Heya, I'm back with another update! Please Please Please review! The more reviews the quicker I'll update! Right this Chapter is a bit off subject but I just had the urge to write it! Izzy xx
The next thing Gabriella knew was that she was lying somewhere very comfortable and it was very bright. She tried to open her eyes but found that they were as heavy as a tonne of bricks. She was aware that her whole body was aching; there was an unusual feeling in her nose. She tried raising her hand and found that it obeyed her body. She moved her fingers to her nose and felt tubes. And she panicked. She tried screaming but no sound would come. She tried shaking her head, and that worked. Then she felt soft, familiar hands close around hers and heard a familiar voice.
"Shh, Brie. Its Troy, baby. You're okay. Your in the hospital, you fainted at the mall and hit your head. You've been out for three weeks now. We were so worried about you, I thought you were going to die" Troy's voice cracked and Gabriella realised he was crying.
She tried as hard as she could to open her eyes and this time they obeyed her. They sudden brightness of the fluorescent strip lights hurt her eyes and she squeezed them shut again. Tentatively she tried again to open her eyes, squinting against the sudden brightness, but all the same managing to keep them open, if only a little bit.
"Why did I faint, Tr.." But she was cut off by the sudden screech from the door.
"Gabriella! Your awake, oh my lord I thought I'd lost you" Cried her mother rushing over and wrapping her arms around her daughter. "Don't you ever ever do that to me again. Do you hear?"
"It's nice to know you al had so much faith in me" Croaked Gabriella.
"Troy and Maria laughed. Troy hadn't laughed in three weeks, It felt so good.
"Ah Miss Montez, I see you are awake" A tall balding man walked into the room. He had a likeable face and round glasses. "I'm Dr. Thomas. I have been looking after you during your stay. Well you had us all rather worried, young lady"
"What happened? Why did I faint? I don't understand" Croaked Gabriella, her throat hurting.
Maria noticed her daughter's pain and rushed over with a cup of water to moisten her daughter's throat.
"Well, we ran many tests on you and found out that you were suffering from a severe chest infection. Pneumonia. We were puzzled as to why you hadn't realised you were ill before it got so bad that you collapsed. Can you help us?"
"I remember feeling a bit off colour, I had a slight cough and a bit of a runny nose but I didn't think anything of it. I just thought it was another cold. I mean I've had plenty in the past." Said Gabriella.
"Well this was slightly more than just a common cold I am afraid. We kept you sedated for three weeks to give your body a chance to fight the infection, but I am afraid to say that you will be with us for at least another fortnight. We need to keep you on intravenous antibiotics for another ten days and we also need to keep you on constant oxygen as your SATs keep dropping to below 90 which is not good. Oh, SATs are-"
But he was cut off by Gabriella. "Mesuraing the amount of oxygen in my blood, yeah I know. I had asthma as a child."
"Yes I was coming to that. The chest infection seems to have triggered a relapse in your asthma, I am sorry but I can't say how long that will last. Could be a few weeks but it could also be years."
Gabriella couldn't believe her ears. She thought she'd had rid of her asthma three years ago. She thought back to one time when she was fourteen. Her and her mom had been on vacation visiting her grandparents in England at the time.
Flashback
A fourteen year old Gabriella was sat on a sofa, She was deathly pale but with bright red cheeks. Her mom had nick-named the colour 'Ventolin complexion'. She always got like it when she'd been taking a lot of ventolin. She was extremely tired after being up most of the night. Salbutamol, or Ventolin, always had that effect. It was a stimulant and so increased the heart rate and made sleep impossible. It wasn't that she was not tired, she was exhausted, but it felt as though her body longed for sleep but at the same time she felt as though she could fly.
"Gabby, how are you feeling, honey?" Maria asked sitting down by her daughter. Maria was worried. She'd seen her daughter like this before. Her breath rasping, her chest and shoulders heaving up and down and that look in her eyes. The one that pleaded for some-one to stop the pain.
"N-No-M-Mommy. Can-Can't bre-breathe" Gasped Gabriella.
"How many puffs have you taken now?"
"In the last hour she's take twenty-five" Said Gabriella's grandmother, Isabelle. She knew what Gabriella was going through, she was asthmatic herself.
"That's no good. I think we should get you to the hospital, honey" Said Maria.
Gabriella just nodded. Speech was now not an option.
"I'll drive" Said Isabelle, grabbing her car keys of a nearby shelf.
Ten minutes later they pulled up outside Barcombe General Hospital. Maria helped her daughter out of the car and through the doors into the reception of the A&E.
"Hello, can I help you?" Asked the receptionist
"Yes, this is my daughter. She is fourteen and she is a chronic asthmatic and is in the middle of an acute attack. She has had over fifty shots of ventolin in the past two hours, they have little effect." Maria said.
"Right, bring her through here please. I can see she is in quite a bit of trouble. Can I have some help here please?" She called the last bit to a nurse stood by the nurse's station.
"This is a girl of fourteen who is the middle of an acute asthma attack. She has had over fifty shots of ventolin in the past two hours and is still in a lot of distress."
"Thank you, right lets get you up on the bed. I'm going to give you a nebuliser and check your SATs" Said the nurse whose name badge read 'Andy'.
He stuck a clip like thing on Gabriella's finger and placed a cuff around her arm. Andy could see that Gabriella was starting to drift out of consciousness. He needed to act fast.
"Ok, help over here please. Dr Motley. Now." He called and a young doctor ran over. "What's your name sweetie?" He asked Gabriella.
"It's Gabriella. She can't speak. She's having too much trouble breathing!" Snapped Maria.
"Yes, I'm sorry." Andy said to Maria and then turned to Dr. Motley "Gabriella is fourteen and has had over fifty shots of ventolin in the past two hours. Her SATs are at 85."
"Okay, let's start her on IV aminophylline and let's get some fluids into her. And can we move her into Peads resus please. Pronto!"
A/N : Ok, I know there was a lot of medical talk in that! If there's anything you don't understand feel free to ask! And all this is written from personal experience to it may not apply to everyone! And the next chapter will continue with Flashback! Izzy x