A Thousand Words
Chapter 15
An Unfortunate Event

I woke up in unfamiliar surroundings.

The room was dark and cold and smelled faintly of antiseptic. The bed I slept in was narrow and uncomfortable.

I began to panic; I needed to find out where I was and just how I got there, and fast. But the moment I lifted my head off the pillow, it began to throb and the room started spinning. I groaned as I laid my head back down.

"Don't try to get up, mon ange."

Erik's voice cut through both the darkness of the room and the fog in my head. I relaxed a bit, but I wasn't quite sure if it was from the sound of his voice or from the fact that the room had finally stopped moving.

I felt his hand on my shoulder, warm and comforting.

"Ohhh, my head... Where am I? What happened?"

My throat was dry, and the words came out as a harsh whisper that hung in the stillness of the air.

"I believe they said this is the on-call room," he said quietly.

"At the hospital?"

"Yes."

"Erik, what happened?"

"You had... an episode," he replied hesitantly.

An episode? What the hell is he talking about? And why the hell don't I remember it?

Even though I now could faintly make out the white of Erik's mask in the darkness, I wanted to see more of him. I reached over my head to turn on the small reading lamp that I knew was clamped to the bedframe. I squinted from the harsh glare of the bulb, and my head throbbed even more from the sudden onslaught of light, but I had to see his face as he told me what happened.

"What are you talking about, an 'episode'?"

"I'm not precisely sure, since I was not there, but I was told you... what was the phrase they used... 'freaked out' while tending to a patient."

Oh, dear God, not again.

"Your friend... Meg... Margie..."

"Megan," I supplied.

"Yes, Megan. She called me to say that you were huddled up in a corner of one of the examination rooms. No one could get near you. She thought I could help."

"So you came for me?"

"Of course."

"And you stayed with me?"

He smiled. "I had nowhere else to be."

I reached out and took one of his hands in mine.

"Thank you," I said softly.

"I would do anything for you, my sweet," he whispered as his eyes met mine.

"Anything?" I said with a small smile.

He nodded.

"Then would you get me some water? My throat is so dry..."

He lifted my hand to his lips. "Your wish is my command, my lady."

XXXXX

"Christine? Oh, I'm so glad that you're awake!"

Megan's auburn head peered around the door before she slipped into the room and rushed to sit beside me. She took my hand in hers.

"We were all so worried about you!" she exclaimed. "We thought maybe you had a head injury, or aliens had taken over your brain, or something!"

Megan, one of the ER nurses, is one of my dearest friends.

She can, however, be a little overdramatic at times.

"No, nothing like that," I said to her. "I'm fine, except my head hurts like hell."

"That's probably the sedative they gave you. The dose was enough to stop a charging rhinoceros."

That image didn't set very well with me.

"Sedative? Megan, please tell me what happened," I begged her.

"Well, I don't know all the details, but I do know that you were treating a gunshot victim, a teenage boy, in the trauma room. The next thing we knew you were screaming for everyone to get out, to leave you alone. You were like some kind of wild woman, Christine. You had everyone so frightened."

Some of my memory was beginning to return to me now.

"A teenage boy... yes, I remember that now. He was about fifteen and had been shot in the abdomen. I was about to send him for a CT when..."

The details were still fuzzy, and I struggled to remember. I closed my eyes, willing my brain to focus.

"...when another boy came into the room. He was wearing black jeans and a gray hoodie. It was zipped up and he had the hood pulled up over his head. He had his hands in the pockets of the sweatshirt."

Then it all came rushing back to me. I stared wide-eyed at my friend.

"Megan, he looked just like the boy who..."

I couldn't finish that sentence, but from the look in her eyes she knew. My hand crept over my abdomen to where the scar lay beneath. I could taste the bile rising in my throat, and I swallowed hard to keep it at bay.

"He looked just like the boy who shot me," I whispered. "That boy had his hands in his pockets before he pulled out the gun. That's why I panicked. It was all so similar. The boy on the table, him walking in, the sweatshirt, everything."

"I know, honey," Megan said in a comforting voice. "But Sweatshirt Boy was the other boy's brother. He just wanted to know if his brother was going to be all right."

"Oh, God," I cried as tears escaped from my eyes. "How could I have done something so irresponsible? That poor boy could have died because of me!"

"Don't worry about him; Dr. Kim has taken over his case and they're in surgery right now," Megan told me.

"Is he going to make it?"

"The CT didn't show any damage to any major organs, so it looks good."

Just then the door opened and Erik came in holding a can of Coke.

"How is the patient?" he asked.

"She'll be fine," Megan said, looking at me and patting my hand reassuringly. Even in the room's dim light I could tell she was blushing furiously.

"I need to get back," she said to me as she laid my hand back on the bed. "Call me, okay?"

I nodded.

Megan left, passing by Erik as he stood near the door. I noticed that she didn't look at him as she sidled by him and out the door.

I eyed him warily as he retook his seat across from me.

"What was that all about?"

"What?"

"Megan. She turned three shades of red when you came in here."

"Oh. That. I'm afraid I... well, I might have frightened her."

"Frightened her?"

"More like shocked her."

"What did you do?"

He said nothing.

"Erik?" I asked in a tone one might use when prying information out of a small child.

"Well..." He sounded very much the child the way he was hedging. "When she called me, it was on your cell phone."

"And..." I prompted him.

"I suppose she got it out of your bag and found my name programmed in it. Anyway, when my cell rang, I saw your name pop up on the screen."

"Go on," I said warily. I wasn't sure I liked where this was going.

"When I answered, I said something... inappropriate to her."

I blinked. "Inappropriate?"

Now it was Erik's turn to blush. "I thought it was you, on a break, calling for some... fun."

I stifled the laugh that threatened to erupt from somewhere deep down in my belly. What came out was a rather unladylike snort.

"What did you say to her?"

He raised his one visible eyebrow, fighting to regain his composure. "What I said is unimportant," he said haughtily. "I would rather like to forget it."

"I doubt she will," I said under my breath.

"I heard that," he retorted.

I raised an eyebrow at him in response as he moved to sit next to me on the bed. He propped my head in his lap.

"Let's just concentrate on getting you better. Drink this," he said, indicating the Coke he still held.

"I only wanted some water," I said as I took the can from him.

"They told me that the sugar would help revive you, and the caffeine would help with your headache."

He was right. I would have known that if I had been thinking more clearly. I took a couple of sips, and almost immediately I began feeling better. I sighed and leaned back against Erik's muscular body.

"Erik," I mused aloud, "How did I wind up in here?"

"You don't remember?"

I glared up at him in mock anger.

"If I could remember, I wouldn't have to ask, now would I?"

He scowled back at me in feigned exasperation.

"When I arrived, you were curled up in the fetal position in the examination room. I spoke to you, and you reached out to me. I held you as one of the doctors administered a sedative."

"That explains the ache in my backside," I mused. "What then?"

"After it took effect, we brought you in here to sleep it off."

"How long was I out?"

"About two hours, I'd say."

"I can't believe all this happened," I said as I took another swig of the soda. Then I held the can up to him. "Want some?"

He took it from me and took a tentative sip. "Ugh. I can't believe you actually like this swill," he said through a grimace. "It's like drinking liquid sugar."

"Sugar and caffeine in a convenient, easy-to-carry container," I said, taking it back from him. "It gets me through the day."

I looked up at him. "Erik, I want to go home," I said.

"Do you think you can stand up?"

"I think so."

I moved to the edge of the bed and swung my legs over the side. With Erik's help I sat up, but the room started spinning again. "Oh, shit," I moaned, holding one hand to my forehead and the other to my stomach.

"Easy, take it slowly," he said soothingly. "I'm here."

He rubbed my back with one hand as he sat beside me, waiting for the waves of dizziness to pass. With his free hand he pulled out his cell and punched a few numbers.

"Hello, this is Erik Bolieu," he said into the phone, "I would like a town car to pick me up at the emergency entrance of St. Vincent Hospital. Yes, immediately. Thank you."

He flipped the phone shut and replaced it in his pocket.

After a few minutes the dizziness finally passed, and I slowly got to my feet as Erik held me tightly.

"Everything all right?" he asked.

"So far, so good," I joked.

He helped me into my coat and I gathered my things, which I supposed Megan had brought in while I was out cold, before we slowly made our way to the door. As I opened it, I saw that someone had taped a handwritten "Do Not Disturb" sign to the front to keep curious co-workers away. Smiling, I pulled it off and tossed it in the nearest trash bin.

As Erik guided me through the busy emergency room, I noticed several of my colleagues gaping with undisguised interest at the man who had such a tight hold on me he was practically doing my walking for me. One woman gave me the thumbs-up gesture, and another pantomimed a swoon, complete with the back of her hand drawn up to her forehead. Even Dr. Willis, an older gentleman who had become something of a mentor to me in my years at the hospital, smiled in approval. All of this, of course, was done out of Erik's line of sight. I gave the women disapproving looks, but inside I was gloating that the man they were drooling over was all mine.

The town car was already waiting for us as we exited through the sliding glass doors. Either they provide excellent service, or they provide excellent service for Erik. Either way, I was glad we didn't have to wait out in the cold. He solicitously helped me into the back seat and then got in next to me.

"I think we should go to your apartment so you can get some things, and then you are coming home with me so I can take care of you," he whispered in my ear.

I turned to him.

"But what about Spot? Surely you don't want him running around..."

"I would be pleased to have him as my guest," he retorted. "I have often thought about getting a pet."

I gave him a sidelong glance. I couldn't imagine white cat hair covering all of his lovely furniture.

"Where to, sir?" the driver asked over his shoulder.

I gave him my address, and we slowly made our way through the city traffic.