Now she was in a bedroom. It looked familiar. She'd been here before, hadn't she? Or were all the rooms alike? Or was she going crazy?
Don't answer that one.
But she still couldn't breathe. Gasping for breath, Ro staggered a step forward and then back, as the world itself felt topsy-turvy. Her head felt like there was a balloon expanding in there, pressing against her skull and eyeballs, like a migraine from hell. The pain was making her nauseous.
What was wrong with her? Why was this happening? Even if she could have thought of those questions or their answers, Ro couldn't have understood them, not in her current condition. She staggered out of the bedroom and into the hall.
There was something wrong with her; she was going crazy. She needed help. She needed Zee. Even a fake would do, right now.
The edges of her vision seemed to be blackening, but Ro stubbornly continued down the hall and slowly down the stairs. She could hear someone humming tunelessly, off-key, in a cheery carefree way. So Zee.
Her nose almost acted like a guide as well. The smell of food made her gag and she had to swallow several times, though her mouth still tasted icky.
She made it to the kitchen and propped herself against the doorframe. There he was, standing at the stove and flicking something around with a spatula. If she hadn't been in so much misery, felt so sick, whatever he was making might have smelt good. Now, though, Ro was in no condition to enjoy it.
She whimpered, bringing the heel of her hand to her head. The sound made Zee turn to face her. "Hey, Ro. I hope you like … are you all right?" he asked, desperately concerned and coming to her. Ro could only desperately not giggle at the hilarity of the Kiss-the-Cook apron he was wearing. "Ro, you're as white as a sheet."
When she moved, the floor must have moved in the opposite direction, because Ro staggered. With almost inhuman speed – but he was human, so it had to be human speed – Zee rushed and caught her before she hit the ground, and she unconsciously gripped him back.
"Jeez, you're burning up."
"I don't want to go again," she gasped before the world blacked and shifted again.