Both Uses of

consequence
in
Change of Heart, by Picoult

Do you know how, when you are on the verge of a breakdown, the world pounds in your ears—a rush of blood, of consequence?†
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consequence = importance

I guess I didn't think about the consequences until after I lit the match—so I ran in to try to wake my foster dad up.†
*

consequences = results

Definitions:

(1) (consequence as in: a direct consequence of)
a result of something (often an undesired side effect)
(2) (consequence as in: of little consequence)
importance or relevance
(3) (meaning too rare to warrant focus)
meaning too rare to warrant focus:

In classic literature, consequential may refer to someone with too much feeling of self-importance as when Dickens wrote "Because he's a proud, haughty, consequential, turned-up-nosed peacock."

Self-consequence was used in a similar manner, but is more easily understood by modern readers since important is one of the modern senses of consequence.

Another classic sense of consequent that is similar to importance or significance refers to "material wealth or prominence" as when Jane Austen wrote: "They had each had money, but their marriages had made a material difference in their degree of consequence."