Chapter Text
The ambulance ride to the south campus of New York Presbyterian is blessedly short since it’s so close to Waystar, the lack of gridlock at this late hour on their side. That is the end of time being on their side, however; the ER is packed. There are patients in various states on gurneys in the hallways, so Gerri is hastily planted in a triage bay since her vitals have made it clear that she’s not in immediate distress.
Roman is in distress, though. Roman is so fucking distressed, it’s ridiculous. Any time he had been in a hospital emergency room, someone had thrown the Roy name around as the same weighty collateral that could pull a table out of nowhere at Per Se and, voilà, a private room had appeared.
“Hey, excuse me…” Roman tries and fails to get the attention of a passing nurse. Didn’t even look at him. He tries again a couple more times, until a quiet laugh from Gerri finally stops him.
“Roman, this place is a zoo right now. I’m not coding or bleeding out, I’m not going to be a priority.”
“I don’t care. You’re the fucking CEO of a Fortune 500 company, you shouldn’t have to sit out here with the rest of these plebs. You should at least have a room with a real bed.”
“I’m ok, Roman. Try to relax, your pacing is driving me crazy.”
“Ok. Sorry, Gerri,” he says, as sincerely as he can manage to say anything. Roman needs to get himself together. He doesn’t want to make any of this harder on Gerri than it already is. “Do you want some water or anything?”
“I could do with some water, actually. Thank you.”
“Be right back.” And he’s off in search of a vending machine. And it might not hurt for him to take a walk and clear his head a little, actually. The temporary spell that surrounded them after Roman’s fake engagement declaration… the heart-eyes and the hand holding… seemed to have evaporated when they crossed the ER threshold. About as quickly as it had evaporated on the yacht after Ken turned traitor. Roman finally locates a vending machine, and he’s grateful it takes cards. Because God knows he doesn’t keep anything less than a fifty in cash on him at any given time. At least not on purpose.
Once he has Gerri’s water in hand plus one for himself, he realizes while walking back that he was the one who broke the spell. He let go of Gerri’s hand when they exited the ambulance and didn’t pick it up again once they were settled in the bay. But it’s loud and chaotic and Roman hates the smell of hospitals. And doctors" offices. Both from his own experiences and from his dad’s stroke. He doesn’t do well with blood or puke or saliva, or really any bodily fluids most of the time. His own or anyone else’s. But he knows he can get his shit together for Gerri. He has to.
When Roman gets back to triage, a curtain has been pulled around Gerri’s little corner of it. Fucking finally , a doctor or a nurse or somebody must be checking her. There’s an impersonal waiting room-type chair near the nurses’ station, so Roman plops down in it to wait. Opens his water and takes a deep, much needed gulp of it.
While Roman sits, he tries to take a minute to process everything that’s happened in the last few hours. Aside from his dad slumping in the helicopter that day, Roman doesn’t think he’s ever been as scared as he was the moment Gerri called his name from the bathroom. And in some ways, the thought of losing Gerri scares him more. And Roman feels kind of guilty about that, because his dad is… his dad. Until about six months ago, Gerri was just…a filing cabinet. But now? In that span of months, Gerri has become Roman’s sun. The center of his universe. He’s a plant soaking up her light for sustenance, and he would do anything to stay in her orbit.
The biggest question on his mind lately, especially since the 180 of their dynamic between the yacht and the past few days, is where he stands with Gerri. “Engagement” notwithstanding, Gerri had grabbed for his hand in the bathroom; leaned into his touch and wanted him in the ambulance with her. She didn’t look away from him once during the ride, except to rest her eyes for a couple of minutes. Roman had watched her with baited breath the whole time, willing her to stay conscious. And when she blinked them open again, Gerri’s eyes crinkled at the corners and she had squeezed Roman’s hand.
Gerri had kissed him until he was breathless. Gerri wants to hold his hand. Gerri wants him here. With her.
A man in a white lab coat and green scrubs who looks twenty to Roman, maybe twenty two (and a half), pops his head out from behind Gerri’s curtain, clearly looking for someone.
“Mr. Roy?” the doctor intones once Roman is in his line of vision.
“Yeah, that’s me,” Roman responds, rising.
“Ms. Kellman would like you to come in now.”
Roman simply nods and begins walking toward the triage bay, resolving that he’s taking Gerri’s hand when he goes back in that room. And he isn’t letting go until she makes him.
****************************************************************************************
Gerri heaves a sigh of relief when Roman leaves to find her some water. It’s not that she doesn’t want him to stay with her; quite the opposite. Ever since Roman had burst into the bathroom on the heels of security, all she had wanted was him by her side. Gerri couldn’t remember the last time anyone had looked at her quite like Roman had in that moment, like she was the center of the universe and that he would cease to exist without her. She was just as drunk on his affection for her as she had been for his lips before their world imploded.
Gerri knows that she shouldn’t have kissed Roman on the yacht. She does. But he had gone out of his way to defend her to Logan when not a single other person had. He had managed to get out of the hostage situation in Turkey unharmed and in fact landed the deal he had been sent to do with Eduard’s father. But Roman had also been able to use his innate ability to read people to detect the bullshit at the center of the offer and give Logan sound financial advice. Even if it wasn’t the advice that Logan had wanted to hear, which meant that the possibility of Roman’s head on the proverbial chopping block was the price of his honesty.
Roman had slam dunked every shot he had. And that combined with every little thing that Gerri found physically attractive about Roman… his eyes, the shape of his mouth, his arms, his collarbones, his ass… it was all enhanced through the lens of his competence and protection of her and his brush with death. Which is probably why when Roman showed up at Gerri’s door, red-faced and crying after Kendall had been chosen and the send-off sibling revelry ended predictably with both too much alcohol and a plethora of unchecked feelings, Gerri had pulled Roman straight into a hug. It was the kind of hug with no breathing room, where she didn’t know where she ended and he began.
And then they were kissing, hot and heavy with tongues and biting lips, both of them moaning like they had been hungry for each other for ages. Which they had been. It felt like it lasted for hours, but in reality it was likely closer to five minutes when their bubble was broken by Roman’s phone buzzing insistently inside his pants. The only thing more insistent than the phone was the erection that Gerri could feel hard against her own thigh, and fuck did she want him. But the phone call was Ken, continuing to spiral, and Roman had very reluctantly excused himself. It was confusing to be attracted to Roman’s undeserved care of his family but simultaneously frustrated with that same fact, because at that moment she wanted nothing more than to ride him until dawn. And Gerri’s fairly sure she would have done just that without the interruption.
In hindsight, it’s probably better they hadn’t. The nuclear explosion of Ken’s press conference and the two of them having sex would have complicated their dynamic exponentially in the face of Gerri’s appointment as CEO. But now, here they were, still in this undefined limbo, in spite of Gerri’s recent futile efforts to put all of her best laid walls back in place. She knows that her emotions are lending themselves to hyperbole; but it feels like she has just stared death in the face, and all she wants is Roman next to her.
Gerri’s train of thought is interrupted by a doctor who looks more like he belongs in her oldest granddaughter"s 8th grade English class than in a white coat in an ER walking up to her little corner of triage and saying her name.
“Ms. Kellman, is it? Hello, I’m Dr. Patacki. I’m the resident assigned to you this evening.” He puts out his hand for Gerri to shake, and she does. He then moves to pull the privacy curtains shut around the bay.
“Nice to meet you.”
“I’m sorry for the wait. I know you’ve been here for almost an hour, but it’s always crazy…”
“Full moon?” Gerri interrupts him.
He smiles. “How did you know?”
“My brother is a doctor. He’s not superstitious, but he says it’s accepted scientific fact at this point.”
“Smart guy,” Dr. Patacki nods. “So it sounds like you became ill at your place of employment a few hours ago? Paramedics listed chest pain, trouble breathing, headache, dizziness, and feeling hot. Your blood pressure was elevated, but not dangerously so. I notice it was slightly higher when the nurse took your vitals when you arrived… went from 130/81 to 136/83. Have you ever been on medication for high blood pressure?”
“No,” Gerri answers. Which was technically the truth. Her own doctor had said they should probably start “thinking about it” at her last physical. Which was well over a year ago. And he had asked her to follow up in six months. Oops. “High blood pressure does run in my family, though,” she adds reluctantly.
“I see. The paramedics also noted that you fell in your private washroom when all of this started?”
“I would say it was more slumping against the wall and easing down to the ground than falling. The paramedics were very insistent that they treat it like a head injury, though.”
“As they should have. There is no such thing as being too careful with a potential head or spinal injury. Especially since heart incidents can’t be quickly ruled out, and that would be an extremely dangerous combination. I do tend to agree with their assessment on the scene that you have no obvious head trauma, but I’m going to order a head CT to be safe, and…”
“Is that really necessary?” Gerri bristles. “I really don’t think that I hit my head. And my company is currently plastered all over every news station and internet site and app. because we were raided by the FBI tonight. I have my own triaging to do, so I don’t have time to go through a whole battery of tests for what was probably a panic attack.”
“And your company is…”
“Waystar Royco. I’m the acting CEO.”
“Waystar like, the Brightstar parks? And the cruises?”
“Yes.”
“Wow.”
“Yes, wow.” Gerri’s patience is growing thin. “So can you just discharge me, or can I leave AMA? I’ll sign whatever you need me to sign that says I won’t hold you liable if I drop dead in 12 hours.”
“Um. Well. I…”
Gerri smirks. Dr. Patacki is clearly out of his depth.
“Are you here alone?”
“I… no. My colleague… I mean. My fiancé rode along with me in the ambulance. He went to get me some water. He’ll probably be back any minute.”
Dr. Patacki peeks his head out through the curtain and turns back to Gerri. “What does he look like?”
“About 5’8, short brown hair, he’s wearing a dark blue dress shirt and… navy pants, I think.”
“I see him. Is it alright if I ask him to come back here?”
“Why?”
“Well, at the very least, I would like to make sure that someone will be with you for the next 12-24 hours in case your symptoms recur.”
Gerri considers for a moment. He has a point. “Alright. You can ask him to come in.”
“What’s his name?”
“Roman Roy.”
Gerri waits as Dr. Patacki calls to Roman, and he brushes through the curtain a few moments later holding the bottles of water.
“Hey. You feeling ok?” Romans asks her, his voice laden with genuine concern. He hands her a bottle of water and sits down in the chair next to her.
“I’m fine. Thank you,” Gerri answers. She opens the water bottle and takes a few sips.
“I’m Dr. Patacki, Mr. Roy. Nice to meet you.” He offers Roman his hand, and Roman shakes it with a glint in his eye that makes Gerri simultaneously will Roman to act like an adult but also wish he would pierce the heavy mood with whatever dig is obviously on the tip of his tongue.
“So what’s the story, doc? How is she?” Roman looks at Gerri as he says it, takes her right hand in his left, and lets them rest on Gerri’s thigh. She gives his hand a little squeeze, and he squeezes back twice.
“Ms. Kellman’s symptoms do point more to a panic attack than a heart attack, and I agree with the paramedics that there are no obvious signs of head trauma. But as I’ve explained to her, I would like to do a head CT to veer on the side of caution…”
“... which I’ve explained to the doctor is ridiculous.”
Roman looks at Gerri like she’s lost her mind. “Gerri. Of course you should have a head CT. It would be stupid for you not to.”
“Oh Jesus Christ, not you, too?” She removes her hand from his grasp. “Roman, you know exactly how much of a mess I still have left to clean up tonight, not to mention tomorrow. I don’t have time…”
“No, I’ll tell you what you don’t have time for, Geraldine. You don’t have time to keel over in a few hours because you didn’t listen to the fucking doctor.”
“Do NOT. Call me. Geraldine,” she practically spits at Roman.
“I’ll call you whatever I have to call you to get your attention.” He gets up and starts to pace in the ridiculously small space. “This is your health, and we’re definitely not playing around with that,” he retorts.
Did he just say we? “You can’t order me around like a child or a subordinate, Roman!” She’s starting to raise her voice. Twice in one day; must be some kind of a record for her.
“Then stop being a fucking child about it! Listen…”
Dr. Patacki interjects, “I actually need to go check on a few other patients, so I’m going to step out for a bit and let the two of you talk. I shouldn’t be long.” He can’t seem to get out of the room fast enough.
And of course as soon as he is, the two of them have no idea what to say to each other. They’re locked in a staredown standoff to see who will cave first. Surprisingly, it’s Gerri.
“ ‘We’re ’ Roman? Really?”
“Whatever, you, we, it doesn’t matter.”
“You seem to think it does.”
“He thinks you’re my fiancé. Am I supposed to just stand here like I don’t give a fuck what happens to you?”
Gerri sighs. “I don’t know, Roman. You started that charade, not me.”
“You didn’t exactly challenge me. You wanted me to ride with you. I said what I needed to say to make that happen.”
“I was scared,” she says in a voice much smaller than she intended. “Seems silly now. All that fuss just for a panic attack.”
Now it’s Roman’s turn to sigh, and he comes back to sit next to Gerri in the chair. He takes her hand again.
“You don’t have to be Wonder Woman all the time, Gerri. The whole thing was scary as fuck. And I know it was like a hundred times worse for you than it was for me. It was only like five minutes for me waiting outside before they got the door unlocked, and I was out of my head. I don’t think I’ve ever been that terrified in my life.”
She looks at him skeptically. “What about your dad? In the helicopter…”
“This was so much worse.” Roman closes his eyes for a moment, and Gerri can tell he’s fighting tears. He takes a deep breath and sits on the side of the bed to face her. “You’re the most important person in my life, and I can’t lose you.”
Gerri feels like the wind has been knocked out of her, but not in the same way it had been during those terrifying minutes in her washroom. Her heart is threatening to burst open like a dam, one that’s had to hold too many emotions in check for far too long. And Gerri is so tired of being everyone’s rock. And Roman, of all people, is sitting here offering to be hers. The tears finally come, and it’s not the restrained crying that she normally only allows herself a few times a year all alone in her bedroom. She starts heaving big, ugly sobs, and almost immediately Roman gathers her in his arms and holds her as close as he can.
“I’m here, Gerri. And I’m not going anywhere.” He rubs soothing circles across her back. Kisses her temple, and then her cheek, and then buries his face in her neck. She can feel him breathing her in, kissing her there every now and then. And Gerri is hugging him back, and she never wants to let him go. Roman feels so warm and solid against her, and she’s reluctant to admit even to herself how comforting it is. They stay like that for a while, until Gerri’s sobs have mostly quieted. He pulls back a bit so that he can look at her.
“Hey,” Roman says softly. Takes her face in both of his hands and gently smooths her tears with his thumbs.
“Hey,” Gerri quietly answers, leaning her forehead against his.
“I know you’re an adult. But I fucking care about you, and I think you should have the CT. And any other tests that Doogie Howser, M.D. thinks you should have. Ok?”
She lets out a watery laugh, and he laughs too. “I was waiting for you to say something about his age. I could tell what you were thinking when you walked in.”
“Well it’s not my fault that Dalton is apparently handing out medical degrees now.” They both giggle. But then Roman’s face skews serious again.
“But you’ll do the tests?”
Gerri sighs. “I’ll do the tests.”
“Good.” Roman kisses her forehead and she smiles. And much like on the yacht, she can’t help herself. Gerri tentatively brings her lips to Roman’s and kisses him, once, twice, and then he’s parting her lips with his tongue, and this might be counterintuitive to her high blood pressure, but Gerri can’t be bothered to care. She’s alive, and Roman’s alive, and right now in this moment, that’s all that matters. He moans and Gerri bites his bottom lip just a bit, because she remembers how much he clearly liked it during their previous encounter.
“A-hem,” comes the voice of the nurse who has just stepped through the curtain. Roman and Gerri sheepishly stop making out, but they stay wrapped up together. “The doctor asked me to get vitals, and then he’ll be back to talk to you about a CT.” She stares at Roman. “Sir, do you mind?”
“Oh, um, nope. I’ll get out of your way,” he says and goes to sit back in the chair. The nurse luckily goes to the other side of the bed, and Roman grabs for Gerri’s hand immediately. They squeeze back and forth again, and Gerri begins to think… no, to hope… that maybe they can start to find their way together outside of Waystar’s revolving door of crises. That this affection can become their baseline.
In private, of course.
The nurse rolls up Gerri’s right sleeve and places the automatic blood pressure cuff on her while she pops the thermometer into her mouth.
“Temp still normal,” the nurse mumbles, noting it in Epic on her traveling cart. Gerri huffs out a sigh of relief when the blood pressure cuff finally releases. Somehow, the automatic ones always seem to hurt worse than the manual one. The nurse looks at the numbers and frowns. “146/87. Higher than it was when you were admitted. Which was higher than the ambulance. I’m going to see if the doctor is free, and if he isn’t I’ll page him.”
“Is that serious?” Roman asks worriedly.
“Well, it’s not good,” the nurse answers brusquely. “Not hypertensive crisis, but definitely heading in the wrong direction. Sit tight. And no more tonsil hockey, alright?” Gives both of them a pointed look. “You need to do your best to relax .” And then she’s gone just as quickly as she came.
“How can she say something like ‘hypertensive crisis’ and then tell me to relax in the same breath?”
“Fuck Gerri, I’m sorry. I wasn’t trying to make things worse.”
“Roman, you didn’t. We’ve established that I’m an adult, and you do a decent impression of one when you want to. And I don’t think either of us were trying to… start anything. I just…”
“... wanted me to hold you?”
“Yes.”
“Me too. But I think I better stay right here in this insanely comfortable chair before they kick me out. Mentally, though, my arms are around you.”
She squeezes his hand again, and he squeezes back twice. Their new secret language.
“Ditto.”
“Hello again,” says Dr. Patacki, his tone not suggesting that her condition is an emergency. But if anyone is the master of staying calm while the world is burning around them, it’s Gerri Kellman. So she doesn’t read too much into that. “I’m not liking the direction of your blood pressure in the last few hours, Ms. Kellman. I really do think we need to do an EKG in addition to the head CT. Any more discussion on that?”
“Yes. I’ll have the CT,” Gerri says. Roman raises his eyebrows at her and gives her the sternest look she’s ever seen on his face. “And the EKG. Whatever you think is best, Doctor.”
He looks relieved. “I’m very glad that you’re going to have the tests. We’ll get you into a gown and get you in for both of them as soon as we can. Luckily, things have died down a bit around here, so I don’t think it will be too long of a wait. Also, I think at this point, the safest thing to do with this steady rise in your blood pressure is to admit you overnight for observation. This way you’ll be able to get into a room and get some rest while we wait for results.”
“Really?” Gerri asks, sounding absolutely defeated.
“Yes. It is extremely important that you rest right now.”
“But…”
“Gerri,” Roman says, and she turns to him. “Remember what we talked about?”
“Logan is going to go postal if I’m not in the office tomorrow.”
“Gerri. I’ll fucking handle him. He’s an asshole and a narcissist, but he literally almost died like six months ago. Everyone tap-danced around him and waited on him for weeks while he recovered. He can give you a few days.” He sounds more certain that she’s ever heard him.
“Roman, it’s not that simple.” She lets her face fall into her hands, and she just knows she’s going to cry again.
He goes to sit on the bed by her again and pulls her into a hug. “I’ll take care of it. I promise. The only thing that matters right now is that we figure out what’s going on with you. Fuck my dad, fuck Waystar, fuck all of it. It’s all bullshit. You’re a real fucking person. You’re all that matters right now, ok?”
Gerri hugs him back so hard, she’s afraid she"s going to hurt him. “Ok.”
Dr. Patacki reaches into a cabinet in the corner and takes out a gown and the lovely hospital grippy socks for Gerri. “I’ll give you some privacy to get changed.”
“Yeah, I’ll just wait outside…” Roman vaguely gestures toward the curtain and gets up. Gives her a sweet kiss on the cheek. Gerri can tell he’s taking things really seriously if he isn’t even leering at the prospect of her changing in front of him.
“You’ll be alright on your own, Ms. Kellman? Are you having any dizziness right now?” the doctor asks.
“No, thank you. I’ll be fine. I’ll take it slow.”
***************************************************************************************
Once Roman and Dr. Patacki are outside of the curtain, Roman turns to address him.
“Hey, listen. She’d kill me if she knew I was doing this, but I want her to get the best of whatever you have here. Best room, best nurses, best techs, everything. I’m not above additional financial compensation if that makes a difference.”
The doctor regards Roman like he doesn’t quite know what to think of him.
“You know, when I first saw you two I was a bit skeptical that you were actually engaged.” Roman makes an effort to school his expression. “If you’ll excuse me saying, she’s obviously a lot older than you. And it’s not really my place to say, but it’s rare that I see someone’s significant other go to bat for them the way you did for her. Especially if it means challenging them.”
Roman’s not really sure how to react to that. He’s spent most of his life getting punched in the heart on his sleeve; it’s rare that it’s acknowledged in a positive light. He looks back toward the curtain.
“I need her to be ok. Please tell me she’s going to be ok.”
“I don’t want to overpromise, but if she is truly hypertensive, she’s in the right place. If something is going on, it’s likely that we’ve caught it pretty early. She explained about the FBI raid at Waystar tonight… I imagine as CEO, that’s about as much pressure as a person can be under. Well, maybe outside of an operating room.” Roman just nods. “Your dad is Logan Roy?”
“Unfortunately,” Roman mumbles.
“He sounds like a real bastard. Like, from what I’ve heard, but also from what you said.”
“You would be correct.”
“Then please take it as a compliment, Mr. Roy, when I say that you are obviously nothing like your father.”
Roman smiles and shakes Dr. Patacki’s hand. “That’s absolutely a compliment. You got a card or anything? Because you’re clearly super fucking competent, and I always pay attention when I encounter competent people.”
“I’m just doing my job. Same as I’d do for any other patient,” he replies, but he does reach into the pocket of his coat and pulls out a card for Roman.
“I believe that. But you’re what, like right out of medical school? Don’t think I don’t know what you were doing when you called me into the room. She told you to buzz off and let her go home, didn’t she?”
Dr. Patacki laughs. “That’s exactly what she did.”
“See? You’re smart. I’ve seen her make multiple seasoned executives cry in meetings. You outmaneuvered her. Not easy to do.”
“I’m actually on the last year of my residency. But, thanks. I think.”
“You’re welcome. So, um…will the hospital let me stay with Gerri tonight?”
“They don’t usually allow non-family members overnight, but I’ll talk to the charge nurse once she’s assigned to a floor. It’s clear that your presence encourages her to be a more cooperative patient. But…” Dr. Patacki hesitates. Almost seems embarrassed. “No more ‘activities’ that could raise her blood pressure, yeah?” Clearly the nurse had talked to him.
“I promise we’ll keep things PG.” Roman assures him, and Dr. Patacki raises an eyebrow. “A very very mild PG. No tongue.”
“Ok. I can live with that,” he smiles. “You know, confidentially speaking, a lot of people don’t know this. But as long as her tests come out normal, PG and up activities on a regular basis can actually help to lower blood pressure long term.”
Roman knows his eyebrows must be in his hairline. “Really?”
“Yes. Like, obviously we’re not actually having this conversation. And it’s none of my business, but. You know. Stress relief. It can be helpful.”
“Well I… will definitely keep that in mind.”
Dr. Patacki nods. “I’m off at 7:00, but I’ll put a note in Ms. Kellman’s chart for the charge nurse to page me to confirm that you can stay if there’s an issue.”
“Thanks again. I’m telling everyone that Pres. South is the ER and Dr. Patacki is a beast.”
“Thank you, Mr. Roy. Take care.”
Dr. Patacki heads for the nurse’s station, and Roman returns to his previous hallway chair to wait until he finds out where he knows where he’s supposed to wait for Gerri during her tests.
****************************************************************************************
Once he gets situated, Roman realizes he hasn’t even thought to look at his phone since he arrived at the hospital. When he checks his home screen, he isn’t quite sure how he’s managed to miss all the buzzing from the influx of notifications. He has what looks like about a hundred text messages and seventeen missed calls, and a large chunk of them are from Karolina. Three calls from his dad, four from Shiv. One from Conner. Shit. Roman realizes he probably should have called Karolina in the first place. But he had been far too preoccupied with looking after Gerri.
He does have voicemails from Karolina, but he knows that he might as well just call her. He notes the time: 2:18am. Well. Karolina isn’t asleep, anyway.
“Roman!” she exclaims, picking up halfway through the first ring. “What the fuck is going on? I’ve been trying to get a hold of you for almost two hours. And Gerri isn’t picking up at all. Is she still at the hospital? Are you with her?”
“Gerri’s phone broke during everything, and unless she asks me about it, I’m not making an effort to get her a new one tonight. How much do you know?”
“I finally called the switchboard when I could find either of you, and they sent me over to Rick. He said that Gerri maybe had a heart attack in her bathroom and left in an ambulance. With you. That’s all.”
“So no signs of a heart attack, it was probably a panic attack. But her blood pressure’s been steadily rising for the last few hours, and the doctor said she’s approaching hypertensive crisis at this point. Like, she could have a heart attack or a stroke if they don’t get it under control.”
“Jesus Christ,” Karolina mutters. She sounds almost as sick as Roman had felt when it all happened.
“No kidding. So they’re sending her for an EKG. And she doesn’t have a bump on her head or anything, but it’s still possible that she hit it when she fell. Or went down. Whichever. So the doctor also ordered a head CT to be safe.”
“But, as far as you know, she’s basically alright?”
“No, Karolina she’s not fucking alright. This shit is getting to her, and everybody better back the fuck off and give her time to recover from… whatever this is.” People are starting to look at Roman because of his raised voice, but he can’t be bothered to care.
“Roman,” Karolina says gently. “I didn’t mean she should be answering emails or coming into the office in half an hour. I meant, she’s safe? She’s getting good care?”
Now Roman feels like an asshole. Karlina is not his dad.
“Yeah. Sorry,” he says, putting a hand to his face. “Yeah, she’s in really good hands. The ER doc has been great. She wanted to leave AMA and he basically tricked her into getting the tests."
“Oh shit,” Karolina laughs just a little. “Does Gerri know that?”
“She probably does now, but all that matters is that she agreed to have them. And they’re keeping her overnight for observation.”
“Good. That’s good.” Karolina takes a deep breath. “Have you called her daughters?”
“No. She didn’t want me to.”
“Roman, someone probably should. If she’s actually being admitted?”
“She’s getting changed, but I’ll ask her again before they take her for tests.” He thinks for a second. “Would you be willing to do it? If she wants someone to? I’m like 90% sure I’ll say the wrong thing, and I do not want to upset them or Gerri anymore than anyone has to be in this situation.”
“I can do that. Definitely.”
“Has there been any press leak?”
“Not that I’ve seen, but it’s early. Rick said they took her out through the garage. That was smart.”
“That was all Gerri. Having a literal medical crisis, and still considering all the angles.”
“Well that certainly tracks.”
Roman’s almost afraid to ask. “What about my dad?”
Karolina sighs the very specific sigh that can only result from being on the receiving end of one hell of a bad Logan Roy mood.
“He wasn’t pleased that you hadn’t called yourself to inform him of the situation. And of course with everything else that happened today… I’m hoping he has a more level head about it in the morning. Or, you know. Later this morning.”
“I wish I was surprised,” Roman mutters, and notices that the curtain is being pulled back and Gerri is being wheeled out by transport. “Hang on a second.” He gets up to see Gerri before they can take her to the elevators. “I’ve got Karolina. Are you sure you don’t want someone to call your daughters? She says she can do it if you want.”
Gerri narrows her eyes. She obviously isn’t happy he’s asked again, but Karolina talks a lot of sense. It’s the right thing to do.
“In the morning, if I don’t feel up to doing it. They don’t need to be woken up in the middle of the night for this. We can let her know.”
“Got it. Well… break a leg? I guess?” He squeezes her hand again, but she surprises him by pulling him in for a quick kiss.
“See you soon,” she says softly. “And thank you, Rome. For everything you’ve done for me today.”
“Anything, any time, any place, anywhere. You know that.” He gives her one more kiss.
Once Gerri is on her way to the elevators, Roman remembers that Karolina is still on the phone.
“Hey, sorry about that. Forgot we hadn’t hung up yet.”
“Roman,” she says curiously. “Um. I heard most of that. I mean, I know you guys have been working pretty closely, but… is something going on that I should potentially know about in case I have to get ahead of it?”
“Hypothetically, of course?”
“Of course.”
“Like, hypothetically, and you swear on your fucking life that you wouldn’t tell anyone?”
“Hypothetically… not unless there was some kind of situation where it was necessary, and definitely not without talking to both of you first.”
“Even Pop?”
“Especially him.”
“Hypothetically… I maybe told the paramedics that we’re engaged so that I could ride in the ambulance with Gerri, and hypothetically all of this brought some things out that both of us have been dancing around for awhile and we’re finally confronting because both of us almost died in the last couple of weeks?"
“Wow.”
“Um. Yeah.”
Karolina takes a beat. “I’m glad, Roman. Really. I know everyone’s stressed to the nines, but in a lot of ways, I haven’t seen Gerri this happy in a long time. If I’ve ever seen her this happy. Or well, you know. Happy for Gerri.”
Roman laughs. “I do know. I’ve never been this happy in my entire life. But I’m also fucking scared. This whole thing today… I don’t know what I would do without her. Like literally.”
“What would any of us do without Gerri, honestly? I know it’s different for you right now. But… anyway. I’m glad you’re there. I’m glad she has you.”
“Thanks, Karolina. That means a lot.” He thinks for a moment. “You know I think this is the longest conversation we’ve ever had?”
“I think you’re right,” she says. “You’re a good guy, Roman. I don’t know how it happened exactly…”
“Karolina, I’m not a good guy.”
“Well… you’re Gerri’s good guy. That much is clear. Keep taking good care of her, and I’ll talk to you soon. Let me know when you know about the tests?”
“Definitely. And… thanks Karolina. You need like, a huge raise.”
“From your mouth to Logan’s ear!”
“I’ll see what I can do. Or… maybe from Shiv’s mouth. He likes her better.”
She laughs. “Ok Roman. Goodnight.”
“Night.”