Chapter 8

Carrie arrived at work looking flushed, but brushed it off as just the common cold. There was no way she was missing work after the vacation she had. Her supervisor was kind enough to let her have the time off. She couldn’t let him down by calling in sick.

So no matter how lousy Carrie felt, she sucked it up and started on the mounds of paperwork that was stacked on her desk waiting for her to look through. Carrie didn’t realize the length of time she was gone until she saw the mound of paperwork on her desk.

“Well, you wanted the time off, “Carrie whispered to herself, “Better get busy and finish that paperwork.”

Carrie was visited by her supervisor to see how she was doing. He felt bad for laying all that paperwork on Carrie when she returned to work, but he knew she could handle it. And like a trooper, Carrie assured her supervisor she was handling it alright.

“Are you sure?” her supervisor asked with concern, “You look a little peaked?”

“I’m fine. Just a little cold. Probably from being snowed in at the cabin?” Carrie replied.

Carrie went back to work as soon as her supervisor left her, no longer worried that Carrie wouldn’t finish the job.

But 30 minutes later, Carrie felt light-headed and hot. When she got up to get a drink of water, she passed out on the floor.

Carrie must have lain on the floor for about 15 minutes until Terrie came by to see her friend and found her lying unconscious on the floor. Calling 9-1-1, Terrie felt Carrie’s wrist and found a pulse. So she made her comfortable until paramedics arrived to assess Carrie’s situation.

Terrie watched as Carrie was placed on a gurney and put into the ambulance where she was taken to the hospital to be checked out.

“What’s wrong with Carrie?” Carrie’s supervisor asked Terrie as soon as he saw paramedics take her out of the office building.

“I came in to see Carrie and found her lying unconscious on her office floor. So I called 9-1-1.” Terrie explained to her supervisor.

“I thought Carrie looked a little peaked when I went to see how she was doing, but she assured me she was alright?”

“Well, that’s Carrie for you. Never one to admit she had a problem.”

As soon as Terrie’s supervisor left, she called her husband, Jim, to let her know about Carrie. Then, Jim, knowing that Mike would be worried about Carrie, called his friend.

“Mike, its Jim. I have some news about Carrie you might want to know.” Jim said as he left a voicemail on Mike’s cell when he didn’t pick up.

Mike didn’t check his voice messages until later that night when he returned home from work:

“Mike, it’s Jim. I have some news about Carrie you might want to know.”

Upon hearing the voicemail from Jim, Mike immediately pushed Jim’s button on his cell to see what he wanted to tell him about Carrie.

“Hey, Mike, I’m glad you called back.” Jim said when Mike called him back.

“What’s up with Carrie?” Mike asked.

“She’s in the hospital. She passed out at work today.” Jim explained.

“Oh dear? Is she okay?”

“Her doctor ran tests, but we haven’t heard back yet. She’s resting in her room at the hospital.”

“Oh, okay. Thanks for letting me know.” Mike said, uninterested.

“You aren’t going to see her?” Jim asked, sensing the hostility in Mike’s voice. “She doesn’t want to see me?”

“That’s not what Terrie tells me.” Jim informs his friend. “Terrie tells me Carrie is interested in you.”

“Oh, she hasn’t called me since we got back from the cabin.” Mike replied, unsure.

“Go see her. What can it hurt?” Jim said, encouraging his friend. “At least find out where you two stand?”

“Well, you have a point.” Mike said. “I’ll do that. Thanks for everything.”

“No problem. Good luck.” Jim told his friend before they ended the call.

As Mike hurried to get dressed—he had gotten ready for bed—and hurried out to his car, he thought about his Carrie’s time at the cabin. It seemed to him that they had struck a connection, but ever since they got back to reality and the day-to-day grind, he barely heard from Carrie. Mike didn’t know if it was because she was rejecting him or if she was just busy with work.

Now that he returned Jim’s call, now he had some idea why Carrie never contacted him. The least Mike could do was go see Carrie and see where they stood.