The Marriage Break

Part seven: Human nature

That night, Regina remained in the waiting room in front of the emergency room, while her arms tried to warm her up. She could barely dress in the medical clothes that the nurses got for her. She was wearing a bathrobe that was already dry. The brunette's mind was blank. Automatically, she reviewed every moment that Arthur was lying on the floor. It was evident that she feared that he would die.

She couldn't take her cell phone the moment that she left in the ambulance. Fortunately, she managed to take Adam with Vera, who immediately agreed to take care of him. Otherwise, she couldn't have gone and she couldn't have been at peace. Or worse, she didn't imagine asking David for help again. David was a thought that also made her anxious. She had no way of communicating with him, and she had no way of telling him that she wouldn't be in their appointment tomorrow. At that moment the doctor on duty in Cardiology, left the emergency room to give information about her husband.

"Doctor!" She got up in a hurry, to meet the Doctor. "How is my husband?"

"Are you Mrs. Dempsey?" The Doctor paused and he observed the board that he had in his hands.

"Yes, I am!" She was getting nervous and that could be noticed.

"Calm down, Mrs..." He read the name of the woman in the register.

"Regina!" She went ahead to say it. "How is my husband, doctor? Please tell me!" Tears started to come out of her beautiful brown eyes.

"Mrs. Regina. I need you to be calm, because it's the best way you can help us. Your husband is in the intensive care unit. He suffered a heart attack, because of a coronary disease that has been deteriorating his heart".

"God!" She whispered. Regina brought her right hand to her mouth, trying to mitigate the sound her accelerated breathing made. The concern about it increased in her.

"This disease is very rare and it is usually degenerative by nature. It begins as an unstable Angina, which is the most dangerous. It doesn't follow a pattern and it can occur without any physical effort. It doesn't disappear spontaneously with rest or medicines. It's a sign that a heart attack could happen later. And then, it happened. The fact is that your husband's lifestyle increased the risk, but he had no symptoms until now... Or did he have them?"

"No, he had never expressed any kind of pain or discomfort, until this week, maybe this Friday... To be honest, not that he told me". She was not sure of anything, since she had very few days to communicate again as wife and husband with Arthur. What was a fact is that the feeding of Arthur outside the house was quite uncontrolled.

"At the moment he needs to be under observation, with oxygen and medication. But this episode can be repeated and he may not be so lucky. He was lucky that you gave him CPR, if it had not been like that, must likely that he didn't make it".

Regina broke down crying disconsolately. This couldn't be happening to Arthur, just when he wanted that his relationship with Adam to improve. All those years of life with Arthur passed before her eyes, the good ones and the bad ones. But definitely the good ones made her cling to the possibility that her health would improve.

"Is there something else you can do for him?" She was with the soul in a thread.

"Coronary disease is quite advanced. I can't overtake conclusions until I have him stable and even then, I have to do more tests. It is too early to draw conclusions about future treatments, but for now you are in good hands. We are doing everything possible and indicated in these cases. You must trust us, Mrs. Regina". The doctor spoke to her with seriousness and serenity.

"It's fine doctor". She tried to calm herself, but a sea of thoughts flooded her head. "When can I see my husband?"

"At the moment you will not be able to see him, while we are doing the tests on him, and while we stabilize his health". The doctor felt sorry to see the woman in a bathrobe, at dawn. "If in the morning he is stable, my colleague on that shift will allow you to go to see him, but only a few minutes. Is this clear?"