at me her eyes widened and her expression filled with concern.
“Hey, Mozart, you okay there?” she asked. I could feel moisture on my upper lip and a trickle of sweat rolled down the side of my face. The room was swaying, and not because of the ocean.
“I’ll be fie if I canust . . .” I swallowed and my tray tipped a little to the side before I managed to right it. One of the glasses wobbled and fell off the edge and I watched in horror as it smashed onto the floor. Kira was carrying her own tray and so couldn’t take mine. And anyway before she could help Mr Blight had pushed her back.
“What the hell are you doing?” he said and although he was right in front of me it was like his voice was coming from very far away, echoing all around me and mixing with the low hum of the crowd in the room. The edges of my vision narrowed further and I took a small step forward. “First you throw passion fruit all over one of the guests and create a massive scene, and now this.” My fuzzy mind registered that he was being unfair - it wasn’t me that created the scene yesterday. Yes, I’d spilled the drink, but I hadn’t been the one to shout.
Sweat was running down my back in earnest now and I blinked to keep my eyes open.
“Whazzat?” I slurred as the tray tipped to the other side and I wobbled on my feet.
“Are you drunk? I don’t believe this.”
“Take the tray from her, you wanker!” I heard Kira’s voice shout from a long, long way away but it was too late. The glasses slid off the metal onto the floor, smashing all over the place. I tried to reach for the chair in front of me but my vision had darkened so much now that I was just grasping at thin air. I felt a small hand on my arm before I went down. I managed to focus on Kira’s panicked face. “Glucose,” I choked out before everything went black.
Chapter 7
Alright, Poldark
Jack
I was across the room when I heard the first glass smash. Without even looking somehow I somehow knew it was Urvi, but the crowd was too thick to get to her in time. As I got nearer I heard her slurring her words and watched in horror as that idiot didn’t take her tray and she went down, her pink-haired friend not able to break her fall, and all the other pricks just standing around just looking on at her in disapproval. When I reached her I pushed Pink Hair out of the way and lifted Urvi’s limp body off the floor. That sheen of sweat was back over her face again and she looked so lifeless, so devoid of her usual animation, that if it wasn’t for her soft breath against my neck I would have thought she was dead.
After telling everyone on there to “move their bloody arses”, I laid her down on one of the huge sofas that dominated the room and pushed her hair back from her forehead. Her eyes blinked open and she looked up at me. She frowned and tried reaching one of her hands to my face, but it was shaking too badly.
“I wannzz go home,” she slurred. The shaking in her hand seemed to be spreading to the rest of her body. “Pleazzlemmego.”
“Call a fucking ambulance,” I shouted at the Mr Blight, who snapped out of his frozen stance and pulled out his phone.
“What did you take, Urvi?” I asked urgently. She shook her head frantically and held up her hand again. “Tell us what you’ve taken. We won’t go to the police. We just need to know so we can help.”
“If you bloody lot will let me through,” pink-haired girl was shouting as she tried to fight her way through the crowd.
“What the fuck is going on here?” Ben roared as he pushed me to the side and knelt down next to Urvi, putting his hand to her cheek. “Jesus Christ, how long has she been like this?” He took both Urvi’s hands and squeezed them. “Okay Giblet Tickler,” he said in a softer tone. “Keep those eyes open for me, baby. That’s it. Now, where’s your glucogel?” I frowned at Ben. What was he on about? Urvi tried to form words but nothing was coming out.
“I’ll run and grab her kit,” said pink-haired girl, who, having