A Sweet Disaster

Chapter 7

Avoid him.

You’re just wasting your time.

But I don’t want to see him.

He doesn’t want to see you too.

But what if I run into him?

You won’t.

With a sigh of frustration Steph told her internal debaters to shut the hell up. Her mind was going bonkers from all this discussion. The hunger pangs were killing her, but she was being a baby and refusing to go outside because she was afraid of running into Gabriel.

A voice told her that she wouldn’t run into him because he was avoiding her too. Another voice told her to just sit it out because if she did run into him, that’d be worse. Steph had no idea which voice to listen to because both of them were right.

In the end she got up with a groan of frustration. Opening the door as silently as she could, she padded out into the hallway and headed for the kitchen. Her eyes landed on a yellow box labeled ‘Pancake Mix’.

Yum. That sounded good, and taking out a pan, she started putting her nonexistent cooking skills to practice.

*

Fifteen minutes later she had a plate of pancakes, still steaming hot, in front of her. Conveniently she found a tube of maple syrup and squirted an excessive amount all over the pancakes- she liked them sweet.

Shoveling them into her mouth, she let herself savor the taste briefly. There was still residue from the flour mix stuck in pockets inside, but Steph, being Steph, didn’t care. There was something tangy about the pancakes, something not quite right, but Steph, being Steph, didn’t care. A few minutes after finishing off the plate she felt the beginnings of a stomach ache coming on, but Steph, being Steph, didn’t care. Hence, an hour after consuming the deadly dessert she found herself lying on the bathroom floor with a very upset stomach and pain racking her from head to toe.

“My god,” she grunted, clutching her tummy and squeezing her eyes shut in pain. Feeling like throwing up, she tried making her way to the sink, but the effort doubled her over and she gave up, slumping back onto the floor. The coldness of it seeped through her clothing, making her feel both hot and cold all over. It wasn’t a nice feeling.

Gasping, she tried to sit up, and lunged for the toilet bowl, dry heaving into it. Nothing came out of her mouth as she’d already puked everything up before. Giving herself a sharp pinch on the thigh she forced herself to get up, and was making her way to the toilet door when she slipped on a wet patch of floor. Flipping onto the floor, her head caught the side of the sink and there was a really loud thump and black stars started dancing across her vision. She couldn’t help it; she let out a really loud yell. Putting a hand to her head, it came away slick with blood.

Resisting the urge to puke, she got up and started for the door again. The effort was like Atlas lifting the earth. Just as she reached it, it burst open, and in the process stubbing her toe.

“OUCH!” she shrieked, hopping on one foot and clutching the injured throbbing one. Pain sliced through it.

Standing in the doorway was Gabriel, and he took one look at her and his extraordinary blue eyes widened. “Oh my gosh, Steph, what the hell happened here?”

Curling her toes in pain, Steph shook her head violently and said, “Not… now.” She stumbled but Gabriel’s hand shot out to grab her before any more harm was done.

“Come on,” he said firmly, helping her out the door. “You’re going to my room.” He ignored her vehement protests.

Moments later, Steph found herself in his bathroom. Putting two arms around her waist he lifted her up like a baby and deposited her on the sink. Opening the mirror, he produced a first aid kit.