Page 41 of A Smart Girl's Guide to Second Chances
I pulled my handbag from under my seat and frantically rifled through it, looking for the EpiPen I always carried but had never had to use on myself. My fingers touched a lipstick, then a tampon before finally finding it. My mouth felt like it was on fire, and I was afraid that if it got much worse, I’d struggle to breathe properly.
Everyone sitting around me had gone still. I stared at the EpiPen. ‘Sky high.’ That meant the blue bit pointed upwards, I was pretty sure. Flashes of the training sessions I’d done a few times played through my head. But I’d only practised on a doll with a fake pen.
I steeled myself. I liked oxygen more than I feared jabbing myself.
‘Now I’m going to need that,’ a commanding voice spoke over my shoulder. Alex held his hand out for the EpiPen.
‘No, I can do it,’ I said. Well croaked, really.
‘Rebecca, shut up, do what I tell you and answer these questions,’ he said. ‘Can you breathe?’
‘Yes,’ I wheezed. ‘But it’s . . . tight.’
‘Do you have an allergy?’ he asked.
‘Yes,’ I said again. ‘Capsicum.’ Of course, as an adult I’d developed the least sexy allergy on the planet.
He pulled the cap off the EpiPen and slowly pulled up the fabric of my skirt, exposing my thigh. Then he pushed the orange part of the pen into my skin and held it there. I felt a little sting.
‘It’s okay. The adrenaline will kick in soon and you’ll feel much better,’ he said in a soft, almost-soothing voice.
A restaurant full of people were watching us, a darker second act after the proposal, but right then it felt like it was just the two of us, that everyone else had faded into the background of the moody restaurant.
‘Could you please call an ambulance?’ Alex turned to Lucas, who already had his phone out. I hoped he wasn’t also taking a video of this. I really didn’t need this to make the Christmas party blooper reel. ‘Tell the operator that a woman, mid-thirties—’
‘Early thirties,’ I cut in. Alex ignored me.
‘A woman in her mid-thirties has had an episode of anaphylaxis. She’s been administered a point-three milligram dose of epinephrine. She’s able to breathe.’
Lucas echoed Alex’s words down the phone.
‘They said they can send an ambulance, but if there are no critical respiratory issues it might be quicker to drive to the nearest emergency department, in Frankston,’ Lucas relayed the information back to Alex.
‘I’ll drive her in one of the hotel cars,’ Alex said.
‘I’d like an ambulance, please,’ I said. Lucas looked between us, not knowing who to take instructions from.
‘I’ll drive. Alex can stay in the back with Rebecca.’ Miranda, standing behind me, settled the discussion.
Was this really happening? Was I about to be taken to hospital by my boss and my ex-boyfriend?
‘I’ll be fine.’ I tried one more time.
‘We’ll need to complete an incident report,’ Fiona piped up. ‘I would have preferred someone with first-aid training administerthe medical assistance. Colleagues aren’t meant to medicate each other under our policy—’
‘It’s okay, I’m—’
‘He’s my ex-boyfriend,’ I jumped in to finish his sentence. I felt a strong need, from my position of helplessness, to regain some sense of control over this situation. I didn’t want Alex to be the one to reveal to my colleagues that we’d once dated.
‘I was going to say a doctor,’ Alex said, looking bemused.
A wave of humiliation shot through me, competing with the drug full of inhibitors that had apparently lowered my inhibitions. Of course he hadn’t been about to drop our former relationship status into the conversation. And I’d just outed us. I knew that one of the symptoms of anaphylaxis was mental confusion, but I hadn’t imagined it would manifest like that.
‘So, Professor McDreamy is also Dr McDreamy. Plot twist. Why did she break up with the hot doctor?’ Lucas speculated to Adrian, slightly too loudly.
‘Her fiancé does sound really thoughtful,’ Adrian replied earnestly. I decided that he wouldn’t be doing any all-nighters on this project.
‘Fine, let’s go to the hospital,’ I said, trying to drown out my direct reports speculating about my love life.
