“No.” she whispered, feeling heat rise higher.
He rose and excused himself and she took his arm, feeling faint and feeling the ache in her belly spike downward to her groin. It took everything in her to walk out of that banquet room calmly instead of simply falling to the floor in tears from the pain. The minute they got into the hall she felt her knees turn to jelly and she stumbled. Tristan scooped her up into his arms,
“Good job, baby. It’s okay. What is it? Your stomach?” he asked urgently.
“My stomach hurts so bad.”
He fished his phone out of his pocket and was about to dial but Sam was suddenly at his side. He tucked the phone away,
“Get the car out front,” he told him. Sam dashed off.
Tristan took her to the lobby. A concierge rushed over, “Sir, is everything okay?”
“My girlfriend is ill. I need to take her home. Sam Jasper will be back in a minute and he’ll speak to you and be your point of contact until I return.”
What felt like a long moment later Sam came through the revolving doors and motioned for Tristan to follow him. Tristan put Kyla into the back seat of the limo and got out for a moment and spoke to Sam. She pulled the masquerade mask off and curled into a ball and held her stomach.
What’s wrong with me?
She imagined it felt like something like giving birth would feel.
When he climbed in beside her, he pulled her close, “Do you need to go to the hospital?”
“I-I dunno; I’ve never had pain like this --- ever.”
“That does it; that’s where we’re going.” He loosened his tie at his throat and undid a button. He was red-faced.
“Can’t we just go home, get me some Advil and see if that works? And do your diagnostic skills give you any clue?”
He flicked on the interior light and looked at her in the eye, sniffed her throat, and shook his head, “It doesn’t smell like any of the usual suspects.” He felt her stomach and pushed down gently, “I don’t think it’s your appendix.” He felt her forehead, then opened the divider window and told the driver to take them back to the apartment.
“I think maybe we’ll take you home and see how you do. Are you feeling any better, any worse?”
“About the same.” She leaned against him and closed her eyes. Then a gripping pain sliced through her belly. She groaned and grabbed her abdomen. A few minutes later the car stopped in front of the building and he led her inside. The elevator ride felt like it took eons. Tristan lifted her up into his arms when the elevator stopped and carried her down the hall, into the apartment, and directly upstairs to the bed. He looked pale with worry.
Kyla slipped her shoes off and lay down on the bed in the fetal position. A moment later he was giving her a glass of water and some pills. She drank and lay down and closed her eyes. She could hear him on the phone.
“Of course I realize how it’s gonna look but I’m not leaving her until I know what this is. Someone threatened her life last night with that fire so I don’t know if this is another attack. Say I’m dealing with a crisis and I’ll be back soon.”
She slid into slumber thinking it was odd that Tristan hadn’t let Sam in on his fire plan. Clearly he didn’t trust him completely.-13-“How long have I been sleeping?” She opened her eyes and saw he was looking out the window, his tux jacket off, top 2 buttons of his shirt undone, bowtie, gone, and his sleeves rolled up. He took a swig from a glass.
“About 2 hours. How do you feel?” He put down the almost empty tumbler and closed the distance between them to feel her forehead.
“I don’t have a fever, I don’t think. The pain is a bit less, I think. It’s just dull.”
“No, you don’t.” He looked perplexed and tense.
“I have to use the bathroom.” Kyla got up and kissed his cheek and then climbed off the bed and walked into the ensuite bathroom.
She saw by her reflection that her hair was a mess and her smoky eye make-up was now smeared into oblivion. She took the remaining jewelry off and took her hair the rest of the way down. She sat down to pee, sweeping a wet washcloth across her eyelids while she did. Then she unravelled a wad of toilet paper and reached to wipe herself but as soon as she wiped, the tissue slid. She looked at it and saw red.
My period?
Could that be what this was all about? If so, those were the worst period pains ever. Was it the birth control shot that caused this?