Kamdyn was happy to eat the lunch that she and Ryan had made the night before but the second she took one bite of it, her face broke out in hives, she felt herself swelling up, her throat felt like it was closing and she was helpless.
"Kam?" Tim asked, getting up from a different spot at the table. "Did you have something with nuts?"
Kam just shook her head as she struggled to breathe. She'd made the dish with Ryan. She knew there were no nuts unless someone had tampered with it.
"Where's your EpiPen? Your desk?" He asked, getting her to nod. "One of you go get the EpiPen. Top drawer of her desk. Anyone else call 911. Kam, do you want to lay down?"
She nodded and got down with a little bit of a struggle, still struggling as one of the guys from the body shop came back with her lifesaver.
"3, 2,1," Tim said as he gave her one little warning before stabbing her in the thigh with her epipen. Her breathing was not normal by any means and it was very labored but she at least could some air in and out.
"Just breathe Kam. In and out," Tim instructed, keeping her on her side until paramedics arrived and took over. "I'm here kiddo. Just keep breathing,"
"Call....Call..." she tried to say in between breaths.
"I'm gonna call Ryan. Just breathe," Tim nodded, waiting until they got her in the ambulance before he got in with her.
Kam's breathing was still extremely labored even with the dose of epinephrine and the oxygen mask they had put on her. She had grabbed Tim's hand for comfort but it was quickly getting looser as she was passing out. Her heart rate was still extremely fast and the paramedics decided to shock her back into rhythm before they pulled up to the hospital. She was taken to the back immediately after arriving and Tim was instructed to stay in the waiting room.
He knew he had to make the call he was dreading. Ryan was probably going to be worried but he had to let him know what was going on.
He didn't answer the first time so Tim ended up calling the Menards location he was at. He explained that he needed to talk to Ryan who was doing an appearance or somewhere with Austin, filming promotional material.
"Hey Tim,"
"Hey. What did you and Kam make for dinner last night?" He asked, getting right to the point.
"It was chicken chili Mac, why? What happened?" Ryan asked, immediately a little bit concerned. He thought maybe Kam choked on it or something, never would've thought that it would be an allergic reaction.
"No nuts in it?" He asked.
"No. None. Tim, what happened?" Ryan asked again, fearing the worst.
"She ate it last night with no reaction?"
"No. She had 2 helpings of it too. Did she have a reaction?" He asked, trying to find out what happened.
"She did. We got her to the hospital but she was still pretty rough when we got here," Tim explained, looking at the double doors as they opened and closed.
"You at Jackson?"
"Yep, she wanted me to call you," Tim told him, pacing the waiting room.
"I'll be there in 10 minutes," Ryan said before abruptly hanging up the phone. He didn't wait. He found Austin, told him what was going on and they both agreed to leave.
Tim was still waiting to see her when Ryan came into the ER, scanning the room for Tim.
"What happened? Where is she?" He asked, knowing just how bad the allergy was. He was terrified.
"They still have her in the back. She took one bite and her face just swelled up, she couldn't breathe. We got her EpiPen, called an ambulance and they were there before everything got worse,"
"Worse?" He asked.
"Her heart rate was off, so they ended up having to shock her in the ambulance. Then we got here and that's all I know,"
Ryan just nodded and watched as the doors opened and shut again, hoping they were able to get back there soon.
It was almost an hour of waiting before a doctor came out and finally called Kam's name, making both Ryan and Tim head over to him.
"You're here for Kamdyn?" The doctor asked, looking between both of them.
"Yes," they both nodded before Ryan spoke up, "Can I see her?"
"Once she's moved to a room. We want to keep her overnight for observation. She's going to be fine. We have her on a few meds to help with the swelling, as well as something to help her sleep and keep her calm for now," the doctor explained.
"Thank you," Tim nodded.
"I'll have a nurse come get you when they have her settled,"
"Thank you," Tim said as they both nodded and took a seat again.
"How did this happen? She's crazy about her allergy. She doesn't keep anything in the house that's nut," Ryan asked.
"We'll have to review the cameras," Tim shrugged, "as you said, she knows her allergy so she wouldn't do this to herself. Especially the way her face changed. Do you know of anyone that could have it out for her?"
"Macey," Ryan nodded, almost having that sinking feeling that she was involved.
"Macey that we just fired?"
"Yep. The one that beat her up too," he nodded again.
"I'll have them look at cameras," Tim nodded, texting the rest of the admins to get on the cameras and start looking at cameras in the break room from all day.
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Ryan nodded and sat quietly as they waited for any update on Kamdyn. If Macey was involved, there was no way that she was going to get away with it.
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Serious thanks to LaylaLB12for the idea when I was stuck!!
