FULL CIRCLE

Chapter 62

Miles stared at his Oriental salad and frowned. He'd been hungry when he'd ordered it, hungry when he begaan eating. But now he was feeling anything but hungry. In fact he was beginning to feel a little sick. Hoping that it wasn't a symptom of his concussion returning, he rubbed his forehead.

Natalie looked up from her sandwich to ask, Are you all right?"

"Yeah," Miles answered and took a cautious sip of his tea, willing it to stay down as he was beginning to feel more nauseated.

Natalie nodded and made a mental note to drop the subject, at least until she could talk to him privately.

Miles gave up trying to eat and put down his fork. "I guess I'm just not as hungry as I thought. I had a pretty good sized breakfast earlier. In fact I think I'll just go back to my room and
work on the report," he said and got to his feet, pausing a moment before he headed for the doorway. "Uh, Nat, would you mind paying for both lunches and let me know what I owe you?"

"Sure, Miles. No problem," Natalie replied. She waited until he had left the dining room before summoning the waitress over to get their checks. despite his reassurances, he looked paler than when he'd first arrived. And from his hasty departure, she could guess that he probably wasn't feeling well. Whether it was a symptom of his recent head injury, she wasn't sure.

The brief ride in the elevator just made his stomach more unsettled and as soon he'd unlocked the door and inside, he had to make a mad dash for the bathroom. With a groan, he leaned over the toilet and began retching.

Natalie quickly paid for the meals and left a tip. When she arrived at Miles' room, she noticed the door was ajar. Sticking he head in, she was just about to ask if he was all right when she heard the
retching.

When it felt like there was nothing left in his stomach to throw up, Miles flushed the toilet and leaned back against the tub for a moment. Then he got to his feet and made his way over to the sink.
Grabbing a washcloth he saoked it in cold water and wrung it out so he could press it against his face. He didn't feel dizzy and now that he'd gotten sick, he actually felt better.

"Feeling any better?" Natalie asked when she saw him emerge from the bathroom.

He made his way over to the bed and sat down on the edge of it. "Yeah, I am," he replied.

She sat down on the edge of the bed so she was facing the younger doctor and asked, "Do you feel dizzy?"

"No. I actually feel better now that I did throw up," Miles answered. "I'm fine, Nat. I think something I ate just didn't agree with me."

"What have you had to eat in the past twenty-fours hours?" Natalie asked.

Miles thought for a moment before replying. "Well, there's that salad I just had for lunch. For breakfast I had french toast with maple syrup and coffee. At the party last night I think I had a
veggie burger, some fruit salad and chips. Oh, and for dessert it was pink angel food cake, pink punch and strawberry ice cream. I think that about covers it."

Natalie smiled and said, "Let me guess, your little sister likes pink."

"Yeah. In fact I've only seen her wearing pink," Miles replied. "But she sure looks cute in it."

"Still have a headache?" Natalie asked.

He shrugged his shoulders. "Well, it comes and goes. At least it hasn't gotten any worse."

"Since you're not feeling dizzy and you say you feel better, it probably was something you ate that made you sick. Why don't you rest for awhile and I'll check on you later to see how you're
feeling?" Natalie suggested.

"Okay," Miles agreed. "Now go and enjoy yourself. There's no need to just sit around the hotel."

"I'll see you in a couple of hours but if you're starting to feel bad again, call me. Okay," she told him.

"I will, Nat. But honestly I feel fine," Miles insisted, moving to where he could recline back against the pillows.

"I'll leave you to get some rest," she said, getting up to let herself out the door.