The Pawn

Chapter 14: Hi 🖐🏻

"How many times can the same thing break your heart? -As long as you love it."

***
GREGGY's POV:

Everything happened so fast! So, so fast! One minute we are having dinner, then Irene and I were talking and just like that.. Papa's having cardiac arrest!

When Irene called the code blue, I went blank. And I'm sure, so does Mama. Had Irene not been there, I do not know what possibly could happen to my father. It's terrifying to just think about it.

She's still inside the ICU with him along with his resident physician. I wanted some updates but somehow, knowing that he is not alone.. that Irene is with him, makes everything bearable.

'Lola? Stop crying na. Mami is inside with Lolo. He will be okay.'

Mama hugs Bella but her crying didn't stop. I cannot leave Bella behind so we have to bring her along with us. She's been our source for emotional support the last few hours. We get the private suite so we have a place to rest while we wait for what's going to happen next. It's also way past Bella's bedtime. But I do not have the energy to put my daughter to sleep. I can't take Papa off my mind.

Dr. Ramirez, Papa's long time friend and cardiologist is the first to come and greet us. His face is somewhat sullen, I'm not expecting any good news quite frankly. Though I am hoping for all that's best.

'Emma, Greggy.. and who is this little miss?'

My daughter extended her hand to shake Tito Eddie's surprising all of us.

'I'm Bella, Greggy's daughter. What's my Lolo's prognosis po?'

For the first time since my father's attack, I found Mama and myself smiling. She is very much indeed, my daughter.

***
When we reached our suite, that's the only time that Tito Eddie walked us through what actually happened to Papa.

'How bad is it, Eddie?'
'Fatal. What Irene did saved him, at least.. for the time being. Those CPR and the early administration of AED had his heart going, pero Emma? It's only a matter of time before he suffers another attack.'

"What are our options, Tito?"
'Not much. Kung mas bata lang sana si Papa mo, I would say, let's proceed with angioplasty right away. Placing stent can help him greatly improve his heart condition. But he is almost sixty nine Greggy. It may not work out they way it should. That's basically a band aid solution. We can't keep opening him up for operation every time na magkakaroon siya ng heart attack. Bypass is still the best available action we can do for your father. But there are risks we have to think of. First, his age. It's a major operation, he may not carry out with the procedure let alone, the recovery itself. He's also at risk for infection. The less pressure and trauma we placed on his body, the better his chances of surviving.'

"Can we do bypass without stressing his body?"
'Your father needs quadruple bypass, Greggy. His four vessels are all blocked. It will stress his body regardless of how we do it.'

'Eddie? What do we do? Nothing? Either you operate on him and he dies, or we wait for another attack that's fatal enough and he dies. Is that it?'

'I'm sorry, Emma.. Greggy. I hope I have better news for both of you. But.. there's one thing you may want to consider.'
"Anything. Anything for Papa."

'It hasn't been done here in the Philippines so I am not familiar with the procedure. But two years ago, Stanford started this clinical trial for cases like your father. In bypass surgery, we will reroute the blood flow to a heart-lung bypass pump machine. Basically, the machine will take over for the heart. The patient's heart will be temporarily stopped using the medicine that we will inject while we place new grafts to divert the supply from the blocked arteries. What they did in Stanford is essentially patterned from what a bypass surgery looks like. They will stop the heart.. but no diversion of blood flow. They pumped out the blood from the body of the patient, all of it. And-'