Chapter
16
Late
that night, AJ was again awakened by Tara’s loud coughing. He climbed out of bed and headed to the
bathroom, where he knew his wife was.
He knocked on the door. “Tara?”
he asked. He received no answer, only
more coughs. He could tell her cough had
gotten worse.
“AJ!”
Tara called from the bathroom. Her voice
was hoarse and raspy sounding. His heart
pounding, AJ opened the bathroom door.
Something was wrong. Tara leaned
over the bathroom counter, coughing violently.
When she finally stopped, she turned to AJ, gasping for breath.
“I
can’t breath,” she gasped, her voice weak and shaky. AJ immediately came to her and put his hand
on her back to steady her.
“Shhh,
honey, calm down,” he told her, but his own voice was shaking with fear.
Tara
shook her head and began to cough some more.
Suddenly, she dropped to her knees and grabbed at her throat.
“Hang
on, Tara, I’m getting help!” AJ cried and ran back to the bedroom. He grabbed the phone and punched in the
numbers 911, his hands shaking so badly he could barely dial.
“911,
what is your emergency?” came a woman’s voice over the phone.
“My
wife can’t breathe!” AJ cried. “She
needs help now!”
“Ok,
calm down, sir. What is your address?”
the operator asked.
AJ
rattled off his address. “Please hurry,”
he begged.
“An
ambulance is on its way,” the operator replied.
“Sir, you need to calm down. Is
your wife still breathing?”
The
phone was cordless, so AJ carried it into the bathroom. Tara was sprawled out on the floor. With horror, AJ realized she had stopped
breathing.
“No!”
he cried into the phone. “What do I do?”
“Lay
your wife out flat on her back and pinch her nose closed. Then put your mouth over hers and give her
two breaths,” the operator instructed calmly.
AJ
nodded shakily and bent over Tara’s still form.
He pinched her nose closed and covered her mouth with his. He breathed twice into her mouth and backed
up, watching carefully for her to breathe.
Nothing happened. “She’s still
not breathing!” AJ cried into the phone.
“Do
the same thing again,” the operator said.
AJ repeated mouth to mouth.
Finally, Tara gasped and began to cough again.
“She’s
breathing,” AJ said, sagging with relief.
“Okay,
good job, sir. The ambulance is almost
there,” the operator told him.
“Ok,
thank you,” AJ said. “Can I hang up
now?”
“Stay
on the line until you hear the paramedics, ok?” the operator replied.
“Ok,”
AJ said. Suddenly, he heard the siren
of an ambulance approaching. “They’re
here,” he told the operator.
“Ok
sir. You can hang up now,” the operator
said.
“Ok,
thanks,” AJ said breathlessly and clicked the phone off. He studied Tara again. Her breathing was shallow and labored, and
she was unconscious, but at least she was still alive. He took her hand, which was pale and clammy,
and squeezed it. “Hold on, baby, help’s
on the way,” he said.
Just
then, he heard a knock on the front door and remembered he had locked it before
going to bed that night. He leaped up
and raced down the stairs. He unlocked
the door and flung it open. Three
paramedics stood there.
“Hello
sir, I’m Jake with emergency medical services,” said one of the paramedics.
“This
way,” AJ said and led them back upstairs to the bathroom. Once they were in the bathroom, the three
paramedics crowded around Tara.
Suddenly, AJ realized he needed to get ready to go to the hospital. He hurriedly grabbed a pair of jeans and a
T-shirt and pulled them on. Then he ran
down the hall to Madison’s room. He knew
he would have to take her with him, for there was no one around to watch her at
this time at night.
He
bent over Madison’s bed and gently shook her.
“Maddie, baby, you have to wake up now,” he said gently. Madison opened her eyes and slowly sat up,
stretching.
“Is
it morning, Daddy?” she asked sleepily.
“No,
baby, but Mommy’s sick, and we have to go to the hospital to be with her,” AJ
replied and grabbed a pair of sweats for Madison. He stripped her nightgown off of her and
quickly got the sweats on her. Then he
grabbed some socks and put them on her.
He got her tennis shoes and crammed them on her feet, hurriedly tying
the laces. Then he set her back down on
the bed. “Stay right here for a minute,
sweetie, ok?” AJ asked.
Madison
nodded, and AJ ran back towards the bathroom.
The paramedics already had Tara loaded onto a stretcher and were
carrying her down the stairs. One of
them stayed behind and quickly told AJ that they were taking her to Orlando
General Hospital. AJ nodded and waited
until they had Tara out of the house before going back to get Madison. He didn’t want her to catch a glimpse of her
mother like that.
Once
they had went out the front door, he ran back to Madison’s room and found her
lying on her bed, fast asleep again. AJ
couldn’t help but smile at the sight.
Trying not to wake her, he gently picked her up and carried her
downstairs. He carried her out to the
car. She woke up as he was buckling her
into the backseat.
“It’s
ok, Maddie,” he whispered. “You can go
back to sleep if you want to.” Madison
nodded sleepily and closed her eyes, falling back to sleep almost
immediately. AJ jumped into the car and
sped off towards the hospital, praying that his wife would be all right.
***
