36. OLIVIA

CHAPTER 36

OLIVIA

" I 'm sorry," I rasp weakly.

"Shut up." Brooklyn grits out the words not unkindly. His eyes are wide and forehead wrinkled, the same sheer panic that has taken over him every time I've had an allergic reaction. "I should've been more careful. I should've—Key?" He all but shouts at the valet outside.

The poor guy takes one look at me and immediately guesses that something's wrong. Maybe my face is swelling up already.

Only one thing can make me sick so quickly. Peanuts.

But the caterer didn't mention peanuts anywhere.

"Black Jeep Gladiator," Brooke says, panting. That's probably more from the stress of the situation than from the physical effort of carrying me.

My own heart races faster than a rabbit being chased by a wolf. This is bad. Like really, really bad. I try squeezing Brooke harder to comfort him but instead I sag against his arms. Brooke has to hoist me up again.

"Uh—Uh… Here. "

Brooklyn swings me a bit as he snatches the keys. "Where are we parked?"

The valet points to my left. "That way. Second row, I think."

Brooke takes off again. The night is cold but above freezing, and the snow's melted into puddles that squelch under his dress shoes. "It's going to be fine," he says harshly. "We'll make it in time."

I can't speak anymore but I try to nod, and that makes me dizzy. I start praying because this is going south at breakneck speed.

Some beeping makes him change tack, and I realize a second later that it's because he's found the car. With me in his arms, he maneuvers to open a door. Grunting, Brooke strains forward to sit me down. My arms automatically grab at whatever they find. I squeeze my eyes shut against the noises. The car's swaying worse than the earlier bounce in Brooke's arms.

I try to say his name but it's a gurgle.

"I'm here." Brooke appears before me again and dumps something on my lap.

It's my clutch and he's fiddling with the tab. He rips it open on pure strength alone and everything goes flying. The EpiPen lands between me and the seat and he fishes it quickly. He's done this enough times that he's as efficient as a doctor when popping it open. But I'm sprawled weird on what I now recognize as the backseat. He bites the device to drag me closer to the edge of the seat by my hips, and lifts my dress so fast a tearing sound echoes through the cabin. Without needing a warning, he stabs my thigh with the EpiPen with clinical precision and we hear the click that tells us he did it right.

We're both breathing hard as we wait for the adrenaline to be injected into my system. A strand of blond hair escaped his pomade, and it flies up and down with his breaths. After three seconds, he chucks the injector away .

"You doing all right?" he asks, his hand massaging my smarting skin. The only response I can give him is to cringe. "Okay, lift up your legs. We're going to the ER."

A pained little moan escapes from my chest but I manage the task. Once my legs are up, propped against the passenger's and backseat—and who knows what I'm flashing him with—he shuts the door.

I drop my head back and curse myself. Why is this happening tonight? Or at all? It's not like I was super careless.

The driver's door opens and the entire cabin rocks as he hauls himself in. A series of noises follow. His door shutting. The click of his seatbelt. The engine roaring to life and the electronic noises of the dashboard lighting up. His A/C swooshes with ferocity, and I feel the heat hit me right away. My muscles relax a tad. Sweat trickles down my skin but it's the cold kind.

He peels out of the parking lot so fast that the tires squeal. After working my throat a couple of times, I manage to say most words of a sentence. "Sorry. Will be fine. Slow."

"No, I'm not going to slow down." I can tell he's speaking between his teeth. "I'll get you to the damn ER and deal with the speeding ticket later."

"No! Your… career?—"

"Screw that. You're in danger!"

"Just… careful."

"I am. I will be." He gathers a deep breath. "I'm just going to drive ten miles per hour over. Maybe twelve, okay? Fifteen at most."

"Brooke…"

"Hey, you're talking more. The adrenaline's working, right? Did you keep your legs raised?"

"Ye…" I can't manage the s sound, but a wheeze fills in the blank.

"Okay. Hang on, Liv. We're almost there." The car jerks a bit at a sharp turn and we must really be almost there. The hotel was downtown and the main hospital in town is probably ten minutes away at most. "What do you think caused it?"

I cough out the word. "Peanuts."

"Shit." After a pause he says. "I have to come clean. I'm going faster now." I clear my throat aggressively. "Okay, I've slowed down a notch."

I'd laugh if I wasn't technically dying right this second.

"I'm going to sue the shit out of that caterer."

"No!"

"Fine, I'll give them a really shitty Yelp review."

"Ye… Good."

He barks something that sounds like a cross between a cough and a laugh.

"My… fault."

"Liv, no. It's not your fault. They're the ones who hid the murder nut in the food."

"But… pen?"

It takes him a moment to deduce what I mean. "Ah." For a long moment he doesn't add anything further. But then the car's jerking to a stop and he's rushing out. This time, he opens the door at my head and pulls me out by my pits. Pivoting me, he lifts me back in his arms. My head lolls on his shoulder and I'm not sure he's even shut the car door before he's running away.

I'd recognize the swishing sound of the ER doors in my sleep. Harsh lighting assaults my retinas. Above me, Brooke hollers. "Excuse me! My girlfriend's having an anaphylactic reaction to peanuts."

Atta, boy. Loud, clear, to the point.

Sure enough, not even a second later, he's placing me on a hospital bed. After Brooke gives me a sloppy kiss on my forehead, I'm wheeled away.

*

An oxygen mask, an IV latched onto my arm, a tiny hospital bed shoved in a corner, and an even tinier chair beside it, aren't quite the nicest setup for a date. But after the ER staff are done assessing me and settle me to wait out the rest, Brooke joins me on that little chair dutifully. Even though I'm pretty sure his ass is spilling on all sides from it.

He hasn't let go of my other hand ever since we've been abandoned out here, while the doctor and nurses take care of the sparse other patients. This is also not his first rodeo in this position, and as much as I love him for being here during every scary moment, I also hate that I've put him through it.

"Sorry," I repeat through the mask.

His eyes follow the motion of his thumb sliding across my skin. "Stop apologizing, woman."

"But I ruined the night."

"The freaking peanuts did." His brow tightens. "I can't even figure out where they were."

"I think it was the fries." I close my eyes. "They had the same color as the ones from O'Malley's. I should've made the connection before all this happened."

The chair squeaks and then he's resting his head against my hip. "Again, not your fault." Slowly, I free my hand from his and bring it up to his hair. He sighs audibly as my fingers work against his scalp. "I got so scared, Liv."

My chin trembles. I let tears roll down my temples. "I'm sorry for scaring you."

He shakes his head against me. Funny how despite everything, that can shoot fire up and down my body. I glide my hand through his hair to the back of his head, until I find his neck and stop there. I just need to feel his heat to know everything's going to be okay.

Of course, that's when my family shows up .

"Olivia!" The scream belongs to my mother.

"I will kill you." That one, to my brother.

Both Brooke and I spring. He swivels around on the chair. I push up myself to sit on the mattress. Pulling up the oxygen mask for a moment, I ask, "What the heck are you doing here?"

Maddie responds instead, "He's still out with a groin injury so we came home early for the holidays. Sweetie, are you okay?"

I try a different tactic. "This is an emergency room. I'm pretty sure you're not all allowed in at the same time."

"Thankfully it's a quiet night," Dad says, slide around the other side of the bed to check my IV as if he knew what to look for. Or maybe he does, because this sure as hell is also not his first rodeo. "Are you doing okay, mija?"

"Yes, thanks to Brooke?—"

"What did you do?" Aran all but growls at him.

Brooke opens and closes his mouth. "I?—"

"He saved my?—"

A gentle hand combs my hair. "Ay, mija. Qué susto me llevé."

"Mom, it's o?—"

" You ." Aran points at Brooklyn. "Out. We're going to have a talk."

Brooklyn leans forward to start getting up, and I squeeze his shoulder tight. "You're not going anywhere."

"But—"

"And you ." I turn the full power of my laser beams on my brother. "Why do you think this is Brooklyn's fault every time?"

"Because he's always at the crime scene!"

"Ever stop to think that actually, Brooke is the one saving my ass each time?" I grunt in frustration.

Meanwhile, my silly boyfriend runs a hand through his messy hair and says, "Your brother's right. I should've been more careful every time. I should?— "

"Stop." I raise my palms. "Everybody stop. I get how crappy this is every time it happens, and how it must make you all feel. But this is my responsibility. Mine . I don't need you—" I point at my brother and then at my boyfriend. "Or you to think this is on you to solve, okay?"

"But Liv…" Brooke reaches for my hand again. "What happens after I leave?"

My brother's eyes zero in on our joined hands. It occurs to me that I haven't told my family yet that Brooke and I are a couple now. Maddie understands her Neanderthal husband very well, though. She puts the palm of her hand on his chest, effectively blocking him from throttling Brookie.

Sighing, I return my attention to my blondie. "The same thing that happened the past year and change. And that will happen the rest of my life, even when we're together again… I carry on as usual."

That answer almost seems to hurt him more. "Do your other friends know the steps? CPR? Do they have the routes to the hospital memorized?" Everyone's looking at the back of his head, and I don't know if he realizes what he's admitting in front of most of my family.

I blink hard, holding back tears.

"Like you?" I shake my head. "No, but they can learn."

Aran's frowning. "You have all the routes memorized?"

"I—Yes." Brooke scratches the back of his head as he glances back at my brother. "Don't you?"

"No."

"What he means is that he's impressed you care about his little sister to that degree, and that he gives you permission to date." Maddie grins.

If anything, Aran's expression darkens even more. "That's not what I said at all."

"You guys are finally together?" Mom's smile blooms as if we were giving her an early Christmas present .

"Um, yeah."

"I gotta text your sister." Dad paws at his coat until he finds his phone. "She's going to blow a… what's the word?"

"A fuse?" I cringe.

Maddie's laughing now. "Yeah, especially because she just won the bet."

Brooklyn scrunches up his face. "What bet?"

"Nothing." I wave the words away. "I can see a nurse glaring our way, so can you all please go home?"

"Come." Maddie herds her husband and my mother, since they're closer. "Let's wait at the lobby."

My mom motions at Dad. "We have to go settle the bill, Arturo."

"Ah, verdad." Dad cringes and I wish a black hole would swallow me. Luz and I have eaten into any hope of our parents ever retiring. I guess now only me, since she's officially on Max's insurance.

Brooke collapses on the tiny, squeaky chair after they're out of sight. "Wow, for a second I thought I was gonna land on the bed right beside yours."

I slide the oxygen mask back down and lean back on the bed. "Did you forget you're bigger than my brother again?"

"Yep. He's scary as hell." Why is there a sheepish expression on his face? "He and I used to scare off any creeps around you pretty good in middle school and even in high school."

"You did what ?" I gape. "Are you two the reason why I could never get a boyfriend?"

"Maybe?" he squeaks.

Sarcasm drips all over my words. "So it wasn't because of my food allergies? Or my taste in music? Or even my hips?"

"Nope, no, and hell no." He hunches over to rest his elbows on the mattress. "Liv, I'm serious. Are you going to be okay when I'm not around? I can still stay. They haven't?—"

I squeeze his lips between my fingers until they look like a duck's bill. "I'm not going to be the reason you can't live your life. And my allergies won't stop me from living mine, so zip it."

"Fine." He breathes the word out from the side of his lips. Shaking his head, he frees himself from my grip. "But you'll let me know if something ever happens."

"Of course." I run my hand down the lapel of his tux, trying to fix it up. "Just like you'll also let me know if something happens to you, right?"

"Yes." He tilts his head. "But you'll watch my games too, right? I can only play my best when I know you're watching."

"I'll watch every damn game even if it kills me."

Brooke presses his lips to hold back a smile. "So basically, we're going to be worried to death about each other the whole time."

"Exactly."

My fingers stretch apart as he slides his in between. "All right. We're doing this."