Distant Heart Sounds Novels & Stories

Everyone was still immersed in xD's mesmerizing movements and singing on stage. Regardless of what whisper came to Jun in the middle of his performance, his eyes immediately noticed the commotion at the other end while still dancing. Without this, his heart had given a signal. Jun got off the stage slowly after he sang his part of the song. He came out backstage with his long legs and started running as fast as he could. His feelings were very chaotic, like a dazed person. Because that woman had filled all the recesses of his heart. That attitude left the staff confused.

His face went from concerned to confused to completely shocked. "That's impossible," he whispered. "What's impossible?" I demanded. "I'm hearing two heartbeats," he said, looking up at me with wide eyes. "Two heartbeats?" I repeated. "One strong, one very faint and very fast," he said. "Like..." He stopped talking and started examining Daisy more carefully, pressing gently on her stomach and checking her pulse in different places. "Dr. Martinez," I said impatiently. "What is it?" He looked up at me with an expression I had never seen on his face before. Complete amazement mixed with disbelief.

“Let’s talk about the results.” He glanced once at Mr. Jones before addressing us. “Mr. Jones' suffered what we classify as a major myocardial infarction, a heart attack caused by an advanced underlying condition known as dilated cardiomyopathy.” Sienna frowned slightly. “What does that mean?” “It means the heart muscle has become enlarged and weakened over time,” he explained calmly. “Instead of pumping blood efficiently, the heart stretches and thins, reducing its ability to circulate oxygen throughout the body.” Sarah’s hand flew to her mouth.

He had Aiden’s chart open in front of him and a stack of papers he kept tapping into a neat pile while he talked. “Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy,” he said, looking at all of us. “The muscle on the left side of Aiden’s heart is thicker than it should be. It’s genetic. Runs in families. It makes it harder for the heart to relax and fill with blood between beats. That’s why he got dizzy during the game. The heart had to work extra hard and it couldn’t keep up.” Scarlett leaned forward, pen already moving across her notebook. “Obstructive or non-obstructive?”

Something had been resting there from the very beginning—watching, waiting, and quietly influencing the frequency of their minds. Then, the massive eye shifted within the chasm. It didn't move much, just a fraction of an inch, but an impossible sound immediately echoed across the landscape. A heartbeat. *Thump.* It was deep, massive, and primordial. The sound didn't travel through the air; it seemed to emanate from everywhere and nowhere all at once. It vibrated up from the deep bedrock, descended from the dark sky, and pulsed through the very oxygen in their lungs.

I hear it the way you hear sounds from underwater - distorted, distant, belonging to a world I'm no longer part of. I do not stop.

I breathed a sign of relief as I heard, no felt a thud on the floor next to me. I was temporarily deaf. The pounding of my heart fueled the high amounts of adrenaline running through my veins, creating a dull roar in my head, an endless pulsing wave rolling back and forth, blocking out all other sounds around me. My heart beat was strong, albeit a little too loud and unnecessarily quick at the moment.

My chest rises and falls, but each breath feels distant, like I’m not really the one pulling air into my lungs. More voices filter through, low murmurs overlapping, but none of them are clear. My head throbs in a dull, pounding rhythm, but it feels detached from my body, like I’m not fully inside myself. I try to focus, to force my eyes open, but the effort is monumental. My eyelids refuse to cooperate, too heavy to lift, my body unwilling to obey even the simplest command.

The rippling remains trapped around the sound, never spreading; my word takes shape and breaks apart. The crying comes from the far side of the lake. I am certain of it. It seems so close—an arm’s length away—yet when I take a step, it slips further. I run along the curve of the shore, darting between the pillars, and with every three steps the distance grows by exactly as much as I advance. From the lake’s center comes a slow, deep thud—not of water, not of earth—but of something vast and patient, a heart not within a body, but within the land itself.

I breathed a sigh of relief knowing from the calm beeping sounds that he was still alive. Dr. Steve stepped out, pulling off his gloves with a tired sigh. His eyes met mine, and I could already tell from the set of his jaw that things were getting more complicated. “He’s stable... for now,” he said, his voice low but steady. “But we’re on borrowed time, Joanne. His heart can't take another hit like that.” I swallowed hard, my hands tightening into fists at my sides. I struggled so hard to keep myself under control.