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"Christina…?" She blinks languidly, looking up. "Are you feeling alright? You were kind of spacing out…" Reid says, and she now realizes that her entire crew is looking at her with concern.
Huh… when did that happen?
"Yeah, I'm just tired…" She laughs, taking another bite of the sub in front of her.
"Do you want to stay here tonight?" Reid offers.
Tonight? What's happening tonight? Oh, right… they're in Florida and have been invited to a celebratory event hosted by NASA. She can't miss that just because she's feeling a little out of it.
"No, I'll be okay," she says with a smile. "You sure? It's really not a big deal, they'll understand-" She shakes her head as Reid speaks.
"I'm sure." She says with confidence.
—
The first thing she does upon arriving at the venue, is acquire a margarita to (hopefully) wake herself up. She's not sure why she's so tired, but she's determined to have a good time.
The alcohol does successfully perk her up initially. The first hour is amazing. But after that… she can't help but wish she took Reid's offer.
"Christina!" She whips her head around. She knows that she should recognize that voice, but she doesn't. They yell something else over the loud music that she doesn't quite catch.
There are people all around her and it's beginning to make her feel overwhelmed. She looks around for some way out of this massive room. Maybe if she can just find a bathroom, she can have some reprieve from the ceaseless sensory input.
She starts towards where she thinks (prays) the door is, but someone grabs her wrist and pulls her in the opposite direction.
"Here she is!" The person pushes her into a group of people she's definitely never met before.
Five strangers immediately and simultaneously hurl questions at her. She looks around for the person who brought her into this situation, but they've already disappeared back into the crowd. When she turns back to face the group, they are still pelting her with conversation, oblivious to her discomfort.
Christina feels tears spring to her eyes. Normally, she'd handle these scenarios by doing her best to answer questions enthusiastically, and just trying to be kind. But there's something in the air tonight. She can't handle this. She needs to get away.
—
Victor's been trying to keep an eye on Christina since she spaced out at dinner. He would sound crazy for raising alarm bells over something so seemingly trivial, but he's only ever seen that look on her face once before… and it's not a fond memory.
He hasn't seen her in a few minutes. He keeps scanning the room, trying to spot her amongst the crowd. He's contemplating going to search for her in the hallways, when someone collides with his side.
He looks down to see a familiar head full of curly, light brown hair. "Sorry…" she apologizes, pushing herself off of him.
"Are you okay?" Her eyes are unfocused and slightly glassy.
"I'm f-" She looks up and the second she realizes that it's him, she allows herself to let the mask slip.
"No, I-" Her voice breaks and that's all Victor needs to hear. "Okay," he gently takes her shoulder and guides her through the crowd.
When they finally reach the quiet hallway, he can hear her crying. "What's wrong, Tina?" She seems a little less dysregulated now that they're alone, but the tears don't stop.
"I just want to go home." She leans against the wall and slides down until she's on the floor, knees drawn against her chest. She's not acting like herself. He can only think of a few explanations for this uncharacteristic exhaustion and distress, and he doesn't like any of them.
He's also not sure if she means home as in her home in Galveston, or home as in their shared Airbnb near Cape Canaveral. "I hear you…" He needs help, but he also doesn't want to leave her alone like this.
He pulls his phone out, intending to send one of their crewmates an SOS.
"What's going on?" He's momentarily worried it's some random astronaut they hardly know. Thankfully, it's not— it's Jessica Meir.
"She's-" He doesn't even know how to finish that sentence. He has no idea what's wrong. But before he is able to attempt any further explanation, Christina slumps over and all his other thoughts go out the window.
"Oh my God!" Jessica exclaims as her head slams into the floor. "Okay-" Victor's pretty sure he knows what's coming. He's been in denial for far too long. He sees the signs, he's made the connections: she's going to have another seizure.
"Christina? Are you with me?" He asks, kneeling next to her. She doesn't respond; she doesn't even look at him. Yet something tells him that she may be able to hear, just not communicate. So he keeps talking.
"You're okay, just ride it out…" She's already on her side, so he doesn't touch her until her breath hitches and her head snaps back, hitting the brick wall hard.
"Should I call 9-1-1?" Jessica asks, hands trembling from shock. Victor gently pulls Christina away from the wall as her whole body begins to seize. It looks almost identical to the episode she had a few months ago. "No… but can you time it?"
She nods, quickly opening her phone and navigating to the stopwatch. Christina makes the same involuntary whining sounds as she did last time, right before she starts to choke on saliva. She'd been on her side before, but each convulsion seems to jolt her further onto her back.
He does his best to keep her on her side, but it's harder from this angle than it was last time.
"Holy shit—" he'd know that voice anywhere. It's Reid, and Victor can tell he's already panicking. He tries not to look at her face, just keeps his hands on either side of her back as she shakes uncontrollably against him.
"At what point do we call 9-1-1?" Jessica asks, anxiously looking between Christina and the timer in her hand.
"She's okay…" Victor needs that to be true.
Seconds after he says that, Christina's convulsions slow to a stop. She crumples into him for a second, and he readjusts her, cradling her head with one hand and gripping her shoulder with the other.
"What the hell was that about?" Reid asks, his voice shaking.
"The flashing lights maybe? I'm really hoping she didn't get dosed with pesticides again…" Victor says with a sigh.
"Oh my God, you think this is related to that?" Jessica asks, her mouth agape. "No… well, maybe partially. What was the time on that?" he asks her.
"A minute and five. Plus it took me maybe ten seconds to start it." Victor nods, satisfied with that answer. It's not a dangerous amount of time by any means, and her lips are only tinged slightly purple.
Her eyes aren't closed, but they clearly aren't seeing either. "You're okay," he tells her, just in case she's freaking out internally and unable to express it. "Just take your time, then when you're ready, we'll get you out of here."
She gasps after a few seconds, saliva pooling onto the floor when she opens her mouth. She splutters a few times, raising her head just enough to spit before collapsing from the slight exertion.
Victor takes her hand. "Can you squeeze my hand?" he asks, receiving a weak squeeze in response. He feels a pang of sadness knowing that she is aware for this, because he imagines it's extremely painful, and probably also mortifying for her.
"You're okay, Tina…" he says, squeezing her hand back. "It's okay…"
They decide to leave her in the same spot for a while. Reid grabs paper towels from the bathroom to clean up, while Victor continues to communicate with her through simple hand movements.
"Are you comfortable where you are?" he asks her. They've established that yes is one squeeze and no is two. She squeezes twice. "Do you think we can move you? I don't want to make you feel any worse…" She gives her consent with a single hand squeeze.
Jessica sits down on the floor, and Victor and Reid slowly move Christina so her head is resting in her lap. "Better?" Victor asks, taking her hand again. "Yeah…" she murmurs, her voice weak.
"Hey, there you go…" he says with a smile. Jessica runs her fingers through Christina's hair.
"M'scared…" she admits tearfully. "It's okay, we've got you… you're gonna be just fine." Victor repeats, rubbing her knuckles soothingly.
"Home?" She asks, just like she had before the seizure. "We can bring you back to the Airbnb, but you're not well enough to go home right now." A look of confusion crosses her face before she seems to understand.
"S'fine…" Reid's gone to retrieve Jeremy, but as soon as they get back, Victor plans to get her out of here.
As if on cue, they both emerge from the end of the hallway. "Is she okay?!" Jeremy asks, rushing ahead of Reid. Christina gives him a weak thumbs up.
"Home…" she repeats, attempting to push herself upright. "Woah, hang on Teen…" Jessica protests.
"We're gonna get you home, just let us do the heavy lifting, okay?" Victor says gently before standing up to formulate a plan with Jeremy and Reid.
"We should see how she is on her feet. Carrying her out will cause a scene." Reid suggests, immediately advocating for Christina because he knows how much she would hate having to be carried to the car.
"I'm not sure that's a good idea, she just had a tonic-clonic seizure…" Victor counters, biting his lip.
"Let's just try… we'll be there, what's the worst that could happen?" Reid asks. Victor rolls his eyes, "Oh, I don't know… she could have another seizure?!"
Reid ultimately does win the argument, and they all help her to her feet. She sways in between Reid and Jeremy, eyes shut for a few seconds as she fights a wave of dizziness.
"Are you feeling okay?" Victor asks, watching her closely for any signs of distress.
"Same as when I was on the floor…" she says, even though she sounds short of breath.
"It's okay if you-"
"I'll be fine…" she says, leaning heavily against Jeremy. "If you feel tingly or anything-" Jeremy starts to say.
She cuts him off with a snort, "That is not what it feels like…" She's actually not sure how to articulate the sensations accompanying seizures— not that it matters right now.
They get Christina to the car without incident, and Jessica leaves them with strict instructions to call her if they need anything. Victor sits in the backseat with her and Reid drives them back to their rental house.
Once they arrive, the boys prepare to help her into the house, but she shakes her head when Jeremy offers her a hand. She can barely keep her eyes open; and now that it's just her and her crew, she allows herself to succumb to the part of her that doesn't want to be strong anymore.
"Can you carry me…?" she asks, her eyes slipping shut.
Jeremy obliges without hesitation. "Couch? Bed?" he asks, standing in the dining room. "Bed…" He nods, carrying her into her bedroom.
They help her change into fresh, comfortable clothes, and then she lies down, intending to go to sleep.
Victor has already explained to Reid and Jeremy that she doesn't need to go to the hospital immediately; she just needs to be monitored, and see a doctor when they're back in Houston. Nonetheless, they still feels like they need to be doing more.
"Ike…" she whispers, resting on her side, facing away from them. Victor walks around the bed, crouching down in front of her so she can see that he's still here. "Will you stay with me?"
He's usually never her first choice when it comes to things like this. But he's been with her through every seizure she's had, and is relatively certain he's become a grounding presence— she knows he'll keep her safe if it happens again.
"Of course," he says, settling into a chair by the window.
"We all will," Jeremy adds.