I'm not sure how long I lay there unconscious but I wake on the sidewalk to Jose slapping every living shit out of my face, while Jenni lovingly holds my hand. Their faces are plastered in worry.
As my vision comes into focus, I see Willie Rose's mom hovering over me. I recognize her from Lily Rose's instagram photos.
“Are you okayyyy?” she asks in her thick southern drawl.
Confused, I don't understand where I am or how I got here. A sensation I would describe as disoriented, but that would be an understatement.
I see the entire line of people have surrounded me. All there to have witnessed my sidewalk nap.
Great. How embarrassing.
I try my best to speak, to communicate that I'm OK, but the words won't come. They're thick on my tongue. As my vision clears, I can see that everyone's eyes are on me. I'm mortified.
My eyes feel oddly large inside my skull. Swollen even. Blinking away the blurriness, the words finally escape my lips. “I'm ok!,” I assure the crowd, Lily's mom, and of course Jose and Jenni, who both look incredibly worried. Panicked even.
Jose's face slowly melts into relief. “Can you stand?” he asks, uncertainly.
“I'm sure I can,” I say with unjustified certainty. As he and Jenni pull me to my feet another wave of dizziness washes over me. The world feels a little shaky beneath my feet, but I refuse to have this many eyes on me at once. Especially sprawled out on the sidewalk.
I'm so glad I wore underwear.
The urge to sit immediately consumes me.
“I just need to spend a few minutes sitting in the car and I'll be fine,” I assure Jose.
Turning to the crowd that had surrounded me I offer a little joke to lighten the mood. “I don't get out much,” I explain with a small chuckle.
Nobody laughs.
“Are you sure?” Jose asks, sounding baffled. “You were just unconscious on the sidewalk.”
“Yeah, so that was weird, huh? But no. I'll be fine,” I say with a wave of my hand.
He shoots me a pointed look. I know that look.
“I'll be finnnne,” I insist once again. But I was not fine. Not even a little bit. I just didn't know it yet.
20 minutes later as Lily Rose's voice bounces off the walls and into my ear holes, I do feel a little better. But not much.
Steadying myself on Jose, another wave of dizziness washes over me.
Something isn't right.
But whatever it is, I don't want to find out tonight.
