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I was proud of Ramona too, proud of her work as a teacher’s aide and media specialist at the elementary school and her ambition to eventually get her teacher certification. “Then don’t give it up.”
“You make it sound so easy,” she groaned. “I like Darren. I really, really like him.”
“I do too.” What I didn’t like was the idea of her and Teddy in Alaska, but I didn’t want to be too negative right off the bat. “There’s always doing the long-distance thing.”
“Ha. What’s the track record on that?”
“Not the best.” I shrugged, knowing I wasn’t being the most helpful. “If he’s the one…”
“But what if he’s not?” Ramona was in full-on flail now, and I wasn’t sure how to reassure her. What did I know about finding the one? I was still working on stealthily convincing Quinn to keep our thing going into the fall and beyond, but was he my one? I was almost afraid to examine that too closely, so I continued to let Ramona ramble. “Maybe I only like having someone around. Someone to cook and help with Teddy and make the nighttime less lonely. My heart says he’s it for me, but my brain still is all wishy-washy.”
“I’m not the one to answer that question,” I admitted, hating that, for once, I couldn’t be the brother with all the answers. “But I’ll help you however I can. You’re not alone, even without Darren.”
“You’re a sweet brother.” She gave a sad sigh and turned up the radio as we both settled in with our thoughts for the drive to the store. It looked to be another hot day, and I was already thirsty. Should have downed more of the coffee at Quinn’s.
Wait. Had I taken my new daily headache-prevention med? I’d slept over at Quinn’s enough the past few weeks that I kept it on me, but I couldn’t remember whether I’d swallowed it that morning or what my pill count was supposed to be at. I couldn’t risk accidentally double-dosing though, so I’d simply have to be extra good, hydrate up and try to sleep extra.
That in mind, I chugged a large water the whole time we shopped and one of my freshly-purchased energy water things on the way back to town.
“Damn. I think you bought half the store,” I complained as we unloaded back at Ramona’s place.
“Probably.” Laughing, she carried a big thing of paper towels in through the garage. “Feels like Teddy has a trash compactor for a stomach this summer. Eating everything in sight.”
“He’s taller, that’s for sure.” I didn’t want to harp too much on how much I missed them with her big decision still looming, but I also couldn’t keep the wistfulness out of my voice.
“He missed you like crazy.” She passed me on her way back to the truck, suddenly frowning and wobbling enough to need to steady herself with a hand on the side of the truck.
“Hey. Hey.” I reached for her, making her lean more on the truck, keeping myself ready in case she was about to collapse. “You okay?”
“Fine. Just a tiny bit dizzy.” She pinched two fingers together like that would make this less concerning. “It will pass.”
“Has this been happening a lot?”
Her shrug was so much like Mom’s that I would have laughed if the situation were less serious. “It’s probably an end-of-summer thing, like I’m overheating or forgetting to drink enough water.”
“But I got you a water when I got the one for myself. You drank that.” Frowning, I examined her more closely. “I don’t like how pale you are either. Dizzy isn’t something to ignore.”
“You’ve been listening to your doctor too much.” She rolled her eyes at me.
“He was right about Mom,” I insisted, not moving away. “Her dizzy spells ended up being high blood pressure. And I’m on a blood pressure thing for my headaches now too. You should have yours checked.”
“Next time I’m at a store or pharmacy with one of those free checkers, I will.” She made a dismissive gesture as she stepped around me, only to wobble again before I caught her.
“No. Not next time. Today.” I steered her back toward the passenger seat. “You’re dizzy, pale, and it’s not that hot yet, but your hands are all clammy. I’m taking you to urgent care.”
“This is such overkill. A bottle of water and a nap, and I’ll be fine. But whatever.”
She shook her head as she buckled up, acting for all the world like I was the biggest buzzkill ever. But my neck wouldn’t stop prickling. Maybe I was overreacting, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was seriously wrong.
“Hey, at least you might get to see your guy,” she joked weakly after I made fast work of the rest of the unloading and got back in the truck. Damn it. This was not at all how I’d wanted to see Quinn next.
