TRUE LOVE: FOUR SEASONS [Chapter 5: Marie]

I ran to my mother’s side. My dad rushed around the window as did a few of the servers.

“Mom…mom…MOM!” I shouted, trying to shake her out of it

“Marie! Hunny, come on, sweetie…wake up.” My dad said brusher her hair out of her face

“CALL 9-1-1!” I shouted to one of the servers

The young female server grabbed the phone and did as I told her.

“Mom.” I said under a shaky voice as my eyes filled with tears

My mother’s eyes twitched her under closed lids and she groaned.

“Oh my God.” I said in relief

“Joey, place this under her head, but be gentle.” my dad said giving me a clean towel to pillow her head

I grabbed it and gently lifted her head. Just as I did, she opened her eyes slowly.

“Is she bleeding?” my dad asked

“No, it doesn’t look like it.”

“Sweetie, can you hear me?” my dad asked

“What happened?” my mother mumbled

“I’m not sure…I think you fainted.” My dad said, “Joey, what did you see?”

“I don’t know. That’s what it looked like. You didn’t drip on anything.” I said

“I want to stand up.” My mom said

“No.” both my dad and I said, “just wait until the ambulance gets here.” My dad finished

I pulled out my phone and called Cameron.

“Hello?”

“Babe. My mom got hurt at work. We’re going to the hospital.” I said

“Shit. Where are you?” he asked

“Still here with her. Just meet us at the hospital.” I said

“Okay.” He said as we hung up.

The paramedics arrived and placed a neck braced on my mom as they put her on a stretcher and wheeled her out. My dad put another chef in charge and one of the senior servers in charge of the floor. We were both about to get into the ambulance, but the paramedic stopped us.

“Only one of you can be back here.” He said

“Go Dad.” I said

“You sure?”

“Yes, I’ll follow you.” I said running to my car

As I got in my car, my phone started ringing. It was Natalie. Cameron must have called her. I didn’t answer. A few minutes later as I was tailgating the ambulance, my phone rang again and this time it was Larissa, followed by Jasmine and Phillip. Teddy was the only one not to bother me, but there must have been other reasons as to why he didn’t. I couldn’t think about that right now. We got to the hospital and unfortunately I had to park pretty far. I rushed to the doors where the paramedics had just drove off. They must have wheeled my mother inside. I walked into the doors marked, Paramedics Only. I didn’t give a shit.

“Hey. You need to go around to the Emergency Room entrance.” A security guard shouted at me

“No, it’s okay…” Diane said

She must have been waiting for me to walk in. Luckily she worked in the emergency room. She gestured the guard to let me in. She grabbed my arm and we began to jog through the halls.

“Where is she? What happened?” I asked

“She was taken to get a cat scan. She hit her head pretty hard.” She said

“Is she going to be okay?” I asked

“I’m sure she will. Just sit tight in here.” She pointed me to a private waiting room where Natalie and Jasmine were waiting with my Dad. They were around him trying to comfort him.

“Joey.” Natalie said getting up and hugging me tightly

Cameron and Phillip walked into the room at that moment. Cameron squeezed me tightly.

“Is she okay?” he asked

“I don’t know.” I answered

Phillip walked over and gently hugged me rubbing my back.

“Joe…did you need anything? Water or coffee?” Cameron asked my dad

“I’m okay right now. Thank you.” He patted his arm in appreciation

“Okay. I’m going to go see if I can get any information.” Cameron said.

With his high position in the hospital, I’m sure he could be the first to find out what was going on. He kissed me and walked out of the private waiting room darting around the corner. We sat down and realized all we could do is wait. Twenty minutes after I had arrived at the hospital, I got a text from Larissa.

Larissa: I know you have a lot on your mind right now. But just let me know as soon as you find out what happened with your mom.

I didn’t respond. Eventually after what seemed two hours, but in reality only thirty minutes, Cameron came back with some minor information.

“The CT scan is done. She’s doing fine. Just a concussion. The doctor is heading this way with your mom in a few minutes.”

“Thank God she’s okay.” Natalie said

Phillip who was sitting next to me wrapped his arm around me to shake me out of my state of stress.

“She’s okay, J.” he said

I nodded my head. The doctor walked in followed by a nurse pushing my mother in a wheelchair. She was smiling.

“Mom.” I said wanting to squeeze her, but I was afraid to hurt me

“I’m okay.” She said in a low voice

“What happened to my wife?” my dad asked

“To be honest, I’m not quite sure. We need to run some tests. Based on what Marie said, she just felt very dizzy and she attributed that to the heat of the kitchen. Eventually leading to fainting. She is also somewhat dehydrated, so I’d like her to drink as much water as possible. She did suffer from a concussion, so she will need to be monitored and stay up for twenty-four hours.” He said

“You said, you needed to run tests. What kind of tests?” Cameron asked

“Blood work mostly. I’d like to conduct a few MRI’s. Her record doesn’t show any recent physicals and I’d like to set up an appointment with a physician to get a physical so we can update her chart.”

“Do you think it can be serious?” my dad asked

“At this point, I wouldn’t worry. I would request that your wife stay off her feet for three days and just rest and hydrate.” He told both my mother and father

They both nodded.

“Marie, if you feel dizzy or hot. I need you to quickly sit down and call someone to your side.” The doctor told my mom before turning to me and my dad, “If she alerts you that she feels dizzy or a rush of heat throughout her body, I want you to call us and bring in her right away.”

“Okay. Thank you doctor. Does she need any medication?”

“No. I wouldn’t take any medication within this 24 hour timeframe. She may feel a headache tomorrow from her fall, but just take aspirin for that.”

We all thanked the doctor and shook his hand.

“You have a wonderful family, Mr. and Mrs. Ramirez.” The doctor told my parents

“Thank you. We love these kids.” My mom said looking at me and Cameron and holding Natalie’s hand

© 2016 Copyright J.M. Casas Jr. of Royalty Novels / The True Love Saga. All Rights Reserved.

All characters and likeness are pure fiction. Any resemblance is pure coincidence. Models and Actors used in marketing material for the True Love Saga were used as inspiration and to provide readers with an image of what the characters may look like.