She seizes for over four minutes and stares off blankly while breathing in sharp, heavy pants for the next two until the paramedics show up.
Harmon handles speaking with them, thank fucking god, because I can’t handle that right now. I don’t know what just happened. I don’t know—
“She’s never seized that long, Cass,” Cammy says, hand over her mouth as she watches the paramedics put her on the stretcher. “What if she’s—”
“Don’t,” I snap, grabbing onto Cammy to hug her. She buries her face against my chest, grasping onto my shirt. “Don’t think like that. She’s fine. We’re having a good day, and this is just a simple seizure.”
“It’s never been that long,” Cammy repeats. “It was… so long.”
“She’s fine, Cammy. She will be fine.”
She has to be.
Chapter Forty-Five
Harmon
I go into management mode the moment Chrissy drops to the ground. It’s clear Camarra and Cassius have dealt with this often enough. Though there is panic in their eyes, they move fluidly, doing everything they need to do to take care of their sister.
I didn’t know much about seizures before meeting Cassius, but when he explained that his sister was epileptic, I looked into it. Even more so since I met her. I know a lot about it now, especially since I’ve had my tech team researching for the medical watch line. That doesn’t make me a pro, but I can surmise what’s going on here enough to know it’s a serious situation.
Her seizure lasted almost four and a half minutes. I learned you’re supposed to time them, so I looked at my watch the moment she fell to the floor. Four and a half minutes is a long time to have a seizure, and it’s possible she won’t come out of this as she was. She may have permanent brain damage. Wewon’t know what this looks like until she’s up and alert, which could be a long time after a seizure like that.
The paramedics allow both of them to go with Chrissy in the ambulance, and I take a taxi to the hospital. I don’t use my name often to get what I want, but I do this time. The nurse at the front desk lets me into the back, even having someone escort me so I know exactly where to go. Camarra and Cassius are sitting in a small waiting area for families of those who come in via ambulance. Their eyes are red and puffy, legs bouncing up and down.
“How is she?”
They look up at the sound of my voice.
“Her vitals are stabilizing but we don’t—” A sob comes out of Cassius. He takes a deep breath. “We don’t, uh—”
“It’s okay,” I say, taking his hand and pulling him up to hug me. “She’s going to be okay.” He nods against my chest. I let him go, not wanting to overwhelm him. I turn to Cammy. “Is there anything I can do for you right this moment?”
She shakes her head, tears still pouring out of her eyes.
“I’m sorry for this,” Cassius says. “For ruin—”
“Don’t you dare,” I say firmly, anger rising up in me. “You did nothing wrong, and neither did she. I don’t give a shit about anything other than her being okay. Do you understand?”
Tears fall from his eyes, but he nods, and I pull him to me again. I kiss the top of his head.
“I just wanted to enjoy the day. I was trying to let her have fun,” he says “Sometimes when she gets too excited, she has aseizure, but I thought she was okay. She looked okay. She was just having fun.”
“This isn’t your fault,” I whisper.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I’m so fucking sorry,” he keeps saying.
It breaks my heart, and I have to take deep breaths to keep my own emotions in check. I hate that he’s taking blame for this when it’s no one’s fault. She has a neurological disorder, and though it’s mostly managed, sometimes these things just happen.
“Sit with Camarra. I’m going to see what information I can get.”
He sits in the chair beside his sister. She rests her head on his shoulder and links her hand with his. I walk around the corner to the nurse’s station.
“Harmon Stone,” I say. “I was—”
“Oh yes, we heard you were here,” the woman says with a smile. “What can we do for you?”
“I want the status on Chrissy Carr.”