THE FLU 2

He saw a group of doctors pushing Amber out of the emergency ward in a wheel bed. He got up from the chair with his heart in hand and ran to them, touching Amber on the bed.

"What’s wrong with her?" he asked, walking after them as they pushed her away.

"Who are you? Stand back, don’t touch her, you don’t want to get infected," one of the doctors said, as they started nudging him aside.

"I am her fiancé." he said with pleading eyes, his bad breath getting into the nostrils of the doctors.

"We know you are worried about her, but you have to stand back and let us do our job," one of them replied. He stepped back and watched them take her into another room. He stood in front of the room and peered through the small hole in the door.

He saw them placing Amber under intubation. They put an endotracheal tube in her nose. His heart clenched. He didn’t know what to feel. He felt terrible. He wanted to go in there and be with her. He was curious to know what was happening. He heard footsteps as his eyes met with those of one of the doctors who walked out of the room, taking off his hand gloves.

"You are her fiancé, right?" he inquired. Xavier nodded absentmindedly. He was still trying to see Amber.

"Your fiancé has slipped into a coma. She can’t breathe," he said. Xavier turned his gaze back to him with a curious look on his face.

"Why can’t she breathe?" he asked.

"It’s nothing to worry about; she will be fine. It all started with a fever that she ignored. Now she has the flu and it makes her unable to breathe." The doctor explained

"When will she be able to breathe?" Xavier asked.

"I don’t know yet, but we are going to keep a close eye on her and tell you how she is doing. You don’t have to worry," the doctor assured.

"Sheesh," Xavier muttered, putting his hand on his face. "I can’t believe she ignored her health because of work. This is all my fault. I have been stressing her a lot lately," he thought with a frown.

"You don’t need to worry, sir. If you may excuse me, I have other patients to attend to," he said and sauntered away.

"I need to give her brother a call. How bad can it be?" he thought and dialed Daniel’s number.

Amber slowly opened her eyes. As the air conditioning in the room was making her pores rise, it was at its highest peak and it made her feel as if she was in a freezer. She looked around her surroundings and touched the tube on her nose.

"What’s this? Why am I in a hospital? I just had a minor fever." She thought. She removed the tube from her nose, clutching it, and her breath seized; she couldn't breathe any longer, no matter how hard she tried; it felt like she wasn't one with the oxygen on Earth, and it was making things worse.

Her breath hardened as she quickly put the tube back on. She wanted to sit on the bed, but she couldn’t. She couldn’t move her body. She felt like she was stuck on the bed. She was extremely weak. She looked beside her. She was the only one in the room, and there was also a drip in her right hand.

"Argh!" she grunted in pain, struggling to breathe in the tube. Tears started falling down her cheeks. "Is this the end of me? Am I going to die?" she thought to herself, staring at the ceiling. "Mason is coming today. I have to go to him," she thought, closing her eyes.

Daniel was eating at the dining table with his wife and kid, when his phone started ringing, Bella quickly grabbed the phone from the table before he could reach it.

"You can answer your phone when you finish eating." She said, cutting the call without looking at the caller. Daniel was fond of skipping meals whenever he received a call while eating. He shook his head and continued eating. The phone started ringing again, and it broke the silence.

Bella screwed up her face and stared at the caller. Her eyes widened. It was Xavier.

"Who is calling?" Daniel asked in a calm tone. She looked up at him and handed his phone to him. He dropped his fork and picked up the call as he got up from the chair.

"Hello!" he said.

"Amber is at the hospital. She fainted last night. The doctor said it was some kind of flu." Xavier explained in one breath.

"Flu? Send me the address of the hospital. I will be there." Daniel said and hung up. He took his coat from the chair where he was sitting and put it on, shoving his hand into the pocket.

"Just as I predicted, he is leaving again." she said, rolling her eyes.

"Honey, I have…" she cut in.

"Go! I don’t mind; that’s what you always do." She said, turning to face the other side of the room. She was angry that he didn’t have time for himself all the time, he had to ditch his food because of his duties, and he didn’t eat healthily. Daniel could see that she was angry.

"Don’t worry about my health. I will take vitamin pills right now. I need to go to Amber. She needs me," he said.

"Dad, what’s wrong? What happened to Aunt Amber?" Tyler asked, staring at him. Bella turned to look at him with a worried expression.

"She is at the hospital; she has got the flu," he replied, and they both gasped.

"I hope she is going to be alright." Bella asked with a worried tone, maintaining eye contact with him.

"She is going to be alright. I will make sure of it." he said and started walking away at a great speed. He ambled to his car and his phone started ringing again. He got into the car, shut the door and picked up the call. It was a call from his mother.

"Daniel…Daniel." She called his name, crying in the background. He could hear the sounds of people talking in the background.

"What’s wrong, mom? Where are you?" He asked curiously.

"Daniel…I…you need to come here now," she said.

"What’s wrong, mom? Why do you sound funny?" he inquired, he could tell that there was something she wasn’t telling him, or had she found out about Amber’s condition? He thought.

"Calm down, take a deep breath and talk to me mom." he said. She inhaled and exhaled before clearing her throat.

"You need to come here! The ambulance is at our house. Your dad just woke up and started coughing out blood!" She whimpered. He could hear the hurt in her voice. Panic was in his eyes at the thought that his father was on the verge of death and that this time he might die because that was the last stage of his sickness.

"Son, are you coming? I need you. I can’t do this alone. I have tried to reach out to Amber but her phone is not going through." She said in a shaky voice. He pursed his lips into a line.

"Don’t cry anymore, mom. I am on my way." He assured and tossed his phone to the other seat. He stepped on the accelerator and drove out of the garage at a great speed. His car almost hit his gate.

Mrs. Darlington was inside the ambulance van with Mr. Darlington, who was being treated by a doctor, who was sweating continuously as he checked his pulse.

"He isn’t responding to the treatment," the doctor said in a shaky tone.

"What should I do, doctor?" the nurse that was assisting him inquired.

"Ask the driver to increase the speed of the car; we need to get to the hospital fast!" The doctor said Mr. Darlington started coughing again. This time, his cough was loud and weird. Mrs. Darlington stood up from the chair in which she was sitting and looked away, putting her handkerchief under her eyes as she closed it. She didn’t have the courage to look at her husband.

The nurse held a bucket close to his mouth and he spat out blood into the bucket. He continued coughing and opening his mouth as blood started spurting out of his mouth onto the floor, staining the clothes he was putting on and also the bed sheet. The nurse and the doctor stepped back.

"His condition has gotten worse," the doctor said, holding a syringe.

"Hold him for me, will you?" he told the nurse, who was terrified. She gnashed her teeth and held Mr. Darlington’s hand as the doctor felt his pores and shoved the syringe into his skin, pressing all the liquid into his body.

Mr. Darlington closed his eyes and fell back onto the bed, clutching his neck. "I want to see my daughter," he muttered, rubbing his bloody lips against the bed. He passed out.