“Yeah?” He narrowed his eyes.
“Apparently, he has a bad peanut allergy.”
“But he just had water,” muttered Pervis. “He can’t die.”
Royce patted Pervis’s shoulder but said nothing.
Meeting Pervis’s distraught gaze, I decided to give him a small measure of comfort. “When he gets to the hospital, they’ll give him oxygen and an IV of antihistamines and cortisone. That should help him a bit.”
Pervis simply nodded, pressing his lips tight.
I gave a sigh of relief when two paramedics rushed up. I stood and moved away to let them work. They carefully put him on a stretcher so they could transport him to Dallas Medical Center. Pervis lookedworried as he followed them toward the waiting ambulance.
Penelope got up onstage, looking flustered. “Folks, I’m so sorry about this. Obviously, we’ll have to cancel the event. Our thoughts are with Kyle and his brother. Thank you all for coming, and we’ll try and reschedule at a later date. Again, thank you for coming.”
Feeling dazed, I watched as the ambulance pulled out onto Main Street, the red lights flashing off the buildings that lined the road. It was unsettling how fragile life could be. One minute, you could be enjoying a frozen lemonade or making a speech, and the next thing you knew, you might be fighting for your life.
Royce turned to me. “There’s nothing else we can do here.”
“I agree.”
Shifting restlessly, he said, “I don’t know about you, but I could use a drink.”
“Oh, uh… sure.” I shot an uneasy glance toward Penelope and the Raidens. “Should we say our goodbyes to Penelope and company?”
Royce’s jaw hardened. “To be honest, I’m not feeling very charitable at the moment. I don’t think they deserve our courtesy.” Royce slipped his arm around my shoulders. “Let’s vamoose. The High Chaparral has happy hour right now.”
“You sure you don’t want to say goodbye?” I grimaced. “I don’t want Penelope mad at you.”
“Pfft. I’m the one who’s mad. This whole thing was an ambush, I swear. Why I even agreed to show, I’m not sure.”
I smiled weakly. “You had to come because I was hoodwinked into showing up. You came to rescue me.”
“True. Well, I’m done playing nice for the day.”
“Fine by me,” I murmured. “I never really like playing nice.” We headed toward the shops and restaurants, and once we were far enough from the others, I said, “I can’t help but feel the Raidens will simply be thrilled that there’s one less candidate in the race. What are your thoughts?”
Royce sighed. “I’d have to agree. I don’t think they really cared that Kyle collapsed.”
“Angela looked a bit concerned.”
“Did she?” He frowned. “I didn’t notice.”
I nodded. “It surprised me. She doesn’t strike me as a woman who cares about the little people.”
“No. Not at all.” He laughed humorlessly. “The Raidens probably thought it wouldn’t look good to leave with poor Kyle almost dying right in front of them.”
“I’m sure you’re right. No way they actually give a damn about Kyle.”
He glanced at me. “What do you think the odds are that Kyle will be okay?”
“Not sure. He was in bad shape. If it was anaphylactic shock, he had a very severe reaction. He might have needed more than one EpiPen. He didn’t respond as well as I’d have liked to the one Pervis had.”
“Is that typical?”
“Depends. Maybe the pen was old. Or maybe it wasn’t an allergic reaction at all, so the pen had no effect. Perhaps he truly had a cardiac event.”
“But he’s so damn young.”
