Locked in the Room During an Allergy Attack Because I Couldn’t Speak Chapter 02

Locked in the Room During an Allergy Attack Because I Couldn’t Speak Chapter 02

The day I was discharged, the doctor pulled Slade aside and went over the medication instructions carefully.

“This one, half an hour after meals.”

“Nebulizer twice a day. Don’t skip the evening dose.”

I was finishing up the paperwork. From a distance, I just saw Slade nodding.

Tansy stood nearby, listening in.

She raised her hand with a grin. “Don’t worry, doctor. I’ll help keep an eye on her too.”

Back home, she followed us inside.

“There’s a semifinal tonight, you know.”

She dropped her bag on the couch and sighed.

“Whatever. That’s what I get for having Tierney as a bestie.”

She winked at me.

“Don’t get all emotional, Miss Quiet. It’s my job to take care of you.”

Slade frowned.

“I told you. Stop calling her that.”

Tansy stuck out her tongue.

Slade checked his phone.

“I need to grab a file from the office. I’ll be back soon.”

Tansy raised her hand. “Don’t worry. I’ll watch her.”

The door clicked shut. The living room was quiet for a few seconds.

Then she cranked the TV volume to maximum.

The game commentary blasted out. My throat tightened.

Tansy curled up on the couch. She opened a bag of chips and ordered an iced caramel latte.

She watched and laughed, her foot bobbing with every goal.

My water glass was empty. I pushed myself up from the coffee table to refill it.

I was walking past the couch when Tansy suddenly kicked her leg out in excitement.

“It’s in! It’s in!”

Her calf caught me right in the path.

My knee buckled. I crashed into the corner of the coffee table.

The bag of medication tipped over.

Pill bottles scattered everywhere.

Tansy finally turned around. She still had a chip in her hand.

“Jeez, why didn’t you say something?”

I pulled myself up against the table. My throat hurt so badly my vision went dark.

She hurried to pick things up. She grabbed the chip bag first.

“If Slade comes back and sees this, he’ll think I wasn’t taking care of you.”

I bent down and gathered the scattered medication myself, one box at a time.

A while later, my phone buzzed.

In the group chat, Tansy sent nine selfies in a row:

[Help me pick one for my story.]

Slade replied almost instantly: [The third one.]

Tansy: [But the fifth one makes my legs look good.]

Slade: [Post both then.]

They went back and forth. The screen burned hot with notifications.

I looked at the medication on the coffee table. I took a photo and sent it to the group:

[How do I take the meds? I didn’t hear. I was signing stuff.]

A few minutes passed.

Slade replied, [Follow the instructions on the box.]

Something in my chest ached. I flipped my phone face down on my knee.

At seven that evening, Slade came back.

Tansy shot up from the couch.

“Boss man. I’ve been a full-time nanny all day.”

“Don’t you think your advisor deserves a reward?”

Slade set his files down and glanced at me.

“Is she okay?”

Tansy answered before I could. “She’s fine. An angel.”

She pointed at the medication on the table.

“I even reminded her to take it.”

The boxes sat there. Unopened.

Half an hour after dinner. Long past the window.

I picked up my phone. I wanted to ask again.

Slade was already being pulled to the dining table by Tansy.

She’d ordered Buffalo wings. Said taking care of a patient made her hungry.

“Let’s see who can finish first.”

Tansy tossed him a pair of gloves.

Slade smirked. “You lose every time.”

“Then let me win. Just once.”

They sat across from me.

Him tearing into wings. Her stealing off his plate.

Tansy’s lips were red from the hot sauce. Slade set the wings he’d pulled off the bone on her plate.

She grabbed one and held it to his mouth.

“That’s your reward.”

I opened the pill box. The capsules rolled into my palm.

The tiny print on the instructions blurred together.

I stared for a long time. I still couldn’t tell which ones I could take together.

I typed on my phone: [I want to talk.]

Slade glanced up. “Now?”

I nodded and kept typing:

[The door last night. The nuts. The seventeen messages.]

Before I could finish, Tansy burst out laughing.

“Slade, look at this one. Doesn’t it look like a heart?”

Slade turned to look.

My fingers stopped on the screen.

When he looked back, there was an edge of impatience.

“Tierney, can you just get to the point?”

“I have a meeting tomorrow.”

I deleted the words in the text box.

One by one, until there was nothing left.

Slade frowned.

“You’re not gonna say it now?”

He pulled his gloves back on.

“Fine. We’ll talk when you can actually speak.”

I looked down and separated the pills, one by one, fighting back tears.

In the living room, Tansy won another round.

She laughed and piled the wing bones in front of Slade.

“You lost. You’re still my driver tomorrow.”

Slade said okay.

No one noticed.

I hadn’t taken a single pill correctly that night.