Page 136 of With Us

“When?”

“Two nights ago.”

My eyes widened. At least I thought they did. Bone deep exhaustion hit me hard. “It’s Tuesday?”

He shook his head. “Wednesday. When you stayed in your room Sunday night and Monday, Luc thought you were just… needing your space. You were yelling on Monday night, and that’s when he realized you were sick.”

I remembered talking to Julie and then sitting in bed for a bit, feeling off. After the day I’d had, however, I hadn’t thought much of it other than I’d needed sleep.

There was a quick knock on the door before two men came in. One was older, somewhere in his forties with a receding hairline and cartoon covered scrubs. The other looked closer to my age, his focus on the cart he was pushing.

“You’re up!” the older man said with a kind smile. “I’m Chris, I’ll be your nurse until nine. This is Mark, your technician until the same time.”

“Hi.” My voice came out as a murmur as I tried to sit up. My head swam, my stomach lurched, and I was exhausted by the minimal effort.

“Whoa there,” Chris said, placing his hand on my shoulder. “Relax, we’ll do the work. Consider this almost like a vacation, but with Jell-O instead of cocktails.”

“Hate Jell-O.”

“Me, too.”

As Chris typed on a computer, Mark wrapped a blood pressure cuff around my arm. He swiped my forehead with a thermometer before looking at it and doing it again. “Thirty-nine eight.”

The smile faded from Chris’ face. “BP?”

“Ninety over fifty-six.” Mark put something on my finger. “Sats is hovering around eighty-seven.”

What’s that mean?

Realizing I hadn’t said the words, I tried to open my mouth.

“What’s that mean?” Ben asked for me.

“Her fever is up and her blood pressure is down.” Chris looked at me. “How’re you feeling, Dahlia?”

“Tired,” I muttered.

“You awake enough to listen?”

I nodded.

“What started out as walking pneumonia developed into the severe form. Mark paged the doctor, but do you have a health proxy to make decisions if you’re unable to?”

I shook my head.

“Family?”

“Theo.” My eyes got heavy. “I want Theo.”

“Her fiancé,” Ben lied. The rest of his words faded as I began to doze.

Before I could fall into a deep sleep, I blurted out, “Rachelle Amato. She’s family.”

Ben’s voice was warbly and far away when he said, “She’s in the lobby getting coffee.”

She is?

???

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