Chapter 8
Vincent kept staring at the screen, beads of sweat forming on his forehead.
‘He's fine. Still asleep. No, not gonna work. The doctors are doing something… Nah, it'll only make her worry more. Whatever. If I don't pick she'll worry more.’
He tapped the receive icon. Cassandra’s voice poured from the other side, rough and worried. As if she was crying the entire time.
“How's Asmodeus? Did he wake up? Is he alright? What's happening there?”
“Not yet. He's in… the … emergency room, and doctors are trying to wake him up.”
“Vince, you don't sound so confident…”
“Ah… I'm out here in the lobby, so I can't really see what's going on inside.”
“That's it?”
“Yes dear. Don't worry, let's wait until Asmo wakes up. Then I'll talk with doctors to know what happened.”
“Vince, are you okay?”
“Of course I am. Asmo is the one who fainted.”
There was an uncomfortable silence before Cassandra broke it.
“Well, do eat something. You haven't had your breakfast yet.”
*Grumble
Vincent's stomach responded before him.
“Ah… I almost forgot about it. I'll see if I can get something here.”
***
“His heart rate is falling.” lead doctor shouted. “Start a second IV line.”
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“At it.” One of the nurses started a second IV line in his right forearm.
"Give me two units of O-negative on the fly!”
Another nurse grabbed a blood bag from the ER’s refrigerator and hooked it up to a machine.
Once connected the blood started flowing through Asmodeus’ body.
Seconds passed.
There was no reaction.
Then minutes passed.
And finally his heart rate started to increase.
40bpm
50bpm
60bpm
The machine displayed the rhythmic beeps in the low 60s.
The doctors and nurses left out a sigh of relief.
The lead doctor announced, “His heartbeats are stable. Turn off the pacer and transfer him upstairs to hematology.”
Once the lead doctor left, the nurses started disconnecting the pacer and removing the grey pads from Asmodeus's body.
A blanket was pulled up and they started to move him to the inpatient ward.
***
“What happened? How is he now?” Vincent's voice carried a sense of fear.
“His heartbeat is in 60s and he's stable now.”
“Can he be taken home?”
“That cannot be done. It's better to observe him closely. His heartbeat was down to 30s, so we need to make sure it doesn't fail again.”
“Can I visit him now?”
“Ah… yes, yes. He is being transferred to hematology on third floor. You can visit him there.”
“Can he eat after waking up? He still hasn't eaten.”
“No. It'd be better for him to not eat anything for now. We'll be keeping him on liquid diet for the moment.”
“I see. Thank you.” A tired sigh slipped out of Vincent.
He collapsed into a nearby chair as if all the strength in him had left.
A stretcher passed by him. Vincent didn't notice at first.
‘Wait, is that… ASMO.’
He tried to follow it but a clerk caught him.
“Sir, I need you to fill out the admission form. Please come with me to the registration.”
“Huh? Ye-Yeah sure.”
Vincent spent quite a while filling out paperwork at the registration.
[Name: Asmodeus White]
‘Is he awake?’
‘What if he doesn't wake up soon?’
[Age: 19]
‘And yet sometimes acts like he's 9.’
[Emergency contact
Name: Vincent White
Relationship: Father]
‘His father. And I couldn't even do anything when strangers fought for him.’
[Contact no.: **********]
Vincent's hands were trembling. He didn’t know if he even read it properly.
[Signature: Vincent White]
‘That's all. Now I can go see him.’
He scribbled his signature and ran to the elevator.
‘The doctor said something about third floor, I guess.’
Arriving, he tried searching for Asmodeus. He called for a nearby nurse.
“Excuse me. Do you know which room my son is in? His name is Asmodeus White.”
“He is in room 312.”
“Oh, thank you.”
“Wait, is it 312 or 321? Whatever, I'll check both.”
He opened the door labelled 312 and…
*Beep…beep…beep…
The sound of the heart machine reached him before he entered the room.
And there was Asmodeus.
Pale.
Sleeping.
Drooling.
Vincent sat in a chair beside the bed.
*Ring ring
[Cassy]
“Ah… right, I forgot to call her.”
“Vince?” Cassandra called out from the other side.
“The doctors said he's alright now, but he still hasn't woken up.”
“Thank goodness. Did they say anything about his meals?”
“They did say it'd be better for him to stay on a liquid diet.”
“Oh, alright then. I had some porridge made for him. I guess I'll just leave it here.”
“Also, can you bring him some clothes, his glasses, and maybe his tablet?”
“The rest I've packed but he is not allowed to use his devices.”
“Come on, Cassy. The kid's heart almost stopped. Cut him some slack.”
“Alright, I'll bring it. But if he gets anymore spoiled, I'm blaming you.”
“Alright, alright. Talk to you later.”
“Sure.”
*Click
Vincent put his phone aside and looked at his son, now sleeping peacefully.
“Now let's wait for you to wake up.”
***
"Hmmm... bright..."