2 years ago
Max and Antonia arrived at the hospital doors together. Her aging grandfather was slowing, but still had plenty of energy to deal with his grandchildren, and his brand new great grandchildren that he loved with all of his heart, grateful that Parker had accepted him as a member of his family as well. Unfortunately, they were at the hospital for something that wasn't good or happy news. Parker's wife had been admitted with a brain tumor, and was going to be entering surgery the following day, and the family was visiting her room to try to cheer her up. Antonia had driven her grandfather, who insisted on seeing his granddaughter by marriage before she went under the knife.
They walked into the lobby together, and Antonia stopped in her tracks as they approached the elevator. "Oompa, I'm going to take the stairs." She said softly.
Max turned to look at her, and could see that her eyes had darkened, her expression was one of fear and defiance. "Toni, it's just an elevator."
"I don't… I'd feel better if I just took the stairs, okay? Um… you can take the elevator, I'll take the stairs, okay?" Antonia insisted. "Please, Oompa."
"Well, I'm not letting you take the stairs alone." He said, walking toward her.
"Oompa, you shouldn't take the stairs. Take the elevator, I will meet you up there." She said, noticing that he seemed a little warm. "Are you feeling okay?"
"I'm fine, sweetheart. Its just the weather. I think I'm getting a cold." He brushed it off and nodded toward the stairs. "Come on, let's get up there."
Antonia sighed, taking her grandfather's arm, they walked to the stairwell. She looked up the steep staircase, and over to Max, and wondered if she should just bite the bullet and take the elevator. "Oompa, we can just take the elevator."
"No." He said stubbornly, "We're already here, we'll take the stairs." He then started up the stairs.
Antonia walked behind him, his pace normal at first, but at the second landing, it looked like he was having a hard time catching his breath. "Oompa, here, why don't we take the elevator from here. It's okay, it's only two more floors." Antonia said, watching her grandfather turn and look at her. He had sweat pouring down his brow. "Please?"
"No. It's fine. I'm not going to let some stupid cold slow me down." He said, as he started to walk up the next set of stairs. He fumbled a bit on the third step, catching himself.
"Oompa." She said softly, but he kept going. He made it to the landing of the third floor barely, the door to the hallway beckoning her to call for help. When he went for the next step, he tripped, falling on his knee. "Oompa, are you okay?"
His face was full of pain, and his hand was grasping his arm. "Maybe we should take the elevator from here." He strained, as he grimaced, turning into a sit on the stairs. He attempted to catch his breath.
Antonia could sense the urgency of the situation, and opened the door, seeing an orderly down the hallway, she called to him. "Excuse me! Can you help? My grandfather is having difficulty breathing!" She called. He nodded his head and ran to find a nurse. Antonia crouched down to eye level with Max and tried to get him to look at her. "Just breathe, Oompa. Slow deep breaths. Help is coming."
"I don't think it's going to help, baby girl." He groaned, feeling the sharp pains in his chest, he was having a very hard time concentrating on anything but the pain.
"No, Oompa. No, you'll be alright." She said softly. "You'll be okay."
"I love you, Ant. Make sure your mama and Gracie know that I love them too, okay?"
"Oompa, stop. Stop talking like this! You're going to be fine!"
Suddenly the door to the stairwell opened, and a set of nurses came in, assessed the situation in a matter of seconds and helped Max to a wheelchair. Max was continuing to lament, his words moving on deaf ears as he was rushed from the stairwell to emergency, leaving his granddaughter standing in the doorway, alone, frightened, and very aware that this may be the last time she saw her grandfather alive.
Aiden saw Antonia at the top of the stairs, and paused for less than a second, as he ran quickly up, two steps at a time. She had her head in her hands, her body heaving with each breath as she tried to catch her breath. She saw him coming up the stairs and started to shake her head, and a sob escaped her lips. "No." She shook her head, "No, no." She sobbed. "Go away. Please just go away."
Aiden knelt in front of her, touching her forehead, she flinched, and he could see that her face was slick with tears and sweat, and her body was trembling. "Antonia, you need to look at me."
"No. No. No. Just let me stay here." She sobbed. "Just go. Just go." She sobbed. "You're going to make it worse. Please!"
"Antonia, look at me." He said, watching her eyes flick from his, her body continuing to tremble as she tried to put her head in her hands. "You have to breathe and focus on me, Antonia." He said, touching her face again, he tried to pull her hands away. "It's okay."
"Stop!" She exclaimed, watching as he pulled his hands back, she immediately felt guilty, and grabbed his hands tightly in her own, trying to make the trembling stop, trying to make the thoughts in her head stop. She knew he was just trying to help. "I just…I'm sorry." She said, as she started to cry harder.
"Antonia, please." He said, starting to feel anxiety himself, but tried to remain calm. "Please just look at me." He said, putting his hands on both of her cheeks, he held her head lightly, capturing her brown eyes with his, she continued to cry, but at least he had her focus. "It's okay." He said softly. "You have to breathe."
"I'm trying to breathe! Don't you think I'm trying to breathe?" She said, sucking in another sharp breath of air. "I'm trying to breathe." She said, sobbing, her eyes flicking down.
"Close your eyes." He said softly. "It's okay, I'm here."
"That's your solution for everything!" she growled angrily, reaching forward to grab his shoulders, she pressed her forehead against his and stared directly into his sharp green eyes.
"Just close your damn eyes and take a deep breath!" he shouted. Her eyes widened and she gasped at his exclamation, and she quickly closed her eyes, sucking in a deep breath, she felt his hands against the back of her head as he held his forehead against hers.
"Good, now let it out." He said, his voice was demanding, but also soft and calming. She did as she was told. "Okay, again… deep breath." She sucked in a deep breath and her eyes opened directly into his, she suddenly felt a sharp jolt of energy in her body, causing her to tremble. "Hey?" He said, watching her focus on him as her dark eyes seemed to be looking straight through him. "Antonia?"
"Mm?" she asked.
"Breathe out." He said softly, and he felt the air release from her lungs slowly. Her eyes closed again. He started to move to sit beside her, but she held him in place for another moment, her hands still gripping his shoulders, she moved her hands to his face for a moment, and closed her eyes. "Are you okay?" he whispered.
She didn't answer, just held him in place, and breathed in slowly. "I don't feel well." She whispered. "I can't stop shaking."
"What have you eaten today?" He asked, unsure if she was simply transferring her anxiety to him, for he was starting to feel slightly dizzy.
"I had coffee." She said, opening her eyes, she rested her hands on his shoulders and pulled back.
"I'm not into the whole science thing like you, but I'm pretty sure that coffee isn't a food." He whispered.
"You're doing that thing." She whispered.
"What thing?"
"Whispering in a hospital." She said, swallowing hard, she was suddenly realizing how very close the two of them were.
"Oh." He said, a little louder than he probably needed to be, he watched her breathe in deeply. "Are you okay?"
She finally loosened her grip on Aiden, and he moved carefully to sit beside her. He rubbed his knees with his hands, and they both remained quiet for a moment. "I'm sorry." She whispered.
"Sorry for what? You've done nothing that warrants an apology." He leaned his head down, trying to capture her eyes for a moment, and she just shook her head and covered her face with her hands.
"Why did you come back?" She asked into her hands, she turned her head toward him and rested it on her hand. She was obviously exhausted, as her eyes were half opened, her brow furrowed.
"Oh." He said softly. He reached into his pocket and pulled out her phone. "You forgot this in my car."
She smiled and reached for the phone, tapping the button on it out of habit, she slipped it into her palm. "Thank you." She said softly.
"Do you want to eat a lame hospital Christmas dinner with me now, or after you see your sister?" he asked sincerely.
She gave him a sideways glance, then rubbed her eye with the heel of her hand, yawning. "Sister first." She said.
They sat that way for a few moments, Antonia sniffling as she allowed her breathing to regulate, and her cheeks to return to a more natural pink. She swiped her eye with her sleeve, and yawned again. Aiden stood up, standing in front of her he held out his hand. "Let's go." He said, watching her brow furrow and a slight smile slip onto her lips. She took his hand and let him help her up, stumbling a bit from the dizziness, he held her still as she mumbled her thanks, still grasping his hand for a moment. She then released his hand and turned around, and they walked together through the door toward the ICU.