TRIGGER WARNING: Mentioning of drugs and side effects.
Hello everybody out there. Let me introduce myself at first, my name is Linnéa and you might already know me from other fandoms such as The Dumping Ground, Glee and Ghost Whisperer. This is my first try on a Virgin River- fanfiction, and it will join some other, long and short stories I have for Epilepsy/ Seizure awareness.
I like to write for awareness because since I have Epilepsy myself, I've noticed that not a lot of people share it. And it's something I think people should know more about. Like, we all learn how to give mouth-to-mouth and put someone in recovery position. But how many people knows what to do if someone has a seizure right in front of them? Well… That's all for now, I'll just get on with the story…
"I know what I said…" Already the first day Lizzie came to "help me" I was annoyed at her. She had just arrived and Vernon was about to leave… "But I can get my own breakfast. Thank you… Good morning Denny." Denny came into the kitchen at just about the same time we did. "Did you sleep well?"
"Morning… yeah. Uh- huh I…"
"Honey…" The hoarse, weak tone in his voice was heard long way and stopped me in my steps towards the fridge. "You don't look so well…"
Something tied in my stomach first hearing the tone in his voice. I could have heard him wrong and he could still be tired and drowsy. But he did in fact look anywhere near "well". And without hesitating or asking him more I hurried over to him and felt his forehead.
"I'm fine…" Denny moaned and tried to push away my hand, then take a step back. "…I'm fine."
"Stand still." Denny sighed when I grabbed his shoulder. "Oh honey. You're practically burning up. VERNON?" My husband had just been on his way out to the car but with relief I heard him coming back.
"Yes?"
"I'm fine… I just need some water…"
"Shush… You have a temperature. And quite a high one if I'm right." I laid my hand towards his forehead again. Then moved to the side so that Vernon could take over. "And none of that please…" Denny had sighed. "We're just trying to take care of you better than what you're taking care of yourself…"
"I'm fine." Denny mumbled and if his cheeks hadn't already been so red with the temperature I was quite certain he'd blush and feel embarrassed about the time he came home one evening, having been on his feet all day- God would know he was the worst at taking care of himself…
Vernon had gone to get the thermometer from the bathroom cupboard. I could see Denny was forcing another sigh down his throat.
"I'm fine. Really…"
"You…." Vernon pushed him backwards to sit on a chair and more or less shoved the thermometer into his mouth. "…are a terrible patient…" Denny grabbed the thermometer and then laid it on the table while he slowly stood up. "And we also have a butt thermometer if you want to try another…"
"I'm fine…" Denny tried again. "I just…."
Then he suddenly froze, with a hand towards the back of the chair just like he had the evening he fainted right in front of us.
"Denny?" Vernon questioned´ and went to get a glass of water for him. "Denny? Whoa!"
When Denny collapsed, Vernon was just a little bit too far away to catch his fall. And his head hit the wooden chair with a loud thud just at the same time as Lizzie screamed in chock.
In just that moment, I was reminded of the time he had fainted. The time it had been proved to be dehydration…
Back here and now, when Denny's eyes rolled back until we almost only saw the white's, and he started shaking I realized that this must be something else. And something must be worse than that- at least that was what my stomach feeling told me. But I didn't have any knowledge of this like Vernon did- and what was I supposed to do?
"It's okay Denny…" Vernon grabbed Denny's shirt and pulled him so at last, instead of his body on the floor and his head on the chair he laid flat on his side. "You're having a seizure but you're going to be alright. Lizzie…" Vernon was annoyingly calm but looked up on us. "Go and get a pillow from my bed- so he doesn't hit his head on the floor… And Hope… Can you look on your phone? Look on the clock? If three minutes passes by and he's still seizing as bad, call 911." Vernon mumbled something- to himself or to Denny I did not know. Then all of a sudden he seemed to remember or think about something just as Lizzie came back with the pillow- Vernon carefully lifted Denny's head as much as it was possible so she could lay the soft pillow underneath… "Oh…" Vernon mumbled something. "I wish I could ask… Lizzie? Do you know if he's taken something? Have you seen him with something that might cause a seizure?" I had put my arm around her back while I still looked towards the clock. "Lizzie! If he has gotten something in him that he shouldn't then it's very important that I know!"
"I- I…" Lizzie stuttered. "I…"
"Lizzie!"
"N- no." She kept stuttering nervously. "N-no I haven't… B- but…"
I kept my eyes on the clock, Denny kept shaking but it felt like hours were passing by.
"But what?"
I wasn't so sure if someone who didn't know Vernon could see on him how stressed he was, but I could. Knowing Denny wasn't just a patient, Vernon wasn't at work and didn't know any diagnosis. Only yesterday Denny had been health itself.
"Lizzie? But what?"
"Bu-ut…" Lizzie kept stuttering, but there was something in her voice that told us she wasn't being completely honest. "I-I was just thinking… I-I-I just arrived… If he's taken something…"
I looked up from the clock for just a few seconds, but even looking at her for a couple of seconds or three, it was obvious, from the look on her face that there was something she wasn't telling us. Right then and there I was about to make her tell us what it was. But before I had the time to say anything Vernon did again.
"No, Hope. Let's not wait… Call 911 now. And tell them… Tell them we might have to do with an overdose by amphetamines…. So you call and Lizzie, you get a cloth with cold water, we must try and bring his temperature down." Once again, he felt Denny's forehead. "He's practically boiling…"
Vernon kept mumbling to himself, reached out and laid two fingers towards Denny's neck and still looked towards his clock.
And while I moved as fast as I ever had in my entire life, grabbing the phone and dialing the emergency number. Every second felt like hours while I held the phone to my ear and prayed for someone to answer.
"911, what's your emergency?"
First just, I don't know what Denny calls Doc yet. Does he call him granddad already? Or Doc like most others? Etc. If anyone has noticed then please comment it or send it in a pm…
Random fact (I always leave one at the end of a chapter)
I kept wondering about the title but just couldn't come up with anything. Then I remembered this that was something I thought when I was first diagnosed with Epilepsy… It's right you know… I can spend all of my days hating it and feeling sorry for myself… but that wouldn't make it go away…
