CHAPTER 8

An hour later, they were still adding things to their almost full cart. Beth was pushing the cart, explaining that she preferred having something to do so that she didn't get too distracted. But over the past few minutes, her pace had gotten slower and slower. Putting a hand on her shoulder, Carlton asked, "Hey, do you want me to take the cart."

She shook her head as she looked in the closest freezer case. "No, I, I've got it."

"Are you sure? Maybe you should take a break."

"No! I said I got it!" She snapped as she whipped her head around to look at him. She immediately closed her eyes and whispered, "Crap."

"Beth? Are you okay?" He noticed that she was sweating slightly and that her skin looked clammy.

Beth reached out a hand to him right before her body relaxed and she fainted.

"Oh sweet justice," Carlton muttered as he caught her before she could hit the floor. He lowered her the rest of the way and propped her head in his lap. "Beth? Come on, wake up!"

"Sir, is she okay?"

Carlton glared at the store employee who barely looked 18. "Does she look okay? She fainted."

"O-okay. Pro-procedure says that I, I have to report this to m-m-management and call an ambulance." The kid stuttered as he took out his walkie talkie.

"Fine. But while you're standing there, get me a bottle of Gatorade out of the cart." Feeling how hot she was, Carlton added, "And grab me a couple bags of frozen vegetables or something."

"Y-yes, sir." The kid walked away as he started talking into the walkie talkie.

Ignoring the gawking that they were starting to attract, Carlton turned back to trying to get Beth to wake up. "Come on, time to wake up." Still getting no response, he checked her pulse, which was kind of slow. Lifting her up slightly, he started taking her coat off.

As he was lowering her back down, the kid came back and handed over a few bags of peas before going to the cart and grabbing some Gatorade. "The manager will be right over and the ambulance should be here in a couple minutes."

"Good." Carlton placed one bag on Beth's forehead and one on her stomach. She shivered slightly, which Carlton took as a good sign. A second later, she slowly opened her eyes. Carlton smiled at her and asked, "Hey, how are you feeling?"

"Sick and gross," Beth mumbled as she tried to push the bags off of her.

Gently taking her hands, Carlton said, "Leave those there. You're burning up and they'll help to cool you down."

She sighed as she crossed her arms over her chest. "I'm thirsty."

"Okay. I've got some Gatorade here, is that alright?" Seeing her nod, he opened the bottle and lifted her head a little. She had just finished taking a couple sips when someone walked over quickly and joined them.

"Hello, my name is Greg and I'm the manager on duty today. The ambulance should be here momentarily." Hearing the sirens, Greg corrected, "Is here now. Teddy, please go meet the medics and bring them back here." The kid nodded nervously before taking off at a quick walk towards the front doors. "Is there anything that I can do?"

"Can you get some of these spectators to back off?" Carlton said quietly as Beth sneezed.

"Of course." Greg turned to the crowd at large and said, "Excuse me, but this aisle is temporarily closed. We will let you know when you came come back down."

Beth smiled as she heard people moving. "All this commotion for little old me?"

"Well, you're a very special person," Carlton said as he brushed the sweat soaked hair off her forehead.

"I'm sorry." Beth sighed as she looked him straight in the eye.

"For what?"

"For always making things difficult. This isn't exactly how you were planning on spending your vacation, was it?"

"No, but I'm spending it with you, that's all that matters."

Beth covered her mouth, "Aw, you're going to make me cry!"

"I don't think that you need to lose anymore fluids," Carlton commented as a medic knelt down next to them.

He looked barely older than Beth as he smiled and said, "I agree with your friend, you're looking a bit dehydrated." Taking her hand to count her pulse, he said, "Hi, I'm John. Can you tell me your name?"

"I'm Beth and this is my shiny, white knight and occasional guard dog, Carlton." Beth smiled as Carlton groaned.

John smiled as he started writing down her stats. "And can you tell me what happened?"

"Can't you just ask Carlton, he saw the whole thing and probably knows more than me." Beth wiggled a bit as John started to put the blood pressure cuff on her arm.

Carlton smiled as he looked at her. "He's testing your memory, so you should answer him."

"Fine," Beth huffed as she looked past their heads to stare at the ceiling. "I'm slightly hungover from last night, plus I now have a cold. I guess I overexerted myself and fainted. When I woke up, Carlton was placing freezing cold bags on me and wouldn't let me take them off!"

John nodded as he took a thermometer out and put it in her ear. "And Carlton, would you agree with her statement?"

"Yes, I was trying to convince her to take a break when she sort of paused and reached out to me before fainting. I barely caught her and then lowered her to the floor."

"Okay." John wrote some more before taking out a stethoscope. "I'm going to need you to sit up slowly."

Beth nodded before complying, Carlton keeping a steady hand on her shoulder.

"Okay, I just need you to breath normally." John slowly moved the stethoscope up and down her back as she breathed. "Alright, you can relax now, but I want you to stay sitting. Do you have any history of heart disease or diabetes in your family?"

"No, I don't" Beth replied as she moved to lean against the freezer.

"Okay. Well, your temperature is a little high at 100.2 degrees and if it gets much higher or you feel faint again, I want you to go to the hospital, okay?"

"Yeah, sure."

John picked up his bag. "And make sure that you're treating that cold with plenty of fluids and rest."

"Okay, thanks John." Beth smiled.

"Alright then, have a good day." John smiled as he stood up and headed back out the store.

Greg hurried forward and asked, "Is there anything that I can do for you?"

Carlton shook his head, "No, I think that we're just going to finish shopping and go."

Greg nodded, "Okay, very well. I hope that you feel better Miss." Giving them one more smile, he turned and left the aisle, pausing to say something to one of the employees stationed at the end of the aisle.

Carlton looked over to see a strange look on Beth's face. Touching her shoulder, he asked, "Hey, are you okay?"

She nodded, "Yeah, I was just wondering if he remembered me."

"Who, John?"

"Yeah. I went to school and church with him. Haven't seen him in over 10 years and I've changed a bit. He was always so nice to me when his friends were such jerks. I had a crush on him for the longest time but never got the courage to do anything about it." She smiled as she looked at him. "He was the class clown and always managed to make me smile or laugh."

Feeling a bit uncomfortable about this conversation, Carlton asked, "And how do you feel about him now?"

"I don't know, but I already have someone to make me smile." Beth grinned widely at his blush. "Yep, Shawn knows exactly what to say to get me to smile or laugh." When his face dropped she laughed at him. "I'm kidding! I mean, he does make me laugh but I prefer smiling with you."

"Don't you mean at me?"

"Isn't that what I said?" She looked at him innocently.

Groaning, Carlton got up and offered her a hand, "Come on, we should get going before some of these groceries go bad."

"Alright." She held onto the cart as Carlton grabbed her coat and the groceries off the floor. "I think we still need chicken nuggets and garlic bread."

"Okay, I've got it." He quickly went down the aisle and when he came back, Beth was leaning heavily on the cart. "Are you alright?"

Beth nodded as she smiled at him. "Yeah, just resting."

"Okay, let's go find you someplace to sit."

"No, I'll be fine!" She whined as Carlton started pushing her and the cart towards the checkout lines.

"I know you will, but for right now, I want you to sit down." He spotted some seats at the pharmacy on the other side of the checkout counters. Leaving the cart near one of the lanes, he guided Beth towards the seats and sat her down. "Now stay here until I come get you."

"Woof," Beth said as she slouched down.

"Smartass," Carlton mumbled as he returned to the cart, glancing back at Beth every so often.

When they got back to her house, Beth was still a little weak so Carlton helped her inside and onto the couch. Frisco, after making a quick trip outside, jumped up on the couch with her. Handing her the remote and a bottle of Gatorade, Carlton told her to rest while he brought in the groceries. She sighed but didn't say anything, just turned on the TV and started flipping channels.

When Carlton had put away most of the groceries, the stuff he was unsure of were set on the counter, he went back into the living room to find Beth fast asleep on her side between the couch back and Frisco. Carefully placing a blanket over them, he stood back and smiled at her peaceful expression. Taking out his phone, Carlton went into the kitchen and dialed Juliet. It was still a bit early, but Juliet should be up already. If not, well, payback's a bitch.