 25's cliffy, so here it is. It seems my readers (or at least those of you who review...thank you, BTW!) primarily have one of two theories: (1) Sookie is pregnant/miscarrying, or (2) she has appendicitis. Let's see who's right, shall we? ;)

Chapter 26:

As they finished the sound check Eric looked down into the empty seats, noticing for at least the hundredth time that Sookie wasn't anywhere to be seen. "Hey Pam," he called, stepping out into the corridor behind the stage and seeing Pam come around the corner, "have you seen Sookie?"

"She wasn't feeling well," Pam said. "She's laying down in your dressing room."

"Did she say what was wrong?" he asked worriedly.

"Her stomach was hurting…I gave her some ginger ale and told her to call me if she needed anything else."

"Thanks," he said with a smile. "I'll go check on her."

Eric opened the door to his dressing room and his heart abruptly stopped. Sookie stood in the middle of the room, stooped over at the waist, reaching in front of her as if to grab onto something for support. Tears streamed down her cheeks and her face was deathly pale, making her hazel eyes look like dark holes.

"Sookie!" he shouted, as she collapsed forward, her head hitting the tile floor with a dull thud. "Oh god, Sookie," he moaned crouching down and rolling her over so that he could see her face. He touched her cheeks and forehead, feeling the clamminess of her skin. "Sookie, Sookie…" he repeated, "Sweetheart wake up!" But she was unconscious and there was no response. Eric whipped his cell phone out of his pocket and immediately dialed 911.

"9-1-1 operator, what is your emergency?" he heard from the other end.

"Please, we need an ambulance at the Peoria Civic Center!" he choked out. "My girlfriend is unconscious."

"Sir, is she breathing?" the operator asked.

"Yes," he answered. "Her stomach was hurting and she just doubled over and fell to the floor. She hit her head on the concrete floor, I think."

"Sir, there's an EMT unit about a block away from your location, so they should be there momentarily," said the infuriatingly calm voice. "Do you have a blanket or jacket you can cover her with?"

"Yes," he said, noticing an extremely ugly afghan-like quilt on the back of the sofa and snatching it to cover Sookie. Eric heard the faint sound of sirens, but it did little to calm his frantically beating heart, which was pounding in his chest like a bass drum. Please be okay, he prayed silently. You have to be okay!

"Sir, the ambulance should be arriving now," said the operator. "Do you need me to stay on the line with you?"

"No," he said abruptly, already disconnecting the call and running to open the door of the dressing room. Seeing Pam again in the hallway, he shouted, "Pam! There should be paramedics here any minute…bring them in here!" Pam's eyes grew wide but she didn't stop to question him, instead sprinting past to find help. Eric dropped to his knees and lifted Sookie's head to cradle it in his lap. She was still deathly pale and he felt like his heart was in a vice grip. He murmured her name over and over, stroking her hair gently. Moments later a male and female paramedic rushed in followed closely by Pam and Bubba.

"Sir, we need you to move aside and let us work," the young female paramedic said, placing a gentle hand on Eric's arm. His first instinct was to protest, but he halted that urge and reluctantly stood and stepped out of the way, his eyes never leaving Sookie's prone body.

"What's her name?" asked the male paramedic, grasping Sookie's wrist and looking at his watch to time her pulse.

"Sookie," Eric choked.

"And how old is she?"

"Twenty-seven," he answered, almost mechanically. He felt like he was stuck in a nightmare and couldn't wake up.

"Does she have any health conditions?"

"No," Eric replied. "We were working out this morning and she complained that her stomach was hurting. She thought it might have been something she ate at breakfast. An hour or so later, she said she felt fine, though. Then apparently it started hurting again this afternoon, so she came in here to lie down. I walked in and found her doubled over, white as a ghost, and then she just collapsed on the floor. She hit her head pretty hard when she went down."

"Yeah, she has a contusion," said the female paramedic, motioning toward a newly forming bruise on Sookie's forehead. "Does she have any medical conditions that you're aware of?"

"No," said Eric, watching as the paramedic slipped a blood pressure cuff over Sookie's arm.

"Has she ingested any alcohol or illegal drugs?" Seeing the look of anger flash across Eric's face, she quickly added, "We're not judging, but we have to ask in order to know how to properly treat her."

"No!" he insisted, "She doesn't do drugs and she hasn't had any alcohol in at least the past 24 hours." Pam stepped up next to him at that point and put her arm around his waist in an attempt to keep him calm. A faint moan from Sookie had everyone's attention immediately and Eric's heart leapt into his throat.

"Sookie?" the female paramedic said, "can you hear me?" Sookie's eyelids fluttered open and then closed again. "Sookie?" the paramedic repeated. Her eyelids fluttered apart again, but this time remained open as she tried desperately to focus. The paramedic motioned for Eric to come closer. "Talk to her," she instructed.

"Sookie?" he said softly, taking her free hand in both of his.

"Eric?" she croaked hoarsely, her voice breaking into a sob. "Oh god, it hurts!"

"Shhhh…it's gonna be okay," he soothed, stroking her cheek softly.

"Ma'am, where exactly does it hurt?" asked the female paramedic. "Can you show me?" Sookie lifted her hand weakly and touched her abdomen.

"My stomach hurts all the way around to my side," Sookie choked, breaking into sobs. "It feels like someone is stabbing me!" Seeing the pain in her eyes and hearing it in her voice, Eric felt as if someone was ripping his heart from his chest.

"Can't you do something for her?" Eric pleaded to the paramedic.

"I'm starting an IV now, so we should be able to give her something for the pain," she assured him. "Sookie, have you been experiencing any dizziness or vomiting?"

"Yes," she answered weakly. "I threw up this morning and again a little while ago."

"What's wrong with her?" Eric demanded.

"We can't be sure until we get her to the hospital," said the paramedic, "but based on the location of her pain, the vomiting and her elevated temp and blood pressure, my guess is appendicitis. It's painful as hell and the biggest concern is getting her into surgery before the appendix ruptures."

"She needs surgery?" Eric questioned, the little remaining color draining from his face.

"If it's appendicitis, yes," she confirmed, "the sooner the better. My partner has gone to get a gurney so we can get her to the hospital as soon as possible." As if on cue, the male paramedic came into the room wheeling a folding gurney. While the woman held the IV bag she had just hooked up to Sookie's arm, the man lifted her in his arms and onto the gurney. Sookie moaned in pain when he put her down and Eric nearly came unglued.

"Sookie," I'm going to give you something in this IV for the pain, so you should notice some relief in the next few minutes.

"Thank you," Sookie whispered weakly. Eric followed along next to the stretcher, holding Sookie's hand as she was wheeled out to the ambulance.

"I'm going with her," Eric told the paramedics as they secured the gurney in the back of the ambulance.

"Eric," Pam said, putting a firm hand on his arm, "the show starts in less than two hours. You can't leave."

"Fuck the show, Pam!" he yelled angrily, jerking his arm away. "She has to have surgery and I'm not letting her go alone!"

"I'll go with her," Pam said in a calming voice. "You can't cancel a concert this close to show time…it's too late to even get an announcement out to the local news stations." Eric rubbed both hands over his face in exhaustion and gave her a defeated look. He knew she was right, but he couldn't stand the thought of getting up in front of thousands of people and singing while Sookie was having emergency surgery. He should be with her, dammit!

"I promise I won't leave her side until they make me," Pam said reassuringly. She could see the internal struggle written all over his face and wanted to alleviate his stress. "Just keep your cell phone with you and I'll call or text you whenever there's any news." He nodded reluctantly and then turned to return to Sookie's side. She was much calmer now and he could tell that the pain meds had begun to work. He took her hand in one of his and stroked her face with the other.

"Hanging in there?" he asked, forcing a cheerful smile for her benefit.

"I think so," she replied with a tired smile in return. "The pain isn't so bad right now, but I'm feeling very diz…" she began and then suddenly coughed violently and lurched forward, vomiting directly on Eric. "Oh god…Eric, I'm so sorry!" she choked through tears, looking at him forlornly as the female paramedic began wiping her face with a towel.

"It's okay, sweetheart," he soothed. "You can't control it. It's not like you got drunk and puked all over me," he added with a grin.

"Here, give me that shirt," said Pam, who had just witnessed the incident. "I'll get you another one." Eric peeled off the soiled t-shirt and handed it to Pam who bounded off in search of Ginger and a clean shirt.

"I'm so sorry," Sookie repeated miserably. His answer was to take her hand and bring it to his lips, kissing each of her knuckles softly one at a time. Somewhere in the back of her drug-addled brain she registered that she was gawking at Eric's bare chest, but she couldn't be bothered with concern for propriety.

"Pam's going to go with you to the hospital," Eric told her. "You have no idea how much I want it to be me, but it was just pointed out to me that I can't cancel the concert this close to show time."

"Of course not," Sookie said firmly. "I would feel horrible if I was the cause of that." Eric searched her exhausted hazel eyes for any sign that she might be lying or playing the martyr, but he only saw complete sincerity. God, this woman was amazing!

"I promise I'll be at the hospital as quickly as I possibly can…no meeting fans after the show or anything," he said as the two paramedics prepared to lift Sookie into the ambulance. Pam returned then, bearing Sookie's and her purses and a clean t-shirt for Eric. Taking the t-shirt from her, he nimbly climbed into the ambulance and gave Sookie a kiss on her forehead, her nose and finally her lips. "Hang in there, angel," he said softly, his eyes filling with tears he was trying desperately not to show. Sookie squeezed his hand and nodded with a weak smile as he climbed back down to the ground.

"Don't worry, hon…I'll be with her until you can get there," Pam said, giving him a quick hug before climbing into the front of the ambulance with the male paramedic who was driving. "Just keep your phone on," she added before closing her door.

Eric stood watching the ambulance drive away until it turned out of sight at the end of the block. Unshed tears stung the back of his throat and a cold invisible hand clenched around his heart. God, please take care of her, he prayed silently.