𝐀 𝐓𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠

Chapter 5[Selah]

August 28th, 2023.

[Ahava's POV]

It's almost time for me to go to the cafe with the girls, but before I leave I have to give my mom her medicine. I go downstairs into our medicine cabinet and grab Sodium Valproate as well as Levetiracetam pills. We keep the important pills in a pink bag inside the cabinet, against the wall closest to the sink.

I go inside the pink bag and then grab Mom's pink medicine tray as well, so I can lay out all that she has to take before I head out. My mom has become my biggest priority over the past 3 years, and I am totally okay with that. There have been multiple times when I have turned down going out with my friends just so I can take care of her. My mom hates it when I do that but she has no choice but to let me take care of her.

I grab everything that she needs then carefully jog up the stairs and enter my mom's room. I place the medicine tray on her nightstand, as I place it down I hear my mom on the side of me say calmly "Ahava."

"Yes, mama?" I answered her call. "I feel a seizure coming." She says calmly like it's a normal thing to have and it isn't the scariest thing to witness. The adrenaline from those 5 words causes a trigger to flood my mind, but I try not to let my mom see those emotions from me.

Her eyes roll back and I am left with her pupils nowhere to be found. She starts gently shaking uncontrollably even with her trying to control her movements.

I remove the pillows that are helping her sit up and lay her down flat on the bed but add only one under her head to support it. Her clothing wasn't tight on her body, she had on a purple nightgown that I got her for Christmas last year. I stayed by her side until the horror of seeing my mother have a seizure was over.

She was finished with her seizure and I asked..."Are you okay?"

"I'm fine honey." She responds in a weak tone.

"You need to start getting ready, Serene is on her way to get you and you're not even close to being ready." My mom says while adjusting herself on the bed."

"Mom I'm not going... I can't go, I need to stay here with you." I say with a shaky voice trying to contain my panic attack until I am alone. "Baby, I'm okay, and you know I will call you if I need you, I promise." She responds back to me in a reassuring tone.

"Ok." I say emotionlessly. "I will go get ready." I say once again with no emotion in my tone. I walked downstairs to get some water, and I just broke down completely in the kitchen. Everything around me is blurred out, my breathing begins to get heavy to the point where I can't control it.

I take in very short uncontrollable inhales and exhales trying to calm myself down, but it fails to bring me peace.

*FLASHBACK*

[Ahava's POV]

I hear a knock on my bedroom door *knock knock*

I paused my show and sat up a little so I could give my mother my full attention.

"Hey hun, how was your day?" My mom asks in a slightly tired tone, she was just coming home from a 48-hour shift at the hospital. "Hi Mama, it was good, me and the girls found this cute coffee shop and we claimed it as our new hang-out spot. It's super cute Mom. How was yours?" I say excitedly.

"That's wonderful sweetie, I'm glad you had a great day." she replies warmly.

"How was your day Mom?" I responded. "Tiring." She says as she lets out a large breath. I noticed my mom looked a bit fatigued while sitting on the side of my bed. "Hey Mom, would you like me to make you some dinner and you can relax in your room." I ask.

"No, that's okay baby girl imma just take my shower a-n-and-." She doesn't finish her sentence and she just sits there like she is no longer the owner of her body. "Mom, what's wrong?" I ask in a confused tone.

"MOM" I yell another time and still no response. I notice my mom is trying to let words come from her mouth but as she does, her voice becomes more silent and her face looks as if she is completely gone. I feel helpless as I see my mom's body start to shake uncontrollably, she falls over to the side of the bed and continues to shake. "MOM!" I scream while jumping out of my bed and running over to the side where my mom is.

I stare at my mom's revolting body then reality hits and I run to get my phone and dial 911. I can't stop shaking as I insert each number. "911 What's your emergency?" The operator asks. "Uh my name is Ahava, Please help, my mom, I think she's seizing and I-I don't know what to do." I say with a shaky voice, through my tears. "Ok hun, stay calm everything is going to be ok, can you tell me your location?" The operator says in a calming voice.

"Uhhh 7854 River Road NW 30078, Greeley, Colorado." I say with quickness. "Ok sweetheart, I have an ambulance coming your way they will be there in 5 minutes." She says.

"While we're waiting, does your mom have anything in her mouth?" She asks for clarity. "N-no she doesn't have anything in her mouth, she is just on the ground shaking." I say.

"Ok, I need you to put a pillow under her head." She says.

I get up with the little adrenaline that I have left and grab one of my pillows from off of my bed, then I proceed to lift her vibrating head up gently and slide the soft pillow up under her head.

"Ok hun, I need you to stay on the line with me until the ambulance arrives, can you do that?" She asks "Yes ma'am, I-I-I can do that." As I am responding I see red and yellow lights flashing outside of my window, I rush downstairs to unlock the door and lead the paramedics to my room to assist my mom... Everything else after that was a blur...

*END OF FLASHBACK*

[Serene's POV]

I've been sitting in the car waiting to pick up Ahava to go to the coffee shop, and as I took a glance at the time, I realized that Ahava was supposed to be ready about 10 minutes ago. I feel as if something is off.

I decided to go in and check on her, so I turned off the car and grabbed the key she gave us to access her house. She gave us a key to her home just in case of emergencies.

As I am walking into the house, I take unsettled strides through the rooms to find Ahava. I first check in the living room, she's not there.

Then I check in the kitchen and see her with tears streaming down her face, while she is hyperventilating. I run to her asking what's wrong but she doesn't respond.

I figured it had to do something with her mom, so I sat next to her to comfort her until she caught her breath.

We sit there together and I pray for her under my breath as she calms down. She has always told me she suffered from panic attacks from flashbacks, but I never witnessed one from her with my own two eyes.