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Thankfully, the doctor came in right after.
“Ah, there she is. And here is the husband. I heard from the front desk that you were quite worried in the lobby.”
“I haven’t seen her like this.”
“Migraines this severe are very worrying.” Dr. Spinel turned to me. “How long have you had them?”
“Half of my life,” I said.
“And what would you rate the pain?”
“A nine.”
“Have you ever had one this severe?”
“Yes, a long time ago.”
“Do you have any other medicine?”
“I usually have pills for when they start ... but I’m out of that too.”
“You’ll need to see your regular doctor after this,” he said. “But we can give you an injection and some of your beta blockers for now.”
“However little you can give me. I still don’t have insurance, so?—”
“Don’t listen to her,” Levi cut in. “Give her as much as you can, and I’ll make sure she goes to her doctor.”
Dr. Spinel nodded. “Will do.”
“Levi,” I tried. “You can’t?—”
“Don’t tell me what I can and can’t do with my money, Amy.”
I could have sunk down into the floor. The doctor looked between us like a bomb was about to go off.
“Now, some things for when you recover: no coffee, and try to eat after this.”
“Yeah,” I grunted.
“Let me go get the injection.”
He didn’t waste time, a welcome departure from how my other ER visits went. The pain of the shot was nothing compared to the pain in my head, and he also gave me oral medicine. I checked my watch. I would need to get some food in my system as soon as possible. Then I could pass out in my room and be mostly okay for Levi to yell at me before he went to work in the morning.
“Don’t forget to avoid stress,” Dr. Spinel added.
I winced. “Yeah, I’ll do my best.”
Levi glared and I looked away. I had a feeling whatever would happen next would be the very thing Dr. Spinel warned me to avoid, but hey, I’d disappointed Levi enough today. I deserved it.
We left, and Levi took me to the pharmacist. Once I had all of my medicine, he also stopped to get me food. I took the beta blockers and slowly ate the donut he got me. I could still feel the nausea, but it wasn’t as bad.
When we got home, I was feeling a little better. The medicine Dr. Spinel gave me worked way better than anything over the counter.
“The medicine is kicking in,” I told Levi. “I’m gonna go to bed now, and you could try to take Isra and your mom to dinner to salvage the night.”
He slowly turned to me, eyes narrowed. “Do you think I’m going todinnerafter that?”
“Um, yes? You have things to do.”