His Distraction (Assured Distraction Book 2)

by Thia Finn

  On the ride home, however, the mood changed rapidly. Peri’s stomach was in distress before they reached the townhouse, and she knew she was going to be sick.

  “Oh no. Pull the car over now!” Before he could get the car in park, she jumped out and threw up most of the dinner on the roadside. Ryan was by her side instantly, holding her hair back and keeping her steady.

  “You alright, Sunshine?” He felt bad knowing she was going to be sore from the severe heaving she did. He helped her back in the car and shut the door.

  He returned to the driver’s seat and waited a few minutes before eyeing at her.

  “I think I’m better now. Some of those spices must have been too strong for me.” She was embarrassed that he had witnessed that scene, but right then she didn’t care.

  “Babe, it’s okay. I’m sure once you have it all out, you’ll feel better.” The garage door opened, and he pulled her car inside. Before he could get her car door open, he was running for the back door to the house. It took Peri a few minutes to get inside and find him in the bathroom.

  “Ryan, how are you?” Peri asked softly, standing outside the door. “You’ve been in there a while now.”

  “Yeah, I’m good, but when I move, my stomach starts rolling again like I’m in a fucking row boat in damn thirty-foot waves.” She heard retching and decided to leave him alone.

  Their entire night passed with one in each bathroom, with seemingly endless waves of misery assaulting them both. They dozed off and on between bouts of sickness. Morning light came too soon when Peri finally crawled her way to the bed, while Ryan remained downstairs on the couch, afraid to move too far from the bathroom.

  Peri made her way downstairs later with a green color still on her face. When Ryan heard her steps and opened his eyes, “Are you any better?” he asked, but then closed his eyes and threw his arm across them.

  “I don’t know. I think I am, but then I’m not.”

  “I feel like I have the worst fucking hangover ever. If we don’t get better soon and start holding down some water, we need to go to the fucking ER.” Grumbling, he jumped up and ran again.

  The rest of the day, the two tried to rest and hold down anything they could. Ryan’s problems seemed to be improving by mid-afternoon as he slowly sipped on a sports drink and by the evening, he was starting to feel better overall. .

  Peri still couldn’t hold sips of water down, and Ryan started to worry. He decided the only person to call was his mom since she always knew what to do.

  “Hey, Mom.”

  “Ryan! It’s great to hear your voice.” He heard his father pick-up the phone in another room and join the conversation. His parents were always happy when he called or visited, and couldn’t be prouder of the band’s success, and they were excited about attending the party for AD’s CD release. “What’s going on, son?”

  “My girlfriend is sick, and I don’t know what to do to help her.” His mom could hear the genuine concern in his voice.

  “Girlfriend, huh?” His dad chimed in. “Did you bring this one home from Europe? I guess this means you and Krissy are through for sure then, huh? Are we going to be meeting her at this fancy party?”

  “Whoa, Dad, slow down, please. I told you when I called you from Europe that Krissy and I were over. I’ll explain everything when we see y’all at the party. Peri will be there, and you will meet her. She’s our tour manager. Right now, though, I think we’ve both got food poisoning, and I’m concerned about her.” He explained the entire situation.

  His mom addressed his worries with the concern of a mother. “If she can’t hold down water after this long, you probably should take her to the ER, Ryan. She needs a shot or medicine to stop it. They need to do some blood work to find out what kind of bacteria it is. If you’ve gotten over it finally, she’s probably going to be fine, too. Take her in tonight, though, if you think she’s not getting any better. If she gets dehydrated, there will be more problems to worry about.”

  “I guess I’ll talk to her and see what she thinks about it. I’ve never been this sick in my life. I will never eat Indian food as long as I live. The sad part is, the food tasted great.”

  “Maybe y’all are both allergic to something used to prepare it?” his mom offered.

  “Doesn’t matter, after this, I doubt I could even walk into a place where they were cooking it.” He laughed a little, then added, “Hey, I’ll talk to you both later. I need to check on her. I promise we will make all the introductions at the party because I want you both to meet her. She’s a great woman, and I think Y'all will like her a lot.” His parents had never been wild about Krissy. The two of them had gone to visit his parents once, and they had met a few times for dinner. Krissy had never gone out of her way to try to make a good impression on them other than to gush how much she loved their son.

  When Ryan got off the phone and went upstairs to check on her, she was back in the bathroom, but the door was open this time. She was on the floor in front of the commode, crying.

  He cradled her in his lap. “Sunshine, don’t cry. We need to get you to the hospital. You could be suffering from dehydration already.”

  “I think we should go. I’ve never had anything hit me like this before.” She looked up with dark circles under her eyes and dry lips. Ryan was more worried now that he saw her up close.

  “I’m going to get dressed. You stay here. I’ll get you some clothes and be right back.” She didn’t think she could move if she wanted, so she laid her head on the side of the tub, the coolness from the porcelain touching her feverish skin was soothing for the moment.

  He returned as she dozed on the bathroom floor, and dressed her in soft clothes, then carried her gently to the car and buckled her in place. He pulled out of the driveway gently and moved down the street at a snail’s pace, not wanting to cause her any more distress than necessary. He held her hand, and she kept her eyes closed all the way to the ER. When they arrived, naturally it was a packed with people suffering from all sorts of illness and injury. Ryan thought twice before taking her in and exposing her to who-knew-what.

  “We should have called an ambulance so you could go right in.” Ryan didn’t think there was any way she could sit around and wait for a turn.

  A nurse called her back for triage immediately, took her vitals and began asking questions. When she found out they both had been sick after dinner at the same place, she decided to put in orders for blood work. The likelihood of the food prep at the restaurant being the cause of the source of their illness was high.

  “Let’s get you both over to the lab across the hall and get some blood work done while you wait to see the doctor. We’ll have them run several tests since we don’t know exactly what the cause is and going to the lab will get results faster than waiting for the phlebotomist.” Peri was glad a nurse practitioner was the one doing triage.

  “Sitting in this fucking full lobby with all these people sick with bad shit, doesn’t sound like a good idea to me, Peri,” he whispered it in her ear. At this point, she did not care and was simply trying not to throw up.

  “I’ll be fine. They’ll give me a shot and stop this madness in my stomach.” She tried to give him a smile.

  Finally, her name was called to go back where they put her on a bed and began hooking up an IV. “Does she need that?” Ryan asked as they stuck her with the needle. He hated needles and that thing going into her delicate skin was enormous in his mind.

  “Yes, sir, she does. According to her bloodwork, she’s dehydrated among other things.” Before they could ask anything, the nurse was off to another room.

  Ryan didn’t say anything to her, but Peri knew he caught that last statement from the fast-moving nurse. She just prayed it wasn’t some weird bacteria, like Listeria or Botulism. The food they ate was all cooked. Shouldn’t that destroy bacteria?

  It took another twenty minutes for the ER doctor to come into her room. Reading over her paperwork, he finally looked up at the two.


  “Hello, I’m Dr. Rothman, and you must be Miss O’Conner.” He leaned forward and shook her hand. He turned to Ryan and extended his hand to him. Ryan was surprised at how young the doctor seemed.

  “I’m Ryan Powell, her boyfriend.” Ryan shook his hand, wondering if it was a good idea in the ER to take the doctor’s hand. He didn’t consider himself a germaphobe but with all of the people in the waiting room, he was afraid of what might be floating around in a petri dish.

  “It says here you came in after a night of vomiting from eating in an Indian restaurant. Is that correct?” Peri nodded her head. She didn’t feel like talking to this man when what she wanted to was to turn off the light and sleep for at least twenty-four hours.

  “Did you eat the same thing at dinner, Mr. Powell?” Ryan gave the same response.

  “Ryan, please. Yes, we both had the same thing at that new Indian place on the south side. The food was good, but was very spicy and at first, we thought it might have been something we were allergic to. The problems went on and on. We thought we better come in and make sure.”

  “You did the right thing, Ryan. She was well on her way to becoming dangerously dehydrated according to the bloodwork. I guess your system is a lot tougher than hers since you seem to be on the road to recovery already.” He studied the paperwork then at Peri and finally turned to Ryan. “Would you mind if I have a minute to speak with Miss O’Connor, alone, please?”

  Ryan regarded the doctor completely surprised. Why would he want to talk to her alone? Surely he wasn’t hitting on Peri here in the ER. The doctor was young, and Ryan guessed Peri might find him attractive, but she was in no shape to defend herself. “Is that necessary, Doctor?”

  “It will only take a couple of minutes, Ryan. I promise she’s going to be fine, but I would like to talk to her about some things in private if you don’t mind stepping out of the room, please?”

  Ryan glanced at Peri, who looked like she didn’t care to be bothered with either of them at that point. She nodded for him to go so he stepped out and shut the sliding glass behind him. He was happy to see the doctor left the inside curtain mostly open so he could see inside while they talked. A hundred questions passed through his mind as to what the doctor was going to say or ask her. Why would he want him to leave? Did some other results cause the doctor concern for her health?

  In the small room, the doctor gazed at his papers and then finally up at Peri, who was now starting to worry her. “I only asked him to leave because I wasn’t sure of your relationship, Miss O’Connor, and with all of the confidentiality laws now, I wouldn’t want to cause a problem.”

  “It’s fine, Doctor. What did you want to know?”

  “Were you aware you are pregnant which could be some of the reason for your continued bout of vomiting.” He knew quickly from the reaction on her face that she had no idea. Her mind started churning like a whirlwind. There was no way she could be pregnant.

  “Are you sure those are my tests, Doctor? There is no way I could be pregnant.”

  “I assume by your age and the medical history you gave, that you haven’t had a hysterectomy? So, if you’ve had unprotected sex in the past several months, then there is a possibility of your being pregnant. And, Miss O’Connor, according to your tests, you are definitely pregnant. I felt like you didn’t know which is why I asked Ryan to step out. We can call him back in now if you’d like, and you don’t have any other questions for me?” The doctor turned to the door.

  “Wait. I don’t want you to tell him yet. I want to - later - when it’s just the two of us. Make something up, please?” The doctor didn’t want to spoil her desire to surprise Ryan, so he agreed, thinking she wanted the joy of giving the daddy the good news.

  “Yes, well, the choice is yours. You need to make an appointment with an OB quickly, though, so they can get started on prenatal care. Vitamins at this point are important for development, and, as I am sure you are aware, no alcoholic beverages.”

  If Peri felt better, she would be in a full-blown panic attack. Pregnant? There was no way! Her L.A. doctor told her she could not get pregnant because of a blockage in both fallopian tubes. She would need surgery if she ever wanted to have kids. She assured Ryan there was no way she could get pregnant. With all of the problems Krissy was causing, she did not want to add to Ryan’s anxiety.

  “Oh. My. God.” She said out loud and then covered her mouth. She couldn’t stop the dry heaves that followed her attempt to talk. The doctor grabbed the blue basin and held it up to her mouth. Thankfully, her vomiting seemed to have stopped, but she hurt all over from doing so all night.

  “Miss O’Connor, is there another problem we need to discuss?” The glare she gave him made him wonder if something else might be going on. “Do I want me to get Mr. Powell?”

  “Oh, hell no. You cannot tell him. His ex is pregnant right now. He could have two kids coming three months apart.” The doctor heard all kinds of sordid stories working in the ER, but it was obvious that they never ceased to amaze him.

  He picked up Peri’s paperwork and nodded his head to her then opened the door inviting Ryan back inside the room.

  “Are you alright, Babe? Did you get sick again? It’s ok; I’m sure the doctor has seen it before.” Ryan completely misread her distress.

  Dr. Rothman briefly studied Peri, and said, “Yes, she did try, but she’s cleared her system and is suffering from dry heaves now. I’m going to give you an antibiotic to clear up the bacteria. I will write you a script, too, Ryan. As soon as her IV finishes, you can take her home. She’ll be fine. Lots of liquids for the next several days, and take it easy around the house until you are feeling better. It will take a couple of days to leave your system. Stick to the B.R.A.T. diet, and plan to take a few days off work to rest.”

  “Can you tell me now what’s wrong with her?” He stared between the Doctor and Peri.

  “With all the new laws about confidentiality, we are required to question patients alone unless they give consent for someone else to be present. I was asking Peri if it was alright to discuss the test results with you in the room. I should have confirmed your relationship before giving any information.” The doctor spouted off the lie like it was nothing but he never looked Ryan in the eyes, preferring to talk to the paperwork instead. “Then she got sick again, and I was trying to help her with that. She’ll be fine, though, and the IV won’t take much longer.” He shook both of their hands and left the room.

  “Was that guy hitting on you, because that sounds like a line of bullshit to me? He wouldn’t meet my gaze when he was talking.”

  “No, he was not hitting on me. I’m sure from the looks of me right now that was the furthest thing from his mind.” Peri smirked trying to make light of the situation so Ryan wouldn’t ask any more questions. She didn’t want to lie to him, and technically, she hadn’t yet. It was the “yet” part that had her worried, which only made her want to throw up again.

  “I’m ready to go home, Ryan.” She reached for him.

  He clutched her hand and held it to his face. “I know, but we need to let them pump you up with the good stuff so you can start to feel better.” He glanced at the IV. “It’s just about done so that it won’t be long now. Try to get some rest?”

  The nurse came in a while later and removed it all, gave them instructions on the prescriptions, and sent them on their way.

  Ryan drove home as slowly as he’d driven from the ER in the early morning hours, trying to avoid anything that shook the car and caused Peri discomfort. He carried her inside and placed her on the couch all while she complained that she could walk now, but he refused to hear any of it.

  “Babe, I need to take care of you. Please let me do this. I’m going to get these scripts filled. Do you think you can stay here alone while I pick it up? I hate leaving you, but I need to get this done. You know what? Never mind, I’ll call Hayden, and ask him to get it for us.”

  “No, no. You can go. I’ll be fine. I’m sure he had a show l
ast night, and he’s probably still asleep. You only have to go two blocks away. I’m sure I can make it thirty minutes without you.” She wanted him to leave needing time to think about how this was going to play out. The timing sucked. The band was going back out on tour as soon as the album is released. How could she do her exhausting job with a huge belly? Would people even take her seriously? And then there was the whole ordeal with Krissy, who would probably accuse her of getting pregnant to steal the spotlight from her baby.

  Peri needed to call her mom. Her mom and dad were wonderful and would be thrilled about having another grandchild, even if the dad may not be in the picture. They had always encouraged Peri to make her own choices and be her own person. Now, she had a little one to consider. She might have to move back to California, hating the idea of leaving Austin. Her parents would help her all they could. She could get another job and a small apartment for her and the baby.

  What if Ryan didn’t want her to keep it? Would she even consider aborting a baby? She had never thought about it before. She had never had a scare like this with Sawyer. Only this wasn’t a scare; it was the real deal.

  A little one would change her life, but she knew she could never abort a baby. She felt like this was God’s little gift to them. How could she even think about it? She would never give up something they made together out of love. And she thought Ryan would make a wonderful dad. Maybe he would be happy. But what if he’s not?

  She couldn’t fathom how Ryan was going to react to this news. He had been angry when he’d found out about Krissy, but their circumstances were completely different. Weren’t they? He suspected that Krissy had deliberately gotten pregnant to trap him. Peri had factual evidence from her doctor in L.A. stating she wouldn’t be able to conceive unless she had a procedure to unblock her tubes. She would never use a child to trap a man into being with her. If he did not want to stick around, she would do it on her own, especially if she moved back close to her parents. All of this uncertainty made her stomach roll and here came nausea again. She was lucky she still had her blue bin from the ER, but she didn’t want Ryan to know she was back at it, so she forced herself up and made it to the bathroom and got cleaned up as much as she could before he returned.