She gave me a wry twist of her lips. “I’ve been better.”
“Kind of extreme measures to get our attention, don’t you think?” Damien touched her shoulder.
A feeble laugh pushed out of her chest. “You’re the drama king of the family, not me.”
“That’s right. Which means we need to get you out of here soon so the world can start revolving around me again.” He waggled his eyebrows.
Mama smiled, for real this time, and the hard knot in my diaphragm began to loosen. Everything wasn’t spiraling out of control. With the doctor’s insight, we could form a plan, stick to it, and stave off any further upsets. Diet, exercise, medication. I could talk to Jayden and maybe work remotely for a while to oversee Mama’s regimen.
As if my thoughts of the doctor had somehow summoned him, the curtain rolled back and an older man with a stethoscope hanging across his shoulders entered our small, semi-private space.
“Hello, I’m Dr. Melendez.” He introduced himself as he squirted hand sanitizer into his palms from a dispenser on the wall. After rubbing the liquid over his hands, he put the ends of the stethoscope into his ears and listened to Mama’s chest.
Themmmmnoises he hummed brewed an impatience in me that made me want to leap across the cot and shake him by his shoulders until he spilled whatever medical knowledge was in that big brain of his. Didn’t he realize we were waiting with bated breath to know if Mama would be okay or if we would always be worried about her having another heart attack? Or if she needed surgery? Good heavens, were they going to cut open and spread her chest?
I squeezed my eyes shut tight, willing the room to stop spinning.
“The good news is that you didn’t have a heart attack.”
My eyes popped back open, the fluorescent lights over-bright. “She didn’t?”
“No.”
Mama sighed in relief.
“However, you did experience a flareup of unstable angina, which is commonly a result of coronary artery disease.”
“That sounds serious.” Damien gripped Mama’s hand.
“The chest pain you experienced, Mrs. Dormus, was caused by the heart not receiving enough blood and oxygen it needs to pump properly. We call this unstable angina. Now, we ran your blood work, and there hasn’t been any damage to your cardiac muscles, but you are at risk for a heart attack in the future.”
“Is she going to be okay?” I asked, my voice sounding small in my ears.
“We’re going to start you on some blood thinners so your blood can flow more freely through your arteries. Your angiogram showed the area where your artery has narrowed and will need monitoring. If it continues to narrow or build up blockage, you’ll need angioplasty and possibly a stent put in.
“Your chart indicates that you aren’t a smoker, so that’s good. Other lifestyle changes you will want to implement to keep your heart as healthy as possible are exercising regularly, lowering your stress, and making sure to eat a healthy diet.” He met all our gazes in turn before continuing. “We’ll keep you overnight for observation, but you should be able to return home tomorrow. You might feel tired, so make sure you get plenty of rest. I’ll have the nurse write you up a list of symptoms to look for and when you should call your primary care doctor as well as a recommended diet plan.”
My mind spun with all the information he’d just shot at us, feeling the report in the base of my skull.
“Thank you, Dr. Melendez,” Mama said as the doctor exited. She ran her fingers along the folded crease in the sheet. “All this fuss for nothing. You two acting like I was dying or something.”
“It’s not nothing, Mama.” I gaped at her. Downplaying the seriousness of her condition wasn’t the best first step. She might not have had a heart attack this time, but that bell could toll in the future.
“Watch out. Jo Jo is going to come up with a life plan for you,” Damien teased with a mock-serious expression thrown Mama’s way.
They could make fun of my plans all they wanted, but those decisions had safeguarded me against certain hardships, not to mention paved the way for Damien to have a better future. And if devising a blueprint for Mama’s life kept her with us and protected her from a future heart attack, then why wouldn’t they be on board with it?
Mama closed her eyes and pulled the sheet up to her ribs. “I’m too tired to fight either one of you or listen to you two squabble. The doctor said I need rest, so that’s what I’m going to do.” She shooed us away with her hand.
Damien opened the curtain for me, and I passed through, pivoting on the ball of my foot a few feet later, a fist punched to my hip. “What’s wrong with making a plan and sticking with it?”
He pushed me forward through the hall with a hand at the small of my back. “Do we really have to discuss this now?”
I crossed my arms over my chest. “When else should we discuss it? When I call and you ignore me?”
He gripped my elbow and pulled me into an alcove. “Fine. You want to do this now? We’ll do this now. I’m dropping out of college.”
“What?” The question exploded like the bomb he’d just dropped.
