I just got out the shower when my phone started ringing, I quickly grabbed my bathrobe put it on and answered the call.
“Hello?”
“Miss Kurosawa, this is the Uranohoshi High nurse Ruby is complaining of chest problems and says it hurts when she breathes.”
“Okay, anything else?”
“No that's all she said, she’s now lying down on the bed sleeping.”
“I’ll be there in about twenty minutes.”
“Okay.”
I hung up, I quickly put on some clothes, shoes, grabbed my keys, and ran out the door to my car. I got in, started it, and drove off.
I hate these calls it doesn’t help getting them every week, but it’s not Ruby’s fault. She was born with Congenital heart disease, the doctors didn’t think she would make it to her first birthday. Now here we are, almost her sixteenth, Ruby has never stopped fighting she is always happy even at the worst times.
When I arrived at the high school, I hurried to the nurse’s office. I didn’t have to worry about checking in since I told them about her health problems and i’m there a lot. Before I walked in I peeked through the little window and saw her. A bright red haired girl sleeping on the patient’s bed, she didn’t have her usual pigtails and looked awfully pale. I stopped staring and walked into the door.
“Miss Kurosawa?” The nurse asked as I walked in.
“Yeah, has anything changed?” I responded walking over to Ruby.
“She has a slight fever, she’s been sleeping since I called you.”
“Okay, thank you for taking care of her.” I said as I kneeled down and brushed a couple pieces of hair from her face. “Ruby.” I spoke softly while gently shaking her shoulder.
Ruby slowly opened her eyes, “I don't feel good.” She spoke softly.
“I know, I'm gonna take you up to the hospital.” I held Ruby's hand, “are you able to get up?” Ruby slightly shaking her head side to side. I picked her up, “can you please open the doors for us?”
“Of course.” The nurse hastily walked to the door and opened it. She followed us to the main doors and opened it for us.
“Thank you.” I replied as I walked towards my car, the nurse bowed and disappeared into the building. I got to the car, Ruby fell asleep again. “Ruby, you need to stay up for now.” I set her down on her feet leaning her against the car.
“I…...i’m getting dizzy.” Ruby said softly barely able to be heard.
I opened the back driver side door, “I know,.” I helped her into the car and buckled her in. “Just relax we’ll be there soon.” I shut the door. I could feel tears starting to form in my eyes. Seeing her like this is the worst thing. I got into the car and pulled out the parking lot. I got onto the main road, looking in the rearview mirror checking on Ruby every now and then.
Ruby started to fidget around, “It hurts…”
“I know, we’re almost there.” I replied, tears started rolling down my cheeks. “We’re almost there.” Around fifteen minutes later I pulled into the ER parking lot. “Alright Ruby, we’re here.” I turned off the car, and got out. She’s gonna be fine, please let her be fine, she’s everything to me. I opened her door and unbuckled her seatbelt, “Ruby, come on Ruby wake up.” I gently shook her shoulder. She wasn’t waking up, I put my hand up to her neck and checked her pulse….there wasn’t one. I felt my heart drop, starting to freak out I ran through the entrance doors. “Please help me, I need a doctor she’s not breathing!”
A doctor quickly ran to me, “What’s going on?”
“My sister isn’t breathing!” I ran out the door back to my car, the doctor and a pair of paramedics followed suit with a stretcher.
“Stand back please.” One of the paramedics moved me away from the car. They pulled Ruby from the car and set her on the stretcher. “We need a crash cart!” The doctor ordered, one of the paramedics started to perform CPR on her.
“Come on!” the other paramedic yelled, a security guard came out the entrance pushing the cart.
“Stand back!” The doctor yelled, he unbuttoned Ruby’s flannel and put two square pads on her chest. “Charge,” he rubbed two pads together. “Clear!” He stuck them on the pads, her body flinched jerking her up. He check the pulse, “come on…… charge.” He rubbed the paddles together, “clear!” He shocked her again. Checking the pulse again he gave a sigh of relief. “Get her inside.” The doctors pushed her into the building.
“May I go in?” I asked, still standing there in tears.
“Sorry ma’am, we have some tests to run. You’re gonna have to wait outside.” The doctor started to walk in. I followed them to Ruby’s room and sat outside.
Please let her live, I’d give anything to make her better. I can’t lose her now, not after fighting for this long.
I sat in the hall across from the room for what felt like hours. Doctors and nurses going in and out. I called the school to let them know what happened and that Ruby might not be there for a while. I got a text from her friend Hanamaru, she’s been Ruby’s friend since she started elementary school. She’s basically family now, she’d spend a lot of time with Ruby at our house.
“Is ruby okay, I heard what happened. I’ll be down there later to see her.”
“I don’t know, I haven’t been able to see her yet. She’ll be fine though, she’s always been a fighter.” Tears started to drop onto the screen, “Come down as soon as you can, she would be happy to see you.” I hit send and put my phone in my jacket pocket. I wiped my eyes and calmed myself down, then my phone started to ring.
I picked it up and answered it thinking it was Hanamaru, “Hello.”
“Hi, dear.”
“Mom?”
“Yeah, I got a call from the school telling me what happened. Is Ruby okay?” She asked.
“That’s not of your business anymore.” I replied.
“I’m your mom, and hers.” She responded sounding appalled by my statement.
“As soon as I graduated and moved out you made her go live with me. So now she’s my responsibility, bye mother don’t call back.” I hung up and stuck the phone back in my jacket.
I looked at the clock in the hall, it’s been about three hours since she was admitted. Why is this taking forever, I have to see her. I looked in the window out of anxiousness, she was sleeping, I looked at the monitor which was showing her heartbeat and other stuff. She’s breathing, that’s good. I looked around her, she has a tube running from a machine into her chest.
“Miss Kurosawa?”
I turned around, the doctor from earlier was standing behind me holding a clipboard with paperwork. “Hello, sorry I was just curious….it’s been hours and I really wanted to see her.” I stopped and took a deep breath, “ how is she?”
“It’s not good, I’ve been informed that she has been in need of a heart transplant.”
“Yeah, she’s been on the list for years.”
“Her heart has surprisingly been functioning semi properly over the last ten years. But since it’s been working twice as hard as a healthy person’s heart it finally gave out.”
“What do you mean?” I asked nervously.
“Her heart isn’t able to function by itself anymore, she’s got a tube running into her heart helping it keep her blood pumping and breathing. She needs a heart transplant soon otherwise she might not make it.”
I started to tear up, “how long do you think she has?”
“By looking at the condition of her health at this moment…..about two weeks, depending if things get worse or not.”
I put my hands over my mouth and leaned against the door, I cried nothing held back, I just cried. The doctor put his hand on my shoulder.
“I will do my best to find a organ donor for her.” He assured me.
“Thank you.” I replied through the sobbing.
He opened the door, “You may go in but stay quiet and don’t get her excited or anything. She might not be able to take it.”
I grabbed my things I had with me and sat them on one of the chairs in the room. Walking up to the bed I couldn’t help but stare at her. She looked peaceful, like nothing was wrong, like there was no pain. I grabbed her hand, “no matter what you’re not leaving me. You’re going to live a full life,” I started to cry more, “I love you so much, more than anybody ever will.”
I pulled the empty chair up beside the bed and sat down, still holding her hand. Hours past with me just sitting there, thinking of what will happen next.
“Miss. Kurosawa.”
I turned towards the door where a nurse was standing, “Yes?”
“You’re gonna have to move for a couple minutes, I have to take her vitals.”
“Oh okay,” I stood up and moved the chair back.
“Your her sister?” The nurse asked.
“Yeah.”
“I’m Maki, I’m going to be her nurse today maybe tomorrow as well.” She said while wheeling a cart in.
“When do you think she’s gonna wake up?”
“I can’t really give you an answer to that,” Maki started to check her breathing and heart rate. “It probably could be anytime though, I’m not sure.” She looked over at me. “When’s the last time you ate?”
“Yesterday.”
“She’ll be fine, go get something to eat.” Maki suggested packing her supplies back on the cart.
“I don’t like leaving her.” I took a moment to think, “is there a cafè near?”
“First floor, follow the the hall to the left once you get off the elevator.” She rolled the cart out.
“Thanks,” I grabbed my purse then shut the door as I walked out. I stayed down at the cafè for a half a hour I grabbed two more bottles of water to take up with me. As I started to walk back to the elevators my phone started to ring, I took it out my jacket pocket and answered it. “Hello?”
“Hi Miss Kurosawa this is the principal for Uranohoshi high, I just wanted to see how Ruby was doing.” I explained to her the situation leaving out the she needed an organ otherwise she won’t make it part. “Oh dear, I’ll have someone run her homework and stuff up to the hospital so she doesn’t fall behind in her classes.”
“That would be great, thank you.” I replied walking down the hall towards Ruby’s room.
“Please keep us updated.”
“I will, bye.” I hung up, opening the door to the room Hanamaru was leaning on the bed. She looked behind her and saw me.
“Oh hey, I just got here a couple minutes ago.”
You can tell she was crying, I walked over and pulled the chair back up to the side of the bed. “Here.” She sat down.
“She’s gonna be fine.” I said pulling the other chair to the opposite side of Hanamaru and sat in it.
Things got really quiet, all you could hear was the sound of the clock ticking. It made my mind race just listening to the ticking, it made me uneasy. I watched as Ruby’s chest slowly rose then dropped with every breath she took. Hanamaru had her head leaning on the bed, holding her hand she slowly fell asleep. I felt vibrating of my phone in my pocket I took it out and read the caller ID ‘Mari’, it’s been about a year since last time they talked. I answered it as I stood up and quietly left the room.
“Hello.”
“Hey Dia, I just wanted to see how things were, I heard what happen from you mom.”
“She’s fine right now but, is in desperate need of a heart transplant.”
“How are you doing with this?”
It was rare but when things were serious Mari could be the nicest and most helpful person. I thought about was she asked because honestly I didn’t know what was going on in my head. “I don’t know right now, it’s difficult.” I could feel the tears starting to form in my eyes. “S..seeing her like… this is heart wrenching.” I wiped my eyes, starting to breath hard I cleared my throat. “The worst part of this is knowing that I can’t do anything.”
“I just finished up my classes for the week, I’m gonna grab a couple things and head down there.”
“You don’t ha-”
“Dia, I’m coming.” Mari interrupted me. “You shouldn’t have to deal with yourself. It’s time you get help instead of helping everyone else, you are in a time of need right now. Your only job should be to stay at Ruby’s bedside. I have to go now, if you need anything please call me.”
“Thank you, Mari. I couldn’t ask for a better friend.” I hung up and stuck the phone in my pocket. I leaned back against the wall and looked up at the ceiling. What am I gonna do? I’m completely lost?
“You need anything?” A voice said, pulling me away from my thoughts. I looked over at the counter where the crimson haired nurse sat.
“Uh...no I’m fine right now thank you.”
“No need to thank me just doing my job.” Maki flashed a small smile the returned her attention to the computer. “If you do need anything or have any questions don’t hesitate to ask.”
I nodded and slowly made my way back into the room, Hanamaru was fully asleep. I grabbed my jacket off the chair and layed it over her. I sat down holding Ruby’s hand again, closing my eyes I started to pray for a miracle. I leaned down placing her hand against my head asking for help and saying I’ll do anything to let her stay. I kissed the back of Ruby’s hand then sat back in the chair letting my lack sleep consume me.
____________________________________________________________________________
Slowly I woke up, “Sis….” A voice said.
I looked up, as soon as I realised it was Ruby I instantly started to cry, I moved closer to her and gently hugged her. She groaned a little, “Sorry, did I hurt you?” I asked worried.
“No….just a little un….uncomfortable.”
I looked over at Hanamaru who was still sleeping. Moving around Ruby groaned in pain, “Stop moving Ruby,” I said softly.
“I see you're finally awake.” Maki said as she walked in.
Hanamaru slowly sat up rubbing her eyes as she started to notice Ruby wake up, “Ruby.” She grabbed her hand back.
“How are you feeling?” Maki asked.
“Uncomfortable,” she said looking up at the ceiling. “Hungry and sweaty.” Dia smiled at Ruby, it wasn’t often Ruby complained about anything.
“Let me get your vitals then we’ll start by getting some food in you. Then we’ll get your bed sheets changed and you cleaned up.” Maki said rolling her cart to my side of the bed. I moved out the way to let her through.
“She’s breathing normally, her vitals look normal, that’s good.” Maki pulled the cart out of the room, “Let me grab a wheelchair and you guys can go down to the cafeteria.” She returned moments later, wheeling the chair over she moved the machine that’s hooked up to Ruby onto the back part of the wheelchair. “Okay, Dia make sure that she doesn’t eat fast and make sure when she eats its not something that’ll be too heavy on her stomach. If something happens an alarm will go off and doctors will be there so you don’t need to worry about that. But i’m sure she’ll be fine.” She started to help Ruby off the bed, I walked to the other side to assist her. “She should be good to go eat, don’t mess with the tube or anything don’t wanna cause any more problems.”
“Thank you.” I bowed and started to push the wheelchair occupied by Ruby out the room.
Hanamaru quickly walked up beside Ruby, “what would you like to eat?” She asked cheerfully.
Ruby made a face like she was thinking hard, “Ummm, maybe some curry.”
“We can try some,” I assured her.
“Yay.” Ruby replied smiling.
“Can I push her.” Hanamaru asked.
I stopped walking and move to the side allowing Hanamaru to take control. Looking at the smile Hanamaru had on her face I could tell she was beyond happy. My phone started to vibrate, taking it out my pocket I looked at the name ‘Mari’. “You guys go ahead and get some food i’ll meet you down there.”
“Okay onee-chan.” Ruby smiled, I stood in the hall and answered the phone.
“Hello.”
“I’m in the lobby, can you come get me they’re not letting me through because I’m not family.” Mari said pouting a bit.
“Yeah, I’ll be down in a minute.” I hung up, sticking the phone back in my pocket I hurried to the elevators making my way down to the first floor. Exiting the elevator I saw Mari standing at the check in counter. She looked way different the the last time I saw her, her hair was in a ponytail and she was wearing denim shorts with a white blouse that had red flowers printed all over it. Looking around she saw me and waved.
‘Hey, Dia.” I walked over and hugged her. “Wow, haven’t seen you like this since we were little.” Mari laughed.
“It’s just been a long day.” I replied, “Ruby and Hanamaru are eating, would you like something?”
“A coffee, I’ll get it don’t worry about it.” She smiled, “How’s she doing now that she’s awake?”
“She’s been fine so far, she’s hooked up to life support.” We both walked towards the cafeteria, arriving we saw Ruby and Hanamaru sitting down at a table smiling and laughing. I started to tear up seeing her making the best out of a bad situation. Mari pulled me into a hug.
“She’s gonna be fine, she may be small but she always fights.” Mari said comforting me. She looked over at Ruby and Hanamaru, Hanamaru was holding Ruby’s hand. She smiled and started to walk out the cafeteria. “They look like they’re enjoying each other.” I looked them and smiled. “Let’s let them have some time together, wanna grab a coffee?” Breaking the hug I nodded and we left the cafeteria. “This will give us some time to catch up.”
We made our way into the cafe taking our seats we order our drinks. “How’s college going?” I asked.
“Not as fun as I thought it would be.” Mari laughed. “I thought it was gonna be more like how we were in high school.”
“Yeah.” I replied
“You planning on going to college?” Mari asked avoiding the awkward silence that was filling the void between them.
“I don’t even know what I’m doing anymore. Between Ruby, all the medical bills and house bills I don’t have time to be in classes. I just want Ruby to be better before I start school. I wouldn’t be able to forgive myself if something were to happen and I not be there.”
“Well if you need help with anything you can call me.” Mari smiled, “I gotta say it’s weird not having you or Kanan with me in school.”
“It’s like when you went to study abroad.”
“Yeah, this time it’s different.” The waitress brought us our coffees, I grabbed mine and started to drink some of it. “Have you heard from Kanan at all?” Mari asked.
“No, not since the week after graduation.”
“Me either, I wonder what she’s up to. She won’t return any of my texts or calls.”
I sat my coffee down, “Thank you Mari.”
“For what?” She giggled as she took a sip of her coffee.
“For being here for me and Ruby, you didn’t have to but you did and I can’t thank you enough.”
“Like I said you shouldn’t have to deal with all this alone. I don’t have any classes for the next couple days so i’m crashing with you till Ruby gets better.”
I smiled, “there’s the Mari from high school.” I chuckled.
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