Kissed Blind (Hot Pursuit #2)(22)

“Yes, sir,” Vance said joining me at my side. As we were walking out, Oliver stabbed the device into Camille’s thigh.

Downstairs, Vance and I walked back into the kitchen. I put away the food Oliver had left out on the counter. Too much adrenaline pumped through my blood. If I sat still, I was going to bounce out of my skin.

“What do you think happened? Some kind of drug overdose?” I asked, shutting the door to the fridge. “Drugs and Hollywood go hand in hand.”

“No. She had an allergic reaction to something is my guess.” Vance pulled out one of the stools at the island and sat.

“How do you know?”

“That was one of those allergy pens he stabbed it into her thigh. My niece is allergic to peanuts and my sister carries one around wherever she goes.”

“I wonder what she’s allergic to.”

“I don’t know, but it seemed pretty serious to me. I’m going to assume Oliver knows what he’s doing, but I think she should go to the hospital too.”

A few minutes passed, and Vance let in a tall, slender man with salt and pepper hair carrying a black satchel.

“Dr. Molinari,” he said, holding his hand out to Vance. “Where is she?”

Cici trotted down the stairs and waved the doctor up. Oliver and the doctor remained upstairs, and a frazzled Cici joined us in the kitchen. Vance ushered her over to one of the bar stools.

“You okay?” Vance asked, helping her sit.

“I’ve never seen her like that. I panicked.” She scooted onto the stool and thanked Vance for helping her.

“Is she okay?” I set a glass of water in front of her.

“Yeah, Oliver got the medicine in her and she came around in like a minute after that.” She tucked her hair behind her ears and rested her elbows on the counter. She covered her face in her hands and breathed in two huge breaths, letting the second one out slower than the first. Vance rubbed her back in small soothing circles, the same way he did when I was upset. A magical relaxing wand lived at the end of his fingertips. Within minutes of him doing that to me, I always felt better.

“What’s she allergic to anyway?” I asked, watching Vance with a pinched expression. If I stared at him hard enough he’d hear me telling him to get his hands off of her. A burning sensation filled my chest, and my jaw cramped from clenching my teeth.

“Strawberries. I don’t know why she would have drunk that smoothie. She always warns me, almost to an obsessive level: ‘Remember no strawberries, Cici.’ ‘Does this have strawberries, Cici?’ I swear, you’d think I was a moron for as often as she reminds me, so why she’d grab that and just drink it, I have no idea.”

“Where’d she get it?” I asked.

“From the fridge.” She looked up with heavy eyes. “It was mine from yesterday. I should have tossed it after Camille arrived. Maybe I am a moron.”

I understood where she was coming from. The mistake would be more ammunition for Camille. “You’re not a moron. Here, have some water.” I nudged the glass closer to her.

“Yeah.” She chuckled. “Well—”

“Cici, where did this come from?” Oliver appeared in the living room with the doctor at his side. He carried the cup of green liquid that had been on the nightstand and walked it over to the sink where he dumped it down the drain.

“Um, I ran out yesterday when you were with your trainer and put it in the fridge. I wanted to save it for later but completely forgot about it.”

“You know better than to bring things like this into the house with Camille.”

“I know, but she wasn’t here yet. I didn’t even think about it.”

Oliver closed his eyes and nodded. “Okay. She should have known better than to just drink something not knowing what was in it anyway.”

“I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.”

“Yeah,” he said slightly withdrawn. “Could you take some water up to Camille?”

“Of course, right away.” Cici sprang from her seat and retrieved a deep blue, teardrop-shaped glass bottle from the fridge.

Oliver turned on the faucet and ran hot water over the liquid and wiped down every surface that could have been splashed with the green goo. “Oh, Cici?”

Cici stopped midstride. “Yes?”

“Don’t let her be too hard on you.”

She smiled and continued up to deliver the water.

I rounded the island and stood next to Vance. “How’s she doing?”

Oliver took a moment to collect himself. He leaned back against the sink and covered his mouth with his hand. “She’s going to be fine, but she knows better… they both do.” He shook his head. “She must have been in a shopping coma and forgot herself, or just assumed.” He snatched the cup and tossed it in the trash.

“So,” the doctor said, laying an iPad down on the island. He tapped away entering information into a digital form. “I gave her a second precautionary dose of epinephrine. She really should go to the hospital for observation, but since she’s refused, I’ll be back in the morning to check on her. She’s going to feel hyped up and maybe anxious. Make sure she gets plenty of fluids and rest.”

“I’ll make sure she has every need met, doctor. Thank you so much for rushing here on such short notice. Cici will take care of anything else you need.”