Becoming One Purple Heart (Formerly Purple Hearts)

Emergency

(Cassie's Point of View)

I awake in a cold sweat feeling sick to my stomach, dizzy, a little short of breath, and disoriented. I immediately look over to my night stand to see what time it is as its still dark outside. When I look at my alarm clock it reads 03:37 AM. I can tell something is really off with my body and I'm scared. Right now more so than ever I wish Luke was home with me holding me as he makes me feel safe. I decide I need to get up and test my blood sugar as I have never felt this bad before, and I assume it has something to do with my diabetes. I sit up so that I can get out of bed but as I am sitting up I feel like I am about to pass out as I am starting to struggle with my breathing. I am absolutely terrified right now, but I know I need to stay calm as I am already struggling to breathe. Now it's obvious to me that I am having an emergency and as much as I hate asking for help, I need to get help. I can't remember if there is an emergency room on base or not, and I am not too familiar with how our new insurance works so I am not even sure where I can go for help. I do know that I am current  in no shape to drive right now given I can't even get out of bed without feeling like I am about to pass out. Usually in this situation I would call Nora, Toby, or my Mom, but I quickly realize that I can't call any of them because they  don't know about Luke or our marriage and right now I am not exactly in a position to explain everything. I realize I have two choices I either need to call Riley or I need to call 911. I decide to call Riley, because obviously she knows about Luke and me and our marriage but we have also become super close since our guys went on deployment. I quickly unlock my phone and I quickly find her contact and press call.

(Riley's Point of View)

I am sound asleep when I hear my phone vibrating on my nightstand and my heart sinks and begins racing. Usually, I would sleep with my phone on silent or do not disturb but since Frankie deployed I leave it on vibrate in case something happens with him. I have prayed daily for Frankie's safety and that I won't receive that dreaded phone call. I then take a deep breath before I answer because nothing can prepare you for receiving a call that dreaded call about the fate of your loved one during a deployment. I then grab my phone off my nightstand prepared to listen to whatever news I am given. When I look at the screen my entire body floods with relief for a moment when I see Cassie's name appear across my screen. I am relieved because it's not that dreaded call from the military but then my heart drops again because I realize that something is really wrong if she is calling me at this hour given it's about 3:45 AM. My heart starts pounding again as I am worried that maybe something happened to Luke. I quickly press the green button on my screen to accept the call.

Me: Cassie, is everything okay?

Cassie: I... I'm sorry for bothering you at this hour, (takes a deep breath) I ne.. need to.. to go to the hospital 

I'm really worried because she sounds really out of breath and just not like herself.

Me: I'm on my way, hang in there Cassie

The line then goes dead and I immediately jump out of bed and I run to my closet. I quickly grab a sweatshirt to put over my t-shirt that I fell asleep in if I get cold, and I take off my pajama shorts and I put on a pair of sweat pants. I quickly step into a pair of slides and I grab my purse and my phone. Once I have everything I leave my bedroom and I head out towards the front door. I quickly open the door and head out of the house locking it behind me. I run over to my car and I immediately get in and I head off towards Cassie's house. Luckily she lives only a few minutes away from me. Cassie and I have actually been friends for a long time as she has been really close friends with Frankie since before I met him. We use to hang out a lot together but then we both got busy with life and we didn't see each other much. However, when Frankie and Luke both deployed we started hanging out together again and I would say we are closer than we have ever been and I consider her to be almost like a sister to me.