Allergic Reaction

The whole gang had been invited to dinner at Debbie's. Brian was originally going to decline when he heard Justin was going to be there. They hadn't talked to or even seen each other since the Rage party almost a year before. He changed his mind when he heard Deb say something about Justin coming alone. Apparently he and the fiddler had broken up about three months earlier. Brian was one of the first to arrive and he walked into the kitchen, kissing Debbie on the cheek and stealing a piece of uncooked spaghetti from her hand before she could put it in the pot.

"I don't understand how you can eat it like that," she said with a disgusted look on her face. Brian simply shrugged as he crunched away on the raw pasta. He took a seat at the kitchen table. A couple of minutes later, Vic came out of his room and smiled. Brian stood and walked over to the older man, giving him a hug. Since Deb's back was turned Brian gave Vic's ass a quick grab with a smirk before resuming his seat. Vic only laughed before sitting across from Brian. He leaned across the table and whispered.

"One of these days you're going to get us in trouble."

"One can only hope," Brian said with a wink, making them both laugh.

"What's so funny?" Debbie turned and looked at them.

"Nothing," Brian said after clearing his throat, trying to keep the smirk off his face. He could tell that Vic was trying just as hard to do the same.

Once Deb's back was turned again, Vic leaned across the table once more. "It's not fair to tease me like that," he whispered.

Brian looked Vic in the eye, making sure he kept a serious expression on his face. "Who's teasing?"

The comment left Vic speechless. He simply sat back and pondered what Brian was saying with those two simple words. They both knew he'd never take Brian up on the offer, but it was nice to feel wanted. Maybe that was Brian's intention.

It wasn't long before everyone else started to arrive. Michael and Ben were the last to show up. Once they came in, everyone was seated at the table and they all started passing the food around.

"Everyone make sure to try the salad. I got a new dressing recipe and I want to see what you think," Debbie commented. They all agreed and put some salad on their plates.

Michael was the first adventurous one. He took a bite and chewed for a minute, then smiled. It wasn't a fake smile. "It's great, ma," he said and she beamed.

With that everyone else started taking bites of the salad. Brian was the last to dig in. The dressing had an unusual taste that Brian knew he'd tasted before, but he just couldn't place it. Once the salad was completely devoured someone finally asked the question Brian wanted the answer to.

"So, Deb.......what kind of dressing is this?" Melanie asked. Brian was just taking a sip of his wine when Debbie answered.

"It's a new vinaigrette using peanut oil instead of olive oil." She smiled. Her smile soon faded when Brian seemed to suddenly choke on his wine.

"Did.......did you say.......peanut oil?" he asked when he finally stopped choking. Debbie nodded. "Fuck." Brian looked down at his plate, which was now completely devoid of the heap of salad that had been placed on it.

"What?" Justin asked, a worried expression on his face. Brian got up and headed into the living room to lie down on the couch without saying a word. His head was already swimming by the time he lay down.

"Brian.......what's going on?" Vic asked as he came into the living room.

"I think you might want to call an ambulance." Brian was sweating and Vic noticed his breathing was a little labored. Vic simply nodded and did as requested. By the time Debbie got up to check on him, a full minute later, he was literally gasping for air. Everyone started to panic wanting to know what in the hell was going on. Justin came over and, simply on instinct, checked Brian's pulse. He started to worry even more when he found that it was racing.

"Brian.......what's going on?" he asked. He was trying to stay calm to keep Brian from panicking. Before Brian could answer, however, he lost consciousness. "Fuck!" Justin swore and checked Brian's breathing. It was very shallow. He wasn't sure what to do. Luckily he didn't have to figure it out because that's when the ambulance arrived.

*****

"This is all my fault!" Debbie wailed as they sat in the waiting room at Mercy hospital waiting for news on Brian.

"It's not your fault." Vic tried to comfort his sister.

"Ma, just calm down," Michael said from her other side. Justin and Lindsay were pacing. Melanie had gone to get Gus from the sitter and Ben was in the cafeteria getting them all cups of coffee.

"I've killed him........I fucking killed Brian," Debbie said again. She was in tears over the whole thing.

"You didn't kill him, Deb," Justin said calmly.

Nothing seemed to console the woman. It seemed like an eternity before the doctor finally came out.

"How is he?" Lindsay was the first to ask. By this time Ben had returned and they all looked at the doctor.

"He's going to be fine. I want to keep him overnight for observation, but he should be able to go home in the morning."

"What happened?" Justin asked.

"Apparently he had a severe allergic reaction to something. Do you know anything he might be allergic to?" They all looked at each other, confused. As far as they knew Brian wasn't allergic to anything. Then a thought struck Ben.

"He did seem to panic when he found out there was peanut oil in the salad dressing."

The doctor nodded and made a note of that. "Do you know how much he ate?"

"Well.......it was all over the salad and he had a pretty big helping," Debbie commented. Once again the doctor nodded.

"That's probably it, then. We'll double check to make sure."

"Can......can I see him?" Debbie asked. She felt the overwhelming urge to apologize to Brian.

"You can go in one at a time. And make it quick, he needs to get some rest."

She nodded and went into the room. Brian was lying there on the bed looking perfectly fine. Because of the severity of the reaction they had him on a heart monitor and that scared her even more than before. He looked like he was sleeping. She walked over and took a seat in the chair by the bed. She started to reach out to touch his hand, but changed her mind mid motion. She had almost killed Brian; she doubted he wanted her anywhere near him. He opened his eyes and smiled at her.

"Hey."

He could tell she'd been crying. Of course anyone could, her mascara was running like crazy. "Hey," he said softly.

They sat there in silence for a minute before Debbie spoke again. "Brian.........I'm so sorry."

Brian shook his head. "Don't be. Deb......you didn't know. You had no way to know. I never told you. You shouldn't feel bad about this. If it's anyone's fault, it's mine. I should have asked what was in it before I ate it." He smiled reassuringly at her.

"But you could have died."

"But I didn't." He reached out his hand to her and she took it. He squeezed gently and she smiled. "Now, I want you to forget about this, okay? It's not your fault." His tone was stern and she nodded.

"I don't get it though........you eat peanut butter and peanuts all the time....." she started.

Brian shrugged. "I don't get it either. All I know is that I'm allergic to peanut oil. Apparently there's something in the peanut oil once it’s been processed that isn’t in the peanut itself or something like that. I don't know how to explain it. Hell, the doctors don't even know how to explain it."

That made her laugh.

"I'm glad you're okay," she said.

"Will you do me a favor?"

"Sure."

"Don't get all mother hen on me, okay? I know you like to look out for me, but don't go checking the ingredients of everything I'm going to eat to make sure there's no peanut oil." She was about to protest, then just nodded. He knew her well enough to know that she probably would have done that. After a couple of minutes there was a light knock on the door, then Justin poked his head in.

"Mind if I come in?" He smiled and Brian couldn't help but smile back. Debbie nodded and left the room as Justin came over and took a seat.

"She didn't have to leave......" Brian started.

"Actually, she did. The doctor said one at a time."

"Oh."

"You okay?" He was looking at Brian, but he refused to meet his eyes.

"According to what they tell me." Brian smirked and Justin laughed slightly.

"You gave us all a real scare."

"Should have said something before downing half the salad."

"Probably. But.......Brian......I realized something."

"Oh?" For some reason Brian's heart rate picked up. He would have hidden it if it weren't for the fucking heart monitor. Justin smirked at him and he could only laugh.

"Damn machine's a dead giveaway."

"Yeah, it is."

The doctor came in and looked at Brian.

"I'm fine," Brian told the doctor. He looked between Brian and Justin a minute, then simply nodded and left. "You were saying?"

Justin took a deep breath and ran his fingers through his hair. "We all thought you were gonna die. I mean.......your pulse was racing and you stopped breathing.......scared the shit out of everybody." He added the next part very softly. "Especially me."

"Sorry." Brian was sincere in saying it.

"It made me realize how much I would miss you if you were gone......how much I do miss you." He finally met Brian's eyes as a single tear rolled down his cheek. Brian reached out for Justin's hand, Justin taking it. Brian decided now was not the time to put on his "I don't give a shit" attitude. Justin was being open and honest with him and he deserved no less from Brian.

"I miss you too," he said, giving Justin's hand a slight squeeze.

Justin smiled one of those sunshine smiles that just made Brian warm all over. "Really?" he asked.

Brian nodded. "Do you think......maybe…..we could.....start over?" Brian found himself asking.

"We can try," Justin said. He moved over and sat on the edge of the bed, taking Brian's hand and kissing his palm before placing the older man's hand on his cheek. Brian started to slowly stroke Justin's cheek with his thumb. After a few moments, Justin leaned down and kissed Brian. It started out as a gentle kiss on the lips, but soon deepened. The only sound in the room was that of the heart monitor and the ever increasing speed of the beeps.
 

Return to Rena's