You Leave Me Breathless

[Trinity]

“Trinity, baby, what’s wrong?” Mikey whispered, shaking me

My hands clutched at my throat, clawing at my chest. I couldn’t breathe. At all. It was like someone was squeezing my heart and throat, not letting any air or blood pass through. I heard choking and spluttering noises over Mikey’s frantic questions, and realised that those noises were coming from me. This only made me panic more and it became even harder to breathe.

“FRANK!!” Mikey roared, tears spilling from his eyes

It didn’t take long to Frank to appear in the doorway, and by now Mikey had lifted my head up, trying to get air into my body.

“What the hell is going on?” Frank yawned

“I don’t know. I don’t think Trinity can breathe. Call an ambulance! Then call Peyton!” Mikey said, panicked

Frank appeared to realise then that something was truly wrong, and quickly ran out of the room. Mikey leant down to my face, holding me close.

“Fuck, you’re so cold. Baby, please stay with me. I love you, I can’t lose you. I don’t know what the fuck is wrong, but I can’t lose you. I love you,” Mikey whimpered

If I had any more than a few wisps of oxygen in my brain, I would’ve realised he was saying the three words I was most afraid of. But seeing as all I could focus on was attempting to breathe at all, that’s what I did. My hands fumbled at his shirt, desperate to cling onto something to keep me from passing out, my vision starting to fill with black dots.

“No, Trinity, come on! Breathe!” Mikey begged, tears pouring down his face even harder

But I couldn’t fight it, even less oxygen entering my body. My eyes closed but I still fought for breath. I heard Frank running back into the room. Mikey let out a strangled cry, rocking me back and forward.

“There’s an ambulance on its way, and Peyton’s going to meet us at the hospital. She’s going to get a ride off Gee and Lindsey, she was crying too hard,” Frank mumbled

I felt him come and sit down next to Mikey, holding his hand at the back of my throat to help my breathing. It didn’t work.

“Stay with us, Trinity, please. For Mikey,” Frank whispered

All I remember is one last ragged breath before everything went black.

*

[Peyton]

I paced in the foyer of the hospital, Gerard and Lindsey sitting silently nearby. I’d called them as soon as I’d got off the phone with Frank, knowing I was too distraught to drive safely. We’d only been here about two minutes, but it felt like forever. What the hell was going on with my sister?! Struggling to breathe? What the fuck is that about?

Tears were still pouring down my cheeks as Mikey and Frank ran in, a team of paramedics following behind. I whimpered and ran over to them, my hands covering my mouth at the sight of my unconscious sister on a stretcher, a thick tube down her throat that a paramedic was hand-pumping oxygen through. The paramedics and stretcher stormed past us, heading towards the surgery. Throwing my arms around Mikey, I started bawling into his chest. He held me close, also sobbing. I didn’t need to lift my head to know that Gerard and Lindsey had joined us.

“What’s going on?” Gerard yawned, scratching his head

“I woke up to the sound of Trinity choking. She literally was choking in her sleep. So I woke her up, and she instantly started clawing at her throat and chest. It was like...there was something blocking her from breathing. I’ve never been more scared in my life,” Mikey whispered, tears falling down his cheeks

“Even the paramedics are looking unsure,” Frank said softly

“Oh God, she can’t die!” I sobbed, burying my face in Mikey’s chest again

“Hey, ssh, Trinity’s a fighter, she won’t leave us,” Lindsey soothed, squeezing my shoulder

I couldn’t speak I was sobbing too hard. My sister, my best friend, my partner in crime...could be dying?

[1 hour later]

“Family and friends of Trinity Hayes?”

I lifted my head at the sound of the voice, seeing a doctor.

“Yeah,” I nodded, sniffing as I stood up

“I’m Doctor Hartfield, I led the surgery on Trinity. Are you her sister?” the doctor asked

“Yeah. This is her boyfriend,” I said, pointing to Mikey, “And these are some of our friends,”

“Okay. Well if you follow me to Trinity’s room, I’ll explain what happened as we go,” the doctor offered

Frank and Mikey each took one of my hands as we followed the doctor down the corridor. I didn’t have the energy to protest.

“Is Trinity okay?” Mikey asked worriedly

“Trinity is stable. We’ve done temporary Angioplasty, which is basically putting mesh tubes into her arteries to widen them, and she is now able to breathe as her heart can pump the blood round,” the doctor smiled

“What was wrong?” I asked nervously

“What Trinity has is Peripheral Artery Disease. It’s a condition similar to coronary artery disease and carotid artery disease. Basically, a heart infection. In Trinity’s case, it is caused by her heavy smoking. In PAD, fatty deposits build up in the inner linings of the artery walls. These blockages restrict blood circulation, which is why it was hard for Trinity to breathe and move. People with PAD often have fatty buildup in the arteries of the heart and brain. Because of this association, most people with PAD have a higher risk of death from heart attack and stroke. Trinity was lucky. If she hadn’t have been brought in so quickly, there’s a very high chance she wouldn’t be with us right now,” the doctor explained

I didn’t understand much of that. I’m pretty sure none of the others did either. I understood the last part though. Trinity can’t die! She’s my only family!

“H-How can we stop it happening again?” I asked, my voice cracking

“She has to stop smoking, or her symptoms will get worse. It is most likely she won’t survive the next infection, or she might even have a heart attack,” the doctor said seriously

“O-Oh my God,” I choked, earning squeezes on both hands

“Don’t panic, peripheral arterial disease is easily treatable, especially at this early stage. Trinity will have to stay in for a few nights so we can do more Angioplasty, which will open up her arteries, as well as starting a course of antiplatelet agents to reduce the fatty build up. Unfortunately this means her quitting smoking will have to start too, meaning she’ll be doing it cold turkey,” the doctor said with a small smile

Gerard and Frank winced; cold turkey wouldn’t be fun, especially with someone as volatile as my sister.

“What will the symptoms be like?” Gerard asked

“Most commonly, someone quitting cold turkey will be irritable, suffer from insomnia and tiredness, have bad headaches, get a lot of muscle tension, have an increased appetite, and gain a small amount of weight,” the doctor listed

“Doesn’t sound that different from normal,” Frank chuckled

I smiled weakly to voice my agreement. All I want to do is see my sister!

“You can go in and see her now, but I don’t know how much conversation you’ll get – we’ve drugged her heavily on morphine and she could fall asleep any minute. Let a nurse know when the last of you leaves the room please,” the doctor smiled

“Thank you,” Mikey said seriously

The doctor just nodded, leaving the 5 of us standing in the hallway. I took a deep breath, wrapping my arms around my body as Mikey opened the door to Trinity’s room. Tears fell from my eyes as I saw her weak state in the hospital bed, hooked up to all sorts of machines.

“Hey guys,” Trinity whispered

I whimpered and ran over to her side, throwing my arms round her neck. Trinity weakly patted my back, and after a short while, I stood up. Frank stood next to me while Mikey stood on the opposite side, Gerard and Lindsey next to him. Both Mikey and I were holding her hands.

“So I pretty much fucked up, huh?” Trinity asked softly, smiling a little

“Yeah, pretty much. You had a heart infection, Trin. We almost lost you,” Mikey choked, tears filling his eyes

“Looks like the little red man downstairs wasn’t quite ready for me yet,” Trinity chuckled weakly

We all chuckled softly too, not knowing what else to do.

“I’m sorry for scaring you all,” Trinity said sadly

“Don’t be. It wasn’t your fault,” Lindsey said softly

“No, it was. And if Mikey hadn’t have saved me by acting so fast, I wouldn’t be here right now,” Trinity insisted

“I was so scared,” Mikey admitted

“I owe you my life,” Trinity smiled weakly

I didn’t know what to say to that. Mainly because it was true, and it was a fucking scary truth.

[30 minutes later]

Gerard, Lindsey and Frank had gone to get coffee about 5 minutes ago, leaving Mikey and I with Trinity. To be fair, it is 4am, we all need something to keep us awake. We were just telling Trinity what the doctor had told us, and she didn’t like it one bit. But attached to all these drips and tubes, Trinity couldn’t swing at us, so we were safe.

Trinity was starting to get lethargic now, and I knew it wouldn’t be long before she fell asleep on us. I yawned heavily when she did, making Mikey laugh slightly.

“I’ll get you a coffee,” Mikey smiled, standing up

“Thanks,” I said gratefully

“No problem,” Mikey shrugged, walking towards to the door

“Told you he’s a nice guy,” Trinity said softly

“I’ll agree with you for this once,” I chuckled, rolling my eyes

“I think...I love him,” Trinity mumbled

My jaw dropped as she fell asleep, quickly turning my head to face Mikey, who was frozen in the doorway, having heard her words perfectly. Shit just hit the fan. There is no way things will be the same now that Trinity confessed that, and Mikey and I knew it. This would cause problems on a massive scale. I just hope it doesn’t cause my sister to get hurt. Why? She’s never said she loves anyone before. And it took a near death experience for her to admit it. Fuck.