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EMMA

There was a strange man in my room.

I tried to blink through the fog of my confusion to make sense of what I was seeing. I didn’t recognize him. Reddish brown hair, late thirties. He was taking my blood pressure. A pretty brown-haired woman stood next to him, unpacking a duffel bag full of medical supplies.

Had I called 911? I didn’t remember.

They didn’t look like EMTs. They were in street clothes.

My head was throbbing. I was so dehydrated I felt withered. My bottom lip had cracked in the middle, and I touched it absently with my dry tongue, my eyes listlessly sweeping the rest of the room trying to figure out what was happening.

Justin was on a ladder changing the batteries on the smoke alarm.

Justin. He came.

I would have cried if I’d had enough water in me to make tears.

He finished and started climbing down. “How fast will this help?” he asked the man and woman.

“Pretty fast,” the man said. “She should be feeling better soon.”

The man took off the blood pressure cuff and smiled at me. “Emma? I’m Jacob. This is my wife, Briana. We’re emergency medicine physicians. I’m going to give you some Zofran and some fluids, okay?”

I nodded.

Jacob started prepping the IV and Briana pulled out a stethoscope and listened to my stomach. Checking for bowel sounds, I knew, looking for blockages. She finished and put the stethoscope around her neck. “Probably norovirus. A real nasty strain going around.”

“Could be Taco Bell,” Jacob said, giving his wife a playful eyebrow.

She gasped and gave him an amused look. “Well, now you have to take me there for dinner. See what you’ve done?”

He chuckled.

“Thanks for coming,” Justin said from the foot of the bed, looking concerned.

Briana wrapped my arm with a tourniquet. “No problem. We got Benny and Jane to watch Ava. We’ll probably turn it into a date night.”

Justin chewed on the side of his thumb while she put my IV in, and I registered that he was really worried. Like, really really worried.

I started to feel better within half an hour. As soon as the nausea was under control, Briana gave me some Motrin for the headache. We had to do two bags of saline before the doctors were satisfied with my condition.

“Push fluids,” Jacob said, packing up the duffel bag. “Food is less important than getting her hydrated. Tea, anything with electrolytes. Lots of rest.”

“I’ll call tomorrow to check in,” Briana said. “Or call me if you have any other concerns, but I think she’s looking good.” She turned to me. “Justin says you’re a nurse at Royaume. Come say hi to me the next time you’re there. We can go get lunch.”

“Thank you,” I said, huskily. “I don’t know what I would have done if you didn’t come.”

She nodded at Justin. “Thank him. You’re better because he came.”

She turned to go and paused. “Hey, do you know who your landlord is, by chance?”

“Neil?”

“That guy’s an asshole. Just so you know.”

I pulled my face back. “How long have you worked with him?” I asked.

“Too long, but that’s not what I’m talking about. He used to date my best friend. For seven years. The guy’s a dick. Just be careful.”