Wild Ride - The Alternative Version (Book 2)

Chapter 44~Dear God

Abbie's POV

When I woke up, everything was blurry. I could soon hear someone telling me to take deep breaths. I didn't recognize the voice, I knew it wasn't my mom, but I did it anyway without even really thinking about it. It hurt to take deep breaths, and then the same woman told me to cough after I felt something being removed from my mouth and throat. I coughed, and that hurt even more. I heard her say something else, but not to me, however I couldn't make out what she said. Then she left, and I blinked a few times to try and get rid of the blurryness. It was really bright, it kind of hurt my eyes. 

That was when I noticed something was very different. The walls were completely white and kind of bare, there were bright lights and I wasn't laying in my bed. I looked down at myself only to see a bunch of tubes going into my arms and a hospital bracelet on my left arm, and I could hear the sounds of monitors somewhere nearby. I started to panic. 

"Mom!? Mom! Mom, help!" I just started yelling out for my mom, though I didn't know if she was here. But then she was there, right by my side. 

"Abbie, calm down! It's ok, you're alright." She pushed some hair back out of my face, tucking it behind my ear. I was still panicking, I hate hospitals and the idea of being in one as the patient is not something I enjoy. "Just breathe, Abbie. Deep breaths, I know it hurts, but that'll go away eventually. Don't pant, just in and out." 

I took deep breaths, and though it did hurt, I did calm down. Then I said, "W-What happened to me?" 

"You don't remember?" 

"No. The last thing I remember is running towards a basketball hoop at the end of the second playoff game." I said. How did I get from there, to here?

Mom inhaled and exhaled deeply, and then looked at me seriously. Oh boy. "Abbie, you collapsed at the end of the game, unable to breathe. You pointed to your chest and told me it hurt, and you were rushed to the hospital. Two of the valves in your heart stopped working properly and you had to get them both replaced." 

"But... but I thought it wasn't supposed to happen again." My voice came out small, and I felt afraid all over again. 

"So did we. But the doctor said that your first operation wasn't done thoroughly. They didn't repair the one valve correctly, and they didn't see that the other valve was starting to have problems too. But there's no reason to be afraid, you're ok, and it really isn't happen again after this. This is it. But, you do have to be on medication for the rest of your life, and you're going to have to learn to swallow pills. If you don't, you could have a heart attack or a stroke." She told me. 

I swallowed hard. "Ok, well I'll take the pills since I don't want to die. How long do I have to be here for?" 

"Until Friday, unless something really keeps you here, but they don't think that'll happen." 

"What time is it?" 

"It's four in the evening." 

I nodded, and looked around the room. I noticed for the first time that Mr. Quacks was beside me, and that made me smile a little bit. There was a TV here, which was good because if there wasn't I'd go insane just lying here doing nothing until Friday. But there was something missing, and I knew what it was. 

"Hey, where's Dad?" I asked. 

Mom looked a little sad. "He had to leave for the week. Remember him tell you about that? He just left about an hour ago. He was the one that brought Mr. Quacks for you." 

"Oh." That was all I could say as I looked down at the blankets. I did remember him telling me, but I didn't think I'd be in the hospital while he was gone. I wanted him to come back, but I knew that he had a job to do.