Page 66 of Matchmaking the CEO

"Oh, wow. What is it?"

"Rolls with shrimp."

Larissa and I grinned. "We love shrimp."

He put it down in front of us and left.

The rolls were delicious. While we ate them, we also perused the menu.

“I think I’m going to order Peking duck,” I said, finally looking up from the menu, and gasped.

I stared at Larissa intently. Her face was turning bright red.

"Larissa, are you okay?" I asked, but I knew she wasn't. She sucked in a breath and coughed.

I looked at our plate in horror. "You think you might be allergic to something in the food?"

She nodded.

"Shit, do you have an EpiPen or something with you?" I asked, even though I knew she wouldn’t. She didn’t have any allergies, or any I knew of.

Larissa shook her head, and I jumped to my feet, looking around for help.

A waiter came running toward us, clearly noticing my distress.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Do you have EpiPens or any medicine for allergies here?"

"No." He stared at Larissa. "But you didn’t note any allergies on the reservation inquiry.”

"That's not helpful," I snapped.

I thought he might worry about my friend, but he only cared about the liability. I had to take her to the ER.

“I’m calling an ambulance,” I exclaimed, yanking out my phone to dial 911.

***

Afew minutes later, Larissa and I were in the back of an ambulance. They administered an EpiPen, and I was worried sick. Was it my imagination, or was she still swelling up?

When we arrived at the ER, she was a bit blue in the face.

The next several minutes went by in a haze. I spoke to a nurse and then filled out forms. They took Larissa into the ER on a gurney and hooked her up to an IV.

"This way, it’ll go into her system faster," a nurse explained when I inquired why this was necessary.

"Will she have to spend the night here?" I asked.

"We don’t know for now."

I nodded. "Can I sit next to her?"

"Sure.”

The ER was lined with beds separated by curtains. Doctors and nurses milled around. The cacophony of sounds was deafening. Larissa was lying in one of the beds, her free hand under her head. Thankfully, she looked much better than before. Her color was coming back to normal, though her lips were still a bit swollen.

"How are you feeling?" I asked.

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