Smile, Billie [ a billie eilish fanfic | girl x girl ]

16 - unconscious

16 - unconscious

I've managed to go out of Billie's house without waking her up, or anyone noticing.

As I entered the house, I was met by my dad laying unconsciously on the floor, and my mom panicking.

We called the ambulance, and he was immediately sent to the hospital.

Right now, here I am again — sitting near my dad in a hospital room; hoping things would get better.

"What happened?" I ask my mom, worriedly.

"He woke up in the middle of the night, and he was coughing really bad; he said he couldn't breathe," she sadly looks at me as she explains. "Of course, it woke me up."

She sighs as she looks at dad, "When I tried helping him, he suddenly fell, unconscious."

I frown at her, and look at my dad.

I hold his hand as I quietly say, "Please be okay, dad."

A nurse enters the room, and frowns at us, "Suddenly quitting smoking didn't do him good."

Mom gapes at the nurse in shock.

"What do you mean?" I ask the nurse as I caress my dad's hand.

"The best thing to do when you decide to quit smoking, is to reduce," she looks at dad, then at us. "What I mean by this, is that for example, he takes 5 cigarettes a day. If he wants to stop smoking, the best thing to do is to take 4 the next day."

She sighs sadly as she looks at dad, "But, what happened is that he suddenly stopped, without even reducing, am I right?"

My mom looks at the nurse in shock as I purse my lips, looking at the nurse, nodding worriedly.

"His body got too shocked because of the sudden loss of nicotine," she explains.

"Isn't that a good thing?" I ask. "Nicotine is bad for the body, isn't it?"

"Actually, none of the chemicals in a cigarette are good for you, but they are primarily designed to act as a delivery service for the star of the show, nicotine, which is absorbed within seconds and heads straight for your brain," the nurse explains.

She pauses as she grits her teeth, "There, the nicotine mimics acetylcholine, the most prevalent neurotransmitter in the brain."

"What's acetylcholine?" mom asks the nurse with worried eyes.

"Acetylcholine assists in basic muscle functions, hand-eye-coordination, and complex neurological reactions such as the release of another neurotransmitter, dopamine, which in turn stimulates the body to feel pleasure," she explains. "It's a substance manufactured in the brain and its release is strictly regulated."