Chapter Seven

"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."