Asuna and I were walking along the beach on a hot summer day in Tokyo. She and I walked for a while, talking about whatever we pleased, the latest VRMMO, Yui, etc. Suddenly, she warned me that something felt wrong and not even two minutes later, she grew weak and couldn't stand up. She passed out, but never hit the sand because I caught her in my arms in time. I called out,
"Asuna!"
She didn't respond, just laid there in my arms. I was growing more concerned by the second. I carried her bridal style back to my motorcycle but then realized that she wouldn't be able to hold onto me being completely unconscious. So, I called an ambulance because it was by far the safest option for her. The emergency vehicle arrived rather quickly, and she was loaded in after her vitals were taken on scene.
She started coming to in the back of the ambulance on the way to the hospital and, for a brief moment, I wondered if I should've called them or just waited, but she'd never done this before so I was deeply worried. She fluttered her eyes open to see me sitting next to her, my hand in hers. I met her eyes as soon as she opened them and asked, worry very evident in my voice,
"You okay, Asuna?"
She shakes her head,
"What happened?"
Before I can answer my girlfriend myself, the paramedic in the back monitoring her says,
"Your boyfriend told us that you passed out. Can you think of what may have caused it?"
She takes on a more professional tone even though her voice is still weak,
"The heat possibly? I felt faint and couldn't help passing out. I never hit the ground though."
She casts me a loving glance and I say,
"You know I'd never let that happen. You didn't even hit the ground back in SAO when Kayaba revealed himself as Heathcliff either."
The paramedic announces to her,
"We're on the way to the nearest hospital. Well run some tests and try to figure out what caused your fainting. For now though, let's get an IV in you to push fluids and keep you hydrated."
I watch as he prepares the IV, and he inserted the needle into Asuna's hand as I rubbed the other one to reassure her. After he did this, he set up the saline bag and hung it on the IV pole attached to the gurney. After about five minutes of having the saline on and running through her, I could tell that she was starting to feel better.
When we arrived at the hospital, Asuna was admitted and the doctors ran multiple tests to figure out the cause of her medical emergency and everything came back normal. I was close to arguing with her doctors that something was not right, but with every test coming back normal, my claims would seem baseless. Finally, one of the doctors in the room suggested, "What if it's P.O.T.S?"
I asked because I was confused as I sat on the stool I had pulled up to be closer to the love of my life,
"What's that?"
The doctor who suggested it said,
"This is just a theory, but POTS is when your autonomic nervous system, the thing that controls involuntary bodily functions, doesn't work right. It causes a multitude of symptoms, including something called heat intolerance. Without taking proper measures, one afflicted with POTS can very very easily pass out in the heat. And going from a sitting to standing position will cause a heart rate increase of 30 BPM or more."
I took all of this into account and Asuna almost cried as she said,
"Test me, I want to know."
I look at her with surprise and the doctor asks kindly,
"Can you stand?"
She answers,
"With Kazuto's help, probably."
She's already wearing a pulse oximeter on her finger so the doctor motions to me. I get up and ask Asuna, "You ready?"
She nods, and puts her hand in mine, then I stand there next to her as her rock in case she needs it. She hauls herself up from laying down with my help and stays standing for four minutes, with me supporting her. Sure enough, her heart rate goes from 70 to 123 and the doctor tells us she has POTS. Her eyes fill with tears at the unknown, and I try not to cry myself as I hug her and tell her that I will not let anything happen.
After she's released later that day, I start researching all I can about her condition to help her fight it.
