Locked in the Room During an Allergy Attack Because I Couldn’t Speak Chapter 01

Locked in the Room During an Allergy Attack Because I Couldn’t Speak Chapter 01

After my vocal cord surgery, the doctor told me I couldn’t raise my voice for three months.

My boyfriend Slade Mercer and my best friend Tansy Vale loved teasing me about it.

Every time Slade and I fought, Tansy would pull him back a step.

“Can’t hear you.”

My throat burned, but all I could do was clutch the hem of my shirt and repeat myself.

Tansy would bump his shoulder, grinning. “See? I told you. She’ll tire herself out eventually.”

Slade smiled and high-fived her.

That night, Tansy invited him to watch the game at a bar.

I grabbed Slade’s sleeve. I wanted to tell him the doctor scheduled a follow-up.

Tansy pulled him back again. “So quiet. Can’t hear a thing.”

She leaned in and whispered, “I know Tierney’s my bestie, but I feel bad for you. She’s always been exhausting. Now it’s even worse.”

Slade’s expression softened. He stepped closer and fixed my scarf.

“Don’t be like this, okay?”

“Wait in the break room. I’ll take you to the hospital after the game.”

I shook my head.

He took my wrist, pushed me into the break room, and locked the door from the outside.

The room was stacked with peanuts and snacks for the game. The AC blasted peanut dust everywhere.

I’m severely allergic to nuts.

I pounded on the door, but nothing came out.

Outside, Tansy laughed. “Is she at it again?”

Slade was quiet for a few seconds.

“Let her get it out.”

“Once she’s tired, she’ll stop.”

By the time the ambulance arrived, I’d lost my voice completely.

…

I woke up in a hospital bed with my throat on fire.

Slade stood beside me. Still in the same jacket. A glow-in-the-dark wristband from the bar still looped around his wrist.

Tansy leaned against him. The glitter on her eyelids hadn’t been washed off. Her phone screen was lit.

Someone in the group chat had posted photos from the game.

Slade and Tansy stood in the center of the crowd, holding up beer glasses, laughing.

The nurse flipped through my chart. “She had allergic laryngeal edema last night. A few more minutes and it would’ve been critical.”

Slade leaned over me immediately.

“Tierney. Does it hurt?”

I wanted to ask him why he didn’t open the door.

My throat moved. The tears came before the words.

The nurse pressed my shoulder down. “Don’t speak. Not a single word.”

She looked up. “Why didn’t anyone bring her in sooner?”

Slade froze. He picked up my phone.

In the group chat, the last seventeen messages were all from me:

[Open the door.]

[I don’t feel well.]

Scroll up. Tansy had sent a sticker earlier.

[Got it, Miss Quiet.]

[Miss Quiet, you’re doing great today too.]

Slade had replied once: [Don’t call her that.]

Tansy sent a tongue-sticking-out emoji: [It’s a pet name. She won’t get mad.]

After that, I was the only one talking in the group.

They had their own private chat.

Last night, those seventeen messages. Not a single reply.

Tansy bit her lip and spoke first. “It was so loud in there. We didn’t hear our phones.”

She looked at me, voice careful.

“And Tierney always blows things out of proportion when she’s upset.”

“I know I should be on her side since we’re besties, but she threatens Slade like this all the time. Honestly, I’m starting to feel bad for him.”

Slade had been holding my hand.

After that sentence, his fingers loosened.

The nurse didn’t acknowledge her. She just asked, “Any drug allergies?”

I reached for the writing tablet.

Tansy answered before I could. “No, I don’t think so.”

“I’ve looked after her forever. She’s never mentioned anything.”

The nurse looked down to write.

I slammed my hand against the bed rail.

The IV needle tore against my skin.

Slade finally handed me the tablet.

I gripped the pen. My hand shook badly: [Keflex]

The nurse’s face shifted. She stopped immediately. “Keflex allergy?”

Slade remembered too. His voice dropped. “She’s allergic to Keflex.”

Tansy’s eyes went red.

“I’m so sorry, Tierney. I really forgot.”

“I just didn’t want you to strain yourself writing. I was trying to help.”

She always did this. Knew nothing about me. Acted like she cared more than anyone.

She only met me after Slade and I started dating.

The first time we met, she linked her arm through mine and said she was so jealous I had such an amazing boyfriend. She just had to be my bestie.

I actually treated her like a friend.

She slowly became Slade’s advisor instead.

He asked her before buying me gifts.

He went to her first after we fought.

She’d say, “I’m just training your boyfriend for you.”

But every time the training was done, I was the one who had to apologize.

Slade watched Tansy cry. His voice softened.

“She didn’t mean it.”

I stared at him and flipped the tablet to a new page. “We’re done.”

Slade’s brow furrowed.

“You just opened your eyes. Don’t start.”

The doctor came in and went over the follow-up instructions.

“You need to come back in one week. No being alone during this period. Someone needs to keep an eye on her, especially for breathing issues and allergic reactions.”

Slade took the paperwork. He finally had a reason.

“You heard her.”

“Until the follow-up, you’re staying at my place. No arguments.”

I didn’t write anything else.

The nurse told me to stop by the billing desk on my way out.

Slade held the papers, then handed them right back to me.

“Your ID’s in your bag. You go handle it. I’ll take Tansy downstairs first. Her blood sugar’s low.”

I clutched the bag of medication and walked to the billing desk one step at a time.

By the time I finished the paperwork and turned around, Slade and Tansy were already at the elevator.

Tansy said something. He looked down and smiled.

I hurried after them.

The elevator doors were closing.

Slade saw me.

His hand was right next to the door open button.

He didn’t press it.

I stood there, watching the gap disappear.

I thought of the time at the pharmacy.

I was in line for my post-surgery medication. They went to buy heating pads for Tansy first.

When I caught up at the door, Slade just said, “Why are you always so slow?”

And the time at the convenience store. I was typing that my throat hurt. Before I finished, Tansy was already holding up an iced cola, asking if he wanted one.

He took it. Then he turned back. “What were you gonna say?”

The elevator numbers ticked down.

I looked down at my phone.

The voice rehabilitation center in Frostwick had one last specialist appointment for next week.

I booked it.

Then I bought a plane ticket for that same afternoon.

Seven days. I’d get my results.

Then I’d be gone.