Heartburn (911)

Chapter 16

After a night of interrupted sleep from nausea, cramping and nightmares, Ronnie was passed out on the bathroom floor not trusting herself to go back to bed incase she didn't get up in time. When Eddie woke up at eight am and found her side of the bed empty and cold, he realized she must have gone to the bathroom again, what he didn't expect to find was her slumped on the floor, shaking in pain. 

Small cries escaped her parted lips at the pain in her head and stomach, any movement set the world spinning once more. Ronnie winced at the pain radiating through her head when he switched the light on, he heard her hiss and cover her eyes whimpering further as he switched the light back off. "Migraine." She muttered as he placed a cold rag on the back of her neck.

"What time did you wake up?" He asked as he held her hair back as he tied it back into a messy bun. She heaved once more as some stomach acid and water came up, and after she had emptied her stomach she was left retching painfully over the toilet as he rubbed her back. Her hand shook as she took a few sips from the water Eddie held to her lips.

"About an hour after you came back to bed. I slept in here because I didn't want to keep moving in and out between the rooms." She mumbled as Eddie picked her up effortlessly, rubbing her back as he carried her into the pitch black bedroom. He opened the window for some air, turned on their fan, closed the curtains, turned the lights off, placed the cold towel on her back and the glass of water on the side. 

Within ten minutes she was out again as Eddie texted Maddie from his phone cancelling the plans they had made for that night, knowing that Ronnie needed quiet time. He felt her forehead and winced at the heat radiating off of her shivering body, he texted Maddie and promised to keep her updated with her temperature. Maddie had offered to come over and look after her if she got worse, her experience as an emergency nurse probably coming in handy.

Eddie went to make the kids breakfast making sure she was as comfortable as possible, before closing the door and doing jam on toast for the three children before Carla was taking them to school. "Is mom okay?" Chris asked, Eddie didn't even think about what he said until he replayed it in his head.

"Yeah, she woke up not feeling good, so she's going to have a day in bed whilst I go shopping and you three go to school. And then hopefully she'll be okay now." Five minutes later Carla took the three to school as Eddie showered, within five minutes of him showering, he was interrupted by Ronnie running in and vomiting once more. 

He turned the faucet off and dried himself, wrapping a towel around him before he rubbed her back as round after round of water, vomit and stomach acid came up. "My head hurts." She mumbled, rubbing her temples as Eddie held another cold rag to her forehead, hoping to bring her fever down.

He got the thermometer from the cupboard and placed it in her armpit, holding it in place until it beeped showing a fever of 102.9. "Ronnie, I'm gonna put you in the bath and run some cold water to try and bring your temperature down, yeah?" Her response was incoherent as she gagged once more before sagging on her boyfriend, in relief.

Twenty minutes later and Ronnie was shivering in the cold bath in an attempt to bring her temperature down. But nothing worked and it rose to 103.2 in an hour, she got out of the bath, dried herself quickly as she leant heavily on Eddie struggling to stay straight. She pulled on a pair of pants and a crop top and shorts, lying on the cover, feeling boiling hot but shivering.

She was displaying the classic migraine symptoms as well as some rare ones like a temperature and slight confusion. At the rate her temperature was climbing she was at risk of fitting, he called Maddie not sure what to do. "Hey Mads, sorry to bother you but it's gone up to 103.2, she can barely stay awake and all of her sentences are incoherent. Should I take her to the E.R?" He asked as he pulled on some shorts and a hoodie, whilst holding the phone to his ear.

Eddie texted Bobby and Carla letting them know he was going to take her to the hospital if she got any worse. Maddy had said if it rose to 104 or higher in less than an adult then to go to the emergency room immediately, or if she started fitting.

At around half an hour later, her temperature was 103.6 and she was barely conscious at that point. Eddie went to find a bag to put chargers, her medications, his phone, her phone, his keys and wallet in so they could go.

He heard grunts coming from his bedroom so he dropped the bag and ran to his room, finding Ronnie having a febrile seizure, her head hitting the headboard and her whole body shaking. He put her in the recovery position, held her on her side, moved everything away from the bed and called 911.

"Hi, my girlfriend's had a really bad migraine since last night, her temperature keeps rising it's currently at 103.6 and she's started fitting. Our friend told us to call 911 if she got any worse." An ambulance was dispatched and Eddie clambered in with her, posting on the 118 family group chat, letting everyone know. Forgetting a certain blue eyed puppy dog was still in the chat. Athena let him know that her and Bobby were going to meet them there and were on their way.

Buck read the messages but didn't reply. Instantly on his way to the hospital.

Whether this was a good idea or not, he didn't know.

But that was his sister.

They intubated her in the ambulance and adminstered diazepam and lorazepam to stop the seizures and eventually when it stopped, it started again and soon her oxygen levels and heart rate started declining rapidly and tanking. Eddie stood outside of her room when he saw Buck. Without hesitation he walked towards the boy and punched him straight in the face, the blonde looked shocked but as if he expected it. "You do not get to show up here after everything you've put her through, put Bobby through, put me through. Put all of us through. She was fine yesterday morning but at one am this morning I find her heaving and shaking over a toilet and then a few hours later seizing and grunting. This is your fault." Before he pushed him.

Evan had had enough of being pushed about and retaliated the two turning it into a fist fight as Bobby, Athena, Maddie and Chimney showed up. Chimney and Maddie pulling Buck away whilst Bobby and Athena held Eddie back as he struggled. "Why are you here?" Chimney asked his eyes cold and dark, no inch of care left in his eyes, only concern for his sister.

"Because she is my sister!" He yelled causing Eddie to snort.

"You don't get to call her that anymore!" Eddie screamed before the doctor came to talk to him. When they saw him start crying their hearts dropped and Bobby headed over. "They found more cuts up her stomach and thighs this time. They look as new as last night he said. I thought I was helping, I just let her do it." He went down the shame spiral before staring at Buck. "She fucking relapsed because of you, you piece of shit!" And with that he slammed into her room, Bobby following him.

They had gave her medications to lower her temperature and to rehydrate her, luckily it wasn't an infection and simply a bad migrain induced by stress and weeks without proper sleep. Hours later she was starting to come to and scratching at the I.V in her hand, Bobby, Athena and Eddie had stayed by her side whilst Buck had left and Maddie and Chimney went home after a few hours. "Hey sunshine." Bobby smiled slightly, using the nickname her mom used to call her. "You're okay you had a fit because of a fever. You should be able to come home tomorrow." She nodded her head looking exhausted.

"We know sweetheart, why didn't you tell one of us yesterday you were struggling and felt tempted." Athena asked stroking her hand gently as the tears fell down the blonde's cheeks. "They've switched your sleep medications and upped the dosage to see if that helps and they've prescribed you some migraine tablets, anti-nausea pills and recommended melatonin gummies." She explained as the blonde settled back to sleep again.

Seven hours later and they were discharging Ronnie after instructing them to call 911 and bring her back in if she had another seizure, migraine or faint in the next forty-eight hours. Eddie tucked her in bed before relieving Carla and thanking her before everyone in the Diaz-Nash household was silent.

Her migraine had decreased to a slight headache, and her nausea was gone, she was simply exhausted, like always. Nobody had told her about Buck showing up, not knowing how she would react because nobody knew what had happened in her interview for the lawsuit, she had told Athena but only small details, it was eating her up inside.

The next day and she was exhausted, forgetting that she had booked an emergency therapy appointment per Bobby and Eddie's request for the next day when all she wanted to do was sleep for a hundred years.