as she wrapped the last present she'd bought for her family, ruby brushed a small curl out of her face. finally, after hours of wrapping, paper cuts, and the eventual strand of tape getting lost in her hair, the girl could finally relax.
"well, well, petunia, our work here is done." she grinned over at the tiny kitten, who ignored her for a little piece of ribbon she'd managed to get her paws on. it'd been a christmas miracle for the kitten to have even made it this far, considering ruby had found her half-alive in a sewer drain.
she stood up and stretched as she rejoiced in the small cracks she'd heard from her back. walking around her small apartment, one she'd managed to keep a secret from her mother, she slowly but surely felt that sudden burning sensation come back in her chest.
"im sorry to be the one to tell you this but your heartbeat is irregular. the electrical impulses inside your heart aren't working as strong as they should. it's already weak at a normal pace but when you take your asthma into account, it beats three times faster than it should."
"oh no.." she whimpered to herself. attempting to run to the couch, she could feel her legs give out and saw the floor get closer to her face. it'd been months since her last asthma attack but even then, she hadn't felt her heart hurt like this since her big performance last christmas.
"sweetie, it won't affect your dancing. you can push through this, okay?"
tears pricked at her eyes violently as she pressed a trembling hand to her chest. as she counted the seconds go by, the fear built up like an ocean during a hurricane, every wave crashing over her, stronger than the next.
"in the worst case possible, you might need surgery to help but at the end of the day, it's your decision."
240. her heart beat 240 times in as little as 60 small seconds. ruby sobbed as she cradled her knees to her chest, praying that this attack passed by quickly.
"we'll have to monitor your situation carefully, ruby. you're too young to have a disease this severe."
after an hour, she could feel the pain pass on, an elephant literally being taken off of her chest. yet she still cried.
"you'll have small attacks where you may pass out, you may not be able to breathe, and you'll feel like the world is collapsing. but the best thing for you is to tell your family, have a support system. it's shown to help many cases like yours."
but as ruby sat there, surrounded by her two cats, one nuzzling her head against her owner's foot and the other rubbing his paw on her face, she cried out of fear of being alone, fear of someone walking in and seeing the poor girl dead on the floor, fear of passing out in the middle of a recital, but most of all, fear of nobody ever knowing what truly was wrong with her.
