"I was instructed to direct you once you arrive. I need you to sign over here first and then I'll take you to your mother."
Once I had signed, I looked up eagerly at the nurse for the next step.
"Please come with me." She said.
We walked halfway through the hall before we turned towards the elevator.
"Your mother is on the 3rd floor, room 23." The nurse said as we got in. "We have a few rules and policies here. Only family is allowed to see the patient and only one person at a time. Your mother didn't just have a kitchen accident, so she is in a critical state right now."
"What?… But I was told it was an accident."
"Yes, but you were also told that more information will be provided upon your arrival. I'll leave you to it now. If there is an emergency, please press the button by the bed, it will alert the medical staff. The doctor also requested to speak with you, once you've seen your mother."
"Thank you very much."
"It's my pleasure." She replied.
Once she was out of sight, I turned to Ayo and Ola who had been quiet throughout.
"Ola, why don't you eat something while I check up on mom?" I said. "Ayo, could you please take her to the cafeteria?"
"That isn't necessary, I already brought food." Ayo held up the takeaway bags from the party.
"I'll be right back." I said, as I ruffled Ola's hair. I quietly opened the door and walked into the room. I sat in the chair beside the hospital bed.
"Mom?" I said quietly.
She opened her eyes slowly and stared at the ceiling before her eyes focused on me. A swirl of emotions were in them but I couldn't identify them all.
"Mom, how are you feeling?"
She sighed heavily. The exhaustion was plain on her face.
"What happened?" I asked again and wished she would just talk to me.
"It was a kitchen accident. I'll be fine." She whispered.
I felt that something wasn't right.
"But, the nurse said it was more than that." I pressed on.
She sighed again but remained quiet. I had to know what was going on.
"Michael, I need you to listen carefully. If I don't tell you, then you'll probably hear it from the doctor instead. The nurse was right, it wasn't just an accident, something caused the accident."
I waited patiently while she chose her words.
"Although, the symptoms were there, I chose to ignore them. I carried on without a change in my routine. Then during my shift at work, I had the first attack. There was this sudden pain in my chest and so much discomfort. Next thing I know, a wave of weakness hit me. Unfortunately, I was operating the gas burners when this happened. I tried to support my weight on the closest thing to me, which happened to be the dish towel rack. The whole thing came crashing down, right on the burners. The dish towels caught on fire and the flames were… everywhere. I was told when I woke up that a co-worker found me and called for help."
There was absolute silence as I tried to take in all that I heard. I understood that she probably didn't want to put us through the terrible stage we had all gone through when dad slipped into a coma, from which he never woke up, due to a ghastly motor accident. But it had come to this. We weren't even prepared for anything. No funds, nothing to take care of hospital bills and what about medication?
"Mom, why didn't you tell us how you were feeling? You know how serious this is right?"
"As serious as a heart attack." She replied grimly.
I anxiously waited in the doctor's office for news about my mother's condition.
"You were lucky she was brought here in time. Otherwise, the outcome would have been terrible." Dr Barnes said as he went through my mom's medical file.
I didn't even want to think about what could have happened.
"I'm grateful to whoever it was that found her. However, I'm not entirely sure what the real problem is."
The doctor was quiet for a while as he regarded me solemnly over the top of his glasses.
"Your mother had a heart attack. It is a risk for most adults her age, but she is not so old not to recover completely. Her body was over-worked and it wasn’t given adequate care. It also shows here that her blood pressure hasn't been stable for a while now, she's hypertensive. This led to Atherosclerosis, which is arterial damage. This is when the artery becomes blocked with plaque which is made of fats and calcium salts. Thereby slowing down the rate at which blood flows through the body, eventually causing a heart attack."
The words were a blow to me. I only managed to choke out a reply.
"You mean to tell me that my mother has an abnormal heart condition?"
"I'm very sorry but yes, that is the case."
To think that I never once noticed any changes. What kind of son was I?
"So, what is going to happen now? What needs to be done?" I asked.
"Well, your mother needs to be closely monitored. I suggest we keep her at the hospital for rehabilitation. This will take some time depending on the damage caused to her arteries, but it is necessary for her recovery."
"Alright, thank you doctor." Then I suddenly remembered. "What about the medical bills?""I wanted to speak to you about that. The catering company covered a percentage of the bills. However, there is still an outstanding and your mother also needs medication. I'll have the nurse inform you about the exact details."Just then, there was a beeping noise.
"You want to see me?" The man said."Yeah boss, this guy came in here looking for a job." Sam said.The man took a cursory glance at me."W
I was just about to come to a conclusion when I heard the front door bang shut. I quickly changed into my regular clothes at lightning speed. I loved my little sister, but let's face it. If she knew then my mom would find out in about two seconds flat. I heard Ola come up the stairs so I stepped out to meet her. The expression on her face made my grin melt away."What's wrong?" I stooped low to see her eyes but she avoided my gaze.
I stood still as I listened to the words that caught my attention. I clenched my fists at my sides as I held in the anger that grew within me. It was one thing to hear rumours about how your friend was dissed or insulted and another thing entirely to listen to it happen in your presence. "Why on earth would I remain friends with a poor, broke girl like you. I wouldn't want any embarrassment at my party, so I suggest you forget about attending. You are going to bring nothing but shame to yourself anyway if you bother coming."
It was about 10 minutes till my shift at Donny’s café was over and despite how exhausted I felt, I was in a good mood. Even the guys at work noticed."Did you win the lottery or something because I don't see what's making you so happy today?" Ricky raised a suspicious brow at me.I'd gotten
It was two weeks since my date with Cindy and so far, things were going well. I had also finally gotten over my inability to form coherent sentences around her. She was very outgoing and sometimes made me do silly things just to see her laugh. I was so lost in thought that I was unaware that a small smile had formed across my lips."Since when did the diagram of a dissected guinea pig have the same effect as watching a romantic comedy?" I heard Laura ask.
On Friday afternoon after school, I went to the hospital to see my mom. Before heading out, I packed a portion of the lasagna that our neighbour, Mrs Johnson, had sent to us the previous evening. After seeing that my mom would be in the hospital for a while, she took it upon herself to send us a meal every couple of days to keep us stocked up. Neighbours like her were truly a blessing.When I got there, I waited a while in the lobby to check my phone. I'd asked Cindy to call when she got there so that I could introduce her to my mom, but it seemed like she was running late again.
I had worked at Donny's café for about 2 weeks. How would it look if I just quit on them?"That decision is left to you. I'll arrange for a weekly allowance to be sent home while I'm here. I've still got some savings that should come in handy.""But what about the rest of the hospital bills?"