Chapter 11

11

DAMON

O h God, my poor sweet Allie.

My foot is lead on the gas as I drive as fast as I normally do when answering fire calls. This time it’s in response to a call from James, Old Hemlock Valley’s lone police officer.

Thank goodness it was a small fire today and I was already on my way back to town, and that James found Allie staggering in the street before anything happened to her.

I reach City Hall in record time, racing inside to Jonah Wolfe’s small medical office at the corner of the building.

The lights are off, and the curtains are shut tight. Allie is lying back in an easy chair with a cool compress on her head. She’s pale. Her eyes twitch slightly, as if she’s fighting a dream or something.

“She’s okay,” Jonah whispers, waving me over to where he’s sitting across the room with James.

“She looked like she was about to pass out,” James murmurs quietly. “Slurred the word ‘migraine’ and gave me your address, saying she wanted to sleep it off. But I didn’t want her to be alone.”

“She has all the classic migraine signs,” Jonah says. “Mumbled something about flashing lights and being oversensitive to light and heat.”

“This week has been really rough on her,” I tell them. “Something about new thyroid meds making her extra heat sensitive… Does that sound right?”

Jonah frowns. “Could you hand me her purse? I should double check what they are, if that’s all right with you.”

Digging into Allie’s purse feels like an intrusion, but I’m sure she’d understand. I pull out several small bottles, and hand them to Jonah, noticing that the blue and white one is empty. “She also gets air pressure headaches. Said something about tension in the side of her head before they hit.”

He nods, examining the labels. “That explains the painkillers mixed with muscle relaxants. They’re usually used for back pain, but many people say they help with certain kinds of headaches.”

Jonah looks at me sadly. “I’m just a medic. All I have here is over-the-counter stuff like she has herself, no migraine injections or the serious stuff. We could run her to the emergency room in West Stoneburg, but the drive would shake her up.”

“No cars.” Our heads snap to Allie, and I’m alarmed to see a deep shudder run through her. “Please. I just need two minutes. I’ll be fine… I just need to take a little nap.”

She seems to knock right out again.

“She needs a few hours, not a few minutes,” Jonah whispers. “When she first came in, I gave her some painkillers and they won’t kick in for another twenty minutes or so.”

“Poor little thing.” James shakes his head.

“How bad is it?” I ask.

“It’s hard to tell,” Jonah murmurs in the silent room. “People with chronic pain have a different rating scale than people who don’t. On a scale of one to ten, if she’s used to getting through the day on what she considers level seven pain, that would probably be a nine or ten to you or me.”

“I take it she’s a fighter?” James asks, shooting her a glance.

“Definitely.” I watch my precious angel as her foot twitches before she becomes freakishly still. “I keep asking what I can do, but she doesn’t seem to want help.”

“And the problem,” Jonah sighs, “is that what you can do to help is different for everyone.”

“Do you have some info I could read about this for next time?” I ask. “Kinds of drugs or gadgets or anything I could keep in my house and the truck in case she ever needs them?”

“Definitely. I’ll email you the latest research, plus the old wives’ tales, like soaking her feet in hot water when a headache starts.”

“Do you have a hot water bottle I can buy?”

“No – I sent my last one home with Mrs. Fergus last week.”

James jumps up. “I’ll go get one. What else do you need from the store?” Jonah and I gave him a list, and he jogs out the door.

Staring at Allie, my entire body crumples. “I just feel so fucking helpless,” I sigh.

Allie’s foot twitches again. She looks so uncomfortable, like she’s afraid to move an inch. That kind of tension in her body can’t be good for her. Looking around, I try to think. When have I seen her the most comfortable, outside of us being romantic?

Yes! She was completely relaxed when we were cuddling in my cool basement.

I notice that the air conditioner is in Jonah’s exam room, not here where we currently are in the room that serves as his waiting area. “Hey, can you crank the aircon? I have an idea.”