It was amazing how time had flown by. Zoey had been so busy with the new job and classes online, that she had not realized it was already Christmas time. The mild temperatures and a heated pool mask the seasons a bit and staying so busy she did not really take the time to slow down.
Exams were over, and she was on a three-week holiday break with the internship as they give employees a substantial holiday as it was a family business and had a strong partnership with Bridgeport University and many of their student interns went home after exams for the holidays.
Zoey was thankful for the break. She and Jay had sent a few texts back and forth over the past few months. Jay had reached out to share Bryan had asked him about her and out of respect for Zoey, he said she was still taking classes but was also busy as she had begun working full time as well. The other time they had a long text conversation was the night he called to tell her he finally asked Melody out and she said yes. That then resulted in a lengthy phone call of laughs, jokes, and catching up. The only reason they hung up was Melody had come over after she had finished at work, and he wanted to spend some time with her before she had to go study for a test.
Zoey stopped and grabbed a quick snack at the diner as she was very exhausted. She went home and went directly to bed. She did not realize how exhausted she was until she woke up seriously ill. She had not been this sick in an awfully long time. She started vomiting, then diarrhea, and finally after several hours of that misery had fallen back to sleep. When she woke up, she thought she felt weak, but the idea of food was nauseating. She was concerned about her sugar levels, but she could keep anything down. Fresh air was what she needed so a walk would do her well.
She began walking down the beach, enjoying the salt air when she felt very dizzy, and lightheaded, and not sure how far from home she was. That is when the panic set it. How would she get home? She had not been feeling well and she had left her medical bag at home. Her pump was not regulated as it should, so her doctors removed it since she was older and able to regulate it better. Now what she panicked. Then she felt the wave of fear, the chest pain, dizziness before that is the last thing she remembered. She remembered hearing someone ask "miss is you ok? Do you need me to call someone? Miss, can you tell me your name? I am using your phone to call 911. Zoey panicked. No, please do not call 911, I will be ok. The voice said the firehouse is right there, at least let me go up there and let someone know and tell them you said no to 911. Maybe they can walk out if they are staffed." the stranger walked away.
She could not breathe, she could not think, she could not move. Then suddenly she heard "everyone gets back. Make room. Oh my gosh. Zoey, are you ok?" She recognized the voice. It made her heart race, but not the same as the panic attack. Then she felt someone sit her up and begin to rub her back and talk to her. "Zoey, take deep breaths, I need you to look at me." Zoey could hear the voice, but she couldn't seem to get anything out." She felt a prick of her hand and heard her blood glucose is 32. That is dangerously low. Then she felt a pinch in her arm before she began to feel like things were becoming clearer. When she began to realize what was going on, she began to panic. She saw a woman who was obviously an EMT of some sort that she did not know. Then she heard a familiar voice. "Welcome back beautiful. Take a few minutes and get your boundaries. We are going to take you to the hospital so you can get checked out just as a precaution. You are ok and safe." Zoey pushed away. "No, I do not want to go to the ER. I just had a checkup the other day and everything was fine. I had some stomach issues after eating take-out in a hurry and it made me sick. I think I just got dehydrated and everything went from there."
The familiar voice pleaded, "sweetie please." Zoey's response was the same. "No, they will tell me to drink plenty of fluid and get my blood sugar back up. It is already back up. I can feel it."
