“What happened?” I asked.

“I don’t know,” she said. “One minute you were beside me and the next you went down hard. Oh, Nick, I—”

Whatever she was about to say was cut off by the arrival of the ambulance. Damn it. I would have given a lot to hear what she had to say.

ManDee and Annabelle made room for the paramedics. When I realized I hadn’t had a stroke and could, in fact, move all of my limbs, I let them look me over but refused to go to the hospital. I wasn’t going to take a bed from someone who needed it because I’d had a fainting spell and bumped my noggin, for fuck’s sake.

The EMT who checked my vitals let it be known that he didn’t approve of my decision and said, “You lost consciousness when you hit your head. You really should go to the hospital.”

“No.” I shook him off.

The guy looked annoyed but resigned. He cracked a cold pack to activate it and handed it to me to hold on my forehead. He glanced at Annabelle, who was standing behind me, and spoke loud enough for her to hear. “You need to watch for a headache, ringing in the ears, vomiting, nausea, fatigue, blurry vision, and if you go to sleep, have someone wake you up every few hours to check that your pupils aren’t dilated.”

“Got it.” I’d say anything for them to go away so I could go home. Cars slowed down to see what was happening, pedestrians paused while walking by. It was a nightmare.

“You need to follow up with your regular doctor. From what you’ve described, I think you had a massive panic attack and hyperventilated.”

“Panic attack?” I asked. I knew I frequently got stressed and anxious about having another stroke, but this seemed like a new level.

“They can be pretty dramatic,” he said. “You probably felt weak like you were going to faint but you wouldn’t have. Fainting rarely happens during panic or anxiety.” I glared at him. Did he really have to keep saying that? “You did manage to knock yourself out on the pavement, though, and you really should have that checked out.”

“That” was a bump the size of an egg on my forehead. I promised that I would. He clearly didn’t believe me as he glanced at Annabelle to confirm that she’d heard him. She nodded and gave me a steely-eyed stare that let me know she wasn’t going to let me off as easily as he did.

ManDee left us when the ambulance took off, clearly appreciating that the show was over. Annabelle drove me home. We were silent for most of the ride with me reclined in the passenger seat and holding the cold pack on my head.