by Sloan Storm
I went back to packing but almost as soon as I did, I heard his voice once more.
“I’m here Maddie,” he said in a whisper. “Please don’t leave me.”
“Grey!” I cried, as I turned around, my fists in wads so tight I felt my skin might burst. “Where are you, you fucking bastard!?? Show your face, now! How can you be so fucking cruel?”
I slammed my clothes down and marched down the hallway, looking in every direction possible.
Nothing.
“Maddie, take my hand, please…”
The hallway to the elevator!
I raced to the front door of the apartment and yanked it open. At the end of the hallway, I saw Grey standing there with his back to me, waiting for the elevator.
“Grey!” I screamed. “Why are you doing this?”
He turned back to face me and as he did the elevator door opened. Behind him, I noticed nothing but blackness. The elevator wasn’t there!
“Grey!” I cried, as I ran down the hall towards him. But as soon as I approached, he stepped into the black void and disappeared from sight.
“Oh my God!!! Jesus!! Grey!! No!!!!” I ran as fast as I could and just as I reached the blackness of the elevator door, I gasped for breath.
And woke up.
With Grey standing right next to me.
Holding my hand.
“Oh my God,” I moaned as I hugged him.
“Shh, Maddie. It’s okay.”
I felt dizzy, sick, lightheaded but most of all, relieved. I clutched him against my body with all the strength I had and wept. My heart beat so fast I felt like it was about to jump from my chest.
“Maddie,” he said as he stroked my hair. “Everything is all right. I’m right here. You’re going to be fine. It was just a dream.”
“What happened?” I said, as I sat up and looked around the room. Steady beeps from the monitoring devices echoed in my head. In the distance, the smell of the over-application of cleaning chemicals being used to cover up the unspeakable things that happened in hospitals wafted into my nose.
“You blacked out, Maddie,” Grey said, as he leaned over me, stroking my head. “Do you remember anything?”
“No.”
“Hmm, okay,” Grey replied. He rubbed his chin and glanced around the room. “Well, the doctor thinks you came down with a nasty case of food poisoning, so they’re gonna keep you here overnight. At least.”
Weakness coursed through my body as the adrenaline from my dream faded. My skin felt clammy, cool.
“You sure you’re all right?” he asked.
My head fell back into the pillow as I closed my eyes. I swallowed hard and replied, “Yeah, I’m fine. You go ahead back to the apartment. I’ll be okay.”
“Maddie, don’t be fucking ridiculous,” Grey scoffed. I flipped my eyes open just as he pointed to a chair near the door to the room. “I’m not going anywhere until you do. Got me?”
I smiled, closed my eyes and leaned my head against the pillow once again. It was the last thing I remembered before I passed out once again.
MADDIE
In the days after my food poisoning episode, I had to take time off from work as well as the movie rehearsals. On doctor’s orders, I was confined to bed rest, chicken broth and Jell-O which, uh, I hate Jell-O. The texture grosses me out like you wouldn’t believe.
Pretty much everyone checked in on me in form or another. Of course Katy and Carmen stopped by to visit in person but the one who surprised me the most of all was Grey. He was about as unGreylike as I could have imagined. He hardly left my room while I was at the hospital and after I returned to the apartment, he informed me he’d be staying until I was well enough to resume my normal routine.
I’d be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy the time I got to spend with him. It wasn’t anything special, just quiet time together watching movies or stupid reality television. Honestly, I’m not sure Grey had ever watched a day of television in his life but considering how much he worked and his family background, I wasn’t all that surprised.
But, as much as we worked, we needed a vacation. The irony is I used to think people like Grey didn’t have to work but the truth is, that’s all he ever did. So although I wished the circumstances around out little ‘‘mini-vacation’ weren’t a result of me being violently ill, I didn’t mind the tradeoff in the end.
Anyway, a few more days passed and I eventually regained enough strength to begin a limited work schedule. The doctor wanted me to still take it easy for the first week or so after I went back. The strange thing was no one else on the set got food poisoning, so he concluded I’d eaten something bad around the apartment. Knowing me and my forgetfulness when it came to leftovers, that wasn’t hard to believe.
Grey returned to Chicago. Although he checked in on me once a day, it was nothing like having him here with me. That was especially true in the wake of the terrible dream I’d had about losing him down the elevator shaft. Although he’d wanted to know what the dream was about, I didn’t want to tell him.
This was made all the more difficult because I had the same dream a number of times and twice while he was still staying with me which, uh, was horrible. Eventually though, like my food poisoning, it went away. What didn’t was my vomiting. I was still doing it every day and it was really getting old.
I sat on the couch after work one night when Grey called to check up on me. As I mentioned, he did it every day, which was sweet, but nowhere near as good as having him here in the flesh.
“Hey,” I said as I picked up.
“Hey pretty lady. How are you?”
“I don’t know,” I said as I leaned back into the cool leather of the couch.
“What’s wrong?”
“I’m still throwing up,” I grumbled. “I just don’t feel right, Grey.”
“Hmm,” he began. “Well, what did the doctor tell you? You did go to see him didn’t you?”
“Uh, yes.” I groaned. “I don’t enjoy feeling like this.”
“Maybe not, but I do think you enjoy the attention that comes with it.”
“You’re a jackass,” I replied. “You know that?”
“Thanks for noticing.”
“Anyway!” I said, as I exhaled. “In case you care, the doctor did have an explanation for it.”
“Oh yeah?”
I spent the next few minutes telling Grey what the doctor suspected the conditions behind my ongoing nausea might be. According to him, it was most likely a delayed response to the bacteria responsible for the food poisoning. It seems that not all the body’s organs respond to it at the same time or in the same way so symptoms like nausea, and even vomiting, can last for a period of time afterward.
“I see,” Grey replied, as I finished. “Have you thrown up today?”
“Just once. It’s always the same deal. First thing this morning and…”
As I finished my sentence, I sat straight up and swallowed hard as a thought popped into my head. What if I hadn’t gotten food poisoning at all? No one else had. I always felt my worst in the morning and as I searched my memory, I believed it was the only time of day I vomited.
“Maddie?” Grey said as he filled the silence created by my pause.
I slid my hand down to my belly and rubbed it.
No, no, no.
It couldn’t be.
“I… I have to go,” I stammered.
“Okay,” Grey said with a confused tone in his voice. “I’ll call you tomorrow.”
“Um, okay,” I muttered.
As we hung up, I stood from the couch and began to pace back and forth. Saliva drained from mouth as my mind escaped to wild conclusions. I stopped in place and lifted my phone to my face to call Katy. All the while, my hand shook as I searched for her number.
“Oh my God,” I said, scolding myself. “Calm down, Maddie.”
The phone rang once. Then twice. Then a third time. Her voicemail would pick up on the fourth ring so I hung up to call her back.
Shit, shit, shit!
And again, same as before. Finally, just after the third ring, she answered.
“Hey,” she said, as she picked up.
Like a voodoo witch doctor, my greeting to her poured out of my mouth in a pure stream of consciousness.
“Oh my God Katy I cannot remember the last time I got my period and I’ve been throwing up every morning since I got my supposed food poisoning and holy shit I think I might be pregnant and goddamn what if I am what will I do about it and what will Grey do to me once he discovers and please Katy say something would you oh my God I think I am going to pass out!!!”
“Maddie,” Katy began. “Did you say you think you might be pregnant?”
As she spoke, I slid back into the couch and hugged my knees close to my chest. I rocked myself back and forth as a million thoughts raced through my mind. At last, I exhaled and replied.
“Oh God, Katy. What am I going to do?”
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Copyright 2015 by Sloan Storm
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