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It was barely noticeable at first, hardly more than forewarning tremors of something much bigger that was already taking place. 


Jim Halpert glanced over to the desk where his wife usually sat and felt his heart twinge again. He missed her on the days that she didn’t get to come in. But staying home with their baby was definitely a necessity, and he was very proud to be married to such a wonderful mom, honestly. 


He looked back to his computer screen, newly determined to focus on his work, but the words seemed to ripple across the screen like waves in front of him. 


“I’ve been up too long,” he whispered to himself, thinking of his 3am wake up call from the baby. He had been restless all night with a stomach ache anyway so he figured he might as well let Pam sleep. He could handle this shift, and he was right. Soon both stomach and crying baby had settled. 


He leaned back in his chair and rubbed his eyes roughly, hoping to jostle himself awake. That’s when several things happened suddenly. 


Pain tore through his body, starting in his stomach and radiating outward. It was very similar to being sucker punched, complete with confusion and your breath being taken away, but without the recovery. The sudden severity was unexpected. Sure, his stomach had been hurting off and on for days, but nothing like this. 


He grit his teeth, forcing his body to take deep breaths in hope that it would just pass. But the sudden pain was soon followed by an overwhelming nausea. For a split second, Jim had the terrifying thought that he was going to be sick at his desk in front of his coworkers. 


Thankfully, ninety percent of the sales department was out to lunch at the moment. That would make it much easier to slip out unnoticed. 


He pushed himself back from the desk, doing his best to ignore the horrible stomach pains, and stood to his feet. The room spun before him, making it impossible to focus on anything but the rotating lights. 


“What is happening,” he whispered, feeling his heart rate increase with anxiety. For the first time, he wondered if something was actually very, very wrong. 


“Get to the bathroom. Just get to the bathroom,” Jim thought to himself as another wave of nausea washed over him. 


He willed himself to walk, but his head felt like he was on a tilt-a-whirl. He stumbled into an empty desk, barely catching himself on the spinning chair. 


“Jim, are you alright?”


Jim blinked hard and turned around, trying to look as natural as possible. 


Oscar was staring at him, brow furrowed, arm out as if he might need to catch him. 


Jim tried his best at a casual smile and nod. The last thing he wanted was every eye in the office watching him stumble around. But the head movement was a bad idea and Jim was forced to steady himself on the wall. 


“Here,” Oscar said pulling up the chair from the empty desk. “Why don’t you sit. You don’t look so good.”


Oscars words sounded far away and echoey in Jim’s ears. He looked around and saw several pairs of eyes swimming before him.


“Is he alright,” someone said from across the room. 


“Jim,” he heard Oscar say again. 


“I...uh,” Jim gulped, but the nausea surged again. 


He desperately pushed away from Oscar and the wall and made a dash for the bathroom, making it just in time to crash into the floor. 


Jim heaved violently into the toilet, not caring who heard. His hands shook as they gripped the sides, willing him not to fall over. He wiped away cold sweat with his shirt sleeve, but lurched forward as he gagged again. He couldn’t seem to get a grip on his own body. 


The pain had become unbearable. Jim laid himself on his side on the cold bathroom tile, curled into a ball and clutching his stomach. 


Yep, this is where he was going to die. 


Then he heard the bathroom door creak open. 


“Jim?”


It was Oscar again. 


Jim didn’t care if Oscar saw him curled up on the floor like a baby. It hurt to move. It hurt to breathe. He closed his eyes, but that hurt too.


“We’re calling Pam, okay,” Oscar said gently. 


Jim’s opened his eyes again slowly and he saw Oscar crouching down beside him, with Kevin standing at the door, cellphone in hand. 


“No,” Jim said, pushing himself up with trembling arms. “No, she’s with the baby. I’m fine,” he panted. 


“You’re obviously not fine. You need to go home,” Oscar interjected. “And you can’t drive like this.”


Jim shook his head again, and the dizziness escalated. Waves of pain rushed through him and he felt sick again. 


“Oh god,” he gasped. Using every effort to push himself up and lean over the toilet. 


Oscar stepped back quickly as Jim vomited harshly again. Pain seared his stomach with every heave, causing darkness to creep into his vision. He felt himself sway back and forth. 


Someone was touching his shoulder. Everything was spinning again. What was happening to him? Someone was saying his name over and over, but he couldn’t respond. 


“He’s going to pass out. Call an ambulance,” Jim heard Toby say from somewhere beside him. 


“No please, please,” Jim begged. “Just call Pam. Please, not an ambulance.”


“Just relax, Jim. We’re getting you some help,” Jim heard. 


He tried to focus on their voices, but he couldn’t find balance in his body or his mind. The ever persistent pain radiated through him again, and Jim doubled over, his entire body shaking violently. 


“Jim, I’m here,” he heard, a different voice. 


Then he heard nothing at all. 


XXX


“They said to get him to the ground floor if we can.”


Jim heard Kevin’s voice in the distant darkness. Where was he? What was all the noise? Jim breathed in deeply, but was met by a stabbing pain. 


Oh yeah...


He pried his eyes open and saw Pam staring down at him, looking more worried than he had ever seen her. He swallowed dryly. 


“Hey,” he said, a small smile playing across his lips. 


“Jim,” she breathed. Just “Jim.”


“I don’t feel so hot,” he said wearily. 


“Yeah, you don’t look so good either,” she responded gently. She brushed away the hair that was stuck to his face, lingering on his forehead for a few seconds. 


She furrowed her brow and placed her hand firmly against his skin. He unconsciously leaned into it, savoring it’s coolness. 


“You’re burning up,” she said under her breath. She stood momentarily to grab a wet paper towel, then ran it soothingly over his skin. “An ambulance is coming,” she explained. “We need to get you to the parking lot. Do you think you can walk?”


Jim was trying very hard to be in the conversation, but the vertigo was unreal. He shut his eyes again. 


“I don’t know,” he slurred. “M’so dizzy.” 


“I’ll help you, okay? You’re going to be fine,” she assured him. 


Pam had an excellent poker face with many people, but he could always see through it. He could hear the panic in the subtle waver of her voice. So he channeled every effort into standing up and being okay, just like Pam said. 


Oscar and Pam each grabbed an arm and pulled. He got up slowly, clinging to both of them until he was standing on his feet. 

Chills wracked his body, and he became super conscious of the fact that his shirt was soaked through with sweat.  


Feeling like he might topple over, he put his hand out to steady himself against the wall, his breathing labored. 


“Take it easy. No rush,” said Oscar from somewhere behind him. 


Jim nodded and put his arm around his wife’s neck. He tried a tentative step forward, but immediately doubled, his stomach pain reaching new levels. For a moment he thought he may pass out again. Every movement was agony. 


“It’s okay,” Pam said urgently. “We can stay here. They can come get you.”


Her voice sounded high pitched and panicky, like she was about to cry. Jim felt a new strength resolve within him. 


“I’m okay. I’m okay,” he breathed, standing upright again. He put one arm back around his wife and the other pressed firmly into his stomach. The pressure helped, and he stepped forward. “Let’s go.”


The walk through the office was humiliating. He could feel the eyes of his coworkers on him, and once again felt relief that Michael had forced most of the sales department out for lunch. The longer they walked, the more he could feel himself leaning more and more heavily on Pam, the pain and exertion exhausting his already ill body. When they finally reached the door, Jim had never felt so excited to see sidewalk in his life. 


His excitement was short lived though as the pain in his stomach intensified once more, causing him to wretch suddenly and vomit into the grass. He doubled over again, audibly crying out as the pain consumed him.  


“It’s okay. I’ve got you,” he heard softly in his ear, along with sirens in the distance. 


Pam and Oscar were helping him to the ground, but he couldn’t tell which way was up. His shaking knees gave out and he crashed roughly into the grass, moaning and trembling into the dirt. 


Maybe he passed out again, maybe he was conscious. He couldn’t really tell. He seemed to be coming in and out of reality for several long minutes. 


Toby was directing a vehicle into the parking lot. There were paramedics and ambulances and people kept touching him and why couldn’t they just leave him alone? He just wanted to sleep. 


He opened his eyes briefly to see the doors shutting him into the ambulance, and for the the first time in several long minutes, he felt a hand on his chest and turned his head to see. 


Pam was gripping his hand tightly. She was crying. Why? What was happening? Jim felt bliss, finally, like he was floating into the warm air around him. He smiled at her. 


“Hey, Beesly,” he croaked. 


His throat was aching, but he couldn’t remember why. 


She smiled back at him wetly.  


“Actually, it’s Halpert now,” she said. 


Jim’s smile faded and the familiar darkness creeped back into his line of sight. 


“I love you, very, very much, Beesly,” he whispered again. 


“Jim,” she whimpered. “It’s going to be okay. I’m right here. I’m not leaving,” she promised. 


But that was the last thing he heard, before he fell off to sleep. 



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