The Contract

Chapter 17

I wake up to find myself in a room I know is not mine. My vision started to get used to the light as I looked around my surroundings more. The atmosphere of the room felt almost sad and lonely. I look to my side and see medical equipment which I'm not familiar with. I look at my hand and see a tube inserted in me. I tried to sit up but I couldn't. I felt so weak and tired.

"Oh my god, thank god you're awake" I heard someone say. I look to where the voice came from and see me mom sitting on a chair beside my bed, gently stroking my arm. There were obvious dark circles under her eyes, her hair was a mess, she just looked so tired in general.

"Mom" I croak, nearly inaudible "what..what happened to me?" The very last thing I remember is feeling my heart hurt so much that I fell to the ground. Everything after that is history. For all I know, I could have been here for days "How long have I been here?" I ask again before my mom could even answer my previous questions.

"Honey, you've been here for a day. They did some tests on you and now we're just waiting for the results." As if on cue, a middle aged woman walked into the room. The moment her eyes landed on me she puts on a smile.

"I see that you've already woken up." She checks whatever medical equipment was there and then looked at a clipboard placed on the table. I hadn't been able to process anything yet, I don't know what to say or what to think. "Hi Jean, I'm doctor Maria." She says

"How is my daughter?" My mom asks "what did you guys find out"

She purses her lips before she says anything. I bet that this is bad news, I know it. For all I know, I could have cancer. But I hope not. She eyes the clipboard again, before answering my mom's questions.

"Based on the test results we got from your daughter, I'm afraid she has Myocarditis. It's actually really fascinating because this type of disease is very rare." My mom's face was replaced with absolute terror. She looked like she was about to cry while I was still lost in everything. None of the words Doctor Maria was saying seemed to be processing in my brain.

"Myo... what?" I ask "what is that?"

"Myocarditis is an uncommon disease marked by inflammation and damage of the heart muscle usually caused by a viral infection or a self-directed immune response, or when the immune system attacks the body instead of protecting it. Usually some patients would feel shortness of breaths at night, chest pains, fatigue, and in rare occasions, a sudden lack of consciousness" then she asks "have you ever felt any of these before last night?"

My heart was starting to pound fast. "yes, I have" I nod "all of them" I was also starting to be very worried. My mom looks at me with utmost concern "why didn't you tell me anything?" She asks me

"I didn't think it was anything serious" I tell her, then she turns to doctor Maria

"Is this something we should be worried about?" She asks her.

"As I've mentioned, this is a very rare disease, and since it's very rare we still know only little information about it. But what we do know is 5 to 20% of all cases of sudden deaths in young adults are due to myocarditis." Doctor Maria said. For a doctor, she isn't really that good in bringing bad news. At this point my mom was practically sobbing, as if she was the one who had the disease. But I was still stunned, I didn't know what to expect.

"So am I going to die?" I ask, and I hear my mom sob even more.

"To be honest with you Jean, I don't know. The best that we could do is perform an electrocardiogram and do more tests on you. But for the meantime, I would suggest that we put you on rest, low salt diet, and give you medications that could help lessen heart inflammation."