Chapter Text
Grace honestly doesn’t tell people he has POTs often. Hes dealt with it for so long he can hide the brief vision lost the racing heart and the ringing ears each time and he only ever passes out with flare ups and overheating. So it’s easy to see how he’d forget to mention it when he was, for lack of a better term, kidnapped by Stratt although looking back he probably should have at least warned her.
He spends most of his time with her, following her to meetings and conferences so it’s natural the first time he’d pass out in front of them would be with her. The first problem was that the air con on the vatt was down for the day without warning, something about a systemwide electric issue that he really didn’t care about.right now. The second issue was that he’d had a conference earlier in the morning which meant he couldn’t wear shorts. Result. He was warm, too warm.
Currently it was him Stratt and a couple of the engineering team in Stratt office discussing the new breeder design following the meeting. He was try to pay attention he really was, its just he was so warm. A regular person would probably not be as affected by it as he was at least if the other occupants of the room were anything to go off. They looked fine to him nut be’d also not been able to pay attention for the past 15 minutes with the heat that’s radiating off him.
“Dr Grace please remain id like to discuss the updated calculations with you. Teh rest of you are Dissmissed” he hears, followed by the scraping of chairs. He exchanges pleasentries as best he can hoping to appear normal till the end of the discussions and then eventual retreat back to his room to deal with it all. He knows that the harder he pushes himself the more likely he is to have a flare up but he’s too stubborn to ask for help now.
He manages his way through the remaining calculations and explains what he needs to for Stratt. “ that’s all Dr Grace, I’ll see you tomorrow for the meeting with Zambia “. She dismisses him. Finally. “ ye, see you” he tries to act nonchalant and pretend the heat isn’t really getting to him now” he stands up slow enough to minimise the dizziness he’s about to feel, but not too slow it seams suspicious. Unfortunately.for him it clearly wasn’t slow enough. He realises too late that he’s going down whether he wants to or not. Sugar he should probably tell Stratt. “it’s normal “ he manages to mutter out he wants to tell her not to panic but he can’t anymore. And then it’s blank. He doesn’t see stratts confused look that quickly morphs into panic as she sees him drop. He doesn’t see how she rushes round her desk, dropping to his side, and calls his name. Or how she places his head on her lap and feet on the chair hesitating over whether to call medical.
The only thing he is aware of is how panicked she still looks when he blinks open his eyes again. His brain is foggy and working slower than usual so he just makes a confused noise with no real structure. “Grace, can you hear me?” She asks him. He manages a hum in confirmation but he’s still a little out of it and far too warm. “ Dr grace do you need medical” she asks him. “ no ‘s just warm, just gotta cool down and it’ll be fine”he doesn’t have the energy to explain it yet, these ones always take it out of him. Stratt seams flustered, which he thinks is a concerning look for her, but she seams to snap back quickly. She moves his head onto a pillow and walks away somewhere, and only then does he register his head was in her lap. Actually now he thinks about it where did she get the pillow. She returns quickly with a couple of ice packs and places them on his neck. He sighs at the relief it brings.
After a few minutes he’s cooled down enough that he no longer thinks hes going to actively pass out so he goes to sit up. Stratt lets him bit hovers protectively nearby. Once’s he’s propped up against the desk and sipping the water she’s somehow plucked out of thin air, she asks him “ you said that was normal, explain”. There’s no room for argument in the statement.
“I have pots, my heart rate goes a little funky when I stand sometimes and I go dizzy “ he says quickly a little awkward with the attention on him. She looks at him for a second as if figuring a few things out. “ has this happened before on this vatt?”. “Once but it was in my room and I’m used to it. I really don’t like to make a deal out of it“ he responds looking like a child who’s admitting hiding a broken plate from their parent. “ besides its very rare I actually pass out. It only happened today because overheating makes it worse. Please don’t make this a thing” “Fine, I do not expect you to tell everyone you work with however there is going to be some ground rules”. Now it’s his turn to look confused.
“Ground rules ?”
“Am I correct in assuming this may happen again “ he nods “Therefore you are to pick either me or dr lamai to inform should you have any lapses in consciousness.” He laughs at the phrasing. “ understood” he states knowing there is no point in arguing. Eventually he decides he’s had enough of the floor and slowly stands. Once confirming he is not gonna take a nose dive into the carpet again he moves towards the door. “Dr Grace, take the rest of the day off” Stratt commands. He opens his mouth to protest that he doesn’t need to and he’s fine but one stern glare shuts that down quickly.