Epilogue
By: Kat
Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to Dawson's Creek. This is only for recreational purposes, people!
Rating: PG-13
Author's Note: This story was written for people who wrote me feedback. The rest of you are just getting a free ride. Thanks to Tara, [email protected], [email protected], and my buddies Erin and Gretchen.
Joey walked to her dorm room in a daze. She couldn't be in love with Pacey Witter. There was just no way it could be possible. They had only kissed hours before. That certainly couldn't be enough time to fall in love.
She knew she was in denial, but at the moment she didn't want to think about the seriousness of the situation. Yes, Pacey was sweet. He had proved that to her today. Yes, he was funny. She had always known that. Yes, he was downright gorgeous. All you had to do was look at him to figure that out.
But there was another asset that Pacey had that made her slightly uneasy. Pacey may be an alcoholic. On they day that they reconciled she had seen him drunk. So drunk, in fact, that he could barely stand. Joey wondered if he had always been like that. If so would he change? For her?
There were just too many things running through her mind to have a sensible thought. And on top of that her mind and heart were still racing from Pacey's kiss. Another wonderful quality. The boy could definitely kiss.
Now that she had more time to think about it, more and more questions arose. She had left Pacey mid-kiss. Was he angry? He must be. Pacey had told her that he loved her and she hadn't given him a response. Damn, damn, damn, she thought. She would have to go back to his room and apologize.
But what would she say? Sorry, I don't love you. No, that would never work. Maybe if you quit drinking I could love you. Not very articulate. I just want to see what you look like naked. That would definitely make amends with the old Pacey, but not the new one.
Maybe I'll just let it lie for a while. Yes. We both need some time to think anyway.
***
Pacey's head was spinning. She doesn't love me, he thought. How could I just blurt that out like that? I'm such an idiot. Not only had he embarrassed himself, but he had put Joey in a terrible situation as well.
I wonder what she's doing, thinking, feeling? Maybe she does love me. I've changed. I'm mature. And I'm definitely good enough for her now. Pacey shook his head. No, you aren't. You're practically an alcoholic, not even close to being good enough.
That's what I need. A drink. A drink will definitely make me feel better. He walked across the room to the small liquor cabinet the three boys had. He reached in and pulled out a bottle of Cuervo. Just one, he thought as he poured himself a glass. That's all I need.
But after one drink Pacey decided he deserved another. And another. And another. Pretty soon he was drunk. He managed to make it to the couch before he passed out. His roommates came in a few minutes later.
"Pacey? Are you here?" Jason called. He and Tim looked in the bedroom and didn't see him. Tim wandered into the tiny living room and saw Pacey sprawled on the couch.
"Found him," he called out. Jason walked in a moment later and shook his head in disgust. Tim joined him. "I guess he was throwing a party for one."
"He promised he would stop doing this." Tim frowned.
"I don't want to be here when he wakes up, Jay. You know what always happens."
"I know. Let's go out to eat or something. Hopefully he'll be sober by the time we get back." Tim nodded and the two boys grabbed their coats and left. They heard Pacey begin to snore as they did.
***
"Joey, would you please go mope somewhere else?" Lauryn whined. Karen nodded in agreement. Joey groaned.
"Sorry, guys. I just feel really bad about what happened before." Karen and Lauryn shared a look.
"Then why not just go over there and tell him how you feel?" Karen suggested. Joey sighed and dropped the book she was reading onto the floor.
She pulled the ponytail out of her hair and let her long brown hair fall around her shoulders. "That's just the problem. I don't know how I feel." Lauryn moaned in aggravation.
"You love the guy, Joey! It's so obvious. If you didn't, you wouldn't be sitting around here all upset over whether or not you hurt his feelings!" She paused and took a deep breath. "So get off your butt and tell that gorgeous hunk of man that you love him before I do!" Karen and Joey looked at each other in disbelief. Then they began to laugh.
"Okay, okay. I'm going," Joey said. She got off the couch and put on her sneakers. "Thanks, Lauryn. I owe you one." With that she walked out into the hall of the dorm and began the short walk to Pacey's room.
When Joey reached the door she smoothed her hair and became frantic about how she looked. She hadn't even bothered to check if her makeup was still in place or if her clothes were a mess. Finally, her nerves began to settle. If he really loves me he won't care how bad I look.
She knocked and was surprised when the door eased open. Obviously one of the guys had forgotten to close it all the way. Joey took advantage of the mistake and let herself in. She followed the sound of snoring that led her to Pacey.
He looked odd lying there on the couch. His face had a bluish tint and he was sweating profusely. Joey wondered if one of his roommates had painted his face as a joke. Suddenly, Joey became aware of the smell of alcohol in the air. It became clear that he had been drinking.
Joey gasped as she remembered a magazine article she had read about college drinking once. It said that often times if a person had been drinking in excessive amounts and fell asleep they began to snore. But it only sounded like snoring. In reality the person was choking on their vomit. She quickly realized that this is what was happening to Pacey.
She ran to the phone by the kitchen table and dialed 911. It rang a few times and Joey walked with the phone back to where Pacey was. "Hello, you've reached 911, what is your emergency?" Joey took a deep breath.
"Hi, my name is Joey Potter. I'm at Boston University. My friend, I think my friend is choking." Joey didn't recognize the sound of her voice. It was very high and shaky.
"Okay, miss. Just relax. Can you give me the dorm and room number?" Joey rattled off the digits expertly as if she had said them a thousand times. "All right, an ambulance is on the way. What I need you to do now is to check if your friend is breathing. Do that for me now."
With shaking hands, Joey placed her fingers over his mouth and felt no breath on her hand. She touched his chest, which was soaked with sweat, and felt no rising or falling.
"He isn't breathing. Oh my god! What do I do?!"
"Just calm down. I need you to be calm for me. You said you thought your friend was choking. How do you know?"
"His face is all blue and it sounds like he's, like he's snoring. I read that when you drink sometimes and fall asleep you can choke on your vomit. It was in a magazine..."
"Okay, I understand what you mean. I need you to open your friend's mouth, Joey, and see if you can see anything." Joey placed two fingers on his lower lip and pulled his mouth open. She couldn't tell if the stuff in his throat was his tonsils or something else.
"I can't tell."
"That's okay. Now this part might me a little messy, Joey. What I need you to do is turn his head on its side, okay? Keep his mouth open." Joey did what she was told and waited for further instructions. She felt beads of sweat forming on her upper lip.
"Now I need you to put two fingers into his mouth and see if you can get whatever is there out. Can you do that?"
"I think so."
"I think you can, too. Go ahead. Be careful and be ready because he may vomit, okay?"
"Okay. I need to put the phone down."
"Go ahead and do that then." Joey put the phone down and did as she was told. She had been right, he was choking on vomit. Joey began to pull out as much as she could and she heard Pacey began to cough. She picked up the phone just as Pacey began to vomit onto the floor and her feet.
"He's, he's throwing up. All over the place." Joey wasn't exaggerating. Pacey was positively convulsing and making a big mess. "He's also, like, shaking."
"That's good. At least he isn't choking. Get a bucket or a trash can and help him to sit up." Joey nodded and ran to the bathroom and grabbed the garbage. She quickly ran it back to Pacey and helped him to sit up. He continued to empty his stomach and Joey felt sick herself.
"Now what?"
"Now all you have to do is wait for the paramedics to come. You did good, honey. I'm going to hang up now."
"Okay, thank you." The woman said good-bye and Joey pressed the off button. Then she tried to help Pacey into a sitting position. It wasn't working. Fortunately for her, the paramedics had arrived, along with Pacey's two roommates, and burst in the door.
Joey watched in awe as they helped Pacey up and onto a stretcher. Jason and Tim walked over to her and Jason put an arm around her shoulder.
"What happened, Joey?" he asked, trying to sound calm. Joey opened her mouth to speak, but only a sob came out. Jason wrapped both arms around her as she began to cry.
"Please, Joey, tell us what happened." Joey sniffled and wiped her eyes. She looked to both boys and saw their worried looks. Better now then later, she rationalized.
"Okay. I came by to apologize to him and I heard him snoring. Thank god you guys didn't shut the door all the way or I wouldn't have been able to get in." She paused and took a deep breath. "I saw him on the couch and thought that maybe you guys had played a practical joke on him or something."
Tim looked confused. "Why would you think that?"
"Because his face was sort of blue. Anyway," she waved her hand in the air nervously. "He was snoring and I could smell the alcohol in the air. And that reminded me of a magazine article I read once. It said that a person can sound like they're snoring, but they're actually choking."
Jason and Tim exchanged a look that made it obvious to Joey that they had no idea what she meant. "Choking on what?" Jason asked.
"Their own vomit." Jason and Tim both made faces. At any other time Joey would have laughed at their expressions.
"I know it's gross, and I figured that's why his face is all blue. So I called 911 and the lady helped me and he really was choking and I got so scared and he wasn't breathing and..." She started to sob again. The boys were about to help her sit down when they saw what a mess the couch was. Instead they helped her out of the room and into the hallway.
"It's lucky you were here, Joey. Come on, we'll go to the hospital to see if Pacey's is all right. Are you up for that?" Jason asked her, sounding concerned. She nodded dumbly and followed the boys to their car. Joey tried not to hear the whispers and ignored the stares of the curious group of students that had gathered outside the room as they left.
***
"Is there someone here for Pacey," the doctor looked at his clipboard, "Witter?" Jason shook Joey awake as he and Tim stood to greet the man.
"Yeah, we're his roommates and this is his," Jason paused.
"Girlfriend," Joey finished. "Is Pacey okay?" The doctor smiled warmly at her.
"Yes, he's going to be just fine. Would you like to go in and see him?" Joey heard the boys sigh with relief. She nodded and smiled gratefully at the doctor.
"Yes, yes please."
"Just follow me." She did just that as he took her down two winding halls and finally she and the boys were right outside Pacey's room. "We only need him to stay for another couple of hours. He can go home at about eleven."
"Great. Can we all go in at once?" Jason asked. The doctor shook his head.
"I think it would be best if you went in one at a time." They agreed and Joey went in first without asking. She knew the guys would understand.
When she saw Pacey she was surprised. He didn't look as bad as she had seen on television. His face was pale, thankfully it was no longer blue, and he was now dressed in a green hospital gown.
She moved closer to him and wrapped her fingers around his hand. It was warm and moist. She squeezed it tightly and tried to wake him up. His eyes fluttered and he moaned almost imperceptibly.
"Pacey," she whispered. "Pacey, wake up." One eye opened slowly. She smiled. "Come on sleepyhead, wake up." He chuckled and opened both eyes.
"Hi, Joey." He lifted his head slightly and looked around the room. "Where am I?"
"You're in the hospital. But you're okay now." She ran her fingers absentmindedly through his disheveled hair.
"What happened?"
"I think you had way too much to drink tonight, Pacey. You passed out and when I came in you were nearly choking to death on your own puke." Pacey made a face.
"Eww." Joey laughed. "So I assume I have you to thank for saving my life?"
"Yeah." They stared into each other's eyes for a few minutes without speaking.
Pacey laughed. "I'd kiss you right now, but my mouth tastes kinda funky." Joey stuck her tongue out in disgust. They both began to laugh.
"Pacey, I know you probably don't feel well right now, but we really need to talk. Sorry to have to go from silly to serious so quickly."
"That was way too many S's for me. Go ahead I feel fine." Joey nodded and ran a hand through her hair nervously.
"Before I left you said that you loved me. And I feel terrible that I didn't answer you right away. You almost died thinking that I didn't love you. I'm so sorry." She felt tears threatening as Pacey's expression softened. He took her hand.
"It's okay, Joey. Today was all my fault. I shouldn't have said that I loved you so quickly." He winced at her the frightened look on her face. "I mean, I do love you, but I know that we should have started a relationship before I admitted that to you. And the almost dying thing. That's my fault, too. It was monumentally stupid and I'm sorry I put you through all this."
She squeezed his hand tighter. "I love you, Pacey." He smiled.
"I love you, too, Joey."
THE END
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