Page 131

I couldn’t get an answer out and he turned on the lamp next to the bed.
All I could do was yelp in pain as the light turned the migraine up to ten.
“Turn it off,” I begged. “Please, no light.”
Immediately it was shut off. Even talking had pounded on my head, and I curled into myself. God, I wished I had medicine. I could have caught this right when it started and it would have been okay.
“Amy,” Levi said. Dimly, I was aware of how panicked he sounded. “What’s going on?”
“I’ll be fine.” I curled in tighter on myself. “I’m just not well right now.”
But I’d not felt one this bad since the first one when I was a teenager.
“You’re not fine,” he said, his fingers touching my forehead. I let out a hiss of pain and shied away. His hand jerked back.
“Just leave me. I’ll get over it eventually.”
“What’s going on?” he asked. “Please tell me.”
“M-migraine. It’s bad.”
“On a scale of one to ten.”
“Nine,” I said without hesitation.
“We’re going to the hospital,” he replied immediately.
“No,” I begged. “I can’t afford it.”
“I don’t care about money.”
I opened my mouth to respond, but another wave of pain was sent my way, and all I could do was bear it.
By the time the wave subsided, Levi had left. I laid in the darkness, wondering if he was gone for good. Maybe he went to dinner without me.
But he was back before I could finish the thought.
“Put this over your forehead. We’re leaving now.”
“But—”
“No arguing.” His voice was soft yet filled with an unrelenting tension I hadn’t heard. “We’re going to the hospital. And that’s final. Cover your eyes. I’m carrying you to the car myself.”
He was going to regret this the second he saw the hospital bill. I’d gone once when I had insurance and I was still paying it off now.
But the idea ofanymedicine was enough to let him lift me up. I now had a thing to look forward to, a light at the end of the tunnel. I kept my eyes closed as he put me into the car and we sped through Nashville.
Time always moved funny when I was in pain, but it felt like we were at the ER way too fast.
My pain was worse, and the car didn’t help. The second he parked the car and I opened the door, I threw up. I hadn’t eaten anything, but my stomach wouldn’t stop roiling.
“I’m sorry,” I mumbled. “I know I must be so gross right now.”
“Amy, you’re sick. Very sick. Don’t apologize for a single thing.”
The lights of the hospital were awful, and all I could do was sit in a corner while I pressed the washcloth to my eyes. I resisted the urge to throw up again while Levi handled talking to the front desk.
“Come on,” he said. “We’re going back now.”