A/N: It's my Finals. I'm panicking. How to relieve it? No…not by studying…but writing and updating this fic. I know that makes you guys happy.
Stress and exhaustion really unfetters the mind's inhibition. According to psychology, we are more creative when we are tired. So…that's why I can update pretty fast.
I'm also doing my best to save up money to buy a graphics tablet so that I can draw some Jin-Asuka fan arts. Really, just like the fan fics, fan arts about them are really hard to come across. :|
Disclaimer: Guys, tell me what you would do if YOU own Tekken!
DIRGE
During their usual walk to the bus stop, Asuka told Akemi about what Sengakuji-sensei discussed her with.
"My dad told me that trial exams don't affect the actual results if you really want to attend the university you like." said Akemi consolingly. "My dad failed all his mock exams, but he passed the actual entrance tests and studied law in Kandai."
They sat down onto the bench of the bus stop and waited for the bus, but they did not discuss further about Asuka's results or the upcoming exams. Akemi seemed to be quite conscious of the topic she should bring up and she took her time picking a cigarette from the case.
"You sure you're gonna be okay?" Akemi suddenly asked as she lit her cigarette.
"What are you talking about?" said Asuka, completely lost.
Akemi took a long drag of her cigarette, blew out the smoke before speaking without looking at her. "Ranking is very crucial in passing an entrance exam so that makes everyone your opponent. We're applying for the same university. You know what that means don't you?"
The realization seeped into Asuka like the coldness of winter. They were competitors now. Akemi continued.
"Competition-wise aside, Kandai is an expensive university…Your only source of income is your dad being a dojo teacher, but now he's sick. Your mom's a homemaker and she's with him most of the time. Apart from that, there's the hospital bills…You know what I'm talking about."
Akemi took another long drag, tilted her head upward and blew out smoke at the corner of her mouth; she then looked at Asuka very seriously. It was worry. This did not brew gratefulness in Asuka's part.
"My dad was in the hospital three years ago and I was on my own kicking asses in a tournament and handled the dojo while some stupid war was going on!" snapped Asuka with arms akimbo. "The dojo's earning fine and I can handle it; if everyone's my opponent then I'll just beat 'em up, that's all there is to it!"
"This isn't some fighting tournament and this isn't three years ago either," reminded Akemi, rather exasperatedly. "Things are different now; you should know the dissimilarity on how you should fight and win them."
"You can fill in for my mom, do you know that? I can do this on my own. This is all Sakurada's fault, anyway! I have someone to blame for all of this shit! There's no point worrying about this since I can handle it!"
"If you say so," said Akemi in resignation.
The silence lingered between the two young women; Akemi continued smoking while Asuka brooded. The bus finally arrived and Akemi stood up, swung her bag on her shoulder and embarked on the bus; she was already at the steps when she looked over her shoulder and cast Asuka a listless look.
"You're not a good liar, Kazama."
"Huh?" Asuka squawked. Before she could ask any more questions, the doors closed and Akemi simply waved at her with a taunt smile behind the glass. The bus sped away leaving Asuka on the bench, a little confused.
For the past week, Asuka's time had been consumed with studying and her time being the substitute teacher of the dojo. The spines of the booklets Sengakuji-sensei had lent her were starting to have more creases since it is open most of the time.
Though Akemi had told Asuka that they were competing against each other, it seemed nonexistent; they studied together each class with Sengakuji-sensei and even warned her about what kind of tutor she is.
"I'm telling you now: Sengakuji Sachiko will really drive ya up the wall," Akemi told Asuka before her first tutorial session. "I heard her telling everyone that you'll be top ten or higher in the ranking while I was passing the faculty lounge this morning."
Though Asuka was thankful that Sengakuji-sensei had given up her leisure time in order to help her, she sometimes wished that she hadn't; Sengakuji-sensei kept Asuka for long hours and became terribly grouchy whenever she would excuse herself for prioritizing teaching at the Kazama dojo which consumed her time to study.
"If you really want to pass your exams with the best grades, working as a teacher in your family's dojo is still an irrelevant excuse for cutting down your study hours." commented Sengakuji-sensei one session. This resulted to reading even while riding her bicycle on her way home or to school; she ran over that blonde girl who was blocking her way as she read out loud important dates from one of the booklets Sengakuji-sensei lent her.
The time of the journey between her home and the hospital were now exhausted for studying; though Asuka felt terrible not seeing Master Kazama and even when in the short periods when her mother would be home, she barely had time to talk to her. It was better to concentrate on her dispute against the pressure of the onset of the exams. She felt assured that her father was going to be fine in the end like he had been three years ago. The looming terror of the exams was so great that even Jin seemed to be staying away from Asuka in order for her to concentrate…or perhaps he was just simply staying away from her.
After over a week of studying, the entrance exams finally came. Snow fell rather heavily on the day, but the cold was seemingly irrelevant to the pressure they were feeling.
On the way to the university, Asuka and Akemi did not exchange words and simply walked side by side in silence. Upon entering the hall, they merely went over to their designated seats, sat down and remained silent, going over what they had studied for the past week and trying to calm themselves.
After thirty minutes, the hall was soon filled with examinees. Test papers were already distributed and several professors were on the podium, giving out instructions to some foreign students. Asuka looked around for Akemi amidst the sea of students.
She found her friend sitting six columns and four rows in front from her left; Akemi was adjusting the collar of her sweater, obviously trying to mentally ready herself in answering. Asuka's eyes started roaming around the hall, observing fellow examinees. Five seats from Akemi's left was a girl with short auburn hair; the girl turned around in her seat and grinned nervously at another sitting four seats behind Akemi. The girl, whom the auburn haired one grinned to, answered her with a hand gesture in which the index and middle fingers were raised and parted, while the other fingers are clenched. She flashed a bright smile; she had raven black hair done up in pigtails and wore brightly colored bracelets.
"Open your test booklets," announced the proctor from the podium as he glanced at his wristwatch causing Asuka to return her attention to her questionnaire. "You may begin."
Asuka flipped open the page, picked up her pencil and stared fixedly at the first question. It was several seconds before it occurred to her that she had not taken in a word of it; there was some sort of buzzing in her head that was distracting her. She took a deep breath to clear her thoughts and slowly, tortuously, she began to answer.
The exams took the whole day and by the time it was all over, Asuka felt her cognition had been exhausted; she was so mentally drained that she didn't give any too much thought of a panda bear wearing brightly colored bracelets which were similar to that girl wearing pigtails she saw earlier, munching stalks of bamboo beside the bike shed of the university. She ignored it, took her bicycle and walked away with Akemi by her side. Only when they had exited the gate did Akemi look over her shoulder and scowled in incredulity.
"Was that just a fucking panda bear near the shed?"
"Maybe some zoo advertising or whatever," answered Asuka, shrugging, not paying too much attention. "Listen, I gotta go; my dad had his operation yesterday. He's gonna be transferred to a better room and I really wanna see him. I haven't been there for over a week." Without further ado, she swung her leg over her bicycle and pedaled away hastily.
"Oh, I hope your dad is okay now!" called Akemi after her with a wave. "And tell him get well soon!"
Asuka looked over her shoulder as she returned her friend's wave. She wished that the sleet on the asphalt would be irrelevant in increasing the chances of slipping and injuring herself. The girl with the black pigtails pointed at her and said something excitedly to her auburn haired friend and they hurried towards her direction, but Asuka pumped more energy into her legs in order to get to the hospital as fast as she could.
It was better to avoid any possible inane talk with strangers.
Asuka knocked gently on the door of Master Kazama's room before she pushed it open. The room was full of monitors and more tubes were connected apart from the IV lines in his veins and chest. She saw her mother sitting beside her father, cupping his hand in between hers. The room was very quiet; only the rhythmic beeping of the heart monitor was the only thing audible as it emitted noises, but Asuka was already used to it by now.
"When was he transferred?" asked Asuka in a whisper at her mother as she removed her jacket and striding over to the bedside.
"Just a couple of hours ago," her mother whispered back. "He's still a little faint, but Dr. Hirasawa said we can talk to him. He was just asking where you are now." She leaned forward, her face very close to her husband's. "Junichiro, Asuka-chan's here."
Master Kazama slowly opened his eyes; he tried to keep them open yet it dropped from time to time. Asuka sat down beside him and leaned forward to get a better look at his face; his eyes looked a little out of focus.
"Asuka…" he croaked.
"Dad, I just finished the exams. I came here as fast as I could."
Master Kazama's eyelids rose a little higher, but dropped again; he smiled and spoke very feebly. "I…see….so… how was…the exam?"
"It was cool," replied Asuka with a grin. "I answered everything. I just have to wait for a week for the results."
They were speaking in very soft voices and the only sound that seems to be getting louder were the beeps emitted by the heart monitor. There was no longer a rhythm; it was inconsistent.
"That's….great…to hear…" Master Kazama replied amidst a series of small constricted gasps. He gave a small cough.
"You better get well soon, alright, Dad?" said Asuka, smoothing out his fringes. "Ya owe me one big strawberry cake."
"Of course…I—" He suddenly coughed so hard that his upper torso lurched forward. Asuka and her mother drew back in surprise. The heart monitor started beeping rapidly. Master Kazama clutched his chest; his expression was that of great pain as he took another gasp. He coughed so hard again and spewed out dark mucous which landed on the white blanket.
It was a mass of blood.
Asuka looked at it in terror and snapped her attention back at Master Kazama. His head fell back onto the pillow and drooped sideways; a glob of blood mixed with mucous and saliva oozed between his slightly parted lips which were gradually turning blue. The heart monitor no longer produced that rapid beeping sound and the green line was not rising and falling; the line was flat and the sound was blank, piercing and endless.
Both Asuka and her mother were stunned at the scene that was before them. Two nurses entered the room, their attention onto the scene of Asuka and her mother frozen in fear, but both were quick to analyze the scene and leapt into action.
"Go get Dr. Hirasawa now." the male nurse whom Asuka saw previously, ordered at his companion who immediately ran out of the room. The nurse snatched a syringe from a tray in Master Kazama's bedside and quickly injected whatever it contained into Master Kazama's arm. He immediately placed his hands on Master Kazama's chest, one hand over the other and started pressing down as he counted under his breath while stealing quick glances at the heart monitor.
The green line was still straight, emitting that there was no presence of a heartbeat. The nurse tipped Master Kazama's face upward, put his mouth against his and huffed air into him. After a few more huffs, he returned his hands on his chest and repeated his actions; he glanced at the heart monitor once again, but there was still no heartbeat. More nurses poured into the room and started to work around Master Kazama, driving Asuka and her mother in to the corner of the room. Soon Dr. Hirasawa arrived, accompanied by two people wearing white coats similar to his own.
"Please step out of the room," said Dr. Hirasawa briskly as the nurses pulled into his arms a green scrub suit and plastic gloves. Asuka's mother immediately left; it seems like she couldn't bear the state of her husband. The male nurse finally abandoned his ministrations; he peeled Master Kazama's hospital gown to expose his chest and there Asuka saw a fresh vertical scar.
"What's going on?" said Asuka loudly over the swarm of nurses.
"I'm about to open up your father," Dr. Hirasawa told Asuka in a flat business-like voice. "Do you want to see that?" He did not look at Asuka anymore for his attention was at a wheeled table arranged with sterile metal instruments.
"Miss, please step out of the room." a nurse now told Asuka.
The medical personnel did not wait for Asuka to move, but as soon as she saw a line of deep crimson at the wake of the scalpel in Master Kazama's chest, Asuka immediately swept out of the room; she heard the blinds fall against on the pane of the door.
Three hours have already gone by and a nurse would sporadically drop by and relay news to them on what was really happening, but it was all the same: Master Kazama was still under surgery. Asuka fidgeted in her seat; her mother calmly coaxed her to put her head on her lap as the hours ticked away.
"It will be alright," her mother assured Asuka, with a small smile as she stroked Asuka's hair. "Maybe it's just a tiny problem and the doctors will patch him up real quick."
Asuka wanted to tell her mother that there was no need to create a font of the grave situation, but she felt heartless doing so; she knew her mother was afraid for her hand that was attempting to make her feel assured was slightly trembling. They both were afraid.
They watched the clock at the wall opposite to them. Two more hours passed when Dr. Hirasawa entered the waiting room accompanied by a doctor whose name Asuka did not know or had she seen him attending to Master Kazama before. Asuka sat upright and her mother rose from their seats. The new doctor looked a little older than Dr. Hirasawa, but his features had a sense of pride that gave him a younger air.
"I am Ichihara Shigure. I am a neurologist." the new doctor introduced with a polite and brief bow.
"Is my dad…" she started, but could not finish.
Dr. Hirasawa's eyes were downcast. "Please sit down."
Asuka and her mother sat down again as the two doctors sat on the opposite side with the coffee table in between them.
"It was atrial fibrillation* heralding formation of emboli* at the right atrium, traveling to the main pulmonary artery causing pulmonary embolism* as exhibited by hemoptysis* and sudden heart failure," started Dr. Hirasawa. "Pulmonary thromboendarterectomy* was the only option in order to remove the clots and to reintroduce oxygen into Junichiro-san's system. We managed to resuscitate his heart and lungs after that. He's breathing now with the aid of a mechanical respirator. It was lucky that one of the nurses immediately medicated him with heparin* in order to buy us more time."
"So he's fine now?" Asuka's mother inquired. Asuka didn't understand most of it, but she listened nonetheless. Her head felt like a vortex and the terms were simply spinning around in her head; the only thing she wanted to know was that if Master Kazama will be alright.
Dr. Hirasawa sighed, shook his head and pushed his glasses further up his nose. "We ran an MRI scan* to see whether other emboli might have affected other important organs such as the brain. We had presumed correctly: while the clots have been successfully removed from his lungs, some of them traveled to his brain. I had to page Dr. Ichihara to scrub in for surgery." He gestured at his colleague beside him; Asuka and her mother's attention turned to him.
Dr. Ichihara inclined his head to a small bow before explaining. "The clot that traveled to Junichiro-san's brain brought about cerebrovascular accident*, an embolimic ischemic stroke* to be more precise. In order to remove it, we had to perform craniotomy*. We were successful in removing the clot; however, the embolus had been there for quite some time, undetected. The damage to his brain had already been done. Junichiro-san is in a deep coma right now."
"Coma? Isn't that being asleep? My husband's asleep? So he can wake up? You have medicines for that, right?"
"There is only supportive care for a comatose patient." replied Dr. Ichihara. "His vital signs are dwindling; we are closely monitoring his brain waves, blood pressure and heart rate. Junichiro-san had already lost considerable amounts of brain cells; his heart is weak and cannot deliver sufficient oxygen in his system. His brain will capitulate if the blood flow to his brain stops."
"What the hell is that supposed to mean? Is my dad going to get better or not?" demanded Asuka impatiently.
"Junichiro-san is in a deep coma following a near-undetectable stroke and his heart and lungs have undergone great physiological stress. We will be running tests on him to see whether his vital signs will improve in the next six hours." stated Dr. Ichihara. "We will see if the second test will yield the same results. By that time, over six hours have passed since the first, and this is to ensure that no mistake is being made."
"Whatever for?"
"We will need more tests to precisely determine his condition. It is with regret for us to say that your father's condition is exhibiting that he is heading towards brain death."
A terrible pause hanged in the wake of the doctor's words. Asuka gaped at them, lost for anything to say. The two doctors gazed at them; there was serenity in their features, but she wasn't sure whether it was apathy or kindness.
"What's the reason why my dad's so sick all of a sudden?" burst out Asuka, at Dr. Hirasawa and Dr. Ichihara. She swallowed; her throat was getting too tight to speak, but she wanted to ask more questions. She suddenly stood up and balled her hands into fists. "You said that he was going to be alright after the surgery! Was it because I told him some news that could've made him worry to make him so sick? What— "
Dr. Hirasawa raised a hand to stem the flow of Asuka's self-reproach.
"Please do not take this on yourself." he said gently. "Irregular heart rhythm had happened before on your father, but it was just tolerable—" Asuka immediately remembered the time when Master Kazama was leaning against the gate of their house, just merely weeks ago and after that when he yelled at her and he took a shuddering gasp—"This one was just so severe since it followed a major surgery."
"Th—there must be some sort of mistake!" she persisted desperately. "There has to be!"
"In order to determine there isn't, we will run more tests on him," Dr. Ichihara repeated. He then bowed his head. "Please forgive us for being so brief."
Asuka didn't believe it. She sank onto her chair and held her head in her hands.
"I'm very sorry," said Dr. Hirasawa sincerely and gently. "At the mean time, we will keep him on nutrient-rich IV and periodically shift his position so that he won't develop any bedsores."
Asuka did not fully understand what the doctor had told her, but it flooded her with dread and fear. She wanted to do something, anything that would alleviate the fear and mask it through striking someone or something.
The doctors lead them to the room to see Master Kazama; they excused themselves and left them alone with him. It was an unexpectedly large room. There were stretchers lined against the wall, two small monitors were installed in the wall from which countless tubes and wires extended. In spite of all the technology, the other beds were vacant, giving the room a dormant atmosphere.
Asuka cautiously sat beside his bed and took a closer look at the person lying down on the bed before her. A tube was inserted in his mouth and his head was shaved and bandages wrapped around his crown. Asuka followed them with her eyes; they ran from his nose into a bucket-shaped object and continued from there into a white machine that had several controls and a meter with a needle, which quivered left and right within its prescribed arc. It wasn't a bulky machine, but every time the needle hopped, a hissing sound issues. The walls monitors were all aglow with Master Kazama's brain activity.
A minute later, someone entered the room. Asuka whipped around hoping that it was either or both of Dr. Hirasawa or Dr. Ichihara would bring news that there was hope for Master Kazama, but it was neither of the middle-aged men. It was a petite female nurse; she looked to be around Asuka's age and exuded some sort of quiet sweetness. She cast Asuka and her mother a sympathetic look as she went about on her duties.
It was no longer visiting hours; either way, she wanted to stay beside her father. She had not seen him for a week and this is what happened. Her mother did not leave her father's side too. After all, the wife is at the husband's side at his time of need.
Asuka took Master Kazama's hand in hers; he was still warm. How can it be possible that he's already dead? Her mother stayed silent and remained at the bedside, also clutching his hand as his chest rose and fell regularly as the hiss of the respirator echoed throughout the room.
They had not slept a wink or ate a bite the next day. Asuka did not have the energy to look for something to eat despite her growling stomach. She did not want to go out of the room and stayed beside her father; there were no words exchanged with her mother. All of their attention was on Master Kazama's immobile form. Asuka watched the wall clock intently, hoped and dreaded for the hands to tick past the designated time that it had been six hours.
It was in the late afternoon when the doctors returned to run a test on Master Kazama. Asuka and her mother watched with bated breath as they tilted Master Kazama's head onto the pillow, prodded and poked his skin, and read the readings on the monitors mounted on the walls; she hoped that her father would exude any form of movement. After that, they were asked to leave the room for a few hours.
"Do you want to get something to eat?" asked Asuka's mother with a wan smile. Asuka's mother had begun to regain some emotional stability by now, but she wasn't so sure; she was always the epitome of composure in Asuka's eyes. She had never seen her mother cry or even raise her voice; she would always try to look at the brighter side of things…even trying to forget them.
"Nah…I ain't hungry…" answered Asuka, returning the smile.
Dr. Ichihara returned and summoned them to his office; he offered them a seat and sat down behind his desk. Films of CT scans* had been posted on the light box on the wall; as the he showed them the data, Dr. Ichihara began to explain more about Master Kazama's condition.
"Over six hours have passed since the first test. There had been no change; the second exam yielded the same result as the first one."
He handed them a spreadsheet which contained the results of Master Kazama's auditory brain stem response, pupillary dilation and respiratory tests; he explained each in detail and emphasized that there were no noticeable changes in the brain wave data despite in the face of stimuli and that he was not breathing on his own.
"With the results at hand, Junichiro-san is judged to be brain dead," he announced with a hollow, yet calm voice. "Medically, brain death is death."
The world seemed to have caved in Asuka's head. The spreadsheet she held in her hand shook as the words lashed about in her head; her mother seemed to have already crumbled. Dr. Ichihara was speaking again in a soft voice as he looked directly at Asuka.
"We will leave your father as he is for now, on the respirator. I would recommend that you discuss, as a family, to decide what his fate would be. Until you have reached a decision, you have my word that I will do everything in my power to sustain Junichiro-san. But please remember that even though his vital signs are still present, if removed from life support, Junichiro-san is really dead."
They all returned to Master Kazama's room and sat at his bedside. A moment later, the same female nurse returned to give Master Kazama a rubdown with a hot towel; she did all of this without the slightest sign of annoyance.
"Please talk to your father," she said with a gentle smile as she emptied Master Kazama's bed pan. "It will make him happy."
Asuka's mother did not seem to hear anybody and continued to gaze dejectedly at her husband, but Asuka did not doubt the nurse's words. She took Master Kazama's hand in hers and started speaking.
"I studied really hard for the exams, Dad…I wanted to be something more that's why…that's why I hadn't been here to see you that much last week. I'm…I'm so sorry that I…"
Asuka could not go on. The nurse wiped the perspiration present on Master Kazama's forehead and the saliva on his mouth; she looked a bit dejected as she gazed on his face. Asuka saw sincerity in her actions.
"I'm truly thankful," said Asuka suddenly, bowing her head at the nurse. "I think my dad is too, for what you've done for him."
The nurse stopped what she was doing and said, smiling, "I'm very happy to hear that. I'm so sorry we weren't able to do more for your father."
"It's okay," she countered, flushing. "You did everything you could."
The nurse's smile turned indefinite. She looked away from Asuka as she resumed her duties.
"Working in the field of medicine…sometimes I don't understand it myself." she said so softly, nearly to herself. "Every personnel do give their all to patients. They still die almost every day. What are we doing here? It's just too discouraging sometimes. We nurses allot our time to oversee the conditions of patients. Every second, every minute counts for it makes all the difference between life and death. Doctors endure grueling hours of duty, but there are times in the end they painfully glance at their wristwatches and announce the time of death of a patient. But still…" Her words were cut off as she finished with the cleaning; she straightened up, turned to face Asuka and spoke again.
"When the family of the patient says nice things to you, it makes you want to go on."
"May…can…can I ask what is your name?" inquired Asuka; she realized that she hadn't gotten the name of the male nurse who she always saw tending Master Kazama. She did not know exactly what he had done, but it seems like he had brought more time for her father to be saved.
The nurse smiled kindly and bowed. "Nitta Ayame."
Asuka bowed back. "Thank you, Nitta-san."
Nurse Nitta smiled and excused herself, leaving Asuka and her mother alone with Master Kazama once again.
Her mother was still staring at her husband and remained immobile. Asuka noticed it and decided that it was better for the both of them to go back home; the sudden events were too much for her mother to handle. The weeks of hardships have worn weary circles around her mother's eyes.
"Mom…" said Asuka timidly as she placed her hand on her mother's arm and grasped it gently. "Let's go home now…we have nothing to do here anymore. We…can't do anything anymore."
Her mother stood up and simply walked beside her with a blank expression on her face. When they had descended down to fetch Asuka's bicycle from the lot, Asuka felt like she was holding and guiding a wooden mannequin home. Her mother's eyes were expressionless and blank like the pale windowpanes of a deserted house.
Jin was in the genkan with Hachimistu purring at his ankles; he was obviously waiting for them. He looked straight at his aunt's face and was about to greet her, but stopped as he noticed the look on her face.
Asuka's mother walked slowly and erectly straight ahead of her, not taking heed of anybody's presence. Hachimitsu meowed loudly at Asuka's mother and followed her, apparently noticing that she did not pay any too much attention and hoped that he would finally get some along the way.
That left Jin and Asuka alone in the genkan; their eyes met and she stood there in front of him, slightly shaking her head, lips trembling and forcing the tears back into their ducts, refusing to crumble to the despair of bereavement. Underneath that aloof expression, Asuka sensed a deep reservoir of emotions; she knew he understood without any needs for words.
Hot tears came streaming from her eyes and coursed down her cheeks. Asuka tried to crouch down and pretend that she was removing her shoes in order to hide them from Jin. But it was useless. Her body was racked in gasps. Jin did not move or offered any words of comfort or reassurance; Asuka thought that maybe Jin knew that saying that everything would be alright would be a downright lie or maybe it was better for him to shut up.
Jin stood there and allowed Asuka to sob and weep away her anguish.
A/N: It's already my finals next week! Panic, panic, panic, panic, panic, panic, panic, panic, panic, panic, panic…..
Thank you for reading and reviewing! :D
Panic, panic, panic, panic, panic—
Additional Info:
All surgeries, no matter how common always have probabilities and risks. As it was said in the previous chapter, there are only low chances, having that said that does not mean that it is perfectly safe.
*Atrial fibrillation/flutter – a common type of abnormal heartbeat in which the heart rhythm is fast and irregular caused by involuntary contractions. Atrial fibrillation does not cause any obvious symptoms, but it can raise the risk of stroke and heart failure. Common causes of atrial fibrillation include coronary artery disease, heart attack and/or heart bypass surgery.
*Cerebrovascular Accident (CVA) or Stroke – stoppage of blood flow to the brain. This can be undetectable during sleep or in a state of unconsciousness. Stroke causes rapid brain cell death which can result in near-immediate physical and neurological deficits.
*Pulmonary Embolism – a blood clot lodged in an artery in the lung. The clot usually (not all the time) forms in smaller vessels in the legs, pelvis, arms, or heart, but occasionally the clot can be large. Prolonged bed rest is also a cause of this type of embolism. The symptoms are subtle and can be mistaken for something else. This can cause instantaneous death.
*Embolus (pl. Emboli) – a mass, most commonly a blood clot that becomes lodged in a blood vessel and obstructs it.
*Embolism – blockage of artery. This is a condition in which an artery is blocked by an embolus, usually a clot formed at one place in the circulation and then lodging in another vein.
*Hemoptysis – coughing up blood. One of the symptoms of Pulmonary Embolism.
*Heparin – a powerful anticoagulant ('blood thinner'). Heparin is used to prevent blood clots from forming in people who have certain medical conditions or who are undergoing certain medical procedures that increase the chance that forms clots. Heparin is also used to stop the growth of clots that have already formed in blood vessels, but it cannot be used to decrease the size of clots that have already formed.
*Pulmonary thromboendarterectomy – a surgical procedure wherein it removes clotted blood from the pulmonary arteries. This type of surgery is risky due to how it is done and what is done.
*Craniotomy – a type of surgery in which the surgeon needs to open the bone flap in order to access the brain and (in Master Kazama's case) remove the blood clot. Craniotomies are often named for the bone being removed. Some common craniotomies include frontotemporal, parietal, temporal, and suboccipital.
*Embolimic Ischmeic Stroke – one of the type of ischemic stroke in which a blood clot which is formed in a different part of the body, travels to a vein in the brain and deprives the brain tissues of oxygen. Often the emboli originated from the heart and these emboli will travel in the bloodstream until they become lodged and cannot travel any farther.
When a clot blocks an artery at the onset of a stroke, the damage is instantaneous. Every second 32,000 neurons (brain cells) die; an estimated 1.9 million in a minute. In that same minute, the brain loses 14 billion synapses, the vital intersections between neurons. Along with neurons and synapses, myelinated fibers, wherein thoughts pass, are also included in the destruction with an estimated 7.5 miles of damage.
*MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) scan – a medical imaging method used in radiology in order to envisage internal structures of the body in detail. MRI makes use of the property of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) to image nuclei atoms present in the body. This type of scanning is better in identifying stroke than CT scans, for now, anyway.
*CT (Computerized Tomography) scan – another type of medical imaging method that uses x-rays to create cross-sectional ('slices') images of the body.