Insider (Exodus End #1)(99)
Author: Olivia Cunning

“Toni!” he yelled, shoving his way through the crowd toward the stage.

He scarcely heard the whispers of his name in his wake. “Logan Schmidt. Isn’t that Logan Schmidt? That is Logan.” The whispers became yells, and then the crowd rushed in on him, surrounding him, trapping him in a press of bodies and enthusiasm. He was oblivious to the dozens of hands on him as he fought his way forward inch by inch. He focused on the neon yellow shirt of one of his security team and pushed and shoved his way through the crowd until he finally reached the metal barrier fence. The entire pit audience tried to follow him over the barricade; he’d apologize to the security crew later. Now he had to find out what had happened to Toni. Why was she lying on the floor? He’d thought she’d be safe on the stage—far safer than she’d have been in a mosh pit—but apparently he’d thought wrong.

He galloped up the steps and weaseled his way through the group of onlookers surrounding Toni on the stage. He breathed a sigh of relief to find her sitting up and smacking at a medic who was trying to shove an oxygen mask over her face. “I said . . . I’m fine. I . . . I don’t . . . need . . . oxygen,” she said between wheezing gasps for air.

“Did you have the wind knocked out of you or not?” the medic asked, following her twisting face with the mask in one hand and the stretchy strap in the other as he tried to affix it to his target.

“Yeah, but . . . I’ll find . . . my wind . . . myself. Thanks.”

“So you’re refusing treatment?”

“Yes!”

The paramedic backed off, shaking his head at her stubbornness.

Logan squatted next to Toni and brushed her hair behind her ear. “What happened?” he asked.

“Where . . . are . . . my glasses?” she wheezed, shoving his hand aside and struggling to her feet.

She was still gasping, but apparently had no intention of waiting until she caught her breath before causing an additional scene.

“And my camera? If it’s . . . broken, I swear I’ll . . . I swear I’ll . . . ” Her bottom lip quivered as she glanced from one person to the next as if trying to figure out who they were. Maybe she had a concussion or something.

“Did you hit your head?” he asked.

“No!”

Logan wrapped an arm around her shoulders and slowly urged her from the stage. “Find her glasses and her camera,” he said to a stagehand, who jumped at the opportunity to do his bidding.

“Well, that was a bit of excitement,” the lead singer of Riott Actt was saying to the crowd. “But the show must go on.”

Logan helped Toni down the stage steps. She was trembling so badly, she could scarcely stay on her feet. He would have scooped her into his arms and carried her, but somehow he figured that would upset her even more. He led her into a corridor—where it was a bit quieter—found an empty equipment case and promptly forced her to sit on it. Once seated, she slumped forward, elbows resting on her knees as she sucked in deep ragged breaths. He knew she was seconds from a monumental meltdown, and he was okay with that, but he didn’t think she’d be okay with it. He squatted before her and tilted his head into her line of vision.

“Now tell me what happened,” he said. “Are you hurt?”

“I’ve been better,” she snapped and then she started gasping again. “I can’t breathe . . . I need . . . inhaler.”

“Why didn’t you let that medic help you?”

“Shut . . . shut . . . shut,” she said between gasps. “Shut up. Y-you.”

Logan would have smiled at how cute she looked trying to be mad and catch her breath at the same time, but he was too concerned for her well-being to dwell on her appearance for more than a second. He waved down the nearest onlooker. “Go see if the medic has a rescue inhaler, but whatever you do, don’t tell Toni she needs help.”

Toni glared at him for a brief instant before doubling over and wheezing in misery.

Logan had no idea what to do for her, so he just crouched at her feet, patting her knee. Toni glared at the man who returned with a tank of oxygen hooked to a face mask.

“I said no”—wheeze—“oxygen.”

“How about a nebulizer with albuterol?” the medic said. He seemed to be used to working with difficult patients.

She nodded and closed her eyes while the medic slipped the clear plastic mask over her nose and mouth. She sucked in a deep breath. And another. Tears leaked from beneath her tightly squeezed eyelids. Logan touched her hair, his heart twisting with a mixture of anxiety and anguish. Her wheezing lessened slightly, and she took another deep inhale, finally catching her breath. He wasn’t sure what she was so upset about. Perhaps she was embarrassed. But he sensed there was something deeper going on in her head.

“Better?” he asked when her breathing normalized.

She opened her eyes and nodded. She then tilted her head back, panting at the ceiling as she fought the tears pooling in her eyes.

She pulled the oxygen mask off her face and tossed it at the paramedic.

“Thank you for helping her,” Logan said. “I’m not sure why she’s being so cranky. She’s usually really nice.”

“Leave me alone,” she said.

“I could start an IV. Give her some meds to help her breathing,” the concerned paramedic offered.

“Go away!” Toni yelled. “I can breathe just fine now. Having the wind knocked out of me triggered an asthma attack, is all. I haven’t had an asthma attack in over ten years.”

Feeling completely useless, Logan shrugged at the paramedic. If she really needed the meds, he’d hold her down if necessary. “Will she be okay without the additional medication?”

“She should be.” The young man grinned. “She seems to have her wits about her.”

Logan didn’t fully agree with the man’s assessment. Her behavior was irrational. At least for her. Still, he couldn’t call her out on refusing medical treatment. He’d once walked around for three weeks on a broken foot because he was sure he was fine after a rather tame wipeout on his dirt bike.

He sat beside her on the equipment case and took her hand. She squeezed with surprising strength, but refused to look at him as she used a soppy tissue to blot her eyes and nose.

“Toni? Tell me what’s wrong.”

She shook her head.

“Toni,” he said cajolingly.

“I don’t . . . I don’t belong here,” she said.