“Of course,” Gem always said when caught and not ready to fight. He wanted to know more about last night—as much as possible—but no more than would land him identified in front of the cops. Gem hated cops—not because he had a criminal record, but because they had never caught him to record one. Gem needed to leave as soon as possible. “Doctor, may I see my raincoat? I just want to get my cellphone and call my wife. Let her know I’m okay.”
Gem did not have a cellphone. Gem did not have a wife.

“Where was I on 107?” Here was something new. Gem lived in Endecott Gardens, which was off Endecott Court, which eventually reached Route 107. That was at least a mile from his condo. The medical chart did not ask for an address, but someone would ask eventually, and no one could go door to door to find him if they didn’t find him at a door to begin with.
“I don’t know. The EMTs would have a report. We did not know who you were when you arrived, so no doubt the police will want to know more.”

“Anaphylaxis is your reaction,” corrected Dr. Patel. “If you just had an upset stomach, or itchiness, then your allergy would be mild. But you came to us unconscious, your face and throat were swollen, obstructing your ability to breath. You had a severe allergic reaction that required adrenaline to relax your airways, and medical supervision to assure you did not go into cardiac arrest. Not to mention your loss of memory along with your unconsciousness. Can you remember why were you on 107?”

A couple hospital aspirin and maybe a bandaid, Gem thought. Healthcare was for the wealthy. “What do I need to do once we’ve figured it out? Is there medicine?”
Dr. Patel looked relieved at this assurance. “Once we know what has caused your anaphylaxis then you need to avoid situations where it occurs, and carry antihistamines as well as an epinephrine injector just in case. That’s a pen that carries adrenaline to manage anaphylaxis.”
Twice with that fancy word. “And anaphylaxis is my allergy.”

“If you’ve developed an allergy,” the Doctor continued, “your immune system responds to these allergens by trying to fight them off like a germ or virus. They’re false alarms, of course, and in order to identify what’s triggering your allergies, we’d need to run skin and blood tests for formal diagnosis.”
“Sounds expensive.” Normally Gem would not have been so candid, but distracted by his blackout the inner thoughts came out.
“This is serious,” the Doctor stated. “What price is your life?”

“An allergic reaction occurs when your immune system identifies a harmless substance as dangerous. Stings and foods are common allergens. Then there’s medicines, dust mites, pollen, mold, pet dander–”
“Pets!” Gem interjected. “I have pets.” Fancy still nagged at him. EMTs dropped him off. They found him outside. He would’ve walked Fancy. Where was the dog? He could picture his cat staring at them from the comfort of the living room as they peered into darkness from the front door. Then nothing.