Chapter 9: A Wave of Change

*****Sunday Morning, Beach House*****

Veronica woke up Sunday morning but didn't open her eyes. The haunting dream she'd had filled her mind. She dreamt that they had went to New York to visit Richie and Trina for his fifth birthday, but he'd barely known them. He was much more excited to see other visitors. She and Logan were mere spectators. It had hurt them both deeply. Veronica didn't wake up with a scream. She just woke up and knew that her dream didn't have to come true. She knew that. But she knew that if Trina moved to New York things would never be the same. The thought depressed the hell out of her.

She opened her eyes. Logan was still asleep. She slipped out of bed and went into the nursery to see Richie. He was wide awake and playing with his plastic keys. He gave her a wide smile and held out his hands to her. Unable to resist, she reached down and picked him up. She sat down in the rocking chair and held him. He was so sweet, so loving. It amazed her how a personality began to form so early. He gurgled and "spoke" to her in his baby babble. She kissed both his cheeks and hugged him tightly. It hit her hard that someday soon she wouldn't be that important to him. The thought broke her heart. She wanted desperately to cry. However, she thought that if she did, she would never stop. Instead, she got up and walked Richie to the changing area and changed his diaper. Maybe one day she'd have her own little boy. One that no one would be able to take away from her.

******The Beach*****

Weevil had been enjoying the calm of the water. He did find it peaceful and relaxing, but he'd never admit that to Dick. Dick loved surfing so much. He watched Dick on his board, frowning when he fell. He waited for Dick to pop back up like he normally did. However, a minute went by, and he didn't see him. He heard Mac cry, "Dick!" He started forward and jumped off his board and started to swim.

Mac hollered for Dick. She looked at Wallace. "Something's wrong! He should be coming back up! Why isn't he getting back up?" Feared filled her as she watched the water anxiously.

Wallace jumped to his feet and headed to the water. Thea pulled out her phone and called 911.

Weevil had made it to Dick. He was conscious and trying to keep his head above water. "Are you okay?" Weevil asked, grabbing him and pulling him up against him. He started swimming toward the shore, dragging Dick with him.

"It hurts!" Dick gasped.

"A bad leg cramp?" Weevil speculated.

Dick shook his head. "No. My chest. God! I think I'm dying!" Dick said, fear in his eyes.

Weevil frowned. "You're too young to be dying," Weevil said. "We'll get you to the doc. You'll be fine," he told him. Wallace made it to them and put Dick's other arm around his shoulder and helped pull him to shore.

Mac made it to their side. "Are you okay? What's wrong?" she asked fearfully.

"I think he may be having a heart attack," Weevil said. "He says his chest hurts really bad."

"What?" Mac asked in disbelief. "That's insane!"

Dick gasped as another wave of pain hit him. He finally lost consciousness. Wallace and Weevil both tightened their hold as Dick's body went limp. They pulled him a few feet away from the water and lowered him to the ground.

"What should we do?" Wallace asked in a panic. Thea made it to their side.

"He said it was his heart hurting him," Weevil explained. He's never heard of anyone their age having a heart attack, though.

"He's having a heart attack!" Mac yelled, unable to believe this was real. Dick was in pain, and she'd never felt so helpless.

"I called 911. They'll be here soon," Thea said. "We need to administer CPR until they get here."

Weevil moved his head slightly to get him into position. "I don't really want to give Dick mouth to mouth," he said with a small smile. "He may like it too much."

Mac laughed through her tears while Thea bent down and begin breathing into his mouth. "Do the chest compressions," she told Weevil. He did. They were continuing the CPR as the paramedics arrived. He was conscious again as they loaded him into the ambulance. Mac's eyes connected with his, and she saw his fear.

Mac got into the ambulance with him, refusing to leave his side. "I'm here, Dick. You're going to be just fine. It's okay," she told him, murmuring reassurance. She took a sit near him as the ambulance moved. The paramedic hooked up a monitor to his heart. She watched anxiously.

Wallace had promised to call Logan. Mac wondered if she should call Dick's dad. Dick probably wouldn't want her to, but his dad was out of state. He'd need to make arrangements to get here.

"Do you think it's a heart attack?" she asked the paramedic.

"We won't know until the doctors test him, but it appears to be a cardiac episode of some kind," the paramedic said.

Mac couldn't believe it. He was too young to have a heart attack. When they arrived at the hospital, she watched them wheel him into the ER. Bracing herself, she pulled out her phone to call his father.

Wallace, Weevil, and Thea were right behind the ambulance. They came into the waiting room while she was trying to tell Dick Sr. his son was sick.

"What do you mean he may have had a heart attack?" Dick Sr. asked in disbelief. "He's too damn young to have a heart attack!"

"I don't know for sure. He was on his surfboard and fell off. He said his chest hurt. He lost consciousness for a short time. We performed CPR on him, and he wasn't unconscious by the time the ambulance arrived," Mac explained. "I'll call you as soon as I know more."

"I will get the next flight out," Dick Sr. said, hanging up his phone.

Mac put up her phone and asked Wallace if he got a hold of Logan.

"I did. I told him that Dick had a surfing accident. I didn't say anything else. We don't know what's really going on, so I thought it was better to wait," Wallace said. "He's on his way."

"Good. I'll call Duncan," Mac said.

"Why don't you let me?" Wallace said gently. Thea took Mac's arm and led her to the waiting room chairs. She put her arm around her.

Mac looked at Thea, tears in her eyes. "What if he dies?"

"He is not going to die! He is strong and healthy, and we got him here very quickly. He didn't even lose consciousness for long," Thea said confidently.

Her quiet confidence did more to relieve Mac's fears than anything. Thea was the smartest person Mac knew, and she was pre-med. If Thea wasn't worried, then Mac could keep from collapsing. There was no way Mac was prepared to live in a world without Dick's smiling face. The thought was too horrible to bear.

*******The Beach House******

Logan hung up his phone and sat up in bed. Veronica walked into the room, looking a bit down, but she mustered a small smile for him.

"Hey, you," she said, leaning over the bed to kiss him.

"We have to go to the hospital," Logan said.

Veronica straightened up and looked concerned. "Why? Who's hurt?" she asked anxiously.

"Dick. Wallace said he had a surfing accident," Logan explained.

"Is he okay?" Veronica asked.

"I'm sure he is. He probably wiped out and broke a toe or something," Logan said with a smirk. "Mac and Wallace were there. He probably scared her, and she's dragging him to be checked out."

"Let me put on some clothes, and I'll go with you," Veronica said.

Ten minutes later, they were on their way to the hospital. They arrived there the same time as Duncan.

"Hey, guys. Have you heard anything?" Duncan asked, looking scared.

"He had a surfing accident," Logan said. "I'm sure he's fine."

"He had a heart attack. He's not fine," Duncan said grimly.

"What?" Logan asked, coming to a complete stop right before they made it to the hospital doors. "What did you say?" Duncan's words immobilized him.

"Wallace told me they thought that's what was happening to him," Duncan said. "He had chest pains that knocked him off his board."

"Let's get inside and find out," Veronica said grimly. She couldn't imagine anything taking Dick down for long. As much as she hated to admit it sometimes, he was larger than life. She reached out and took Logan's hand and pulled him through the door.

They found Mac in the waiting room with Thea, Wallace, and Weevil. Wallace stood up when he spotted them.

"He had a heart attack?" Veronica asked Wallace, not wasting time on anything else.

"We don't know yet. Maybe. He told Weevil, who was on the water with him, that he had a chest pain," Wallace explained.

"He said it hurt really bad. He thought he was dying," Weevil added.

"Weevil was surfing with him," Mac explained. "He kept him from drowning."

Veronica smiled at Weevil. "You just can't help it, can you? Rescuing your friends is just your thing," she remarked.

"I need to find friends that aren't always in these kinds of situations," Weevil said dryly. "I'm going to call Jazmin and Jay. Let them know what's going on." He stepped away.

Logan hugged Mac. "What happened exactly?" he asked. Wallace and Mac told him, Veronica, and Duncan what had happened.

Logan sat down, Veronica next to him. He didn't know what to think about Dick being ill. He couldn't ever remember Dick being ill. Duncan sat down on his other side.

"Dick doesn't get sick," Duncan said, confused.

"That's just what I was thinking," Logan said, frowning. He tried not to be too scared. They didn't know anything. Maybe it wasn't even a heart attack. Maybe it was just a bad cause of gas or heartburn.

The waiting was torturous. Mac had coffee. She paced. She made calls. She talked to her friends. Trying to be brave and not panic seemed to be the hardest thing she'd ever done. It was two hours before the doctor finally came out to speak to them.

They all stood to their feet when the doctor came into the room.

"Are you the family of Richard Casablancas?" he asked.

"Yes, how is he? Is he going to be okay?" Mac asked anxiously.

"He is," the doctor said, giving them a smile.

They all let out a relieved breath. "What happened?" Mac asked.

"He went into cardiac arrest," the doctor answered.

"He really had a heart attack?" Logan asked in disbelief. "Isn't he too young? He's very healthy."

"We ran extensive tests and discovered he has a condition called HCM. It's a genetic mutation that causes the heart muscle to thicken and eventually stop pumping blood," the doctor said.

"This caused the arrest?" Mac asked.

"Normally, with this condition, cardiac arrest is brought on by excessive physical activity and excessive stress," the doctor supplied.

There was a pause as they tried to take in his words. Finally, Mac said, "Can I see him?"

"Yes. He's being transferred to a room now. The nurse will tell you the room. He will need to stay overnight for monitoring. His condition should've been known before now. Are you related to him?"

"We're his friends. The only family he has in town. His dad's on his way. What does this mean? Will he be okay?" Mac asked, worried.

"He will be fine if he avoids excessive physical activity, takes some medicine regularly, and limit the amount of stress in his life," the doctor said. "He should've been on medicine for HCM when he hit puberty. It's a miracle he's not had an episode before this."

"Thanks," Mac said. She looked at her friends. "I'm going to go find him."

"I'll go with you," Logan said. The two of them set off to find Dick's room.

After the doctor followed them out, Veronica looked at Wallace, stricken. "Dick was really upset yesterday about Trina moving to New York," she said.

"Yeah, he mentioned it," Wallace said. "Surfing, though, relaxes him."

"Well, it does take a lot out of you, though," Duncan said.

"What does this mean? Does this mean Dick has to give up surfing? That'll kill him!" Wallace said.

Veronica grimaced. She didn't know how Dick would handle this change. He hated change more than she did. She sighed. Why couldn't life ever be easy? She sat down in the chair again. Weevil and Wallace sat on either side of her. She took Weevil's hand and laid her head down on Wallace's shoulder. She watched Duncan pace anxiously. Finally, he said, "I'm going to go see where Dick's at. I'll come back and get you guys."

Wallace put his arm around his sister. "Are you okay?" he asked quietly. His eyes connected with hers. He wasn't asking because of Dick. He knew how much Richie meant to her.

She gave a slight shake of her head. "No. Not really. I can't think about it now. I feel like it's not real. I don't want to think about it until it actually happens. I'm not sure how I'll deal with it," she said, her voice breaking. Talking about it to Wallace made it too real. The tears came to the surface. She willed them away, but they kept leaking out.

"It's going to be okay," Wallace told her.

Veronica wanted so much to believe him. However, history had taught her a much different lesson.

******Chapter End******

I am in no way a medical expert. Keep that in mind!