I'm New York City

eleven

"Sage? Sage, honey, wake up!" Joe yelled as we both fell to floor beside her.

James had tears running down her face, shaking her head. Lily looked around the room shocked, not knowing what to do. I could hear the rest of our family following us in.

"Give some space," I said, trying to make sure Sage wasn't crowded.

"What happened?" I asked, looking at the girls. Joe continued to rub Sage's back. She was still breathing, but my dad called 911 in case.

James shook her head, "I don't know, we had just changed into our pajamas and when Lily and I got onto her bed, she stood there looking at us and dropped to the floor,".

I stared at Sage, cuddled on Joe's arms. Joe and I now had tears running down both of our faces. I didn't know what was happening, all I know is that she's breathing.

"Here, a cold rag," Mom said, handing me the rag. I quickly placed it onto Sage's forehead and her body trembled from the cold.

I sighed, holding on tightly to her hand. "Baby, are you okay? Can you hear me?" I asked rubbing her cheeks, but no response.

"Stay here with Ivy and the rest of them," I said to my parents who quickly nodded their heads.

Once the ambulance arrived, Joe was quick to run downstairs with Sage in his arms and I followed behind. They easily strapped her onto the gurney, making me wince because I couldn't believe this was happening on her birthday.

"She'll be okay," a nurse said, but I couldn't feel anything. I continued to look at Sage as they began to hook her up to all these devices. I felt Joe grab my hand and pulled me closer to him as I stared at our daughter.

The ride to the hospital felt like an eternity. Everything and everyone was moving in slow motion. They wheeled Sage into a restricted area, making Joe and I stop on our heels.

"We're going to run some tests, someone will come out when they're all finished. It shouldn't take too long," a nurse said, motioning Joe and I over to the waiting room.

"Do you know if anything could've caused this?" she asked as Joe and I sat down. I shook my head, looking over to Joe who also shook his head.

I watched as the nurse walked away and I crashed into Joe's arms, letting all the sobs out. I was scared, I didn't know what was happening to her. Sage has never fainted before, at least not what I know of. It felt like forever in the waiting room, all I could do was hold on to Joe for reassurance that nothing was seriously wrong with our daughter. I could feel my phone blowing up from text messages, probably asking for updates, but I didn't even know what was happening.

It's been about thirty minutes, but I honestly thought it's been hours. A doctor walked out from the doors, looking down at his pinboard as he smiled at us. Joe and I immediately stood up, waiting for answers.

"Hi, I'm Dr. Nicholas. So, Sage is awake right now, she's doing good, just shocked. I heard that she has never had this situation come up before, am I right? We took a deeper look into it and she has Vasovagal syncope also known as Neurocardiogenic. It's very common which will cause her to faint a lot when her blood pressure and heart rate drop all of the sudden which happened a while ago. It can happen when certain things trigger her all of the sudden, but to avoid this from happening, try and avoid things that you think might trigger her. Also, make sure she isn't standing for a long period of time or doing too much at once, also make sure she stays hydrated, but again not overly hydrated which again will cause her to faint," he explained. There was so much information to intake that made me feel like I was talking to a wall. I could feel Joe rubbing my arm as he continued talking to the doctor.

"Thank you very much," Joe said, pulling me towards him.

Dr. Nicholas led us to Sage's room where she was staring at the wall with all of these IVs hooked up to her. I heard the doctor say something else, but I rushed to her side, while Joe continued to talk.

"Mom," Sage began.

"Shhh, you're alright. Are you feeling okay?" I asked, stroking her hair back. She looked exhausted. She nodded and I slowly pulled her into a gentle embrace where she easily relaxed against my chest. I inhaled her strawberry shampoo scent as I let a tear fall down onto her head.

"You had us all worried sick baby girl. Do you know what happened?" I asked.

She nodded her head, "They explained it to me, but I don't know what caused it," she said looking confused.

"Sage is allowed to go home, just rest for a few minutes and I'll print some papers out for your parents to take home," the doctor said, making us all nod as he walked out of the room.

Once Sage was finally released to go back home, it was already midnight. We had the car pulled around to the back where Joe pushed her wheelchair. I carefully helped her into the car and I got into the back seat next to her where she instantly leaned against me and I held her tightly.

When we arrived home, our parents greeted us at the door, being respectful of Sage's personal space and Joe and I helped her up to our bed upstairs since James and Lily were most likely asleep in her room.

"Get some sleep baby," I said, stroking her hair back as I pulled the covers up to her chin.

Once I knew she was asleep, which didn't take long at all, Joe and I took a deep breath before heading back downstairs. Our day wasn't finished here, we still had Ivy's party to finish decorating. We made an agreement that Sage wouldn't be moving around much tomorrow until she feels a hundred percent better and she can hang out with her friends in her room while the kids are running around downstairs.

After we finished decorating for Ivy's party, Joe and I headed back upstairs to Sage. I slowly peeked into the room first to find her still fast asleep. After getting changed into our pajamas, we carefully got into bed on each side of Sage where she started to stir.

"It's just me," I said, pulling her into my arms. I felt like I haven't held her like this in years and it was making me emotional.

"I love you guys, even our lil monkey in the other room," Joe whispered, wrapping his arms around Sage and I.

"Happy birthday, baby girl." I said, kissing her forehead.