In A Heart Beat

Charlie

"Charlie! Come on you can't be late for your first day of the new semester!" that would be my overprotective mother, she can't leave me alone for 10 minutes without having a panic attack. But I'm grateful for it, without her I may not have survived the episode I had when I was 7.

It was a normal day and I was drinking my juice, sitting watching the Teletubbies on my Lightning McQueen flip out sofa. Then I started to get pains in my chest and I couldn't take the excruciating pain, screaming in agony my mother came to coax me. I wouldn't stop howling. After 30 minutes of trying to calm me down, with no result, she then took me to the hospital. I was taken in straight away and the doctor called out "He could have high blood pressure, quick, get me a sphygmomanometer, he may not last long!"

"Please save my son, I couldn't live without him!" my mother pleaded to the doctor in hopes he would listen through the glass door. I bet my mum sometimes wishes she didn't say that; I can be I real pain in the ass sometimes. Anyway, the doctor soon discovered that I had heart failures and my heartbeat wasn't steady so, he gave my mum medication and a list of exercises for my heart. Since then, I have had cardiomyopathy and arrhythmia, both which affect my daily life, sometimes I have random fainting attacks, fatigue and end up on the floor during the class interval bell. But that's just the way it is and I have to deal with it for as long as I live.

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"CHARLIE!! NOW, WE DON'T HAVE ALL DAY." my mother's shrill voice screams from downstairs.

"Mum! You know I can't rush without almost having a heart attack. Right?" I say smugly.

"Just...come on I don't want you to miss anything." She said softly. My Mum has had a hard time coping with my cardiomyopathy, it puts a lot of pressure on her. Sometimes she has to leave the room and breathe just to stop herself from screaming and throwing something. I get up off my bed and walk to my bag that I packed last night, books and all the other essentials for another school day of absolute boredom. I walk down the stairs to see my mother, as beautiful as she always is.

"Wow, you look great today!" I say enthusiastically as I see her thin body loitering at the bottom of the stairs.

"You know you don't have to tell me that every day just to boost my self-esteem."

" You know it's true though," I utter while she looks at me with her heart and soulful eyes.

"Anyway, time to get you to school," she insists.

As we walk out-side the cold air from the middle of winter bites my face, I put on my black and white flannel trying to keep warm. Shivering, my mother looks at me stern and gives me her scarf and gloves. Luckily, she isn't one of those parents that like to state their personality through their clothing. The plain black fingerless gloves instantly warm up my freezing hands, the scarf hugs my neck like a koala gripping to a tree, I loosen it just enough to let myself breathe, 'Don't want another fainting accident." I muse. We get into the brand-new Honda Accord XS my mother bought in celebration of her new job. I don't see how working at the local Kmart is something to celebrate, but if it makes her happy I guess it doesn't matter. The warmth of the heated seats radiates through my body like the rays of the sun now covered by the clouds, ready to snow at any minute. 

We finally arrived around the corner of my school, where my mum drops me off so I can walk into school alone. But this time the sidewalk didn't feel as welcoming as it did before, it was almost as if it was telling me to leave and never return. Maybe my emotions have gone to my head and I just didn't want to leave my mother after the great holiday we just had.