Terms and Heart

~Joanne~

The silence wasn't really silent, I could hear the drumming of my heartbeat in my ears, the ticking sounds of the clock at the end of the hallway seemed louder than usual.

I had never been so conscious of time than now. It's been two hours since Nate was rushed into the ER. I'm becoming impatient, I need to be sure he's fine.

***Earlier that day***

“Wake up sleepyhead it's almost time for school”. I said while pulling on Nate's blanket. He groans, letting out an “urghm” sound that I'm not satisfied with.

“You could be late for school” I said this time around ruffling his hair knowing he hates it so much.

“Shit…please stop touching my hair”

“Language, Nate,” I cautioned him with a scrunched up face

“I'm a grown-ass man” he replied grumpily as he made his way out of the bed.

“Grown-ass man my foot” I muttered under my breath as I rolled my eyes

“Hurry up I'm off to prepare breakfast” I said while walking out of his room with a satisfied smile on my face.

I decided to make something fast and easy, toasted bread and scrambled eggs is the first option that comes to mind so I settle with it. I checked the cabinet where I store foodstuff only to discover that I'm almost out of whole grain bread.Letting out a frustrated sigh,I face palmed. There wasn't time for another plan so without delay I settled for preparing breakfast for Nate with the available foodstuffs while I'll grab mine on my way to work.I began to get busy but before I could finish heating the pan,I heard the crashing sound coming from the bathroom and without thinking twice I rushed towards the bathroom.

“Nate what's wrong?” I asked while rushing towards the bathroom door.

“Nate! Are you okay?!” I shouted this time as I banged the bathroom door.

“Easy there, the water supply had been cut off” Nate replied in a flat tone.

I breathed a sigh of relief on discovering that it was nothing serious before replying him

“Oh…yh, about that the bill's piled up, I'll look into it by the end of the week but for now use the stored up water we have”

“Okay…thank you” Nate replied before going quiet.

“Pls hurry up, I'll soon be off to work in a few mins” I informed as I made my way back to the kitchen.

By the time I was done with breakfast, Nate wasn't still ready. I wondered if he was okay because he seemed too off and dull all morning. I made my way towards his room to hurry him up a bit but on reaching there I knocked and knocked but got no response.

“Nate, can I come in…you sure you okay” still no response.

Unease twisted in my guts as I pushed the door open, only to find him sprawled on the floor unconscious.

“Nate!!!” I screamed as I rushed to check if he's still breathing. Yes he was breathing but it's so slow and faint, barely noticeable. I hurriedly picked up my phone and called the ambulance. Rushing back to him I tried to lay him on his side while waiting for the ambulance.

***Present ***

I couldn't sit still anymore.I stood up and began pacing the hallway with tears threatening to fall from my eyes

“Nate you know I can't lose you pls be fine for me”I muttered while pacing around.

The ER door creaked open and I quickly snapped my head towards the opening. A nurse walked out with a file in her hand and immediately I ran to her.

“Nurse pls tell me my brother is fine,” I asked with a choking voice.

“Miss Callen your brother will be fine Dr. Steve will communicate the rest to you” she replied before making her way out of the hallway.

"What did she mean by 'will be fine?"I asked myself as my heart thudded harder.

After a few minutes, Nate was wheeled out of the ER with tubes connected to his body. I hurriedly went to hold his hand but I wasn't allowed to touch him.

“Miss Callen pls follow me to my office, he is being taken to the ICU for close monitoring” Dr Steve told me as he stepped out of the ER before moving to his office.

Nate looked so pale like he was barely alive I felt panic finding its way to my chest.

I let out a shaky breath as I stepped into the doctor's office. The room is quiet except the low buzzing hum in the background, maybe it's from the light or the AC, I couldn't tell—Everything just felt so constricted, like I couldn't breathe.

“Pls have a seat Miss Callen” Dr. Steve called out to me while pointing towards the seat in front of his desk. I looked at the seat and took a heavy deep breath before sitting.

“Please how's my brother Steve?” I asked, dropping all the formalities.

“He’s stable for now Joanne”Steve said as he took a deep long breath before continuing, “his heart went into acute decompensation and he lost consciousness due to poor cardiac output.”

My pulse quickened and my heart thudded. I tried to calm down and not tilt towards the negative side.

“I don't know how to tell you this, we've started him on inotropes but his response is so far minimal. We might be talking of a heart transplant” Steve dropped the news with a calm voice.

I felt my brain shutting down, my mouth became dry and I couldn't breathe properly.

“Wait...what do you mean, he was fine this morning” I said with a choking voice as tears threatened to fall from my eyes.

“How long do we have?” I asked with shaky hands, not recognising my voice anymore.

“The window is tight and we need to act fast, if it doesn't improve with aggressive medical therapy we’ll begin the evaluation process immediately to see if he is fit for the transplant” Dr. Steve replied with a deep breath.