Page 20 of Watch Her Bleed
“Maria told us they were here,” the line cook laughs.
“Well, that’s convenient for them,” I laugh with him. I put the plates on the tray and pause for a moment before picking it up.
“You okay?” Maria asks again.
“I’m fine, Maria,” I lie again and pick up the tray. I need to get something to eat before I pass out. As soon as I drop this food off, I need to come get some juice.
I walk out of the kitchen with the food on the tray. As I approach the table, it feels like a wave of fire sweeps over me as the room starts to spin. When my vision starts to tunnel, I try to set the tray down on the table I’m next to. As I bring the tray down, it is anything but graceful. I hear Maria behind me calling my name right as the tray hits the ground. Right before everything goes black, I feel hands on me as I collapse to join the tray on the floor.
Chapter Eight
Mattia
I look up to see Aurora coming out of the kitchen with a tray. The closer she gets to us, the more I can see on her face that something is wrong. “She doesn’t look good,” I say. Luca and Milo turn to look as she stops walking. She is several shades paler than the last time we saw her. She looks dazed as she tries to set the tray down but it hits the floor.
“Aurora,” Maria shouts as she runs up behind her. My brothers and I are on our feet and I get to her right as she collapses. “Fuck fuck fuck.”
I get Aurora laid flat and she is sweating. “Does she have a meter?” I ask as Luca gets his phone out.
“She literally just checked it. I’m going to kick her ass,” Maria says before turning and running back into the kitchen.
“Hi. I’m calling from Vita Divina downtown. We need an ambulance… Yes. Her name is Aurora Anderson. She’s twenty-four. She collapsed and she has hypoglycemia… No, she’s not diabetic… Her boss is going to check her blood sugar… okay, thank you,” he says as he ends the call. “They’ll be here soon.”
Maria runs out of the kitchen and returns to us. “she’s breathing. Relax,” I say softly.
“She won’t be for long if it gets too low,” she says as she pricks her finger. We all stay at the meter until “45” comes up on the screen. “Fuck. She fucking knew it was low.”
“That’s bad?” Milo asks.
“Anything under 70 is considered hypoglycemic,” she says, cupping her cheek. “How long until they’re here?”
“Soon. They’re just around the corner. Go talk to customers. We’ve got her,” I say.
“Call Kaia. She’ll murder us all if we don’t call her,” Maria says as she takes Aurora’s phone out of her apron pocket. She taps around for a second before handing me the phone. “Good luck with her.”
I call Kaia as Maria leaves us to talk to the panicked guests. “Hey. Everything okay?”
“Uhm. Is this Kaia?” I ask.
“Fuck. What happened? Who is this?”
“Matt. I’m her boss. We came in to eat with her and she passed out. Maria told us that you would kill us if we didn’t call you.”
“What’s her blood sugar levels?” she asks. “Is she going to the hospital?”
“45 and yes. The ambulance is on their way,” I say.
“What?!” she yells. “Will you stay with her? I can meet you at the hospital. Is she awake?”
“I’ll stay with her,” I say. No fucking way that I’m leaving her side. “No, she's still out. How often does this happen?”
“It’s not gotten this bad in a while. She tends to neglect herself when she gets stressed out.”
“Because of the job change?” I ask.
“No. God no. She’s really excited to work for you. It’s not my place to say. She’ll probably kill me,” she says. “I’m leaving her apartment now. I should be at the hospital by the time you guys get there.”
“Do I need to call her parents?” I ask.
