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‘Stay,’ she barked at me. She leaped around the bed to catch Brooke as she slid to the floor in a dead faint.

‘Oh my God,’ I squeaked.

‘She’s fine,’ Sammy said. Then, louder, ‘Brian!’

One of the huge tattooed guys looked over then leaned in to say something to his client, before stripping off his gloves and rushing over.

‘No, stay there,’ he said to me when I shuffled to get up and help.

Between them, Sammy and Brian maneuvered Brooke into a chair, and a few seconds later her eyelids started to flutter.

‘Thanks,’ Sammy said to Brian. ‘I’ve got her.’

I was glad Brooke had been unconscious for that – I knew she would have been mortified. Brian squeezed Sammy on the shoulder and went back over to his workstation.

‘Hey, there you are,’ Sammy said in a soft, soothing voice.

‘Shit, I’m sorry,’ Brooke rasped, covering her face with her hands.

‘No need to be sorry. Just stay there for me.’

Sammy walked back around to her station and took a bottle of water out of a mini-fridge.

‘Are you okay?’ I whispered.

Brooke nodded. Her cheeks were starting to get some color back.

‘Here,’ Sammy said, passing the water to Brooke. ‘Needle phobia?’ she asked.

‘Apparently. Shit. I’m so embarrassed.’

‘Nah, you’re all right. You’re not even my first fainter this week. Stay put while I fix Jessie up, okay?’

Brooke nodded and opened the water, then took a tiny sip. She caught my eye, then gave me a smile and a little nod. I didn’t want to make her feel more embarrassed by asking questions, so I just smiled back.

‘Are you all right?’ Sammy asked me seriously.

‘I’m fine.’

My belly was throbbing with a new pain, hot and aching rather than the sharp sting of the needle, but it hadn’t hurt nearly as bad as I’d prepared myself for. I instinctively pressed my tongue to my back tooth, wondering if that stillhurt, and found it solid and unmoving. It had healed without me even noticing.

‘Great.’ Sammy put another pair of gloves on to swipe more alcohol over my new piercing, whichdidsting, and slapped a white bandage on top of it, securing it with tape. She held out her hands to me and I took them so she could swing me around and help me stand up.

‘You are golden,’ she said. ‘Take care of it and you’ll be fine. Give me a call if you have any questions. My number is at the bottom of the leaflet I gave you.’

‘Thanks,’ I said with a smile.

I reached out my hand to Brooke and gently tugged her to her feet, then didn’t let go of her hand once she was standing.

‘I’m not touching you for at least twenty-four hours, even if you swear to all the goddesses that you’re fine,’ Sammy said.

‘I’m going to use that as my excuse for why I don’t currently have a piece of metal shoved through my flesh,’ Brooke said.

Now she was standing up, she looked pretty much back to normal. I was still going to stop at the first store we came across and buy her a candy bar, though. She needed sugar.

We followed Sammy back to the front desk, and I added a decent tip to the cost of the piercing for the problems we’d caused her. She gave me a genuine smile when she thanked me.

The whole ordeal had taken less than thirty minutes.