Tears Kat had been holding back since the moment she’d fallen suddenly welled and slipped down her cheeks. She tried dashing them away, but they were falling quicker than she could remove them.
“
Oh, Kat, honey
…” Stella leaned down and wrapped her arms around Kat’s shoulders. She rubbed circles into Kat’s upper back and then squeezed her tight. “You must have been so afraid.” Stella patted her a few times. “I’m sorry I was teasing you earlier. I didn’t realize it was so bad. I thought maybe it was just minor muscle fatigue. I didn’t realize it was a full-blown flare-up.”
“It’s so bad this time, Stell,” she choked out. “Worse than it’s ever been. And I don’t know…” Kat shook her head, choking on a sob and tears soaking into the shoulder of Stella’s scrub top. “It’s not benign, anymore; I can feel it. It’s exactly what I’ve worried about all these years…and I don’t know what I’m going to do.” Kat’s throat tightened as a wave of nausea washed over her. She tightened her hold on Stella, dozens of awful, uncertain visions of the future racing through her mind. “And, oh, God, Stella…
Danny
…what have I done?”
Stella pulled back, brows low, and searched Kat’s eyes. “What do you mean…about Danny?”
The curtain was suddenly ripped aside and Fi flew into the room like the Hellion-on-Heels she was.
“What happened, Kat?” she said, black stiletto heels clicking against the tiled floor as she rushed over to bend down next to Kat. Dark brows low, her big, green eyes searched Kat’s. “Stella said you fell.” Fi stood, tossed her purse onto the bed, and started examining Kat’s head. “She said you hit your head.” Gaze finally finding the gross, matted section of Kat’s hair, Fi winced. “Oh, Kat,
cara
, that looks bad.” She grabbed Kat’s hands and eyed her still damp face. “Why are you crying? Does it hurt really badly?” Fi huffed, shooting a glance at Stella. “Why aren’t they giving her any pain medication, Stella?” She gestured back at Kat. “For God’s sake, if Kat is crying, that means the pain must be off the charts! Why aren’t they helping her, Stella?”
“Uh, because we just got back into the room thirty damn seconds ago, you maniac,” Stella shot back. Loudly. “I haven’t even had a chance to get the full story out of her! I know you’re not in the medical profession, Fi, but here’s a bit of info you might find useful: a course of action cannot be decided upon until a full assessment of the situation has been determined!”
Fi opened her mouth to snipe back…
“Can you two please shut the hell up,” Kat interjected evenly, fingertips rubbing her temples. “Because now, in addition to all the other crap going on in body, I have a damn headache.”
“Sorry,
cara
,” Fi said. She shot Stella a sheepish glance. “And sorry, Stell.” Fi turned back to Kat, eyes full of concern. “I just hate seeing her like this.”
“Yeah, I know,” Stella replied, giving Fi’s shoulder a quick squeeze. “Me, too. But Dr. Schlagel ordered all the right tests and we should have a very good idea what’s going on soon.”
Stella grabbed some gauze out of a drawer and ran it under some water. She walked back to Kat and gingerly dabbed at her cut.
“You don’t want me to call Gigi and Nina?” Fi asked. “Or at least Gigi? She’d want to know this was going on.”
Kat shook her head. “When I talked to her earlier, she said she thought she was fighting a flu bug. I don’t want her dragging her butt up here and getting herself sicker. Or infecting everyone else with whatever grossness she has going on,” Kat added, forcing a small smile.
“And Nina?” Stella asked, prompting all three of them to laugh. “Yeah, that’s what I thought. God love the woman, but she is a huge pain in the ass, isn’t she?”
“I assume you’ve already called Danny?” Fi asked, earning her a silent, vacant stare from Kat. She glanced over at Stella. “Did I miss something?”
“Kat doesn’t want Danny to know.” Fi opened her mouth and Stella lifted a hand. “I already expressed my disapproval and I’m going to be nice enough not to press the issue right now….” Stella met Kat’s eyes. “But we’ll be getting into it as soon as we know Kat’s fine.”
“Well, okay.” Fi stood, adjusting her black, belted jacket. “If you think we have a few minutes, I’m going to run down to the cafeteria and grab a few coffees.” Her lips curled. “I haven’t been sleeping well since my turncoat roommate abandoned me for – of all ridiculous things – crazy, hot sex with an Adonis.” Fi gave Kat a wink before grabbing her purse and heading toward the curtain. “I think I might need to get myself a good watch dog and soon.”
“Yeah, because I was such great protection,” Kat muttered.
“I’m scared of you half the time!” Fi replied, laughing.
She pulled the curtain aside and let out a weird shriek-y yelp.
When Kat whipped around, she saw Ben standing on the other side of the curtain, a tray full of lidded cups in hand, staring at Fi…Fi gaping back at him, hand now clutching her chest.
“Holy crap, you just scared the shit out of me!” Fi exclaimed, taking a few steps back, laughing breathlessly. She lifted a hand in Ben’s direction, taking in his stunned expression. “Did I scare you, too? She exhaled another hard laugh. “I’m sorry! I just wasn’t expecting anyone to be standing there! Obviously!”
Ben didn’t answer her. Or move. Or do anything other than stare at Fi in an odd, intense way that walked a very fine line between direct and uncomfortable.
Kat had never – in the several years she’d known him – seen such a serious expression on Ben’s face.
“Fi, this is Ben Forster. The guy that works with Kat. Or next door to Kat, I guess,” Stella said, walking toward them. “Ben, this is our baby sister, Fiorella.”
Fi’s smile faded as she reared back, eyes wide. “
You’re
Ben?
Kat’s
Ben?” Her gaze dropped to Ben’s lower half. “The guy that lost his leg in Afghanistan?”
“
Fi!
” Stella and Kat exclaimed in unison.
Ben didn’t so much as flinch, although Kat could see a flush creeping up his neck from all the way across the room.
“I’m not Kat’s Ben,” he said, an even firmness to his deep voice. His eyes never leaving Fi’s, he added. “And you didn’t scare me. I don’t scare that easily.”
A brief, awkward silence hung in the air until Stella broke it with a short, nervous laugh. “Well, that’s a very good thing if you’re going to be hanging around the Ciaramitaro girls for any length of time, Ben.” She stepped between Ben and Fi to take the tray of drinks from him. “’Cause we’ve been known to seriously intimidate lesser men, haven’t we, girls?”
When Ben and Fi just stood there staring at each other, neither saying a word, Kat and Stella exchanged quick, baffled looks.
Kat cleared her throat. “What did you grab down there, Ben?” When he didn’t answer, Kat loudly said, “Ben!”
He turned and met Kat’s eyes, his own hooded and somehow…
Stormy
.
“Oh, uh…sorry…” Ben grabbed the back of his neck and squeezed. “I thought maybe some coffee might help. I don’t know…” He glanced back at Fi, then back at Kat, swallowing hard. “Thought it might be a long night, but…”
Ben nodded slowly, hand still gripping the back of his head. “I’m going to go,” he said, already backing up. “Your sisters are here and…” He ran a hand over his buzzed head and then jerked a thumb over his shoulder. “I should get back to the lab, so…”
“Of course. Yes. Thank you so much for driving me, Ben. Sorry for all the trouble,” Kat said.
“No trouble. Anytime. I mean, I hope it doesn’t happen again, but, if it does…” Ben cleared his throat and glanced over at Stella, who was watching this bizarre spectacle, tray still in hand. “Nice to meet you, Stella.”
“Great to meet you, too, Ben. Drive safely.” Stella smiled warmly. “Maybe you can come to dinner some time, if you’re free.”
“Oh, uh…yeah. Sure. Thanks. Maybe.” Ben did his weird nodding thing, again. “Okay, well…” He began backing up.
The look he shot Fi seemed full of equal parts dread, discomfort, and awkward…
Yeah, just
awkward
.
“Nice to meet you, too,” he said, in that same strange, firm tone of voice.
The corner of Fi’s mouth pulled into a half-smile as she stared right back at him. “Nice to meet you, too, Ben. Thanks for all your help tonight.”
“You don’t have to thank me.”
“But I want to,” Fi replied.
“Then, I guess you’re welcome.”
“Then, I guess I’ll thank you for that, too.”
Ben stared at her so long and so hard Fi’s smile eventually faded.
Kat watched Fi swallow hard.
Thank God an ER doc chose that moment to pull the curtain aside and step into the room.
“Hey, Dr. Nichols,” Stella said effusively, clearly as relieved as Kat to have the weird Ben/Fi tension broken. “Come on in. We’re just getting Kat settled.”
Without another word, Ben turned and left the room as the doctor walked in.
The odd, diverting distraction now over, Kat’s brain immediately re-focused on her obvious decline.
“Hi, I’m Dr. Nichols,” he said, pulling up a chair next to Kat’s wheelchair. Kat maneuvered it around to face him.
“Hi. Kat Ciaramitaro,” she replied.
“Nice to meet you, Kat.” Dr. Nichols sank into the chair, already visually giving Kat a once-over. “Can you tell me what happened tonight?”
After Kat gave him a very succinct re-telling of what had happened at the lab, Dr. Nichols nodded thoughtfully. “Okay, well, I think we can safely attribute all of it to the MS, which is why Dr. Schlagel is on his way. He ordered the MRI, obviously, but a CT scan, too, just for thoroughness. We’ll know a lot more when those results come back.”
“Can she get any pain medication?” Fi asked. “She won’t ask for it, because she’s really annoying that way, but she needs it.”
“I really don’t need it. I’m fine,” Kat replied.
Fi pointed at Kat. “See?”
“What kind of pain are you in, Kat?” Dr. Nichols asked.
Kat shrugged. “Most of it has subsided, but it was just the usual MS-type stuff: electrical shocks, muscle spasms, and stiffness.” She deliberated for a moment before adding, “I am having some dizziness this time, too, though. And a lot more numbness and tingling.” Her chest tightened. “And a marked increase in overall weakness in my legs.”
“And I’m pretty sure she’s got diplopia, too,” Stella said. “She didn’t mention it to you, because, again, she’s really annoying that way, but her pupils are not constricting and dilating in tandem. Plus, she mentioned she had double vision earlier.”
“Still seeing double Kat?” Dr. Nichols asked.
Kat nodded.
“She presented with optic neuritis seven years ago when she was diagnosed,” Stella said. “It was her first symptom, but it hasn’t happened again, since. But I don’t think she’s had the diplopia before.” She paused, shooting Kat a look, brows low. “Or, at least I don’t think she has.”
Kat shook her head.
“When did the double vision begin?” Dr. Nichols asked.
“About an hour ago, right when the other stuff happened.”
“Okay, I’ll let Dr. Schlagel know that, too, when he arrives. I’ll put in scripts for some pain medication and a muscle relaxer to help get you through this flare-up, in the meantime.” Dr. Nichols stood and gave Kat an awkward pat on the shoulder before leaving the room.
“Now that Fi’s here, let’s get you onto the bed,” Stella said.
With some maneuvering, dramatic grunting, and a few curse words lobbed into the air, the three of them finally managed to get Kat out of the wheelchair and onto the bed.
“Dammit, you’re heavier than you look, Kat,” Fi said, huffing.
“Yeah, well, I’m pretty much dead weight right now.”
Fi walked over to inspect the coffees Ben had gotten. She popped a lid off of one and took a sip.
Fi turned, one arm hugging her midsection while the other held the coffee cup up to her lips. “So, Kat…” she said, eyeing her over the rim of the cup. “Any particular reason – during the many times we begged you to describe
Ben
to us – you failed to mention that he is…” Fi shrugged dramatically. “Oh, I don’t know…” She leaned forward, also dramatically. “
A fucking gorgeous stud
?”
Stella laughed. “Yeah, I was kind of wondering that myself, Kat. You did not do the man justice. He is very, very good-looking.” She shot Fi a look. “And, by that creepy staring he was doing at
you
, I’m thinking he thought you were pretty damn good-looking, too, baby sister.”
Despite the situation, Kat couldn’t help but exhale a short laugh. “He did seem pretty taken with you, Fi. Either that or he wanted to kill you with his bare hands. That look he was giving you could have gone either way. Ben is usually such a sweet, easygoing guy…” Kat shook her head. “I’ve never seen him behave so strangely or look so serious. Ever.”
Fi paused, seemingly lost in her thoughts. She shook her head, snapping to, and shrugged. “Like I said, the guy is gorgeous, but he seemed unbalanced.” She scoffed. “Probably like most guys – looks okay from the outside, but pure frickin’ psycho on the inside.” She smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes. “That’s how they trick you, right?”
Before Stella or Kat could respond, Fi forced her smile wider. “Well, whatever.” She turned and set the coffee down before walking over to grab her purse. “I’m still going to hit the cafeteria. Because, suddenly, a big ole candy bar and maybe a donut or two sound good.” Fi flung the purse strap over her shoulder. “You guys want anything?”
Kat shook her head and Stella said, “No, thanks.”
A few seconds later, Fi disappeared behind the curtain.
“I still fantasize about beating the living shit out that asshole every single day,” Stella muttered, gazing after Fi. She exhaled a long, hard sigh, before turning to meet Kat’s eyes with a tiny smile tugging at her lips. “But Nathan would inevitably find out, what with the arrest and trial and everything. And something tells me he’d be pretty pissed off.” She scrunched her features into her Nathan Face. “Because you need to ‘leave law enforcement to law enforcement.’” Stella dropped Nathan Face and rolled her eyes. “Such a stickler, that one.”