Because You're Mine

Chapter 36

As we finish getting our luggage, we head outside to see my and Chris's mom in a car waiting for us. They notice us and wave as we walk towards the car and get in. We buckle up and head straight to the hospital.

Dad was admitted to a hospital called Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Downtown Toronto, a place where I never really been to.

We go to the third floor and mom leads us to the room dad was admitted in. He was lying in bed, peacefully sleeping. There were tubes that went in his nose and other tubes in his arms. I slowly walk towards him and take a seat on the little stool.

"Dad?" I softly spoke. He opens his eyes a little and smiled when he saw me.

"Hey, pumpkin." He greets.

"Still on those nicknames I see?" I chuckle and he nods. "I thought I told you to not be so excited or stressed. Look at what happened when you didn't listen to me."

"I've never been that happy in my life." Dad breathes. "I thought it was over. I forgot about the remote, about my condition, about everything. All I saw was happiness."

I sigh and say, "Dad, I realize that you were happy, but never forget about what happens if you're very happy."

"That's life being unfair. It doesn't like me being happy, so it gave me this as a warning. What did I do so wrong to merit this? Was it because I had a happy life?"

Tears started progressing down dad's cheeks as he stuttered to talk. The same happened with me, but I quickly wipe them away before he could see them.

"Dad, it's not your fault, trust me." I murmur.

"Jasmine, come with me," Mom says as she stepped into the room. I get up and follow her trail outside.

"What's the matter?" I ask.

"I'll get straight to the point." She breathes. "The condition started getting worse last week. It wasn't as much though. Arson just got a couple of tests at Brampton Civic Hospital, then he was discharged two days later. I don't what happened over the weekend, but it worsened."

"You know what? I-I need some time alone. Excuse me." I excuse myself and walk towards the little relaxing room, take a seat and bury my face my hands. I remember the time when dad didn't have that condition. Everything was normal in our life - mine wasn't as normal because I had issues with Tom and Steven.

But, four years ago, our normal life transformed into something bad. We thought of going out for dinner because mom got a job as an air hostess for Italy. She had to leave the night after, so we thought of spending our last night together and rejoice somewhere fancy.

Dad had bought mom a stunning necklace and he put it on around her neck. As he was returning to his seat, he felt a little dizzy. His hand was over his heart as he grabbed onto the chair tightly and attempted to sit. Right then, he fainted and collapsed onto the ground.

I was extremely frightened and shocked while mom was panicking and screaming for help. I just sat there on my seat, terrorized of what was happening. My mind turned blank; my body had become senseless; I was inarticulate.

A waiter noticed what happened and so he phoned the ambulance right away. The ambulance had arrived in less than fifteen minutes and took dad and us to the emergency room of the hospital.

As soon as we approached there, a doctor and some nurses took dad away into the ICU room and my mom and I were eager to know what happened to him all of a sudden.

After half an hour of waiting and walking back and forth in the hall, the doctor came outside of the room and told us about dad's heart condition. Stress cardiomyopathy also referred to as "broken heart syndrome," is a condition in which extreme emotional or physical stress or excitement can cause the rapid and severe heart muscle to minimize, which was known as cardiomyopathy.

The doctor had told us that stress and excitement may affect behaviors and constituents that increase the risk of getting a heart disease: high blood pressure and cholesterol levels can lead to a heart disease. He had mentioned something about our body releasing adrenaline, a hormone that momentarily causes our respiratory system and heart pace to speed up and our blood pressure to increase.

The doctor asked us about dad's behavior for the past week or two, and we told him that he either got too excited or too stressed, and sometimes he would panic about little things, get enraged when things aren't going right, and didn't talk as much.

The doctor then told us that stress and excitement symptoms can affect our body, our thoughts and emotions, and our behavior. Being able to recognize basic stress and excitement symptoms can give us a boost on maintaining them. The excitement was another story, but the stress which was left unchecked can contribute to many health concerns.

Mom was very bothered, so she asked if there was any way to sooth dad's heart. The doctor told us to tell dad to slow down a very high heart rate by practicing deep breathing. Although he may find it difficult, reducing your breathing speed will benefit on lowering the heart rate.

We did as we were told. We told dad to take deep breaths; take a breath for five to eight seconds, hold it for three to five seconds and then exhale slowly for a count of five to eight seconds. He was recommended that he should do this at least twice per day, and he obeyed.

Dad obeyed the instructions given and things got better. Not perfect, including the fact that controlling stress and excitement wasn't the best thing to do, and dad sometimes felt lightheaded and sometimes fainted as well. When that happened, we were to give dad some water when he would wake up and calm him down by making him do the breathing trick.

This went on for four years, but now, however, the heart condition had taken a whole new level. Dad's very weak, he can barely talk properly, and nobody knows how it happened.

"You alright?" I hear a familiar voice say from beside me. I turn my head to see Chris looking at me with concern and worry in his eyes.

"Yeah, I was just in my thoughts," I reply as I wipe my tears away with the back of my hands.

"Well, I don't want to make things worse, but there are some updates on your dad, and they aren't very good," Chris says.

"What's the matter? Is dad okay? Did something happen?" I ask with curiosity.

"The doctor will tell you. Come on." Chris stands up and brings out his hand towards me. I put my hand in his and he leads me out of the relaxation room and into dad's room.

I hope everything's okay.

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