Total pages in book: 142
Estimated words: 134725 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 674(@200wpm)___ 539(@250wpm)___ 449(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 134725 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 674(@200wpm)___ 539(@250wpm)___ 449(@300wpm)
***
My eyes opened to a concerned set of green eyes along with a concerned set of baby fuschilla eyes. I was snuggled into Zane’s bed and Ollie was sitting beside me with a book in his hand, Chili on his shoulder. Chili was looking at me.
“Tanya, Tanya, Tanya!”
“Hi, sweetie pie.” My voice sounded rough. Raspy. My throat hurt.
His eyes lit up.
I shivered and my teeth chattered.
And then he burst into tears.
I frowned. I felt a cool hand on my forehead. I looked up at the face of an older man with kind eyes. “I’m Dr. Knox. How are you feeling, Tanya?”
“Your hand is cold.” I shivered.
“Her hand is cold,” Ollie parroted. “Granddad, call Daddo! She’s awake.”
I saw Ollie’s grandfather in my periphery. He had a concerned look on his face and a phone to his ear.
“Already doing that, Ollie,” he said.
“Your fever is thankfully down a bit. It looks like you’ve got an allergy to razzleberries. Zane said you’ve consumed quite a bit of them since you got here. But nothing happened before today?” The doctor asked, hand roving over me holding a device, as if scanning me.
I shook my head. “That throat warming juice?”
Ollie repeated my words.
“Razzleberries don’t typically cause such an affect. You must have had a mild reaction each time you’ve drank it. But then I understand you ate some of the fruit today instead of just the juice? The allergen is more concentrated in the pulp of the fruit than the juice and added to what was already built up in your system? It was rather dangerous.”
“Yes. With some… what was that other stuff called, Ollie? The jam stuff?”
Ollie pursed his lips. “Rubyfruit jam. And the flower extract that we mixed into it.”
“Love potion,” I whispered. “Punch?” No one translated to the doctor. I suspected he already knew. And it’d punched me all right … that was for damn sure.
It dawned that I was wearing Zane’s blue silky shirt. I was under the blankets and tucked in tight. I was suddenly hot. I loosened the blankets a little around me. I had underpants on. Zane must have dressed me. Where was he?
“Where’s Zane?”
The doctor obviously understood Zane’s name at least as he answered before anyone translated.
“Your husband flew to get some emergency supplies. There’s a plant that reverses the effects of most allergic food reactions. I brought some with me but only had the one dose so he’s gone to get some more as you may need it every few hours for the next few days. But you’re awake and your fever is dropping so this is a good sign. I would not consume razzleberries again, Mrs. Zenith. You had a bad reaction. It appears they built up in your system over the past three days and the last bit you consumed of the full fruit rather than just the juice was the tipping point for a severe reaction. Your hives are fading, and your temperature is down a little, but you need to rest for the evening and take it easy tomorrow. They will stay in your system for a long time, so it’s very important that you do not come in contact with them again. And carry emergency medication with you in case it somehow happens again. Each time you’re exposed, they’ll become more dangerous to you.”
“Okay. Thank you.”
“She said thank you,” Ollie said softly. His eyes were red from crying.
Chili jumped on me and dropped a black marble on my chest.
“Hi Chili.” I petted his head. The marble rolled off me, so I lifted it from the blanket. His little pink paws reached for it and he put the marble back into his pouch.
“Didn’t he drop that when you ate the razzleberry fruit yesterday, Ollie?” I asked.
Ollie nodded looking surprised.
“Danger. It’s like he knew.” My eyebrows went up high.
Ollie Sr. translated to the doctor.
“They’re studying these animals at the university. They’re very intuitive,” Dr. Knox remarked. “I’ll have to contact my colleague there and mention this. Fascinating…”
I reached down and gave Chili’s head a scratch with my index finger. He leaned into the scratch, looking like he was in heaven.
“Drink plenty of fluids and rest, Mrs. Zenith. I’ll come back, if needed, but if you avoid those berries, you should be fine. Though, it’s probably prudent to run some more tests. I’ll talk to Zane about a full allergy workup.”
“Thank you so much, doctor.”
“She thanks you, doctor,” Ollie Sr. said. “I’ll walk you out. My son’s almost home. Shall I have him call you?”
The doctor took a briefcase out and kept talking to Ollie Sr. on his way.
Little Ollie’s lower lip trembled. “I’m s-sorry, Tanya.” He was bawling again.
“Oh sweetie, it’s not your fault. I was drinking that juice the whole time I was here. Your dad kept giving it to me. I thought it was just throat warming juice. I had no idea I was poisoning myself.”