Page 17 of Believe in Caloosa Springs

I giggled. “Okay, you can come in and talk to me about your little book, but you have to take your pants off first…”

“What?”

“What?” I repeated before I came back to my goddamned senses and realized what was happening.Oh, f-u-u-u-ck.

“Nothing… what happened?”

I opened my eyes and tried to sit up. I was on a couch and there were a bunch of people crowded around it, staring down at me. The blond boy still hovered close.

“You cut yourself and then passed out, sweetie, Just lie back and relax for a few minutes,” Mandy said, laying a hand on my shoulder from behind me. “I thought you had grown out of that when we were kids.”

I gave a nervous chuckle. “Guess not.” I had, in fact,notgrown out of it. Actually, my phobia related to blood had become such a problem that I wasn’t able to work in restaurants or fast food. One little cut or scrape, and I was on the ground.Too much of a liability, they’d say.

(Not that I had any intention of working in food service ever again.)

“Could I maybe have some water?” I croaked.

The guy raised his eyebrows and disappeared from my field of vision. I used his absence to prop myself up on my elbows.

“Okay, boys, let’s give him some room,” Pops said. People began to scatter, and I was left with Mrs. Baker kneeling against the side of the couch right next to me. She seemed to be examining the bandage wrapped around my arm. The blond boy appeared again, handing me an open bottle of water. I leaned forward to take a sip, and a wet rag I hadn’t even realized was on my forehead fell down into my lap.

“I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have dropped the coffee pot. I feel terrible.”

Was he talking to me?

“Thanks,” I replied. After swallowing a few mouthfuls of water, my throat no longer felt like a desert. “I mean, thanks for being sorry, but it’s not your fault. I dropped it.”

“No! I’m, like… the clumsiest person on the planet.”

I took a few more slugs of the water and then allowed myself to lie back for a moment. Mandy took the bottle out of my hand, and I closed my eyes and took a few deep breaths. I could feel myself turning beet-red as a new wave of embarrassment washed over me. My mind played a made-up film reel of the whole scenario in slow motion from some disembodied third-person perspective.

Pops walked over to stand next to Mrs. Baker. “I’ve called the doctor, and he should be here soon. How ya’ feeling?”

I smiled, trying to make it seem like I felt better than I did. “I’m okay, really. No need for the doctor. I just… I just got a little light-headed, is all.” I closed my eyes again. Between talking a bunch and those blasted lights staring me in the eyeballs, I was starting to get dizzy again. It would be ridiculous to ask them to turn the lights for the entire building off.

I cupped my hand over my eyes to shield them, and tried to speak. “I would love to lie down somewhere dark. Mandy, could you take me home please?”

“Of course,” I heard her say from close by.

“Now, just hold your horses. I think you should see the doctor. He shouldn’t be long,” Pops insisted. “Let’s get him up and over to one of the vacant cabins close by. We can draw the curtains and Tian will have a dark and quiet place to rest up for a while.”

“Oh, thank you,” I demurred, “but that’s not necessary.”

“Nonsense.” Pops dismissed me with a wave of his hand. “Tyler, run up to the house and grab the keys for an empty cabin.”

“You got it.”

”Ty,” Mandy interjected, “I’ve got the keys for nine.”

“Perfect. Porter, is it?“ Pops asked.

“Yes, sir.”

“Mind lending me a hand getting Tian to his feet? Tyler, bring the truck up. We don’t want him to have to walk further than necessary.”

Chapter Six

Porter

---