Page 51 of The Boyfriend List
"No…" he wheezes. "Take me to the… hospital."
Giorgio chooses that moment to enter the office, thirty minutes late and carrying a tray of coffees. "Hey guys, what's—Oh."
And that's how Giorgio and I end up slinging Reggie's arms around our shoulders and half-dragging him to Giorgio's car. Gloria sits in the backseat with Reggie, while I sit in the passenger seat.
"Reggie, stay with us," Gloria says, a frisson of worry creeping into her tone. "Do you feel any symptoms aside from chest pain? Dizziness, nausea, shortness of breath?"
He gasps for air, then says, "I think one of those… is pretty… obvious."
We all give dry laughs. Only Reginald would be making jokes while he's being transported to the hospital by Giorgio's breakneck driving speeds.
"I don't think I'm going to… throw up," Reggie says.
"That's good," Gloria says. "Just hang on until we can get you to the hospital, okay?"
The drive to the hospital is mercifully short despite the horrendous traffic. Still, it's tense. My gaze keeps darting to the backseat where Gloria and Reggie are sitting.
I haven't spoken to Gloria much since we had dinner together a few weeks ago. Not because the food was so inedible that it ruined our friendship. But because I think we both admitted things to each other that we're scared to bring up again. Scared to address. So, we've limited our time together to work and carpooling. August 1st inches closer every day, and I wonder if she’s made progress on finding her perfect guy, and that’s why we’ve drifted apart.
We get Reggie inside, where he's ushered into a hospital bed quickly. Did he bribe the nurses?
In a bed, Reggie seems to have improved and his breathing is less laboured. "Sit down and stop fussing over me. I'm not a baby bird with a broken wing."
I snort at his comparison in spite of myself and take a seat next to Gloria. Giorgio is seated on the other side of Reggie's hospital bed. He's been through rounds of tests and we've all been pacing the waiting room, anxiously anticipating news of his results.
"We know, Reggie, we're just worried about you." Gloria shifts in the uncomfortable chair next to mine. I want to grab her hand, but Giorgio turns from watching Reginald to examining me and Gloria.
Just then, the doctor walks in. "Hi everyone, I'm Doctor Eric Machado. You must be Reginald Spiller. And Mr. Spiller, are these your… grandchildren?"
"Coworkers," all three of us say quickly.
Reginald barks a laugh. "I'm not old enough to have grandchildren their age, not yet."
"Well, all your blood tests, EKG scores, and chest x-rays came back normal. In fact, you don't appear to have any of the markers of a heart attack or any other cardiovascular issues," Dr. Machado says.
I frown. Is it possible that Reginald had a panic attack that he mistook for a heart attack?
"So, we'll discharge you soon. I don't think you need to be held overnight for observation. Come back if your symptoms get much worse, like a cold sweat, dizziness, or fainting spells." Dr. Machado's brows furrow as he casts a glance over our faces. "Oh, hi Gloria! Tell your cousin Isla I said hi. And I'm still sorry about, um, everything I did."
"Will do," she says. The doctor leaves, and both Giorgio and I fix our gaze on Gloria.
"What did Eric Machado do to your cousin?" I ask.
"He proposed to her on their first date," she says casually.
I snicker. Giorgio excuses himself to use the bathroom, claiming he drank too much coffee this morning. But I'm pretty sure he just wants to flirt with a nurse.
Reginald chooses that time to clear his throat, and say, "Alright, I'll admit it. I was faking it."
"You faked a heart attack?" Gloria turns her fiery, indignant eyes on him. "Why?"
"I wanted the two of you to get together," he says calmly. "I noticed the two of you have been avoiding each other. Life is too short to hide your feelings. What if I had had a real heart attack?"
My mind spins with his confession. "But you didn't. You pretended to have a heart attack so we would rush to your bedside?"
"Yes, everyone knows crises gather people together and bring out their true feelings." He looks impatient, like this is an ordinary day in the office and we’ve forgotten to change our email passwords. "So what better place for the two of you to get together than next to my hospital bed?"
"Are you going to call the hospital chaplain and get us married on the spot?" I say. An image of Gloria in a white dress, standing at an altar and vowing to spend the rest of her life with me flashes through my mind, but I swat it away.
