Chasing Death (TMI FanFiction) // UNEDITED

Chapter Eight

There was one thing that only Charlie knew about Beth. That was logical, considering he raised her, yet it was still odd how he had never thought to mention that Beth was dangerously allergic to Mushrooms. It may seem like such a strange thing to be allergic to, and yes it is, but it's true. The only problem is, he failed to mention this one small, important fact to Jocelyn. It makes sense to inform her as she prepared some, if not all, the meals at the Institute. Surely, it was important she know this information.

With Charlie not telling her, Jocelyn and made her Spaghetti Bolognese with mushrooms (as weird as that may sound) and had forgotten to mention it. They were so well hidden in amongst the pile of spaghetti, sauce and various other things. Beth hadn't even noticed they were there until she took a bite. At first, it didn't take full effect, but after a couple of seconds, Beth began to notice that her heart rate had accelerated and her breathing had become more rapid. She looked over at Jocelyn and, with the little breath she had left, asked a question. "Did you put mushrooms in this?"

"Yes, I always do," Jocelyn replied. She hadn't noticed the sudden change in Beth's behaviour, nor did she notice the look on Charlie's face when he realised. 

"Where's your pen?" Charlie asked, practically launching himself from his chair. The chair rocked slightly before toppling to the ground with a loud clatter. 

"First draw, bedside table in the bag," Beth said, her breath getting more and more laboured by the second. Charlie took off running, he was gone before anyone else had time to react to the circumstances. Beth placed her hand onto the kitchen and attempted to regain some breath as she waited for he uncle to return. He did so, seconds before Beth slipped from her chair and landed on the floor. 

Charlie was at her sides in the seconds, the blue and orange EpiPen clutched in his hand. He pulled the blue safety cap from the top, swung the pen up in the air and pushed into her upper thigh until he heard a click. He began to count down from ten as he waited for it to take effect. After ten seconds, he pulled it out and the orange cap was covering the needle. Charlie placed the pen back into the bag it had come from, zipped it up and threw it into the bin. He knew they were supposed to be disposed off in a hospital, but that wasn't going to happen. 

 Beth felt her breathing become more steady as her heart rate slowed down considerably. "You feeling better?" Charlie asked as he helped her sit up. 

"Yeah, could have done without the dramatics, but that's what Shadowhunters do, right?" Beth laughed though it came out as more of a cough than a laugh. 

"What just happened?" Luke asked, looking just as bewildered and confused as the others did. It was strange to Beth that none of them had ever seen someone have an allergic reaction. It wasn't as if they had always been Shadowhunters, anyway. Both Simon and Clary had grown up in the mundane world so they must have known what an allergic reaction looked like. Not knowing just came across as being odd. 

"Beth is allergic to mushrooms. Has been all her life. It's a good thing I remembered the EpiPen, things could have been a lot worse had I forgotten it."

"Well done to your brain." Charlie laughed a little as he pulled Beth up to a standing position. She stumbled slightly but quickly regained her balance with the help of a counter and Charlie's arm. 

"Off to bed, go on. You know the drill," Charlie said. He ushered her from the room and Beth slumped off to her room to get some sleep. In a normal situation, Charlie would have taken her to the hospital for the once over and she would have been forced to stay the night. This was not a normal situation, though. They weren't in England anymore and he knew about the health care cost in America so sending her to bed was the only logical option left.