Wild Ride - The Alternative Version (Book 2)

Chapter 42~Valve Replacement Surgery

My whole body went cold as Elise and exchanged horrified looks while the buzzer on the scoreboard was just getting done sounding out. The others looked as horrified as we were, like they were about to be sick, and I could hear Brady and Darren asking what happened to Abbie, why was she lying on the floor. Ella and Isaac just sat there with their eyes wide in fear. 

In an instant, both Elise and I were running out onto the court, making our way to Abbie. We weren't technically supposed to do this, but something was very, very wrong. It's not like anyone pushed her over or anything, she just fell. She stopped moving completely, and then she just collapsed. 

I heard the sound of the ref's whistle, everyone being ordered off the court except for us and Abbie's two coaches, who were already coming to her aid at the same time we were. We reached her first at the high speeds we were travelling at, instantly dropping to our knees beside her. Elise turned her over onto her back, as she'd fallen on her side. She was conscious, her eyes wide with fear for whatever was happening to her.

"Abbie, what's wrong!?" Elise asked frantically, and that was when we noticed the sounds escaping her throat now that everyone had pretty much fallen silent as they were told to remain seated. It was a strained, strangled sound that happened when she tried breathing in and out that could only mean one thing. "She can't breathe." Elise stated. 

"...Mom..." Abbie managed to choke out the word between strangled breaths. "...Hurts..." She pointed to her chest, over her heart, and my own heart fell into my ass like a hard, cold stone. 

"Oh Jesus, no." I whispered out in horror. Not this, anything but this! This wasn't supposed to happen again!

"Oh God... it's her heart." Elise sounded about ready to have a break down, but then she shouted over her shoulder to the coach, "Call for an ambulance, now!! Tell them we've got a little girl with a heart problem who needs to be taken to the hospital immediately!" 

The coach turned and ran for a phone, people once again being reminded to stay seated. Abbie stared up at us from the floor, her body jerking upward as she tried to breath, the sounds coming from her were fast and close together in timing. You could see that she was terrified, those little blue eyes darting around frantically, wide as the moon. 

Elise held her, pulling her up from the ground a little ways so that her head was tilted up some to try and help her breathe even the slightest bit. I was just sitting there on my knees beside Abbie, opposite Elise, unsure of what to do because I was so scared for her. Elise must've noticed that Abbie was scared or something, because she started talking to her gently, reassuring her. 

"Everything's going to be ok, Abbie. We're gonna get you help, you're gonna be ok." Abbie's eyes started to flutter, trying to shut. "Hey, hey, keep your eyes open. Look, Daddy's here too, he's right here." Elise gently turned her head to look at me. 

I managed a small, sorry excuse for a smile as I took her hand. "Abbie, can you feel me take your hand?" I asked her, and she nodded a little. "Good, now I need you to hold on tightly, ok? Don't let go, and don't loosen your grip. Keep your eyes open too, don't close 'em. Stay with us, princess, stay with us." 

Abbie held on tightly to my hand, staring right at me still as she struggled to breathe. Then she stopped making the noises, pausing, before she started coughing really hard. A trickle of blood dripped down from her mouth, and that was when I realized she was coughing up blood. 

"We've gotta sit her up or she'll choke on it." Elise said, and we pulled her up into a sitting position. The next cough came out big and hard, and blood spattered onto the floor beside her, more ran down from the corner of her mouth. I was sitting sort of behind her to keep her from falling back, because she seemed to not have control over keeping her body upright. Abbie noticed that I'd moved out of her line of sight and started looking around frantically for me, making her breathing worse.