Don't Wanna Take This Life For Granted

Chapter 4:

I wake up and find Keith, my mom, Kitty and a bunch of doctors staring at me with worried expressions. I look blankly at them all. I smile to myself glad that Keith is here. My chest is burning. I wonder what the hell happened when I was asleep. I look at all of them expectantly, hoping they will tell me what happened.

The doctor is the first to speak, "Julie, how are you feeling?"

I look at him blankly still confused, "I'm feeling good pretty normal except my chest burns really bad..."

The doctor sighs, "You went into cardiac arrest and your heart stopped beating for approximately thirty seconds, we had to revive you."

I look at him, hoping he is joking, but he isn't. Then I think maybe I'm still asleep so I pinch myself, but I feel the pain so I'm obviously awake. I could see it in the doctor's dark brown eyes, he was serious. I stutter, "W-w-what d-d-do you mean I went into cardiac arrest?"

The doctor says, "You had a heart attack."

"Why did I have a heart attack?"

"We don't know what triggered it."

"Will it happen again?"

"I am not sure, I figure we ought to keep you hear for a couple days longer than we had originally thought."

I frown they were planning on releasing me in a week or two, now it's going to be longer. I just want to go home and relax. I hope they figure out why I had a heart attack quickly, it freaks me out that my heart stopped beating for about half a minute.

I close my eyes, letting it all sink in. I take a deep breath and then open my eyes. The doctor has left but is everyone else is here. They all keep staring at me, making me feel uncomfortable.

I see how pained and worried my mom looks, I feel bad for putting her through this, but it wasn't my choice. If it was my choice I would be at school right now hanging out with my best friends talking about the newest drama and boys, but I'm not I'm laying in a hospital bed listening to a doctor tell me that my heart just stopped beating.

The doctor walked out the door and left Keith, Kitty, and my mom standing there with me. I smile again knowing that Keith is still here. I reach for my cup of ice chips, the only thing I am aloud to eat after my surgery. I take I ice chip and put it on my tongue then I take a sip of water. I miss real food. I am craving a big bowl of mac and cheese, my absolute favorite food. Mac and Cheese is love, Mac and Cheese is life.

I am eating my ice chips when all of a sudden my mom just totally breaks down. She starts sobbing and howling. She almost falls to her knees but Keith catches her and helps her out of the room. I don't know what to do. Suddenly, I feel angry with her. I have been strong. I haven't cried at all. I have to work hard to be strong for her, but she still cries. She should be stronger.

Suddenly, my chest hurts and I feel like I can't breathe. My chest burns and I scream. My chest hurts. I scream again and again. I see Kitty run out of the room, and then my vision goes blurry. My chest hurts, that's all I can think about. Everything becomes dark and I fall into a deep sleep.

I hear people moving around me, but I can't open my eyes. I hear people whispering but I can't make out anything they are saying. My chest burns again, but not as bad as it had. I hear doors opening and then feet shuffling. I feel exhausted; I fall back into a deep slumber.

I wake up hours later, this time I can open my eyes. I open them and see Keith and Kitty sitting on the couch watching the TV. My favorite show Castle is on. They see that I am awake and both jump up and rush to the side of my bed. Kitty grabs my hand and then says, "Don't ever scare me like that again gurl!"

I look at her blankly, "How did I scare you?"

She gawks at me and then says, "You had another heart attack right in front of me."

I look at her, wide eyes, "I did!"

"Yes, you did sweetheart, and you scared all of us." I hear Keith say. I look at him. His eyes full of worry. I smile at him and ask, "Do the doctor know what causes the heat attacks?"

Kitty says, "They think stress or anger or anything like that."

I nod my head and say, "Sooo, kind of like the hulk, except I have heart attacks instead of turning all muscular and green?"

Keith and Kitty both smile and in unison say, "Yea, pretty much."

Kitty moves away from my bed and says, "I have to go home now. I have to go to school tomorrow." She frowns and we then we both smile. She walks to the door, but right as she gets there she turns around and says seriously, "Don't die."