Chapter 15: Shock to the heart

Carla peered into the bathroom mirror as she raised the mascara wand to her eyes, concentrating hard to apply the black goo to her eyelashes only. But the tremor in her hand was making the task almost impossible. Taking a deep breath, Carla used her left hand to hold her right hand steady as she carefully placed the brush at the base of her lashes and slowly moved it to the ends.

Bzzzzzzzz!

"Shit!"

The sound of her security buzzer had startled Carla, causing her to smudge mascara over her eyelid. She hastily tried to repair the damage to her makeup when the buzzer sounded again.

"For god's sake."

Carla stalked out of the bathroom and to her front door, ready to take her bad mood out on whoever it was ringing her doorbell so incessantly.

"Johnny."

"Hi love, can I come in?"

"Actually, I'm running late."

But Johnny ignored Carla's protest and walked past her into the flat.

"Jamie and Sam not around?"

"No, it's just me. Sam's in Edinburgh on business."

"And my granddaughter?"

"She's with her dad. You know, last night, it was the first time Peter had her overnight. So, yeah…" Carla realised Johnny wasn't really listening to her. "He's gonna take her straight to the party."

"Right."

Johnny strolled to the dining table over which was strewn a multitude of fabric samples. He picked up a piece and ran it through his fingers. He raised an eyebrow, obviously impressed with the quality of the fabric.

"What's this then?" Johnny looked curiously up at Carla.

"Fabric made from hemp."

"Hemp?"

"Yes, hemp. It's a new range we're hoping to bring out towards the end of the year."

"Made from hemp? That's a bit hippie for you, isn't it?"

"No. It's bang on trend. It's strong, sustainable, environmentally friendly. It's a no-brainer."

Carla stared at Johnny as he picked up random pieces of fabric. What was he playing at?

"Johnny, I really don't have time for this. I need to get to Aidan's party. Talking of which, why aren't you there?"

"I thought we could go together."

"It's only around the corner."

"Yeah, well, I thought we could have a little chat beforehand. I feel like you've been really distant with me since, you know, we had words."

"And you wanna have that chat now? When we're expected at your son, my brother's birthday party in…" Carla looked at her watch. "Seventeen minutes ago."

"Please, Carla."

Carla sighed; she really didn't have the energy for another one of Johnny's pity-parties over his ineptitude as a father. She was exhausted, more than usual, after her morning dialysis session, and the nausea that often hit her in waves had seemed to take up permanent residence in the last hour or so. Unable to put up a fight, Carla instead leaned back against her kitchen countertop and crossed her arms.

"You've got five minutes. Say whatever it is you need to say."

"Right…"

"Come on, Johnny, just spit it out."

"Okay. I feel like I want us to be closer, but I don't know how. I don't know how to make you forgive me. I know I was a terrible father to you growing up –"

"Here we go. You weren't a terrible father, Johnny, you weren't anything. That's the point."

"I know, I know. But, every time I think we've put all that behind us, you bring it up again and we're back to square one."

"So, what are you saying? Are you saying it's my fault? That I should just let it go?"

"No, of course not. I just… I wish I knew what to say that could make it better for you."

"There it is."

"What?"

"What you can say to make it better. I don't want apology after apology, Johnny. Words aren't gonna make this better. It's about what you do. The things you do every day that make me feel like you want to be my father. That you want me as a daughter. That you're interested. But you don't do them. You talk about being a better dad, but you do nothing."

"What do you want me to do?"

Carla laughed; a harsh derisive laugh.

"I can't tell you what to do. If you can't figure it out on your own, then I don't know what to say."

"I can try. I want to try."

"Then try. You don't have to get it right. I don't expect that. I just want you to do something."

"Okay. Less talk, more action. Got it."

"Good. Now that we've got that cleared up, can we please go to this damn party?"

Carla and Johnny entered the Bistro shortly thereafter and made a beeline for the long table that had been set up for Aidan's family and friends to celebrate his birthday.

"Hi, sorry we're late."

"That's okay," Michelle gave Carla a friendly kiss on the cheek and squeeze of the arm. "Birthday boy's not here yet anyway."

"And you were worried we'd be late."

"Not the point, Johnny," Carla couldn't help but get the final word in. "Hello."

Carla switched her attention to where Kate and Maria were already sat at the party table, leaving Johnny to attend to Jenny who was making short shrift of a bottle of sparkling wine.

"What time do you call this then?" Kate suddenly yelled out to the man who had just entered the Bistro.

Aidan hurried over to them, defiant to the last.

"I'm allowed to, aren't I? It is my birthday after all."

"Of course it is. Happy birthday, bro."

Kate gave Aidan a hug and kiss, followed by Maria and finally Carla.

"Do you have a minute?" Aidan whispered to Carla. "I need to talk to you."

"Sure."

"In private."

As Carla stood up to follow Aidan, Johnny pounced on his son, determined to draw him into conversation.

"Dad, I need to have a word with Carla."

"No. I'm not having that. No business talk, not today."

With that, Johnny dragged Aidan away; the latter shot an apologetic look at Carla who simply shrugged before sitting back down.

Carla didn't have long to wait until the party guest she was yearning to see arrived. Jamie, proudly carrying a rather badly wrapped present, had just entered the Bistro, closely followed by Peter. Even though Jamie had been away only one night, Carla had missed her desperately; the ache that had settled in her heart since dropping her off at Peter's the day before disappeared as soon as she laid eyes on her daughter.

"Hi baby," Carla stroked her daughter's face tenderly and gave her an affectionate kiss. "Don't you look pretty."

Jamie was pleased with her party 'look': black tutu skirt over purple and pink patterned leggings, a bright aqua t-shirt emblazoned with glitter and sequins, black Timberland boots, and wild hair, untamed by the hot pink headband that had been used, presumably by Peter, to provide some semblance of order. Carla tried to smooth down Jamie's hair, but the girl was too excited to stand still.

"Look mummy, I wrapped Uncle Aidan's present all by myself."

"Wow, you did such a good job. Why don't you go and give it to him? Go on."

Carla looked on proudly as Jamie happily skipped to her uncle and presented him with his present.

Carla turned to Peter who had sidled up next to her.

"How did you get on last night?"

"It was perfect, Carla, it really was." Peter gushed. "I loved every minute."

"Did she get to sleep okay?"

"Eventually. After I read her about five stories."

"She saw you coming," Carla laughed.

"I didn't mind. The opposite really. You know, I could've easily sat by her bed all night and watched her sleep."

"That mighta been a little bit weird, don't ya think?"

"Yeah, probably."

"I get what you mean though. Watching your child sleep is one of the most precious things in the whole world."

For a moment Carla and Peter smiled at each other, lost in shared thoughts of their daughter.

"You gonna stick around for a bit?"

"Oh, I dunno, I don't wanna intrude. It's a family thing."

"Don't be silly, you're as good as family. You're Jamie's dad. Go on, get yourself a drink."

"Okay, I'll stay for one drink."

Peter smiled at Carla before turning and walking towards the bar.

"Peter!"

Peter paused and twisted around to look at Carla, a questioning look on his face.

"Get me a lime and soda while you're there."

"Yes boss," Peter grinned back at her before turning again to the bar.

Carla looked at Peter placing his drink order at the bar. Normally she might have assumed that the fluttering she was feeling in her chest was down to the presence of her ex-husband, but this time she wasn't so sure. This time she felt decidedly strange.

The nausea that had been Carla's constant companion all day now threatened to overwhelm her. She tried to feel her forehead, to test for a temperature, but she struggled to raise her arm. Indeed, her entire body felt weak.

Suddenly, Carla was frightened. She looked up as Peter approached her, a drink in each hand. Seeing the look on Carla's face made him stop in his tracks. He stared at her; for a moment she stared back. They both knew that something was very wrong.

"Carla?"

But Carla couldn't answer. Her chest heaved as she struggled to breathe; the sound of wheezing was deafening in Carla's ears. That fluttering feeling was now constant as her heart palpitated and lost its steady rhythmic beating. Until abruptly it stopped altogether.

Peter watched on in horror as Carla raised her hand to her chest, her eyes glazed over and rolled back into her head as she lost consciousness. She doubled over and fell to the floor, face down.

"Carla!"

Peter lost his grip on the drinks he was holding; glass shattered and sticky liquid seeped across the floor.

All eyes were now on Carla.

"Call an ambulance!"

Peter crouched down next to Carla. Aidan rushed to help him gently move Carla into the recovery position. Peter felt for signs of life.

"I can't find a pulse."

"Is she breathing?"

"No. Help me get her on her back."

With Carla laid on her back, Peter and Aidan quickly formulated a plan.

"Do you know CPR?"

Aidan nodded.

"Yeah, Carla forced me to do the course."

"Okay. You're on chest compressions, I'll do mouth-to-mouth."

With that, Aidan sprang into action. He placed the heel of his hand on Carla's breastbone in the centre of her chest and covered it with his other hand, interlocking his fingers. Using his body weight, he pressed down on her chest, again and again.

"One, two, three, four…" Aidan counted out the chest compressions he was performing on his sister.

As soon as Aidan reached thirty compressions, Peter took a breath and, pinching Carla's nose closed, placed his lips over her mouth and blew steadily until her chest rose as it filled with air. He waited until the air was expelled before repeating.

Then it was Aidan's turn again.

"One, two, three, four…"

The two men continued performing CPR on Carla, well beyond the point where both were exhausted, until finally the paramedics arrived to take over.

In the confusion that followed, Carla was lifted into the back of the waiting ambulance with Peter climbing in behind her; there was no thought process behind Peter's actions, he simply determined to stay by Carla's side on instinct; there was nowhere else he could be.

As the ambulance doors closed, Peter managed to shout out "Jamie!"

"She's fine. She's safe."

Peter breathed a sigh of relief as the doors closed and the ambulance sped away with sirens screaming and lights flashing en route to Weatherfield General Hospital.

Peter turned to the gurney where Carla lay; where two paramedics were desperately working to keep her alive. He looked on in horror as they repeatedly shocked Carla's heart with a defibrillator. He didn't even notice his face was wet with tears or that he was holding his breath in anticipation until Carla's heart suddenly began to beat with a normal rhythm.

He let out a loud exhale as the dread of Carla being pronounced dead before his eyes faded slightly. But she was still unconscious; still in danger. It was all Peter could do to hold himself together; so he focused on Jamie, he thought about his daughter, scared and confused back at the Bistro without either of her parents there to comfort her. He had to hold it together for his daughter; and for her mother. They both needed him; he couldn't fall apart now.

Johnny, Jenny, Aidan and Kate rushed along the hospital corridors, not quite sure if they were headed in the right direction, but knowing they had to keep moving.

"Peter!" Johnny spotted Peter pacing the floor of the ICU waiting room.

"Peter! Any news?"

Peter looked up at Carla's family, the desperation in their eyes was clear to see.

"They're still working on her."

"Right."

"Have they told you anything? Anything at all?"

"No."

The newcomers lapsed into silence as they joined Peter in his anxious vigil.

"How's Jamie?" Peter silently berated himself for forgetting to enquire after his daughter.

"She's with Michelle, she's fine."

"Did she see anything?"

"No. As soon as Michelle realised what was happening, she took Jamie straight into the office."

"Good. That's something, at least."

Once again silence fell over the group.

"We've managed to stabilise her so she's out of immediate danger. Now we're working to treat the underlying cause." The ICU doctor patiently briefed Carla's family on her condition.

"Which was?"

"Hyperkalemia. Basically, Carla had dangerously high levels of potassium in her blood. It's quite common in patients with advanced kidney disease. In extreme cases like Carla's, the electrical signals that keep the heart beating regularly are affected, leading to arrhythmia, palpitations and, in Carla's case, sudden cardiac arrest."

"She's very lucky you two were there," the doctor nodded to Aidan and Peter. "And that you knew CPR. That kept her heart beating until the paramedics arrived and they were able to shock it back into a regular rhythm."

"So, what now?"

"Well, we're working to remove the excess potassium from Carla's body and also to protect her heart and muscles from any lasting damage. She'll likely stay in the ICU for the next forty-eight hours at least and then she'll be transferred to the Renal Unit where her Renal Care Team will take over her long-term care."

Silence fell as Carla's family digested the news.

"Can we see her?"

"She's still very disorientated and groggy, so don't expect too much. And not everyone at once, okay?"

"Okay. Thank you so much for everything. Really, I don't know what I would've done…"

It was some time before Carla was able to recognise or even communicate with any of her visitors. But that didn't stop Peter from staying by Carla's bedside for the duration, his hand resting gently on top of hers.

And so it was Peter that was there when Carla opened her eyes and looked about her with conscious awareness for the first time. For what seemed an age, anxiety gripped Peter's heart as he watched and waited to see if Carla had suffered any brain damage.

"Ow!"

"Carla? What is it?"

"My chest hurts," Carla grimaced.

"Yeah, that'll be the broken ribs."

"How…?"

"CPR. Do you remember what happened?"

Carla thought hard for a moment before shaking her head.

"I remember I was at Aidan's party. He wanted to talk to me. I don't know what it was about. I don't remember anything after that."

"It's okay, you don't need to remember."

"CPR? Who did that?"

"Well, Aidan was the one who gave you those broken ribs. And I, umm…"

"You, umm… what?"

"I gave you mouth-to-mouth."

"Really? You saved my life." Suddenly, Carla's eyes filled with tears. "Thank you."

"Carla?"

Carla and Peter both looked up at the newcomer.

"Oh, hi Gretchen, sorry, Doctor Hargreaves."

"I told you, Gretchen is fine."

"Gretchen's head of my Renal Care Team," Carla explained to Peter.

"Good to meet you," Peter held out his hand to Gretchen.

"Peter's Jamie's dad."

"Oh, lovely, she's such a gorgeous kid."

"She sure is," Peter proudly agreed with Gretchen.

"Anyway," Gretchen turned serious. "I've had a chat with the ICU doctors that have been treating you and, given that your dialysis wasn't filtering the potassium from your blood properly, I'd like to keep you in so we can monitor your levels."

"How long for?"

"Until the transplant surgery."

Carla was horrified at this proposition.

"What? No. You can't be serious."

"I'm sorry, Carla, that's the way it has to be. It's too big a risk to let you go home right now."

"But that…how long's that going to take? I mean, I'm on the waiting list, but…"

"Not anymore."

Carla looked up; Aidan had appeared as if by magic.

"What are you talking about?"

"That's what I wanted to tell you at the party. That's why I was late. I was here, at the hospital. They've given me the all-clear."

"You mean…?"

"Yeah, you're getting one of my kidneys."