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Story Notes:
This is a second version of my original Missing Episode story. Same plot. Different twists. Feel free to check out the first version, too!

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


Pam Halpert looked up from her desk for what must have been the millionth time that day and sighed. 


“You good,” she heard beside her. 


Jim was watching her again, as he had been all morning. 


“Yes, babe. Again, I’m fine.”


She smiled at him and he smiled back, nodding in acceptance of her assurances. He’d been asking repeatedly if she was alright since they’d gotten in the car that morning. This was her first month back from maternity leave and yeah, she missed her baby. But they needed to work. She needed to work. Jim missed Cece, too, but she didn’t hear him complaining. 


She was fine. 


Jim exhaled as he stood from his office chair and slipped on his suit jacket. 


“If you’re sure,” he consented and hugged her from behind, leaving a kiss on top of her head. 


She squeezed the arms wrapped around her neck. 


“I’m sure,” she insisted. “Have fun at lunch.”


Jim huffed out a, “No promises,” before leaving the room with a small wave goodbye to his wife. 


Pam smiled to herself. Michael was making most of the sales department eat lunch with him that day, something about a mandatory meeting that required Chili’s. Jim would have fun. It was especially enjoyable to prank Dwight outside of the office. 


She had no idea how much time had passed before she looked up from her computer again. An hour? Maybe not even that long. 


But when she did finally raise her gaze from her work, the room seemed hazy and out of focus. She blinked several times, assuming her eyes had dried from their constant use, but nothing changed. 


“Probably just tired,” she thought. 


She’d been woken up earlier than usual to feed a hungry Cece that morning. She blinked again. 


Nothing changed. 


“Maybe I need a break,” she thought next, and stood up to stretch her legs. 


She quickly grabbed the desk again. 


Everything seemed to be swimming around her. Her eyes flickered subtly at her coworkers to check if anyone noticed her unsteadiness. 


No one appeared to be paying her any attention. Good. 


She drew a shaky breath, steadied herself, and set out for the water cooler. Her throat felt suddenly dry, and she knew that a cool drink of water was just what she needed. 


She was probably dehydrated. 


She walked as quietly as she could across the room, grabbed at one of the paper cups, and filled it, watching silently as her hands shook. They felt weak, and she grabbed the cup with both hands, concerned she may drop it. 


She took small sips. Deep breaths. 


Small sip. 


Deep breath. 


“Pam? Are you alright?”


She jumped, sloshing the water slightly. Oscar was staring at her, wearing a very concerned expression. 


She put on her most professional fake smile. 


“Yeah. No I’m fine,” she lied. “Just thirsty.”


The room span dizzyingly again, forcing Pam to reach quickly for the wall, dropping the plastic cup of water as she did. 


Hands were on her in seconds, but Pam  hardly noticed. 


“Hey. Hey. Please. Sit,” Oscar insisted. “Pam, you really don’t look good. Here.”


Pam saw a blurry chair being pulled in her direction. Her ears, ringing shrilly in company with the squeaky wheels. 


“I’m f...I’m fi-ine.”


Then she was falling, and with a sharp pain to her forehead, she saw nothing more. 


XXX


“Call Jim. Tell him to come back.”


“Here’s a towel for her head.”


“Should we call an ambulance?”


Pam’s eyes fluttered open. Blurry faces were staring down at her. She tried to sit up and felt several hands all over, some pulling, some pushing. 


“Don’t try to sit up,” Oscar said from somewhere beside her. “We don’t want you to pass out again.”


Pam shook her head, still spinning dizzily. 


“I want to sit up,” she mumbled. 


The hands let her. 


With a little help, Pam had situated herself against the wall with the water cooler dangerously close to her personal space. She leaned her head backwards and rested her eyes. She just wanted to go home. 


Above her, people were quarreling.  


“Jim’s not answering,” Kevin said. 


“I really think we should call an ambulance,” said Phyllis. 


Pam shook her head again. 


“No. No ambulance,” she mumbled. “I’m okay. I just need a second.”


Something tickled Pam’s forehead and she reached up to touch it, pulling back splotchy, red fingers. She stared at them unblinkingly. 


“You hit the corner of the wall when you fell,” a voice said. 


Pam looked up and saw Toby kneeling in front of her, holding out a bloody dish towel. She looked from his eyes to the towel to his eyes again. Her thoughts felt sluggish, like she just couldn’t wrap her mouth around them. 


“I tried to catch you, but you slipped through my hands. I’m very sorry,” Oscar added. 


She mouthed the words, “It’s fine,” but no sound came out. 


Everything was swimming again, and she felt nausea creeping up to drown her. She swallowed hard. Meanwhile Toby placed the towel in her hand and guided it towards her head. 


Her arms felt so heavy. 


She slid a little down the wall but didn’t care, propping her elbow on her knees to make holding the towel to her forehead a bit easier. The nausea, however, was getting harder and harder to hold down. She swallowed again, thickly. 


Where was Jim?


“M’gonna throw up,” she slurred. 


No one seemed to hear her. 


“Gonna throw u-,” she started and covered her mouth. 


She tried to push herself up, but unable to catch her balance, shakily crashed down again. She gagged and someone shoved a small trash can in front of her just in time. 


She vomited in front of half of her coworkers. 


How. Humiliating. 


She just wanted to sink into the floor, disappear from all these prying eyes. Sleep, the most inviting temptation. 


“Alright. We have to call an ambulance,” Oscar said. 


“Yeah. Kevin, did you get Jim yet?”


“He’s still not answering. His phone’s probably off.”


“Okay...call the ambulance,” Toby finally agreed. 


Pam felt anxiety immediately swell in her. 


“No, please, Toby,” she whimpered. “Please don’t make me go in the ambulance.”


He stared at her silently for a moment. 


“You’re slurring your words,” he finally said. 


She stared back at him, feeling desperate tears swell in her own eyes.


“That cut is deep,” he said again. 


“Please,” she pleaded. 


XXX


Ten minutes later Pam was being helped into the backseat of Toby’s car. Oscar slid in next to her. Toby, she assumed, was driving. At this point, she would’ve taken Meredith’s van to the hospital if it meant the sick feeling would stop. 


“Here,” she heard and a cool bottle of water was pushed into her hand. 


“Thank you,” she whispered. 


They rode in silence for several minutes. 


“They’ll keep calling Jim from the office,” Toby said from the front. 


It took Pam a few seconds to register that he was speaking. 


“What,” she asked softly. 


“Jim. They’ll keep trying him,” he repeated. “He’ll be at the hospital soon.”


Pam nodded and everything spun again. She put her head in her hands and breathed deeply, trying her best to contain the nausea. 


“Can you go any faster,” she heard Oscar ask, reaching over her to roll the window down. 


She must’ve looked as terrible as she felt. 


“I’m going five over,” Toby responded. 


A cold sweat chilled Pam’s body. This couldn’t be happening. 


“Do you have a bag or something,” Pam heard. Oscar and Toby were whispering back and forth. “It’s either that or she vomits in your car.”


Where it came from Pam didn’t know, but a few moments later a plastic grocery bag was placed in her lap. 


“Just in case,” Oscar assured her. 


Pam nodded, but did not open her eyes. She was scared to move. Her head ached. The gash in her forehead was still bleeding, and now, to top it off, she was going to be sick...again. 


She gagged. 


Oh god. 


She gagged again. 


Oh god. Oh god. Oh god. 


Pam was suddenly very aware that both men in the car were fascinated with something outside their respective windows. 


She vomited harshly into the bag, into the silence. 


Tears slid down her cheeks, whether from the exertion or the embarrassment she wasn’t sure. Oscar cleared his throat beside her, but did not turn away from his window. 


“I’m sorry,” she whispered. 


Both men assured her simultaneously that it was fine. These things happen. No big deal. All the same, the three of them road in awkward silence until they turned into the emergency room parking lot. 


Pam slid out of the car and winced in the sunlight. She still felt dizzy, tilting ominously to the side as she tried to walk.


“You can lean on my shoulder...if that helps,” Toby interjected. 


Pam had no other choice, so she accepted gratefully, leaning as lightly as possible on his shoulder. Once inside, she sat down on the steel chair while Oscar checked her in. It was freezing in there, and the shivering didn’t help how sick she felt. 


Oscar brought back paperwork for her to fill out. She choked through it, scrawling a signature her, an initial there, but couldn’t seem to finish. Her head was throbbing now and she couldn’t get her eyes to focus long enough to read. 


“It’s alright,” Oscar said sympathetically. “Jim can finish this when he gets here. Do you need anything?”


Pam shook her head, trying to smile. 


Oscar nodded, and the silence persisted. 


XXX


The wait took an eternity. She’d lost all track of time since they’d sat down, trying desperately to doze, head in hands, but to no avail. On her right, she heard the boys making small talk and sighed. 


Where was Jim?


Then she felt something graze her wrist. It ran gently over her arm, down to her knee where it settled. 


She summoned the strength to lift her head. 


Jim was kneeling in front of her, brow furrowed, no trace of the smile he wore when he’d waved her goodbye. She felt so relieved to see him that she crashed back down onto his shoulder. Jim shifted backwards, but caught her. 


“Hey. Hey,” he whispered. “It’s gonna be okay.”


He helped her sit back up and she remembered the clipboard full of unfinished paperwork. 


“I couldn’t,” she muttered, holding it shakily out for him. 


His expression was one of greatest concern, like he hadn’t quite fully seen her when he’d walked in. He took the papers from her and set them back in the chair. 


“I’ll take care of it,” he assured her, taking off his jacket and wrapping it around her. “Here. Just try to relax. Okay?”


“Okay,” Pam sniffed and closed her eyes again, this time a little warmer. 


She vaguely remembered her husband thanking Toby and Oscar for staying with her before they got up and left with a “Feel better, Pam,” and, “Keep us informed.”


Pam tried to smile graciously, but wasn’t sure if it came across. She didn’t care. At long last, it was just her and Jim. 


He reached over and held her hand, eyeing her in the same way he had that morning. 


“Do you need anything,” he asked. “Water?”


She shook her head. All her concentration was going into restraining the nausea. He pushed her hair back, gently examining the gash in her forehead. She realized for the first time that she hadn’t even seen it yet. Jim inhaled through his teeth. 


“Looks deep,” he whispered, grimacing at her. “I’m so sorry I wasn’t there.”


Pam shook her head and again mouthed the words “it’s fine,” but again, no sound came out.  Her ears began to ring. Her throat felt uncomfortably dry. Suddenly the room gave a grand upheaval, as did her stomach, and Pam gagged into her hand again. 


Jim was squeezing her shoulder. 


“Hey. You okay,” he asked. “Pam?”


But she couldn’t answer. Her head was throbbing. 


Jim’s hand left her shoulder, leaving Pam alone to fight the dark spots, even now creeping into her vision. The room became a blurred watercolor of bright images, making it harder and harder to focus. 


“Sweetheart, do you think you can move into this chair,” a voice asked. 


The cheerful tone brought Pam back to reality. She stared at the older woman in scrubs, leaning down in front of her. 


“I don’t know what’s happening,” Pam gasped, realizing she just couldn’t enough air to her burning lungs. 


“Okay. Alright. Don’t you worry,” the nurse assured her. “We got you.”


Everything was so fuzzy that Pam wasn’t sure how she ended up in the wheelchair, but between the nurse and Jim, she got there. She was being pushed down a hallway, bright light after bright light stinging her heavy eyes. her. 


“Take deep breaths and try to relax. You’re gonna be okay,” the nurse assured her. 


“Jim,” Pam called. 


They had stopped in a room with curtain walls. Jim appeared out of nowhere, at her side in seconds. 


“I’m right here,” he soothed, on his knees next to her and squeezing her hand. 


Pam’s hands felt numb. She couldn’t squeeze back. 


“I’m gonna pass out,” she whimpered. 


Jim squeezed her hand again. 


“Don’t think about it. Just focus on my voice,” he instructed. “You’re okay. I promise.”


“I’m scared,” she whispered. 


“I’m right here,” he whispered back. 


Then again, she saw nothing more.



Lawrencespen1777 is the author of 2 other stories.
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