.....

Damien.....

Shit! Shit! Shit!

I immediately catch her before she sinks to the floor. I quickly press my palm to her cheek and notice she is cold and clammy to the touch. My heart is slamming heavily in my chest as I reach for my phone and instruct my driver to meet me downstairs. An ambulance at this point was not going to make it here fast enough.

Barely weighing anything in my arms, I held her tight and carry her down to the car garage where Archie waited for me. My sense of urgency was indication enough that we needed to get the emergency room fast and he did just that as we rushed down the road into the downtown area to the closest hospital.

I had barely enough time to think exactly what happened. In a fog of desperation, I call my friend Jonah, a doctor at Heath Memorial and I frantically explain what happened.

"Alright, calm down Damien. I'll meet you guys in the ER. I will have a bed waiting." He says.

I hang up and I look down at her. She is still out and barely moving. By the time Archie pulls up, two men pull open my door and I step out in time to see a bed come close. I hear Jonah giving orders as we walk in and they pull her along until we reach a private area and curtains are drawn.

"I need you here with me, Damien." He says loud enough for me to look away and answer his questions.

I fumble as questions I have no answers to are thrown at me.

"Her age?" he asks again.

I seriously don't know.

"17, 18? I'm not sure," I blurt out as they begin an IV line on her and continue checking her vitals.

"Blood sugar is 28," a nurse blurts out as she immediately reaches into a drawer and pulls out a syringe.

"We need to stabilize her," he gives the order and steps away.

He approaches me, I hesitate and follow him out as they begin taking off her clothes. The curtain is drawn for privacy, and we step away.

I am at a loss for words on what to say.

"When I saw the needle in her hand, I lost it, Jonah. I had no idea she was diabetic," I say as I look at him.

He nods his head. "It's understandable."

We continue to talk, and I try to give as much information as I can without going into details about the hacking and the millions that were stolen.

"Doctor, the patient is stable and her glucose levels are rising," a nurse says as she hands Jonah a chart.

I quietly stand by and listen as he goes over it.

"HerA1C levels are not good," he frowns.

"What does that mean" alarmed, I look at him for an answer.

"It just means that on average her glucose levels have not been good. but we will run more tests to get down to the bottom of this," he assures me.

"I want a full metabolic workup and vitals done every hour. Let's admit her for observation as well." He hands her back the chart.

He turns to me and holds my gaze with a reassuring smile. 'We will take good care of her. Go ahead and get some coffee. Transport will be down any minute to take her upstairs to a room." He says.

I'm stiff and at odds with whether I should leave or stay. But given the circumstances, it would be wrong of me to leave her here alone. So, I do as he says. I get my coffee and return in time to follow the nurses with her out of the ER and roll her up to the 4th floor into a private suite.

I stand by once more watching as they get to work sliding her into the bed and hooking her up to different machines. They talk amongst themselves with medical jargon I don't understand. In that instant, I felt like a kid again when my mother was admitted for complications with her cancer. I felt so helpless then as I do now just staring at her in that bed. Weak and pale.

"Mr. Frost?" the nurse calls out to me.

My mental fog cleared as she mentions my name again. I look at her as she smiles up at me.

"My name is Heather. I will be Ms. Peyton's nurse for the night." She says.

I remain silent as she continues on about Peyton's vitals.

"How long will she be...." I couldn't finish.

"Out?" she looks over at Peyton.

I nod again.

"Don't worry, she is resting. It's just the body's way of healing after such a traumatic day she has had. But she will come to."

With that said, I could honestly say I was relieved as she stepped away and I slowly sat in the chair behind me. It was just a matter of waiting to see when she woke up.