Page 15 of Offside Attraction

"Is there any chance there are peanuts in this?" She asked as the waiter passed by their table.

The waiter looked puzzled. "Peanuts? No, ma'am.”

Rhonda's throat felt like it was closing in on itself. She tried to take a deep breath, but it felt like she was inhaling through a straw. "I don't think?—"

Penny's eyes widened. "Rhonda, are you okay?"

Rhonda's mind raced. She always had her EpiPen with her, but she'd switched purses before she left the house. "I need my EpiPen. I think I'm having a reaction."

Aaron stood up, dropping his napkin. "Where is it?"

Rhonda shook her head, her hands trembling as she dug through her purse. "I don't have it. I—" She couldn't focus. Her heart was pounding, and her vision started to blur at the edges.

Brett was already pulling out his phone to dial an ambulance, but Rhonda shook her head. "No, we can't wait. I don't think I can wait."

Penny grabbed her purse and reached for Rhonda's hand. "Let's go. We’ll find?—”

“There's an urgent care clinic just a few blocks from here." Rhonda coughed. She had it mapped for a potential sales visit in the new year.

Rhonda’s face flushed as she stood. She felt sluggish, like she was moving through molasses. She could barely focus on anything. Brett called something to the waiter as they rushed out of the restaurant and into Brett's truck.

Rhonda was legitimately starting to freak out as she stumbled into the back seat, Aaron's arm steadying her as her legs felt like Jell-O. So embarrassing.

She’d never had a reaction like this when she wasn’t prepared. Why had she left her EpiPen at home? What the hell was she reacting to?

She fought to stay calm, breathing in through her nose, out through her mouth, forcing herself not to think about the fact that she was starting to wheeze. In. Out.

Brett revved the engine and peeled out of the parking lot. It was fine. If she died here, at least someone would know about it instead of her choking on a piece of steak in her living room or something.

Tears pooled at the corners of her eyes, and she gritted her teeth, willing herself not to cry in front of this masculine, noncommittal contractor she’d barely met.Hey, you wanted a fun night out? How about holding my hand while my face blows up until I look like one of the Muppets.Wasn’t one of them named Rhonda? She squeezed Aaron’s hand. No, it wasn’t Rhonda. It was Janice. The one with blond hair and big lips.

Damn it, she was getting weird. Soon, she’d be full-on hallucinating. Her heart pounded in her chest as Brett swerved onto Macleod Trail. Rhonda's vision blurred, the streetlights and storefronts blending into a kaleidoscope of colour.

"We're almost there," Brett said, his voice strained. Rhonda nodded, tears now streaming freely down her cheeks. Her lips were tingling. She probably already looked at least partially like Will Smith in Hitch.

Aaron rubbed her back. "It’ll be okay," he soothed, his voice barely audible over the thrum of the engine. The fact that he was trying to comfort her only made her cry harder.

This was what her friends were talking about. Someday she was going to be sitting in her hotel room, and she was going to have to stab her own thigh with an EpiPen and phone her own ambulance and lie alone in a hospital bed, and nobody was going to be rubbing her back and telling her it would be okay.

“Rhonda, you need to calm down.” Penny turned in her seat, her eyes wide.

Rhonda tried to answer, but her throat was constricting, her breath coming in ragged gasps. She was right. She was always right, and Rhonda was an idiot. A sad, pathetic idiot with an allergy to a freaking nut that was currently trying to kill her. She gripped Aaron's hand harder and shook her head.

They pulled into the parking lot of the urgent care clinic, and Brett didn't bother finding a spot. He parked right in front of the entrance, and Aaron and Penny helped her out of the truck. Her legs wobbled as they hurried inside.

She couldn’t smell anything. Could barely suck in a full lungful of air. Rhonda's eyes adjusted to the harsh fluorescent lights as she stumbled up to the intake desk. A nurse with a tight bun and dark circles under her eyes looked up from her computer.

"She’s having a reaction," Brett snapped. "Peanut allergy."

The nurse's eyes widened. She motioned for another nurse, and Rhonda fumbled to pull her Universal Health Coverage card out of her purse. Penny reached over and took it, handing it to the nurse as Rhonda's hands started to shake.

"You’re Rhonda Hart?" the nurse asked, her fingers hovering over the keyboard. Penny nodded for her, and the nurse typed it in, then handed the card back. "We'll get you in right away."

Brett looked like he was about to bash through the doors, and Penny put a hand on his arm. “They’re coming. It’s okay.” She turned to find them all a place to sit, but a nurse appeared and motioned for Rhonda and Aaron to follow her.

“Can we—” Brett started, but the nurse shook her head.

“One person only.”

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