Steph: Thanks for keeping me company during my shift. My relief just got here so I'm signing off.
Jeremiah: Glad to be of service
Steph logged off her computer and stretched. Graveyards were the worst, but Jeremiah had started staying up late or signing onto Facebook early whenever she worked them. He definitely made the time go faster. Steph had quickly learned that she could talk to Jeremiah about just about anything, including how much she wished she could talk to Will. Jeremiah was probably the only person who knew the extent to which her roommates were driving her crazy.
As Steph started putting her textbooks back into her backpack, she heard the door to the dispatch center open. She looked up to see that her boss had arrived for the day. Steph nodded and smiled in a sleepy greeting.
"Steph, are you okay? You look awful," Sterling commented.
"Ummmm, I think so?" Steph replied. That was an odd thing for him to say. No one looked good after a graveyard shift and Sterling had never said anything like that in the last year that Steph had worked for him.
How bad do I look? Steph wondered. She knew she wasn't a morning person by any standard, even less so after a graveyard shift, so she probably looked like trash on a regular basis when Sterling would arrive.
"Well, let us know if you need anything," Sterling said as he went into his office.
Steph nodded and quickly left. She had to get to the student center quickly if she wanted a quiet place to nap for a bit before her first class started. She would never understand how there were already so many students napping at 8 a.m. There couldn't be that many people dumb enough to take a morning class after a graveyard shift, right?
---
Steph was mortified. She was sitting in a Dairy Queen with Charles and her roommate, Roxie, now covered in thrown up chocolate ice cream.
They were having a great time when Charles made a joke that caused Steph to choke a bit on her ice cream. And then all the ice cream just came up. No heaving, no more gagging, just a fountain of brown liquid spewing out of her mouth that she couldn't stop. Like one of those fish fountains that shoot water out their moths, but it was chocolate instead. Thankfully, none of it had gotten on her friends.
"I'll get all the napkins," Roxie said as she slid out of the booth. She shortly returned with a huge stack of napkins. Steph grabbed them and started cleaning up her mess. She let out a small protest when Roxie and Charles took some napkins from her, but was quickly quieted with a look from Roxie.
"Here," Charles said, handing Steph his jacket. Steph looked at him quizzically. Charles was thin as a rail, and while Steph was by no means large, she was definitely not thin as a rail. There was no way she could ever fit into anything Charles owned.
"Just put it on backwards to cover your shirt," Charles explained.
"Oh," Steph quietly replied. She took his jacket and got her arms as far in the sleeves as she dared.
Any further up and I might split it. She did not want this day to get any worse.
---
The day got worse.
Charles and Roxie had rushed Steph home. She got all cleaned up and started prepping the living room for a get together. Steph and Lesley had discovered that their new friend, Clark, had never even heard of A Very Potter Musical and decided that needed to change. Soon, Clark arrived and the three of them squeezed onto the couch so they could all see Steph's laptop.
Shortly after the video started, Steph started to feel incredibly tired. She soon found herself leaning on Clark. She wouldn't normally pay any attention to who she was leaning on, but she did like to give her friends some time to get used to how she acted when she was tired.
Affectionately called "collapsey" by her closest friends, most people knew that Steph would get incredibly cuddly with whoever was closest when she started getting tired. Most people knew. Clark did not.
Steph felt Clark tense up when her head hit his shoulder, but she was so tired, she didn't associate it with him being uncomfortable.
This isn't good, Steph thought. She had a 3 a.m. shift she had to get to and she didn't have time for an extra nap. I'll see how I feel in an hour.
An hour passed and Steph felt worse. As much as she didn't want to call in sick, it was quickly becoming clear she wasn't going to make it until three.
"I'm calling into work and heading to bed," Steph said as she eased herself up off the couch. "Just be sure to turn my laptop off when you're done."
Lesley gave Steph a concerned look. Steph didn't give any further explanation as she headed into her room. As soon as her head hit the pillow, she was out. She should have known she was in trouble just from that. But sleeping people never know they're in trouble.
---
Steph woke up from a pain in her chest. She groaned as she reached over to her night stand, blindly feeling for her phone.
It's only 7? Steph thought. If I'm going to call in sick to work, you better bet I'm going to sleep in.
Steph rolled over and put her phone back on her night stand. Suddenly, she started wheezing. Shocked, she sat up straight and now she couldn't breath at all! Panicking, Steph quickly laid back down on her back.
Taking a few shallow but calming breaths, Steph started thinking about what she needed to do. Her first thought was to text Jeremiah. She knew he would be over in an instant. But he didn't have a car and what if she needed to be driven somewhere?
Steph tapped her forehead with her phone. Who would be up this early on a Sunday that would help her and had a car? It shouldn't have been as surprising as it was that not being able to breath made thinking so hard.
After what seemed like an eternity, but was actually only a couple minutes, of strained thinking, Steph decided to text her neighbor, Jared. Jared had been the first person to welcome her in when she moved and they hung out a lot. He always was ready to help her, so she knew he'd come over quickly. Plus, he knew everyone, so if she needed more help, he would know who to call.
Hey, I can't breath when I stand up. Can you come over?
After a short prayer for help, Steph slowly got out of bed and put on some clothes. Moments later, she heard a knock at her door.
"Thanks for coming," Steph wheezed.
"No problem! Now go lay down on the couch and tell me what's going on," Jared said, with a concerned look on his face. Steph could tell by his slacks and white shirt paired with raggedy tennis shoes that she had caught him as he was getting ready to leave for his before-church meetings.
Steph laid down and told Jared what she was feeling. After a moment of thought, Jared took out his phone.
"I'm going to see if Li can come take a look at you. She lives below you and is studying to become a nurse," Jared said as he quickly sent off a text.
Soon, Li was sitting on the edge of the couch with her stethoscope.
"Your lungs don't sound good," Li said. "You need to go to the ER."
Jared, Steph, and Li left the apartment together. With a quick thanks to Li, Jared helped Steph to his car and drove to the hospital.
"Thanks for the ride," Steph said upon arrival. "Can I text you when I'm done or do I need to find a ride home?"
Jared cocked his head and gave Steph a smile.
"I'm going to stay with you, Stephanie," Jared said as if Steph should have known he was going to say that. "I already texted the bishop, so they aren't expecting me at church today."
---
"You don't just text me that you're in the ER and nothing else," Steph's mom chastised. "Do you know how worried I've been the last several hours?!"
"I'm sorry, Mom," Steph said. "I wasn't thinking."
"So, what did the doctor say?"
"I have pneumonia in one lung. I'm waiting with Jared for my antibiotics to get filled right now."
"Have you been sick? How did you get pneumonia?"
"Ummm," Steph paused. She really didn't want Jared to hear about her embarrassing day yesterday. "Yesterday I threw up ice cream and inhaled some."
"What?! Why would you inhale while throwing up?"
Steph sighed. "I was at Dairy Queen. I choked a little when one of my friends made a joke while I was eating and then I just couldn't stop. It looked like chocolate milk and I didn't realize I was throwing up for a bit."
Steph glanced over at Jared. He was very politely pretending he didn't hear anything as he watched a tree blow in the breeze.
"So your body just rejected everything," Steph's mom mused. "Did the doctor have any insight into that?"
"No," Steph replied. She was confused. Why would she have talked to the doctor about that? People throw up all the time.
"You know my thoughts?" Steph waited for her mom to continue. She was going to get her mom's opinion whether she wanted it or not, but she didn't mind. Her mom's thoughts were usually pretty accurate. "I think you're too stressed. You have this awful schedule and then those awful roommates on top of it. You need to do something to destress your body."
"And what would you suggest? I can't change my work schedule and I've exhausted every option to deal with those two," Steph replied.
"I don't know. I'll think on this," Steph's mom replied. Quick good byes were exchanged and Steph sighed as she laid back in the reclined passenger seat of Jared's mini van. Her mom was probably right.
"We're all on your side, you know," Jared piped up.
Steph looked at him. "What do you mean?"
"Sasha keeps trying to complain about you," Jared said. "She's tried with several of the guys. She gets really frustrated when we defend you."
Steph wasn't surprised, though Sasha should have known she was friends with all the guys in their building. She had multiple guys over every week. Mostly to bug Sasha, but also because they were friends and she liked feeding her friends.
"What does she say?"
"I'm sure you know most of what she says," Jared replied. "She's also convinced you're complaining about her to everyone and that's why she can't get any dates."
Steph made a disbelieving noise. "I don't gossip!"
"I know. I know what's going on because I've heard from your roommates. You're not the only one frustrated."
Steph groaned. She didn't like everyone knowing her business. The only people that should have known outside her roommates were Roxie, Neil, Jeremiah, and Charles. They were her closest friends and she knew they wouldn't go gossiping about her behind her back.
Jared reached over and rubbed Steph's arm. "We all love you, Stephanie," he said. "Don't worry about what Sasha's saying."