Second Chances: a Coincidences novel

Chapter 15: The Final Straw

            I sat in my new room, which was both finished and furnished. It felt good to finally have a space to call my own. Sometimes I wondered how I was ever going to repay my uncle, aunt, and cousins for all that they have done for it. It felt almost, unpayable because of the amount they have done and that, in some ways, made me feel guilty because I had no idea how to show them my gratitude.

Realistically, no one has ever done this much for me. Not even my mom had and it oftentimes made me wonder how high I was on her priorities list, though I had a feeling I was never really up there for her.

I sat by the window, overlooking the Dubai skyline, and was unable to not notice how the Burj Khalifa overtook all other buildings in its surroundings.

Then my mind roamed over to my revelation a couple of nights ago, or mornings rather. Sometimes I wondered how Holly managed to keep it together while holding on to this secret we both had. She was scared of telling her parents and brother while I was scared of revealing any of this to my mom because she would judge me so harshly, it would only lead to an argument I was not willing to tolerate or engage in.

This morning I had also woken up with a headache that was slowly progressing into a migraine.

Not only was the light starting to bother me but the headache was getting more intense by the minute. I had already taken something more specific for migraines but it wasn't helping and I also felt anxiety building up. The migraine was likely to do to that but my heart was also beating a little faster than normal, which was starting to concern me because nothing I did to slow it back to its normal pace, was helping.

I tried sitting down and watching some TV since my aunt, uncle, and cousins had gone to a lunch thing that would include other celebrities but because of my headache, I decided I needed to stay behind.

My heartrate was getting more and more out of control to the point where I was starting to spiral a bit into a panic attack.

I took a few deep breaths in my nose, held it, and slowly exhaled. I felt a little better but the anxiety was starting to kill me. I started pacing around, crying and trying to pull it together.

My hands started to stiffen up, which meant I was having a nasty panic attack and it was perhaps far worse than the one I had the night of the humiliation.

Minutes went by and not only was my migraine getting worse to where I began to throw up, but I realized I needed to go to the emergency because the attack was not subsiding and my headache was getting worse.

After contemplating calling my uncle, I decided against it and got myself a ride to the hospital while wearing sunglasses to avoid being assaulted by the sun's brightness. But even the sunglasses were not helping.

As the driver drove, I kept my hands spread against my thighs to try and keep them from fully clamping together. I felt strange sensations all over my hands, legs, feet, and even in my chest where it was scarier. My heart was not slowing down and nor did it have the intention to do so whatsoever.

All I hoped for was that we got to the hospital quickly so that I did not have to tell the driver to pull over. The dizziness from the ride also intensified my symptoms, which made me sick to my stomach, and not even leaning my head against the seat helped.

Finally arriving, I thanked the driver and headed straight for the emergency. It was kind of empty and only two people waited anxiously in the waiting room. I walked up to the receptionist and explained to her how I was feeling and how I was almost unable to move my hands, but the moment I told her my heart was beating out of control, she instantly admitted to me.