AllFreeNovel
Share Us
CHAPTER 18
“Momma, want some?” Mia asks, offering me one of her sweet potato fries that she’d dipped in ketchup.
“No, baby, thank you.” She frowns, but accepts my response. Now, I’m not one to normally turn down a fry, much less one smothered in ketchup. That saying “I love ketchup on my ketchup” certainly applies to Mia and me. The thing is I’ve had no appetite today. This damned heartburn is at its worst. I’ve already crammed about six anti-acid tablets, and it’s only lunchtime.
We’re sitting on the playroom floor watching Super Why while she eats. Though I’m mostly here with the excuse of keeping her company, and because I’ve yet to get past the fear that she’ll choke on food if I walk away even though she’s already four, I actually like the show. Really, I’ve been watching it since she was a baby.
So, we’re sitting here, enjoying ourselves, when there’s a sudden flutter in my chest. It’s such a strange sensation, as if though my heart literally did a flip inside my ribs, that I stand up and put my fingers up to my neck to feel for a pulse. My heart is pounding hard as can be, but other than the beat seems normal. Still, my mind starts running through all of my symptoms. Just the other day I saw a sign about how heart decease is a silent killer, and how women are more likely to ignore all of the warning signs.
I’ve had heartburn. But has it truly been my stomach? What if this entire time it’s really been my heart? There’s also been that tightness in my chest and shortness of breath. I attributed it to allergies, having been prescribed an inhaler years ago to help with that. But this could be early signs of an impending cardiac arrest.
There’s a sinking feeling in my gut as I begin to feel every one of those symptoms simultaneously and because I’m so focused on them, they intensify.
Racing out to the kitchen where I’d left my phone, I yell back at Mia, “Stay here, baby, I’ll be right back!”
I fly down the stairs, my heart practically in my throat as I see my life played out before me. Shaking hands make it hard to dial 9-1-1, but I get it done.
“911, please state your emergency.”
“I think I’m having a heart attack!” My head is spinning and I can hardly breathe.
Mia comes down with a worried look on her little face. “Momma?” she asks with concern. Though at her age she can’t put two and two together, she knows something’s wrong.
“It’s okay, love. Momma is calling for help because I don’t feel well,” I try to reassure her.
“Ma’am,” the operator says, “What are your symptoms?” I tell her and give her my address. “Help is on the way. I hear you have a little one. Is there anyone who can take her?”
“Yes, I’m going to call my neighbor right now.”
“Okay, I’d like to keep you on the line until the ambulance arrives,” the operator tells me.
“I’ll text her, then.”
-Having a heart attack. Can you come take Mia?I text Jess.
Two seconds later the other line on my phone starts going crazy, it’s her.
-Can’t answer. On the phone with 911,I send.
-WTF!! I’m coming right over!
True to her word, not a minute later she’s pounding on my door. I let her in, Caleb at her hip. She doesn’t care that I’m on the phone. “What is going on!” she practically screams at me angrily.
Covering the mouthpiece on my phone, I say, “I think something’s wrong with me. I’m going to the hospital. Do you mind keeping Mia? I can call my dad to come get her, but I think he’ll freak out.” More than her, at least.
“Yeah, yeah, of course.” She takes Mia and holds her and Caleb on her lap as she sits in one of my wingback chairs in the living room. The somber look on her face, her blue eyes glistening, makes her look like she’s already mourning me.
The lights of the ambulance flash bright in the house as they pull up, and I grab my bag and tell the operator who lets me go. I give Mia a kiss, saying, “Momma loves you, I’ll be back quick.”
They follow me to the door where the paramedics have just walked to with a gurney. It’s a little weird getting into it, since I pretty much get in myself. The two young men look at me like I may be making this up, or maybe it’s me that feels that way.
The moment I think it, there’s a stab between my ribs and I grimace.
No, there is definitely a lot of tightness in my chest, almost like I have someone sitting on it. This cannot be normal, I think. Even the oxygen mask they fit over my nose and mouth makes little difference in the way I feel.
Jess walks behind us all the way to the truck, where they load me in and I wave bye. And just as they’re about to close the double doors, I pull the plastic thing off my face and yell out to her, “Call Owen!”
I love having big breasts. It’s especially awesome when a male technician comes in to perform an EKG. As if though I don’t already feel incredibly vulnerable in my light blue gown and no clothes underneath, I am asked to wear the thing backwards and lie on my back.
