Wild West of the Heart

"Fifty five year female "

His footsteps echoed in his ears as his eyes became dizzy, though gazing upon the paramedic that wheeled his mother through the emergency doors.

She was strapped to the bed, her arms slouching out a little bit, and Ola felt his heart beat rise by the second. Seven minutes late, could easily have been forgotten. Or being considered as trivial and maybe even insignificant. But it meant alot to a person that had supposedly had a heart attack-

-each second was how much more her brain could progressively get worse from the lack of oxygen and blood that flowed to it. They were seven minutes late, six minutes and fifty four seconds to be precise. And that's how long he got to hold his mother in his arms, praying severely that the seven minutes be trivial in this instance.

"Vitals are stable"

She was taken behind the curtains, in a ward and Obi was held back to the wall. Akin, that was still a little inebriated, just sat on the chairs, his elbows against his knees and his fingers intertwined in each other. By his facial expressions, you could tell he was worried, no matter how hard he tried to hide.

And some part of him was conscious of what had happened. Hopefully that same part, blamed himself for this. Though it might sound awful but it was true. He just sat there, he supposed to- bathing in guilt, if at all he had a conscience.

The nurse that held Ola back, had to leave him, rushing into the room where they tried to revive his mother. His back was against the wall, as the dimensions of the room, through his eyes, began to turn around. His eyes swirled and he held unto air.

He felt it was something tangible, something tangible enough to hold him back but soon he found himself on the floor. He noticed how hot everywhere had gotten and he plucked at his shirt buttons. Beads of sweat dripped down his chin like lemon juice, and his lungs began to close up.

It didn't take long for him to figure it was a panic attack. "Mum" He muttered, through his blurry gaze. And then, through his ears, he heard both the ringing sound from defibrillator and footsteps approaching him. Halting breathes escaped his lips as he felt someone around his arms.

His fingers found a quivering way to his pockets and his bottle of pills fell out. He'd learned the hardest way before not to go anywhere without it. And times like these, they were always helpful.

His eyes recognized Akin standing right above him, as he parted his lips for the tablet. He felt it dissolve on his tongue as he placed his head against the wall.

"Breathe" Akin urged, and though Ola hated how close he was to him, he figured he had no choice.

"You're okay and your mother will be too" He said.

-

"She will"

"Your mother suffered what we call a cardiopulmonary arrest or as you may know it as cardiac arrest. It's usually common with people her age because of underlying factors like aging and stress. Believe it or not, your body won't be the same as it was in your youth when you're fifty-"

Ola wanted to zone out of this conversation because he knew how much his mother hated talking about growing old. Perhaps it was why he never thought of it like she actually did, until today. He never realized that his parents were growing old, and he could lose them anytime now. God forbid, it wasn't a prayer. But it was a possibility. The possibility that'd just dawned on him reading the doctor's lips.

"In Mary's case however, we ran some tests and we realized how high her blood pressure was, it might have been what incited this" His eyes darted to the bed where she laid, she had to wake up. She wasn't supposed to leave him like this. He wanted to jump on her and fiddle her shoulders and just whisper life into her ears like it was a sleeping beauty fable.

"This could be as a result of stress, tension like overthinking and insomnia. And lack of exercise, as you grow old, the body needs it to keep moving. It's like lubricant to metal" Doctor Harry scoffed, an attempt to lighten the atmosphere. But some atmospheres don't need lightning, some need to be brutal. To be real, to finally acknowledge life

-and how it can cruel at times.

"We'll start her on her medications which she'd strictly abide by when she leaves eventually. And her diets might need a slight change. I'd also recommend some exercise regimen for her. But aside that, like right now" Harry looked to Mary. "She's doing really well. She's a fighter, you know that?" He turned to Ola, whose eyes watered in that instant at the thought of his mother living on pills. It was like his grandma then when she fell ill with alzheimer's. It was normal at first, with just minor memory issues. She's a fighter, they all said.

But Ola of all people had to watch her slowly lose herself and in the process, he lost a part of himself too. It was astounding how someone so full of life, could be reduced to that. To the incapacity to even do the littlest things. He didn't recognize his ma, perhaps it was the sickness and the thousand pills she took that changed her, or a combination of both.

That's why when the doctor said his mother was to abide by some pills, his eyes were filled with tears because he remembered his grandma and how much his father was a mess when he lost her. "Right?" Harry placed his palms on Ola's shoulders, drifting back into full consciousness.

"What?"

"Fighters need some help sometimes, right?" He raised one brow, as if he could tell what Ola was thinking. All he just gave as a reply was a nod. And he cleared his throat. "Take care of your mother-"

The papers slipped through Harry's palms as he walked out of the door. Silence dawned in the room with Akin, not even uttering a word. Perhaps he was still mesmerizing about loss and life, and how the two seemed to blend together just perfectly.

Or maybe he remembered nana, or just blamed himself for this. It was something they could share because Ola himself wasn't proud of his last words to her. His right palm grazed the side of his cheeks as he walked closer to his mother. In a moment, he shared contact with Akin's icy eyes and he just turned away, sniffling under his breath. He turned to Mary, stiff with the intravenous in her wrists.

Shallow, halted breathes escaped her breathes as the rhythmic beeps from the heart monitor soothed his ears. It meant hope, and that was all he had on the way here in the ambulance.

But as they tried to resuscitate his then unresponsive mother, he had to consciously remind himself what the sound of sirens mean. It meant life, and it meant hope. So he assured himself. After all, though he didn't reply Harry, he knew in himself that Mary was indeed a fighter. And she'd spent her whole life taking care of everyone

now it was time to take care of her.

His fingers slipped between hers as he leaned forward to place a kiss on it. At the most, she'd be discharged by tomorrow, it meant he was spending the night here, and probably skip school tomorrow.

The one person that wouldn't allow him do that was Mary, so- He finished that thought in his head and muffled a chuckle, then he pulled away and brushed against his father's shoulders. It was like these ones take a step forward just to take two backwards.

But he didn't even care, all he wanted to do was to just talk to Obi about how he had the craziest day.

To be continued...