wild, wild life

Mahavira and I have been having quite the wild and crazy weekend. It all started Friday evening when we retired to the bench outside of Mississippi Pizza after work to enjoy a pitcher of Miller High Life (the Champagne of Beers) and the pleasure of each other's company.

Unfortunately, Mahavira was suffering bravely with a spasming psoas muscle and it eventually got the best of her. She'd been trying to pretend that it wasn't so bad, but after sitting out on the bench for 15 minutes, she couldn't pretend anymore. "Honey, I've gotta go in and lay down. This is killing me." We'd barely put a dent in the beer we were drinking and I was fumbling with the glasses as Mahavira tried to stand up.

She was shaky on her feet. She stood stiffly by the bench while I poured beer back into the pitcher and gathered up my jacket and her day bag. Suddenly she started to stumble a little and caught herself on the concrete wall behind the bench. The dog whined and I put my hand out to touch her back and check in with her. I knew she was in pain, but I had no idea how bad it really was.

Until she fainted.

It happened really fast and at first I thought she was just being dramatic. She crumbled into a little ball and ended up on the sidewalk in the fetal position. If I hadn't been standing behind her, she probably would've cracked her head on the concrete. I realized immediately that she hadn't just given up on staying verticle. Her eyes were closed and she didn't answer me. She was out for about ten seconds... which doesn't sound like much, but which feels like a fucking lifetime when you're wondering if your girlfriend is having a seizure or a stroke or a heart attack...

After those immeasurably long moments, her eyes flew open and she looked wildly all around her, terrified. I helped sit her up on some nearby steps and told her we were going to Kaiser. Then I ran off to dump the dog in the house, grab my bag and bring the car around. In the five minutes I was gone, Mahavira sat on the steps downstairs and tried to figure out how to stop me from taking her to the hospital.

Long, long, long story short, I got her in the car and all the way to the parking lot of the Kaiser Emergency Department, but she successfully convinced me that she did not need medical attention: she had heat exhaustion, pain, no food in her stomach, etc, etc, etc. She'd just fainted. She was fine. Etc, etc. So we came home and I've spent the weekend nursing her.

Once I got past the paralyzing fear that she was seriously ill, I have greatly enjoyed spending the weekend just hanging out in the apartment and taking care of my girlfriend. I cooked her great meals, made her tea, helped her get a bath, and just generally kept her company. She keeps telling me I should get out into the world, take a few hours to do something nice for myself, whatever, but I just haven't wanted to leave her.

And the best part is that, even though we've been in this tiny apartment together for nearly 48 hours straight, we're not getting on each other's nerves at all! It's kind of amazing. True love is a beautiful thing.