Bound By Love
Everything Changes (Part 2)
Ashley
“Where is he?!” I turned to see Andy’s mom walking in…barefoot? Did she run all the way to the hospital? I got my answer when I saw her heels hooked in her right hand.
“They just took him in.” I thought about the event that put him here. I walked out the bathroom and his nose is bleeding and he was shaking. I’ve seen tons of doctor shows and I know that, that wasn’t normal. To think it started with a headache. Could this be what he said he couldn’t talk to me about?
‘If I’m a bad person, you don’t like me; I guess I’ll make my own way…’ That was his phone. I searched his jacket pocket and found his cellphone. I didn’t know this number.
“Hello?”
“Hi, uh I’m looking for Andy?”
“This is his friend, Ashley. And you are?”
“Bill? I’m sorry did I call the wrong number?”
“No, this is his phone. He’s in the hospital.”
“What?! Okay, well which one?”
“If you’re the Bill, I’m thinking of then it’s the same one we were in earlier.”
“Okay. I’ll be there soon.” He hung up before I could say goodbye. I just sighed and leaned on my fist. This had never happened before. I always stood by his side and then he just and that just happened. I have never been more freaked out in my life.
“Okay, Ashley, tell me word for word what happened?”
“He called me and asked me to come over and then he asked me to get him a painkiller or ice pack and when I got back he was…he was shaking or something and his nose was bleeding.”
“Okay, was anything else bleeding?”
“Not that I know of.”
“Okay, don’t worry; you aren’t in any trouble, Ashley.”
“Ms. Biersack, what’s wrong with Andy?”
“We don’t know. All I know is that when he was a little kid they said he had a blood vessel in his brain that was causing a severe clot but at the time it was inoperable. I don’t know what’s happening now.” She confessed.
“A blood clot? Like a…like a tumor?”
“No, it wasn’t like that. It was just a blood clot.”
“What’s the difference?”
“A tumor means cancer, a blood clot doesn’t.” I just rolled my eyes. I didn’t care about all this medical mumbo jumbo. I just wanted to make sure Andy was okay.
Bill
God, I hurt like hell but I have to get to Andy. I had no idea he was sick. He seemed normal to me. Then again, we only spoke for a few minutes before he left. He had a headache though. What if that was something serious and I just overlooked it?!
“Bill?!” I turned around to see Tom jogging up to me.
“Where do you think you’re going? You’re supposed to be resting!” He scolded.
“Tom, not now! I have to get to the hospital. Andy’s sick or hurt or worse and I have to make sure…” I suddenly felt faint and dizzily staggered into Tom’s arms and my knees gave out.
“See, you’re still weak. I am taking you back to Dad’s house.”
“No! I mean no, don’t. He’s out on business and the house is a mess and I haven’t gotten the chance to clean and there’s so much work to be done.”
“Bill, I don’t care about that. You need rest, now let’s go.”
“I can get there on my own, Tom. You don’t have to baby me.” I shrugged away and balanced my weight on a nearby building.
“Really? Because you look uneasy to me. Your knees are shaking.” I looked down and saw that my legs were indeed trembling. Who was I kidding? I couldn’t get anywhere on my own.
“Tom, please, just take me to Andy. Please, I am begging you. I wouldn’t be able to sleep at night knowing that he was sick and I overlooked it.”
“You barely know him!”
“I’ll explain why later. Just please.” He sighed and put my arm around his shoulder.
“What hospital?”
Andy
My head hurts and my body feels like I just ran 4 fucking miles with no water breaks. I brought my hand up to my face and rubbed my eyes. That cleared my vision a bit and I was able to see where I was. I was clearly in a hospital. I saw the IV pole and the beeping machines. They just went about their business while ruining people’s sleeping. One keeps track of my heart rate, one for my pulse, one for my breathing, and one for my blood pressure. This was getting ridiculous, I mean one minute, I’m planning a date with Bill and the next I’m hooked up to machines that surround me like the noisy neighbors that are in every cheesy sitcom known to man. I sat up and scanned the room. There was no one in here. They just left me all alone. I felt really fucking light-headed and things were blurring again. I saw red dots on the white sheets and immediately checked my nose. There was blood on my hand and that caused a loud repetitive beep to sound from one of those annoying machines.
“What’s happening?”
“The blood vessel in your brain ruptured and it’s causing some disturbances in your brain.”
“Oh, that sounds cool.” I fell back onto the sheets and blacked out again. I woke to the sounds of people gathered near me. I slowly opened my eyes and saw Ashley, my mom…Bill and Tom??
“Hey did I miss the party?” I joked.
“How are you feeling, Andrew?” My mom piped up.
“Like shit.”
“Well you look like shit.” Ashley retorted. I noticed he had tears in his eyes. "I was so scared. I thought you were going to die.” He choked out a loud sob and cried.
“I’m alright. Really, my brain just had a shutdown for a second there but I’m fine really.”
“Andy…”
“What? What is it? Do I have cancer? Am I going to die?” I rambled.
“No, but they were able to remove it but there are some side effects.”
“Like? What short-term memory loss? Vision loss? Constant drowsiness?” My mom sighed and handed me a copy of my chart.
“You’re fucking with me, right? This is all some big practical joke. Where are you Ashton Kutcher?”
“Andrew this is serious! Stop making jokes! If you don’t do exactly what that paper says, you could endanger your life.” I sighed and my eyes trailed back to the sheet. In black letters right there in the diagnosis box was the one thing I wasn’t prepared for.
‘Epilepsy.’
“Where is he?!” I turned to see Andy’s mom walking in…barefoot? Did she run all the way to the hospital? I got my answer when I saw her heels hooked in her right hand.
“They just took him in.” I thought about the event that put him here. I walked out the bathroom and his nose is bleeding and he was shaking. I’ve seen tons of doctor shows and I know that, that wasn’t normal. To think it started with a headache. Could this be what he said he couldn’t talk to me about?
‘If I’m a bad person, you don’t like me; I guess I’ll make my own way…’ That was his phone. I searched his jacket pocket and found his cellphone. I didn’t know this number.
“Hello?”
“Hi, uh I’m looking for Andy?”
“This is his friend, Ashley. And you are?”
“Bill? I’m sorry did I call the wrong number?”
“No, this is his phone. He’s in the hospital.”
“What?! Okay, well which one?”
“If you’re the Bill, I’m thinking of then it’s the same one we were in earlier.”
“Okay. I’ll be there soon.” He hung up before I could say goodbye. I just sighed and leaned on my fist. This had never happened before. I always stood by his side and then he just and that just happened. I have never been more freaked out in my life.
“Okay, Ashley, tell me word for word what happened?”
“He called me and asked me to come over and then he asked me to get him a painkiller or ice pack and when I got back he was…he was shaking or something and his nose was bleeding.”
“Okay, was anything else bleeding?”
“Not that I know of.”
“Okay, don’t worry; you aren’t in any trouble, Ashley.”
“Ms. Biersack, what’s wrong with Andy?”
“We don’t know. All I know is that when he was a little kid they said he had a blood vessel in his brain that was causing a severe clot but at the time it was inoperable. I don’t know what’s happening now.” She confessed.
“A blood clot? Like a…like a tumor?”
“No, it wasn’t like that. It was just a blood clot.”
“What’s the difference?”
“A tumor means cancer, a blood clot doesn’t.” I just rolled my eyes. I didn’t care about all this medical mumbo jumbo. I just wanted to make sure Andy was okay.
Bill
God, I hurt like hell but I have to get to Andy. I had no idea he was sick. He seemed normal to me. Then again, we only spoke for a few minutes before he left. He had a headache though. What if that was something serious and I just overlooked it?!
“Bill?!” I turned around to see Tom jogging up to me.
“Where do you think you’re going? You’re supposed to be resting!” He scolded.
“Tom, not now! I have to get to the hospital. Andy’s sick or hurt or worse and I have to make sure…” I suddenly felt faint and dizzily staggered into Tom’s arms and my knees gave out.
“See, you’re still weak. I am taking you back to Dad’s house.”
“No! I mean no, don’t. He’s out on business and the house is a mess and I haven’t gotten the chance to clean and there’s so much work to be done.”
“Bill, I don’t care about that. You need rest, now let’s go.”
“I can get there on my own, Tom. You don’t have to baby me.” I shrugged away and balanced my weight on a nearby building.
“Really? Because you look uneasy to me. Your knees are shaking.” I looked down and saw that my legs were indeed trembling. Who was I kidding? I couldn’t get anywhere on my own.
“Tom, please, just take me to Andy. Please, I am begging you. I wouldn’t be able to sleep at night knowing that he was sick and I overlooked it.”
“You barely know him!”
“I’ll explain why later. Just please.” He sighed and put my arm around his shoulder.
“What hospital?”
Andy
My head hurts and my body feels like I just ran 4 fucking miles with no water breaks. I brought my hand up to my face and rubbed my eyes. That cleared my vision a bit and I was able to see where I was. I was clearly in a hospital. I saw the IV pole and the beeping machines. They just went about their business while ruining people’s sleeping. One keeps track of my heart rate, one for my pulse, one for my breathing, and one for my blood pressure. This was getting ridiculous, I mean one minute, I’m planning a date with Bill and the next I’m hooked up to machines that surround me like the noisy neighbors that are in every cheesy sitcom known to man. I sat up and scanned the room. There was no one in here. They just left me all alone. I felt really fucking light-headed and things were blurring again. I saw red dots on the white sheets and immediately checked my nose. There was blood on my hand and that caused a loud repetitive beep to sound from one of those annoying machines.
“What’s happening?”
“The blood vessel in your brain ruptured and it’s causing some disturbances in your brain.”
“Oh, that sounds cool.” I fell back onto the sheets and blacked out again. I woke to the sounds of people gathered near me. I slowly opened my eyes and saw Ashley, my mom…Bill and Tom??
“Hey did I miss the party?” I joked.
“How are you feeling, Andrew?” My mom piped up.
“Like shit.”
“Well you look like shit.” Ashley retorted. I noticed he had tears in his eyes. "I was so scared. I thought you were going to die.” He choked out a loud sob and cried.
“I’m alright. Really, my brain just had a shutdown for a second there but I’m fine really.”
“Andy…”
“What? What is it? Do I have cancer? Am I going to die?” I rambled.
“No, but they were able to remove it but there are some side effects.”
“Like? What short-term memory loss? Vision loss? Constant drowsiness?” My mom sighed and handed me a copy of my chart.
“You’re fucking with me, right? This is all some big practical joke. Where are you Ashton Kutcher?”
“Andrew this is serious! Stop making jokes! If you don’t do exactly what that paper says, you could endanger your life.” I sighed and my eyes trailed back to the sheet. In black letters right there in the diagnosis box was the one thing I wasn’t prepared for.
‘Epilepsy.’
Notes
For those of you who may not know what it is, the definition is down below.Epilepsy is a common and diverse set of chronic neurological disorders characterized by seizures.[It is a paroxysmal behavioral spell generally caused by an excessive disorderly discharge of cortical nerve cells of brain and can range from clinically undetectable (electrographic seizures) to convulsions. Some definitions of epilepsy require that seizures be recurrent and unprovoked, but others require only a single seizure combined with brain alterations which increase the chance of future seizures.In many cases a cause cannot be identified; however, factors that are associated include brain trauma, strokes, brain cancer, and drug and alcohol misuse among others.
Epileptic seizures result from abnormal, excessive or hypersynchronous neuronal activity in the brain. About 50 million people worldwide have epilepsy, and nearly 80% of epilepsy occurs in developing countries.Epilepsy becomes more common as people age. Onset of new cases occurs most frequently in infants and the elderly. Epileptic seizures may occur in recovering patients as a consequence of brain surgery.
Epilepsy is usually controlled, but not cured, with medication. However, more than 30% of people with epilepsy do not have seizure control even with the best available medications. Surgery may be considered in difficult cases. Not all epilepsy syndromes are lifelong – some forms are confined to particular stages of childhood. Epilepsy should not be understood as a single disorder, but rather as syndromic with vastly divergent symptoms, all involving episodic abnormal electrical activity in the brain and numerous seizures.
@Purdy's_little_lady_outlaw there's a sequel called Fond Memories
5/6/14