He burst through the office door like a madman.
Theo sat in one of the orange plastic chairs by the front desk, his skin pale and waxy. His tear-tracked face had swollen, and his breath rasped audibly over the hum of the school’s decrepit air-conditioner.
For a heartbeat Ty’s personal feelings threatened to overwhelm his professional training.
Then Theo wheezed, “Hi, Ty,” and he snapped back into action.
“Hey, buddy.” Ty went to his knees beside him and automatically put his fingers on his wrist to check his pulse. Too fast, but notoh fuckfast. “Heard you found some bees.” He glanced up at Peggy. “Has he taken the EpiPen?”
“Just the oral Benadryl and the albuterol,” Peggy answered calmly. “We were hoping that would take care of it, but he was stung multiple times.”
No kidding. Ty kept his voice soft and comforting and looked Theo in the eye. “Sounds like you had a bad day. Can you show me where you got stung?”
Theo held out his arm first. Two prominent red welts stood out from the surrounding flesh, and a spotted rash had spread from wrist to shoulder.
“Did you get the stingers out?” Ty couldn’t see anything, but the stings were so swollen it was hard to tell.
Theo wiped his nose on the back of his hand. Ew, but not the time to reprimand him; it wasn’t his fault he was snotting all over the place. “I thinkso.”
Ty grabbed a Kleenex from the front desk, met eyes with Peggy, who nodded, and then returned his attention to Theo. “Okay, that’s good. Ms. Peggy, can you get Theo a cold cloth to keep the swelling down?”
“Am I going to have to go to the hospital?” Theo’s lip trembled.
“That depends how fast the Benadryl works, okay?” If he didn’t start breathing easier in a few minutes, or if his condition got worse, they’d have to use the EpiPen, and he’d definitely have to go. “Try to take a few deep breaths for me, all right? Nice and slow.”
The rasping did not improve, but it didn’t get worse. Ty looked over at Peggy again. “Did you call his dad?”
Her expression made him stand up and take a step away from Theo. He wasn’t in immediate danger.
Peggy lowered her voice. “We tried to reach Ollie, but his phone’s going straight to voicemail. Nobody’s picking up the office phone at his work either. We think maybe he should go home with you. We’ll get coverage for your classes.”
Ty was the only other person with permission to take Theo off school property. “Yeah, of course. And I’ll keep trying Ollie.”
But before he could even let Theo know he was just going to grab his stuff from the staff room, Theo said, “Ow! Oh no!”
When Ty turned his head, Theo was slapping at his shorts. Ty’s heart stuttered in his chest when a small yellow-and-black body fell to the floor.
“Theo—”
The wheezing increased as his airway tightened further. At least one more sting, maybe two, and Theo’s body was throwing everything it had at the bee venom.
“Get the epi and the albuterol!” Ty stepped forward just in time to catch Theo as he listed sideways off the chair. Theo was fumbling at the pocket of his cargo shorts, but his fingers were swollen. Ty ripped open the snaps holding the pocket shut and grabbed the tube. He flicked the cap off and jammed the spring-loaded tip against Theo’s thigh.
“Peggy, call 911.”
Theo’s wide, tearful eyes met Ty’s. “Don’t… make me… go to… the hospital,” he pleaded.
Ty’s heart broke as he held the inhaler to Theo’s mouth. “I’m sorry, buddy, but we need to get you checked out by a doctor.”
Everything got exponentially worse when Theo started crying in earnest. Between his restricted airways and the hitching of his sobs, he definitely wasn’t getting enough oxygen.
“Get me his backup epi and the first-aid kit!” Ty didn’t want to have to give him another dose—his heart was racing as it was. He also didn’t want Theo to pass out or for mucus to further obstruct his windpipe.
Hereallydidn’t want to have to cut a hole in Theo’s throat so he could breathe, but better that than the alternatives.
Peggy handed him the kit. “911 says the ambulance is three minutes out.”
“Okay, thank you.” Ty put the kit on the floor next to his knees. “Theo, buddy, I need you to listen to the sound of my voice, okay? Everything is going to be fine. I’m going to stay with you the whole time, all right? Ms. Peggy gave me the rest of the day off. Wasn’t that nice of her?”
