Josie's Journey

Plot Filler Seizures

There was a knock at the door, and Josie carefully turned her head to look. A girl about her age was standing there, with beautiful blue eyes, a bright smile, and blonde hair

"Hey, can I come in?" Sarah asked with a smile. "I know it's been a while since we hung out, but I heard that you were in the hospital and I wanted to come and see you. My mom wanted to come to visit you too, but she has a cold and didn't want to get you sick too, so she's waiting in the car."

Josie nodded and gestured to the chair by her bed. "So, what happened? I haven't been able to hang out with you since your dad grounded you. What did you do?"

Her friend responded with a sigh. "I don't know, I don't think I did anything. He just hasn't been acting like himself, he's been getting angry and violent I think he's drinking again and trying to hide it from us. He's always 'working late' but I know he's just at the bar. He's treating my mom like shit and it's really scaring me..."

Josie felt herself beginning to dissociate. She was shaking and started to tear up. Hearing about the abuse brought up bad memories from her own childhood, memories of being a small scared child watching her dad chug a bottle of wine, memories she couldn't handle remembering...

"Are you okay?" Sarah asked. "What's wrong, Josie?"

"Don't call me," she grumbled, suddenly feeling very small and vulnerable. That... wasn't her name. She wasn't Josie. She didn't quite remember who she was, but she was certain it wasn't Josie.

"Wh-what? I'm confused." She sat back in her chair a little more.

"That's not my name, don't call me that!" She was starting to cry, and crossed her arms and turned away from her friend. She tried to distract herself from the memories taking over - the yelling, the drinking, hiding under the table while dishes and punches were thrown...

"I'm just going to go..." Sarah said, standing up to leave. "My mom needs me for... something. I'll be back later."

The girl suddenly noticed the wires attached to her chest, more wires coming from a bandage wrapped on her head, and the tubing attached to a needle going into her arm.

"What is this?!" she said, beginning to panic. "Why are there things in me?!?"

Don't be afraid, little one, a voice said in her mind. You had an accident and got a bad boo-boo, and the nice doctors and nurses had to put those there to make it better. Try to relax, Alice.

"Thank you Gracie..." she mumbled. "My head's itchy. I'm gonna draw a picture."

Alice grabbed a bag that she recognized as Josie's. Inside was a notebook and some pencils, probably for schoolwork. She didn't care though, she wanted to draw!

She opened the notebook to a fresh page, happily scribbling a picture of the family's pets.

"I'm bored," she said to herself and opened the Netflix app on Josie's phone. Alice struggled to find it since she couldn't read very well, but she was able to find and play an episode of My Little Pony and happily giggled at it.

"I'm gonna draw a picture of Rainbow Dash next!" she announced to the empty room, digging through the backpack to find the highlighters Josie used for taking notes.

Little did Alice knows, Sarah was just waiting behind the door. She couldn't understand why Josie was acting so weird... it was like she was a little kid again.

Sarah slowly walked away, her head hanging low. She was sad, scared, and worried about her best friend.

— — —

Josie awoke after a restless sleep, only blurry memories of her visit with Sarah; she was unsure if it had even happened, or if it was some fever dream... and why was she drawing with crayons in her dream?

Her arm was burning, aching where the IV was inserted. She was lost in thought until a sense of panic and dread rose in her chest. Josie's vision blurred, out of nowhere she felt extremely lightheaded. Her arms clenched up, hands contorting - she felt a familiar feeling rushing over her before her awareness faded away.

Her body stiffened, contorted into a strange position, jaw clenched. Air forced its way past her vocal cords - she involuntarily cried out, voicing the anguish she couldn't even feel. Soon Josie began convulsing, shaking uncontrollably. An alarm went off and three nurses rushed in to aid her. One of them, a tall woman named Janice, rolled Josie onto her side as she went into another tonic phase.

Suddenly she began violently jerking again. Her bladder lost control - a warm stain spread over her gown and the hospital bed. She gasped for air, a lack of oxygen turning her lips a dusky blue. Josie was thrashing in the damp bed - the intense contortions forced her shoulder to dislocate.

A different nurse directed an oxygen cannula against Josie's nostrils, trying to get her oxygen levels up.

The grand mal seizures repeated through cycles of stiffness and convulsion. Nurse Janice, who had been timing the seizure, abruptly turned and hit the call button.

"Status epilepticus. Get me Valium," she ordered. Someone handed her a syringe - she swiftly pushed the rescue medication through Josie's IV. After a few moments, the seizure finally calmed, and Josie had gone into a deep sleep.

— — —

Her eyes opened slowly, eyelids heavy and gritty as if someone had poured sand in them while she slept. Josie gasped from the pain in her abdomen as if someone was stabbing her with a white-hot knife.

Her mother Elaine grasped her daughter's hand, frantically calling for a nurse.

"Here we go, sweetheart," a kind nurse said to Josie as she adjusted her oxygen cannula, then proceeded to inject a syringe of something into her IV. She turned to explain to Elaine: "We're keeping her moderately sedated. She won't feel the pain, and she may or may not be able to hear you. Feel free to play some of her music, or talk to her."

Elaine nodded in response. She murmured to her daughter about funny incidents at work, something cute the dog did, things she's heard from her grandmother...

Dr. Nakato, the hospital's best nephrologist, came into the room.

"Elaine Brown?" she asked.

"Y-yes, that's me," she answered, slowly standing from her chair. "How is Josie? What - what's wrong with my daughter?"

"She's slowly overdosed on aspirin and ibuprofen," the doctor explained. "She's severely dehydrated and her electrolytes are nonexistent - we're giving her as much as we can through the IV, but we need more access. Her veins are impossible to reach, so once she's stable we need to take her to radiology and place a PICC line."

Elaine gasped sharply, her tears falling onto Josie's bed. "W-will she survive?"

Dr. Nakato tightly gripped her files. "The severe dehydration from her POTS and anorexia, plus the abuse of over-the-counter pain medication, has given her severe kidney damage. At this point, she has Stage 4 kidney disease, and if she doesn't respond to treatment it will progress to Stage 5."

"I just..." Elaine's voice trailed off, and she slowly sat in the chair beside Josie's bed in the ICU. "What happens then?"

"We're keeping her sedated and putting her on temporary dialysis to stabilize her," Dr. Nakato answered. "After that, we make the search for a kidney donor. She will need a transplant to survive."