She saw the ambulance screaming towards her just in time to hit her breaks, sending her coffee flying from her hand and coating the windshield with the creamy brown mix of coffee and creamer. Her heart was beating like a drum and her breath was come quickly out of an already hoarse and sore throat. She took a moment to collect herself and wipe her nose, which ran almost constantly for the past two days, then began searching for something to wipe off her glazed windshield. This had been a hellish week for her already and this was just icing on the cake. Not that she minded the extra hours, living in the city was expensive, but for a week straight she has been covering his shifts, not to mention the mountains of paperwork he felt for her before he vanished. For a few days, she was able to reach him to get advice on the more serious decisions, but now she couldn't reach him at all. She thought about going to his apartment to ask him if he was ever going to return, but decided against it. If he was too sick to answer the phone or check his e-mail, he would be too sick to answer the door.
With the car cleaned to the best of her ability, she pulled back to the road and headed to the office, ignoring the migraine that was building behind her eye. Two more lights and she was there, thankful for finding a job so close to home. Pulling into a parking space, she began to get her belongings in order, but as she glanced at the mirror to check her makeup, she noticed her eyes were bloodshot. Must be from all the sneezing and headaches she has had, she thought. Brushing it off, she stepped from her car and stood up with a slight rush to the head, silently sighing and thinking that he better not have gotten her sick. She waited until the feeling passed and walked in the office, blessing the dim recessed lighting of the main atrium. Waving hello to the security officer, she went to the elevator and hit the button, adjusting her dress in the bronzed doors while she waited for it to make the slow trek down from the seventh floor. A small blemish on her face distracted her and she wiped it away, thinking that it must be from when the coffee decided to free itself and make a mad dash from her cup, but as she looked to see what it was, she saw it was a small amount of blood. Wonderful, she thought, a migraine, dizziness, runny nose, and now a bloody nose. She tilted her head back to try and stem the flow, but a wave of nausea overwhelmed her and she stumbled backwards, supporting herself on the far wall.
She wasn't sure how long it took for the bleeding to stop, but by the time the buzzer went off for the elevator, she had wretched into the trash bin next to her twice. Wiping her mouth and checking for more blood, she stepped in the elevator, cursing his name with each unsteady step. She pressed the button for the fifth floor and watched the doors close slowly, smiling a bit wickedly as she watched someone cover their mouths as they walked by where she vomited. Leaning against the elevator wall, she felt another wave of nausea come over her, but choked back the bile coming out of her, now empty, stomach. Her eyes burned and her nose was a constant runny faucet now, but she couldn't call in, not while he was still out. The doors slowly slide open and she took a few steps into the office, only to collapse, her body shaking and covered in a fine sheath of sweat. She couldn't get her arms to lift herself off the ground, instead she vomited once again, but this time there was blood mixed with the bile. She heard footsteps rushing towards her, along with cries of concern and alarm. Her body shaking and a small pool of blood forming under her from what she guessed was her nose again, she couldn't get the energy to tell them she was fine and to get her to her office. She heard someone yell for an ambulance, but all she was thinking was who was going to cover her work if they wouldn't let her do it herself.
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