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"Hey, the game's on," Don commented, before picking up his plate. "Let's clear these dishes and root for the Aggies."
"Speak for yourself, buddy," another resident piped up. "I'm all about them Longhorns."
Apparently, that was the signal because everyone hopped up and grabbed dishes to help clean up.
Chapter 16
The Seizure
Claire pushed her computer back and stretched her back while flexing her fingers. The office was quiet at this time of night. Between the Thanksgiving holiday last week and an unexpected technical glitch with the MADS licensing, they'd just gotten access to the new module this afternoon. When Noah asked if she was up for working late, she'd agreed.
She giggled at the memory of their rough beginning earlier that evening. They'd agreed that he'd read off the site list while she typed everything up. Since the spreadsheet had already been open on his laptop, Noah had slid it over to her.
"What the hell have you typed?" he'd asked after several minutes. "We spent all last year eliminating quotation marks. Why are you adding them back in?"
They'd both studied the screen and found several glaring typos. Quote marks (") and British pound signs (£) littered her notes where there were supposed to be at symbols (@) and hashtags (#). Upon further inspection, they'd discovered his UK keyboard differed from her US keyboard. The keys she’d tapped from muscle memory had produced entirely different characters. They'd shared a good laugh at the nonsense she'd typed, then swapped computers and quickly found their flow.
Claire jumped at the thunk of a water bottle on the table. Her heart raced at the fright. Noah had stepped away earlier for a "bio break" and now sat down beside her with his own water bottle.
"Sorry, didn't mean to startle you. I was thirsty and thought you might be as well."
She smiled at his thoughtfulness. "Thanks, I am. I don't think I've hydrated properly today." She watched him while she sipped. His normally neat hair was mussed from running his fingers through it, and the temptation to straighten it had her gripping her bottle tightly. That, combined with the five o'clock shadow he was sporting, made her insides all squirmy and nervous.
He guzzled the last of his water, crumpled the bottle, and chunked it at the recycling bin. When it sailed easily into the blue container, satisfaction covered his face. His little boy joy at making a basket warmed her heart.
"Ready to get back to it?" he asked. "I think we're almost finished."
"Yep. I'm thinking we can whip through these last few countries in half an hour. Yeah?" She pulled her laptop toward her and wiggled her fingers.
"Sounds good."
Noah pulled the site list back over as Claire found her spot in the spreadsheet and positioned her hands on the keyboard. She typed as Noah read the new code for the site, following their previously established rules.
His voice faded to the background, and her vision narrowed as if she were looking down a tunnel.
"Oh no," she whispered as the room tilted.
"Claire?" Noah's question came from far away.
Claire tried to push herself back and get down on the floor, but could feel the world slipping away. Her last thought before everything went black was to wonder if she made it to the floor in time.
Claire floated slowly toward consciousness. She didn't want to surface and fought against awakening. The warmth wrapped around her like a snug blanket and the overwhelming sense of safety encompassing her was too appealing to let go. As she drifted closer to awareness, she felt like she was coming out of a long, sustained sleep. And she wanted nothing more than to slip back into it.
Her hearing was the first sense to return. Someone was softly chanting a mantra over and over.
"It's okay. I've got you. It's okay. I've got you."
Claire pried open her eyelids. Her surroundings—blurry at first—slowly came into focus. Golden-brown eyes flecked with green stared back at her. Worry carved lines into his brow.
"Are you back?" Noah's voice cracked slightly, like he'd been holding his breath for too long.
What happened? Where are we? Why is he… Noah… holding me? Claire struggled to navigate the confusion in her mind.
"You had a seizure," he said gently. "We were working late, and you had a seizure."
Yes, she thought. This is familiar.
Noah shifted, starting to rise and a wave of nausea rose in her stomach.
