The Hood Girl: Her Past

Breathe

Lakira's pov-
He collapsed. He punched my wall, made La'kir cry, then collapsed. I couldn't hear anything except the ringing in my ears.

Lakira: Joey!
Joanne: Mommy! What's wrong with daddy?! Mommy! Mom! Lakira.

I snapped out of my head.

Lakira: Okay Umm I'm gonna need you to stay here with him. I'm gonna call an ambulance.
Joanne: No I can't. I can't!

She was in full on freak out mode.

Lakira: Hey hey! Stop. Breathe. Stay with daddy

She nodded and sat down next to him, holding his hand. I ran to my phone and called 911.

-on call-
Operator: 911 what's your emergency
Lakira: 2456 Brentwood lane. My husband just collapsed
Operator: Alright we're sending an ambulance your way now. They should be there in less than 10 minutes. Is he breathing?
Lakira: He's unconscious . I- I don't know my daughter is with him.

La'kir was screaming at this point. I couldn't think right. Everything was so overwhelming. I just needed to breathe.

Lakira: Shhh baby. It's okay.
Operator: Ma'am are you still there?
Lakira: Yes. Are they close by?
Operator: They should be there now.

Three emts burst through my door. Two carried Joey away on a stretcher. The other came up to me.

EMT: You can follow behind us. Any information we should know?
Lakira: U-um. His name is Joey Birlem, he's 26, and he just collapsed after punching the wall.

He nodded and walked out. I picked up La'kir and quickly went out to my car while Joanne followed. I got them both in their car seats. The whole time I was speeding to the hospital calling Jen, my mom, Kara, and Aaron. When we got to the hospital, Jen was already there waiting.

Lakira: Any news?
Jen: They're just trying to stabilize his breathing and then we can figure out why this happened

I sighed not knowing what to do. We sat around for a good 30 minutes before a doctor came to talk to us.

Jen: Dr.Burkley
Burkley: He's stable and conscious. May I speak to the spouse?
Lakira: That's me
Jen: I'll go watch the children.

She took La'kir out of my hands and sat down with Joanne.

Burkley: Follow me.

She turned and started walking to a room. I saw Joey laying down with a cast on his hand.

Joey: Lakira
Lakira:. hi baby. Are you okay?
Burkley: He's fine. His right 2nd through 5th metacarpals are fractured so he'll need to wear this cast for 8 to 12 weeks.
Lakira: Jesus. You're an idiot
Joey: I'm aware
Burkley: Also we cant explain why he collapsed until we do a C.T and possibly an MRI.
Joey: I thought you said I had a panic attack?
Lakira: What? You had a panic attack?
Burkley: He did, but he shouldn't have collapsed and feel unconscious like that. So we're gonna perform some tests
Lakira: How long will that take?
Burkley: Two hours for the tests and scans and then we'll keep him for overnight observation depending on the results.
Lakira: Alright. Great
Joey: Take the kids to the mall today or something.
Lakira: No I'm staying here with you
Joey: Lakira seriously just go! Go! Go away! G-g...

He started shaking violently

Burkley: Oh God he's seizing! Code Blue! Ms.Birlem you have to leave.
Lakira: What? No!

A nurse was pushing me out of the room. The closed closed in my face. I felt like I couldn't breathe, but I calmed down.

Jen: Lakira?
Lakira: Yes?
Jen: Is my son in there having a seizure?
Lakira: Yes
Jen: Do you know why?
Lakira: Not yet
Jen: I'll stay. You go to my house with the kids and I will text you when to come back
Lakira: Seems fair. Come on Joanne. Let's go to Granny's house.