That One Game - Gavi story

XI

Trigger warning: mention of a beginning ED!

I watched my phone flash with my brother's name, causing a twirl of mixed emotions. Any other day, I would have automatically picked up. But not today. I had already sent several of his calls to voice mail. If it were a real emergency, my whole family would have been blasting my phone.

"Lo siento mucho, finn," I said as if he could hear me.

I silenced my phone, placed it screen down, and moved onto the stack of photos that HR had sent over for the Barca wedsite where I needed to put them on. Two— I'd check a couple of them and take the rest home with me.

Four photos later, I was dropping my mouse down. I let my back fall on the backrest of my chair.
My head was spinning, probably due to the fact that I had been working on mostly an empty stomach. Again. Because I had been dieting. Wrongly, most likely. Closing my eyes, I scolded myself for being that dumb.

I shook my head, trying to vanish those thoughts out of my mind but only accomplishing to make it worse with the way my head kept spinning. My body was screaming at me for something, anything that would appease the hollowness in my stomach.

Water. That would help.

Grabbing my phone, I stood on weaker legs than I would have liked and made my way out of the office. There was one of those water dispensers down the corridor. Three more missed calls from my brother. With the time difference, he'd be asleep by now. (He lives in the US for his studies)

Lily: Lo siento, mamón. 🤪

I typed, and the text blurred for a second. I stopped walking, trying to get my eyes to focus back on the screen.

Lily: Hablamos mañana, vale?

I continued, but the characters on the screen started dancing. My fingers lost all certainty, vacillating over the keyboard of the device. My sight doubled and then blurred, not managing to pinpoint with clarity the words I thought I was typing as they appeared on the text bubble.
A shaky breath left my lips as I attempted to hit Send.

Water. That's what I need.

My head lifted off my phone, and my legs resumed again, taking me a few feet down the corridor. I knew that the water dispenser was right there, probably about five or six steps ahead of me. But white spots scattered across my vision, and everything blinked out for a second. White.

"Whoa," I heard myself murmur.

I was completely unaware of the fact that my legs had kept moving forward until I had to balance myself with a hand on the wall.

"Oh mierda." I stumbled.

My eyelids fluttered closed, and I could feel how all the blood in my face rushed down, leaving me woozy and unbalanced. I willed my eyes to open back up. But all I saw was white. A white and misty blanket that covered everything in front of me. Although perhaps, it was the wall. I couldn't be sure.

I ... I messed up. Big time. No one around.

That kept echoing in my head as I tried to account for the signs that indicated I was going down. And I ... dammit. I couldn't remember. Couldn't ... think. My skin felt cold and clammy, and I just wanted to close my eyes and rest. I was vaguely recalling that being a bad idea when my limbs started giving out. Then, I was lying down.
Good. That's good. I'll rest, and then I'll be better. I toppled to the side. It's cold, but it'll ... get ... better

"Lily." A voice seeped through the haze. It was deep. Urgent.

My lips were cool and felt detached from my body, so I didn't answer.