Realisation
She was in a daze afterwards. She was aware of getting back to her feet, of helping Doyle back to his - but everything was … hazy. It all sort of blurred into itself, the lines were smudgy and the events bumped against each other and bled into each other and she was back in the office making them both a coffee and offering to check him over for injuries. And then she was in the car with Angel, being driven home and then Dennis had run her a bath and then she was tucked up under the covers, in her pjs, listening to the kettle boil as Dennis made her a herbal tea …
But the whole time her mind was not really focused. She still felt, in some weird way, like she was still out on the sidewalk, lying on the cold ground, recovering.
She still felt like the whole world had narrowed itself down to just Doyle's eyes - looking at her in concern, the worry making them dark. And even over the sound of the kettle she could still hear his voice asking her over and over again: 'Are you OK?'
Are you OK?
And she didn't know the answer, because she still wasn't quite sure where she was. In bed or on the ground or gazing into Doyle's eyes.
It didn't make a smidge of sense, even through the haze she knew that. She had been monster food dozens of times before now. She always picked herself up, brushed herself off and got on with her life. There was no reason this time would be different.
And yet every time she closed her eyes, she saw Doyle's green ones staring straight back at her - and heard the tremble in his voice. 'Are you OK?'
The kettle whistled as it boiled, and a few moments later her ginger and lemon tea came floating through the air towards her. She took it gratefully, remembering the blurry and confused cup of coffee she and Doyle had shared once they had got inside.
She didn't get why she was acting this way, why she was feeling like this. It really didn't make any sense. Not unless...
The sudden realisation made her hand shake so badly she spilled the tea right down her front.
'Oh … crap.'