Party Perils by Patti Benning (the chimp paradox TXT) 📕

“This is great,” she said to Caroline after her first sip of the soup. It really was – flavorful and spicy without making her mouth burn. She thought she recognized the recipe as something that they picked up from a friend in culinary school who had recently immigrated from China. Across from her, Rebecca was talking to Edward about something involving an old convertible.

“Thanks. Dean and I eat it sometimes, and I’ve been playing around with the recipe a bit. It might be nice to add some variety to the restaurant’s menu.”

“Edward, can you try the soup?” Lacey piped up beside her. “You know how I am with spicy food. Let me know if it’s too hot.”

“Okay, okay,” he replied, breaking away from his conversation with Rebecca to take a sip of the soup. He hesitated for a second, then said, “Not too bad, dear. I think you’ll like it.”

“It really would be nice to expand a bit more,” Hannah agreed, getting back to her conversation with Caroline as she sipped another spoonful of soup. She considered the flavors for a long moment, then said, “We could have a section of the menu dedicated to foods from around the world. We could have Asian cuisine, something Mediterranean, and maybe even dabble into more Mexican dishes besides the nachos and tacos we offer.”

“I was thinking we could do a changing menu, where we offer different dishes depending on the –”

She broke off as Edward coughed. Hannah looked over at him and saw that his face was flushed and splotchy. Beside her, Caroline spoke up, concerned. “Is it too spicy? I thought I was confident about the levels of heat everyone here liked, but if I was wrong, I’m so sorry. I can get you some water –”

Instead of answering her, Edward took another raspy breath and began to choke. His face was turning purple. Beside him, his wife shot to her feet.

“He’s having an allergic reaction,” she said. Her voice was steady, but there is a high note of fear in it. “I need my purse. Someone help him off of his chair. I need to get his EpiPen.”

Hannah stood up, her chair scraping back, and helped Rich Andrews, who had been sitting on the other side of Lacey, ease Edward the floor. He was having trouble breathing, and it was just getting worse.

She looked up to see Caroline frozen at the foot of the table, her eyes wide. Across the table from them, Rebecca was staring with a similar expression, looking utterly stricken. At the other end of the table, Bucky looked like he was debating whether he should get out of his seat to try to help or if it would be better to give them space, and Dean was getting up, hurrying out of the room and muttering something about an ambulance.

Lacey returned quickly and dumped her purse on the floor next to Edward. Her hands were shaking as she sorted through the contents. “I can’t find it,” she said, all of the calm vanished from her voice. “The EpiPen – I can’t find it. I know it was in here. I always carry one and we always check before we go out to eat. It should’ve been in here. It has to be here.”

Hannah moved over to help her search. She was familiar with epinephrine pens; she had taken plenty of safety courses alongside the restaurant management ones and was familiar with emergency procedures for anaphylactic shock. Food allergies were a major safety issue for anyone who worked in the food industry. She wondered which ingredient in the soup he had reacted to. She knew Caroline would avoid making anything that might cause an allergic reaction in one of her guests, so it had to have been something she didn’t know about. Now wasn’t the time to ponder that, though. Edward had fallen silent and while Lacey continued to look frantically through her purse for the EpiPen that didn’t seem to be there, Hannah moved over to him. She placed her fingers on his neck, then checked the pulse points in his wrist as well. A second later, she gave up and simply leaned her head against his chest.

“He’s not breathing,” she said as she straightened up. Her eyes met Lacey's as she said, “And I can’t find a pulse.”

Chapter Three

Hannah hung back as the ambulance pulled away. Its lights were on, but there was no siren and a distraught Lacey Finch was getting into a car with Bucky Huggins, who had offered to drive her to the hospital.

Caroline was crying, and Hannah felt close to tears herself, but there was nothing that they could do for Edward. The EpiPen that Lacey swore was in her purse had been nowhere to be found, and none of the others had one. The feeling of helplessness that Hannah had experienced when she realized that Edward was going to die in front of them without any of them being able to lift a finger to help was probably one of the worst things she had ever gone through, though she knew that what Lacey was going through was far worse.

“I think I’m going to get going,” Rich said in a low voice as he approached Dean. Dean barely looked up, most of his attention focused on comforting Caroline.

“Better wait for the police,” he said. “They'll want to talk to us, I’m sure.”

Rich huffed, a sour look on his face, but he returned to the house. Rebecca followed him, her face completely blank. Hannah just stood there, not sure what to do. Eventually, Dean turned to her. “Will you wait with Caroline? I’m going to call the station and see where the police are. They should’ve been here by now.”

“Of course,” she said, stepping up next to him. He removed his arm from around Caroline's waist and went back inside. Hannah approached Caroline and gently led her over to the porch,