"Mum! Mum! Please stay with me. Please don't leave me. I can't afford to lose you" Clara said to her unconscious mother as they were in an ambulance on their way to the hospital.
Tears filled her eyes as she watched her mum lie motionless.
The sirens wailed as the ambulance moved at top speed. They were in a race against time. Clara's mum was slipping away with every second. They got to the hospital and in a flash, the paramedics rolled her out of the ambulance and onto the hospital premises. The doctors at the emergency section quickly took over, in an effort to save the elderly woman.
"It's better you wait here ma'am. We'll give you an update as soon as there is one" a nurse said to Clara, who was very disturbed.
Six hours Earlier
Clara's perspective
I got a call from my sister, Jessica, in the morning.
"Hey Jessica" I said
"Hey sis. Hope I didn't wake you up?" Jessica asked
"No you didn't" I replied
"Okay good. So I was thinking, why don't you go spend today with Mum? Even though she'll never admit it, she's lonely, and she would be happy to see you. Besides, you can use that opportunity to tell her about your plan to marry Greg" she said.
"Coincidentally, I've been thinking about that. But I'm scared of what her reaction would be when I tell her about Greg. You know she doesn't like him" I said.
"Just give it a try. You'll never know if a surprise might spring up. I have to go now. I'm on my way to work. Bye sis" she said
I sat on my couch for fifteen minutes, trying to find the courage to go see mum. I eventually found the courage and made my way to the family house to meet mum.
"Good morning mum" I said as she opened the door for me to come in
"Welcome, my dear. It's so lovely to see you." Mum said
"I just wanted to come and see you, and spend some time with you". I said
After some minutes of talking, I gathered the momentum to tell her about my decision to get married to Greg.
"Mum, Greg and I are going to get married"
"What! So after my disapproval, you still want to go ahead and marry him?" she said, obviously mad.
"Mum, I love him. He's the one I want to spend the rest of my life with. I don't understand why you don't like him" I replied
"Clara, you cannot get married to him! I forbid it. He is not from a good family!" she shouted.
Immediately after saying that, she held her chest. She was wincing in pain. Before I knew it, she fell to the floor, unconscious.
Instantly, I rushed to the floor, tapping her and calling her name. She wasn't responding. I got confused, scared and suddenly cold.
I managed to pick up my phone with my shaking hands and I called Jessica.
Jessica's Perspective
It was a busy day at work, yet, I kept thinking about how Mum and Clara's conversation would go. I hoped it would be positive. Mum had never been a fan of Greg, and she made that well known.
Suddenly I had a strange feeling. I couldn't explain what it was but, I just felt weird. Next thing, my phone rang. It was Clara calling
"Jessica. Mum is on the floor unconscious. I d...don't know what ttt....to do" Clara said, stammering as she tried to speak
"Oh my god. What happened?" I asked, very worried
"We were shouting at each other and all of a sudden she held her chest and collapsed."
"Call an ambulance right away" I said.
Immediately, I got my car keys. I wasn't thinking straight. All I wanted to do was get to the hospital. Clara texted me the hospital they were heading to in an ambulance.
I got stuck in traffic. Everywhere was blocked. Those were the most uncomfortable set of minutes ever.
Present moment
While Clara waited for the health professionals to stabilize her Mum, Jessica walked in. On sighting Jessica, Clara ran towards her and they hugged. They were both scared. They loved their mother dearly. They just couldn't bear to lose her. She was the only parent they had left. Their father died when they were teenagers, and it was a difficult time for them. Their mum singlehandedly raised them. She was their superhero.
"What took you so long?" Clara asked
"There was terrible traffic on the way. How is mum?" Jessica asked.
"No feedback from the doctors yet" Clara replied.
They both sat there, restless. Then suddenly, the doctor emerged.
"Are you Clara?" the doctor asked.
"Yes, I'm Clara, and this is my older sister, Jessica. How is our mother?"
"I'm Doctor James. Your mother had a heart attack. But thankfully she got here on time. We've stabilized her now."
Clara and Jessica felt so much relief on hearing the doctor's words.
"Can we see her now?" Jessica asked
"Yes you can" Doctor James replied.
Both ladies went into the room where their mother was lying. Her eyes were open. She was responsive but still weak.
"I'm so sorry for everything, mum," Clara said as she cried.
Her mother held her hand to comfort her.
All of a sudden, the monitors started beeping weirdly. They saw their mum's eyes close, and then they knew something was wrong.
"Nurse, something is wrong with my mother" Jessica yelled out.
The nurse rushed in and was immediately alarmed.
"She's crashing. Get the doctor quickly" the nurse said to another nurse present.
Dr James came running in. On taking a look at the heart monitor, he jumped on the bed and commenced CPR on her. He kept pushing on her chest, trying to keep her heart beating properly.
"Get the defibrillator ready." Dr James said.
On getting the defibrillator ready, they shocked her multiple times. All to no avail. There was no activity on the heart monitor.
On recognizing that nothing else could be done, Dr James looked at his watch and said
"Time of death, 7:13pm"
Dr James went out to break the news to Clara and Jessica. He felt terrible having to dash their hopes this way.
"I'm sorry, she didn't make it" he said.
Loud cries erupted from Clara and Jessica. They were inconsolable.
All of a sudden, a nurse rushed up to Dr James to inform him that her heart was beating again, and she was conscious.
Clara and Jessica stopped crying on hearing those words. It was as if they found hope again.
"Are you sure about what you're saying" Dr James asked
On getting positive confirmation from the nurse, he decided to go and see for himself. He was marveled, just like everyone else present. After further investigation, he found out what had happened.
"Your mum has what is called Lazarus syndrome" the doctor said to Clara and Jessica.
On seeing the confusion on their faces, he explained further
"It's a phenomenon where the heart spontaneously resumes its activity after stopping. You can also call it autoresuscitation"
"So technically, our mum died and came back to life?" Clara asked.
"Yes she did" Dr James replied.
"We're monitoring her now and trying to figure out how to handle her case, but I think you can see her now" Dr James further said.
They went to see her. Their mum was very happy to see them. She gave Clara her blessing to get married to Greg. Perhaps, the events of the last few hours were enough to make her change her mind. What seemed like a totally terrible day, turned out to be one with some positives.
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What an frightening and challenging day Clara and Jessica had. Your story shows that when people have life and death experiences, they can come to some realizations about where to spend their energy. Thank you for sharing your story in The Ink Well and for reading and commenting on the work of other community members.
Aww... Emotions surged through me when I read that she came back to life. I was already feeling for Clara because she wouldn't get to marry Greg again after her mother died. She wouldn't have gone against her dead mothers wish. I love your descriptions. It made the story really beautiful to read.
It seems the story took you through an emotional rollercoaster.
I'm glad you enjoyed the story.
Beautifully written with surges of emotions here and there. I had, as I read through, assumed that Clara's mum suffered an illness which she kept away from her children for whatever reason known to her.
Was a relief to know that it's nothing deep
I'm glad you enjoyed the story.
Yeah, It was really relieving that her condition wasn't so deep.
I don't like it when parents try to stop their children from marrying certain individuals, except if it be on the basis of bad character or lifestyle if not its not nice at all.
Well, thank God nothing happened to the mother and she ended up approving of the marriage.