Page 23 of Mountain Bean Dream
“Yeah.”
A sharp inhale preceded his words. “I left for a few minutes to deal with some issues, and when I came back, there was no answer.” He gazed around, shifting uncomfortably on his feet. “And your car was gone too.”
“I needed to work.” As much as I didn’t want to tear my focus away from the sweet expression on Jeremy’s face, there were still at least a dozen eyes focused on me. Tingles were racing up and down my body as I hated being the centre of attention, and the circle was closing in on me.
My boss looked over to the RCMP officer before looking back at me. “And him? How does the police escort figure into this?”
My eyes darted from Elliot to the officer, then to Jeremy, searching for some reassurance.
“I was driving erratically,” I mumbled. “He pulled me over then made sure I got here safely.”
The room seemed to tilt as my headache surged, the edges of my vision graying.
Everyone was staring. No one moved.
My stomach twisted violently. My knees buckled.
And then, as if on cue, Derek walked through the door.
The last thing I heard was someone shouting my name as the world dissolved into black.
Chapter Nine
“Molly! Molly!” A distinctly male voice called out my name. “What’s going on?”
I blinked and wide-eyed looked up at several faces staring down at me. Jeremy. Sage. Elliot. The cop and, front and center, Derek.
“Molly?” Derek asked. “Can you hear me?”
I nodded.
I curled into a sitting position, feeling foolish but overwhelmingly exhausted suddenly. “What happened?” I wasn’t looking at the floor anymore; my question was directed at the people around me.
“Let’s get her onto that chair.” Derek pointed to one of the wingbacks.
Sage hopped up and cleared a path. With Jeremy’s help, who carefully lifted me from behind putting most of his strength under my right armpit, he got me onto my feet. After I sat in the chair, Derek squatted in front of me with his metaphorical doctor’s hat on as Jeremy tucked in beside me.
“How are you feeling?” Derek’s gaze volleyed between my eyes as he held my good arm in his and with a firm yet gentle pressure, pressed two fingers into my wrist.
I wanted to say fine—was I fine? No, I wasn’t fine. But I didn’t want them to think I was fragile. “Dizzy.”
“You fainted,” Derek said, shifting to place one knee on the floor. “Does that happen a lot?”
“A lot? How aboutthisis the first time?” The words came out sharp, but I was too tired to care. I wanted to roll my eyes, but the motion only made the pounding in my skull worse.
Derek didn’t look offended, just … concerned. He still had that irritating way of looking at me, like he could read me butrefused to acknowledge I wasn’t the same person he’d known.
“Pulse is weak and rapid. You probably had a drop in blood pressure. Could be for any number of reasons.”
The second Jeremy touched my arm, a quiet warmth spread through me. I shifted instinctively closer to him, just enough to feel his steady presence beside me. His touch was solid, reassuring. Unlike Derek’s cool professionalism, Jeremy made me feel safe like nothing else mattered but this moment. It was so simple. So darned easy.
Keeping my mental focus on Derek, I asked, “But the most likely reason?”
“Without a full proper assessment, I’d say it was your body’s reaction to stress or the medication.” His voice softened just a fraction. “It hasn’t even been ten hours since your emergency room visit. Your body needs time to heal. You should be at home, resting.”
Jeremy snorted softly.
I swallowed. I didn’t want to admit how much Iwantedto rest. “If I don’t work, I don’t get paid.”