I'd Give Up The World For You

A moment later Daisy motioned for Rukelion to sit next to her and he did so in confusion. She took her phone from him and held it up in front of them both. He could see the two of them reflected in it and he realized she was somehow taking a picture from the inside of the phone. 

"Say cheese!" she instructed with a smile. 

"Cheese."

Daisy's eyes were alight the way they only were when flowers were involved and she was beaming for all she was worth. Rukelion's head was turned slightly to gaze at her softly rather than the camera. 

His heart flip-flopped. That was a great picture. If he had known that he was allowed to take pictures with her before now he would have taken dozens. He only had these two precious pieces of evidence that his wife was alive and with him. 

"Can you send that to me?" he asked around the lump in his throat.

She agreed easily. "Sure!" 

A moment later, oblivious to the effect all of this had on his poor heart, she stood and brushed herself off before walking toward another part of the garden. He hurried to catch up, not wanting to be left behind.

Daisy was so, so happy the entire time they were at the botanical gardens so of course Rukelion was too. He was always at his happiest when she was at hers. 

Afterward they rounded off the outing by going to a burger place she liked. He had a hamburger only once before but it had been tasty enough. They ordered burgers, fries, and milkshakes. 

He started feeling a bit funny as soon as they walked inside. His eyes and nose itched and he sneezed repeatedly. Was he coming down with what Daisy had a while back? He hadn't caught it then so why would it affect him now?

Rukelion did his best to brush this off and focus on what his wife was saying to him. It became progressively more difficult the longer he sat there. 

When the food arrived he tried a French fry first in the dipping sauce Daisy offered him. That was a mistake. A few seconds later his throat began to close and he couldn't breathe. His whole body itched and he felt simultaneously dizzy and nauseous. What was this horrible feeling?  Had he been poisoned?

"Leo!" she cried in a panic when she saw him fall out of his chair. "Hang in there; I'm going to get you help!"

With shaking fingers, she pulled out her phone and desperately pressed it against her ear. "Hello? My friend fell and is covered in hives. I think he might be having a reaction to something but I don't know what he's allergic to…"

Rukelion couldn't focus on what she was saying after that. Everything was a blur of pain. The only thing he was aware of was the fact that she was holding onto his hand and insisted on going into the ambulance with him. He only knew what those were because of researching rules of the road. People were supposed to pull over or stop for ambulances to pass because they were emergency vehicles. 

He supposed he was having an emergency but he didn't know what had happened. He wasn't aware of what was going on until he felt something prick his thigh and suddenly he could breathe again. 

He groaned and closed his eyes. He felt awful. He had never felt so awful in his life. What was this?

"You're going to be okay," one of the people sitting next to him said firmly. "We need to get you checked out at the hospital to be safe but the worst is over."

Rukelion wanted to ask what happened to him but couldn't get the words out. Thankfully, Daisy had no such issue. She was grasping his hand so tightly the circulation was nearly cut off and she addressed the man who spoke desperately. 

"What happened to him?"

"Anaphylactic shock. Didn't he know he was allergic to peanuts? The restaurant you were in uses peanut oil to fry everything in," the man said with a disapproving shake of his head. 

He had never had a peanut in his life. How was he supposed to know? But hearing that what happened to him had been because of an allergy was like a punch to the gut. That was what had killed Daisy.

There had been a cure after all! Whatever that man put in his leg had saved his life but it hadn't existed back in his world so he had to watch his wife die right in front of him just like the rest of his family. He felt like he was going to throw up again. 

That horrible pain had been what she experienced in her final moments but there was no relief for her. She woke up here alone in even worse pain because of her car accident. 

Rukelion couldn't take it. He burst into tears and sobbed "Daisy, Daisy" over and over again. Both of the men in the back looked at him in concern. "Are you alright? Are you in pain anywhere? Who is Daisy?"

"I am," Daisy said quietly. She brushed the sweaty hair off his forehead with her free hand and continued stroking it. "It's okay, Leo. I'm here. I'm right here and you're going to be okay."

Was he though? Was he really? Because now that he knew what it felt like to nearly die from a severe allergy attack he wasn't sure if he would ever be okay again. The guilt was eating him alive. He made his wife suffer like this right before he lost her. 

When the ambulance arrived at its destination the men in the back tried to wheel Rukelion away but he began to panic. No! He couldn't let Daisy out of his sight! She had to stay where he could see her or he would end up setting something on fire by accident and blow his cover. 

"Please," he begged. "Please let her stay with me! Please. I can't be alone."

The men exchanged a glance before looking at Daisy. "Are you alright with that? Normally people don't have others in the examination room with them unless they're minors but…"

"It's fine. I'm his roommate," she said. 

She had to let go of his hand and he immediately felt the loss of her comforting touch. He had to fight it. The flames were threatening to engulf him right now and that could not happen where there were witnesses!

Rukelion tried to take deep breaths and keep his eyes on his wife but that wasn't enough. He began hyperventilating and the men pushing the contraption he was on started fussing over him. 

They didn't understand. He wasn't feeling sick again. At least not for the same reason. He just needed to be near Daisy.

"He doesn't seem to be going into shock again. His vitals are normal aside from an increased heart rate," one of them said to the other. 

Daisy pushed forward and lengthened her strides to keep up with them, panting. "He…he has PTSD. I think that's what's going on right now. He's having some sort of panic attack and needs me with him. Isn't that right, Leo?"

Rukelion didn't know what PTSD or panic attacks were but he undeniably needed her. He nodded and they slowed down so she could catch up to them and hold his hand as they kept moving.

That helped calm him slightly. At least he didn't have to worry about bursting into flames anymore.

He exhaled heavily and clutched her hand. It was the only thing anchoring him right now as he threatened to drift away. He was set up in a room and moved to a bed before getting hooked up to some different machines than the ones from the ambulance. 

Daisy stayed beside him through it all and once everyone was gone she held their clasped hands up to her cheek and let out a shaky breath. "Why didn't you tell me you were allergic to peanuts, stupid?"

"I didn't know," Rukelion managed to get out.

"How can you live this long and not know that?! I thought I was going to lose you!"

Tears filled her eyes before spilling over onto her cheeks. He felt a few of them hit his hand before she moved it so it was touching her lips instead. 

"Stupid," she repeated. "You're so stupid! You can't talk so big about staying with me and then go and nearly get killed by a nut! You can't, Leo. I can't take any more broken promises, I really can't."

Daisy cried even harder after that and Rukelion was at a loss. His earlier panic was forgotten in the face of her distress. What was she crying for? It sounded like she wanted him to stay despite never saying as much forthrightly. 

A bubble of hope swelled in his chest. Was that really what it was? Did she need him even a tiny bit? She wouldn't be this upset if she didn't, right?