Page 114 of An Adventure For Aster

“Nothing,” he said. “Give me a second.”

He felt like he was going to pass out, his left hand was going numb fast and he started to shake it out.

“Fuck that,” Zane said, pulling his phone out. “I’m calling an ambulance. Sit down before you pass out.”

“No,” he said. “It’s fine. It’s letting up. I’m getting the feeling back in my arm.”

He was flexing his fingers and moving them. The pain was still there but not as much. At least he didn’t feel as if he was going to throw up.

“If you don’t let me get an ambulance here, then I’m taking you to the ER. No arguing.”

It was that Army Commander look in Zane’s eyes that told him he had two choices. Go in on his own or be brought in.

At least he gave him the chance to make his own decision.

“We can go,” he said.

“Smart choice,” Zane said.

They walked over to Zane’s truck and got in, his buddy driving faster than normal and getting them to Lawrence and Memorial in fifteen minutes.

They got checked in and had to wait, but by then the pain wasn’t as bad and he felt like an idiot being here.

It wasn’t as busy as it could have been, but they still waited over an hour before they got in.

Zane had been on his phone texting Lily to let her know what was going on and where he was.

Aster hadn’t texted Raine. She was teaching and there was no way he was going to bother her. He was positive this wasn’t that big of a deal anyway and he’d let her know later. Maybe.

No, he’d tell her. But he didn’t even know what to say just yet, so for now, it was best to wait it out.

“You don’t have to wait here with me,” Aster said.

“I’m not leaving,” Zane said. “Unless you want to get Raine here or your sister?”

“No,” he said. “Neither needs to be worried right now. I hope Lily doesn’t tell Poppy and Poppy Daphne.”

He hadn’t even thought of that. He was just thinking of Raine, as he wasn’t used to having family around.

“Lily won’t say anything to Poppy,” Zane said.

“Good,” he said.

The curtain pushed back and a nurse came in. “I’m going to get your vitals. It says here you had chest pains and loss of feeling in your left arm. You had open heart surgery a year ago.”

“Yes,” he said, going through his medical history again. “My last cardiologist appointment was fine.”

“That’s good,” the nurse said. “But that was then and this is now. I’m going to get you hooked up for an EKG and then the doctor will be in and we’ll run more tests for sure.”

“I’m sure,” he said, preparing himself to be here most of the day. “You don’t have to stay.”

He pulled his shirt off and saw Zane’s eyes go to his chest and the scar. “I’m not leaving.”

“I figured you say that,” he said, sighing.

His EKG and echocardiogram came back fine. Just what he’d figured.

He’d been in this room for two hours so far watching TV and chatting with Zane and waiting to be discharged, but then twisted and got a sharp pain again in his chest. The alarms were going off and the nurse and doctor ran in.

---