Josie's Journey

Just Another Tuesday for Josie

Josie woke up around nine in the morning, still  feeling exhausted even after a full night's sleep. She was already dizzy and had a throbbing headache.

She sat up when she heard her mother's footsteps outside her room. Elaine, her mother, had brought in her morning medication and just to wake her up.

"Here honey, I brought you your medicine," she said as she handed over a little cup with a few pills inside. "I'll get you a blueberry muffin for breakfast - they're organic!"

"Thanks, Mom," she replied with a grateful smile. She swallowed her pills, plus something for her headache, then waved at her mom as she left the room.

Josie sat up slowly so she wouldn't get any dizzier. She was already struggling to keep the swarm of anxious thoughts at bay. 'I will get through today,' she thought to herself as she walked to the closet and selected her outfit for the day. She stepped into a pair of skinny jeans and pulled on a t-shirt. She put her hair back into a ponytail, hiding a few thinning spots, and pulled on a hoodie because she was always so cold.

"Josie, breakfast!" Elaine called from the kitchen. Josie walked in and sat down to her breakfast: an 'organic' blueberry muffin and some scrambled eggs. She picked at her breakfast, taking small bites. When it was time for her to leave, she grabbed her backpack and a small bag for her medical supplies.

Her neon pink Skechers squealed on the kitchen floor's tile as Josie rushed to leave the house. One of her favorite songs, Thunder by Imagine Dragons, blasted through her headphones. Her little bag with her medical supplies hit against her hip - sometimes she felt like it was practically chained to her so she wouldn't lose it. She shifted her weight and her heavy backpack dug into her back and strained her shoulders. 'Why do I even need so many textbooks?'

She stood at the bus stop and smiled when she saw Ethan's approach. "Hey, how was practice yesterday?" she asked him.

Ethan just shrugged. "It was okay, I guess. Coach wanted us to practice more because of how we did at the game. I didn't sleep much last night because I had to catch up on work. Maybe I could just sit with you?" he asked.

She nodded and smiled as she got onto the bus with him, sitting on the third seat to the right. The bus ride took almost an hour - they weren't very far from the school but there were lots of stops on that route and she was one of the very first. It was actually calming to feel the gentle rocking of the bus and watch the local scenery go by. It was enough to put them both to sleep...

The bus stopped in front of their school with a jolt. Josie woke up, disoriented at first. She quickly found her bearings and grabbed her bag, then nudged Ethan awake.

"Ugh, wh-what?" he grumbled, still half asleep.

Josie chuckled slightly before getting off the bus. "Let's go! You don't want to be late for English!" She happily walked to the doors of the school, her backpack bouncing up and down as she went inside.

She went straight to her locker to dump out some textbooks and hopefully alleviate the backpack's stress on her shoulders. After lunch, she'd switch everything out.

~~~

Josie struggled to stay awake and upright. Her fatigue was overwhelming her. Despite her full night's sleep, she already needed another nap, and she couldn't hold off her body's desires. That's how she ended up napping on her desk during her first two classes. Thankfully, the teachers had taught high school long enough to not care if someone fell asleep. 

In her next class, she had to take a quiz. Everything was fine until the teacher went to a bookshelf near Josie. He was pulling out stacks of textbooks for after the quiz, and it was sending up clouds of dust since they hadn't been touched in years.

She tried to focus on the quiz, but she felt a familiar tightness in her chest. She coughed inconspicuously into her shoulder as she felt her chest get tighter. Josie rubbed the bridge of her nose, trying to calm her lightheadedness, shaking as she felt her symptoms flare. 'Gosh, I hate when this happens,' she thought.

Josie coughed again as she grabbed her little bag. Quickly, she caught the teacher's eye and used ASL to tell him that she had to leave - something that the school had come up with for her to communicate in an emergency. He nodded and opened the door for her.

The tightness was overwhelming and she felt like the breath was being squeezed out of her. Walking down the hallway was already difficult; she was lightheaded and dizzy, she coughed into her elbow as she gasped for air. Josie leaned against the wall, bracing herself up with her hand. She tried to make it to the nurse's office but decided to duck into a bathroom instead as her wheezing got louder and louder and black started to tinge the edges of her vision. Her body was struggling to get in oxygen, she was wheezing and struggling just to catch a breath, and at this point, she'd struggled for so long that her lips had a blue tinge.

Josie locked herself into a stall, too dizzy to stay upright. She sat on the floor, grateful for just being able to rest. Frantically she dug her rescue inhaler from her bag. Josie breathed out, then sprayed it into her mouth while inhaling. After a minute, she repeated the treatment. Slowly she felt able to breathe again - it no longer felt like the air was being sucked from the room.

She stared at herself in the mirror, focusing on her breathing as the symptoms began to calm down slowly. She felt her racing heartbeat start to settle and slow. Josie sighed a breath of relief, thankful the attack hadn't been worse than she feared it would be.

When she felt she was okay, she walked back to class and went back to her seat to quietly finish her quiz. She still felt out of breath and lightheaded, but she did her best to ignore it and be a good student.

When the bell rang, she handed the teacher her quiz. She carried her backpack and medical bag as she went towards her next class: algebra. She didn't really enjoy it much. Algebra was useless to her, and her brain fog made it even harder to concentrate on formulas and equations than it already was.

She sat down at her seat, then laid her head down. 'Only two more classes and I get to go home...'

She heard a loud obnoxious ringing. 'Great, the fire alarm! Now I have to go outside...'

She groaned slightly as she grabbed her backpack and forced herself into the hall with the crowd of other students. She felt awful; her head was spinning and the sound of the alarm brought back her headache from that morning.

The sun shone blindingly in the sky, heat beating intensely onto the ground. She felt exhausted and lightheaded. Her vision was clouded with static. Josie unzipped her hoodie, trying to relieve herself from the heat. It was dizzyingly hot. She felt her legs go weak. She tried to make her way to her classmates, but as the sun beat down, she stumbled and collapsed on the pavement.

A student noticed Josie fall and saw her head hit the ground.

"Hey, get the nurse! She's passed out!" they called, trying to get their teacher's attention.

A crowd of nosy freshmen surrounded her until a teacher shooed them away. The nurse was called over.

"It looks like she might've hit her head..." the nurse murmured, checking Josie's pulse. "You should call emergency services. It's better safe than sorry."

"Well, I used to be an EMT," a burly gym teacher said as he kneeled down beside her, examining her for any symptoms of serious injury or possibly hypoglycemia.

From this moment forward, they all realized something was seriously wrong.