Josie's Journey

WE ARE YELLING THIS TIME

JOSIE WAS WAKING UP, STARING AT THE CEILING. HER THROAT HURT A LOT AND SHE FELT SOME PRESSURE IN HER LUNGS. SHE COUGHED AND CLEARED HER THROAT, BUT GROANED WHEN IT HURT. SHE THEN SAW THE TEXTURE OF THE CEILING STARTING TO COME INTO VIEW. HER EYES SLOWLY TRAILED DOWN TO SEE HER MOTHER SMILING AT HER. "YOU'RE AWAKE." HER MOTHER SAID.

"DON'T TRY TO TALK." A DOCTOR SAID NEARBY. HER VISION WAS STILL CLEARING UP. SHE DIDN'T
REMEMBER WHAT HAPPENED BUT SHE KNEW SHE WAS THERE FOR A REASON. SHE LOOKED AROUND COMPLETELY CONFUSED AS TO WHY SHE WAS HERE. WHAT HAD HAPPENED TO HER? SHE COULDN'T FIGURE IT OUT.

ONE A BUNCH OF NURSES AND DOCTORS CAME IN, HER MOTHER WAS RELEASED TO REST IN THE LOBBY. ONCE THEY RETURNED TO THE ROOM, THEY BEGAN MAKING JOSIE COMFORTABLE. "HOW'S THAT?" THE OLDER NURSE HAD SAID.

"IT'S PERFECT!" SHE SAID CROAKING  WITH A BIT OF EAGERNESS. SHE STARED AT THE DOCTORS AND NURSES THAT SWARMED THE ROOM. SHE READ EACH NAME TAG, ONE BY ONE:

HANNAH MISLY - ICU RN
JACOB WALOWSKI -
Dr. Green - head of neurology
Dr. Gillette - the cardiovascular surgeon
Savannah Walker - the nurse that takes care of Josie at the hospital during night shifts.

She honestly didn't mind being here since she had met so many nurses and other facility members throughout the admission stay.

Once the doctor spoke (Dr. Green), he sighed. "So it looks like you'll be here for a few days, we need to monitor your heart again. We also will send you home with some supplies to take care of if where you're using it." He said with a soft smile before leaving the room.

The next doctor, Dr. Gillette had walked in with a bunch of paperwork that needed to be signed so he gave it to Josie's mom, Elaine. She slowly began to speak up. "eh-hem. Well, I have good and bad news. Which would you like to hear first?"

Josie gulped and looked at her mom who replied to her.  "Hearing the bad news first would be best."

Josie stood there worried and anxious, waiting to see what he was going to say this time.

"Miss Josie, I have to say this but you do in fact have POTS, which is common but rarely diagnosed properly. Fortunately, I have an appointment available for you on Monday so that when you're out of the hospital and at home. I'll give you the information prior to discharge." He said in between pauses and went through Josie's chart.

"It shows here that you have a pending balance due for four hundred thousand dollars. It's based on all the testing you had done recently, but I'm able to set up a payment plan for you." He said to the girls as he wrote notes. "I really hope I'm able to help you out some." He muttered under him breathe.

Josie's eyes opened up in shock and she looked around frantically, biting her lip and fidgeting with her sweatshirt. She was worried about how much she was costing her family and how it wasn't fair that she was like this. She wished she would be different. Healthy even. The worst part of it all is that she hated asking for help. It took her years to finally look for help and with her mother's guidance and love, she was able to get through this. She knew she would.

**A few days pass**

Josie was laying in bed, working on her homework, a soft sigh leaving her lips. She didn't know why she was so tired but she kept yawning and dozing off. She then checked the time. 11:45pm.

She groaned and sat up from bed, taking her hair out of its bun and letting it flow freely after her hair dried from the braid. Her long waves flowed down her shoulders to her lower back. She loved her hair more than anything and she didn't think she'd ever get rid of it. It was her shining gold. It was a cooper orange and it looked magnificent.

**Fun Fact: Josie was adopted by her foster mom, Elaine**

Elaine hated watching her daughter suffer like this. She tended to blame herself for everything bad that happens to her daughter and she was beyond frightened about the sight. She as exhausted and she didn't want to deal with it more of the time so she just hid her feelings and cried in the shower.

She slowly glanced at her daughter before getting up and stretching from getting up from the couch. She looked around the room and slowly walked down to the kitchen and set up some macaroni and cheese to make for her daughter and herself. She wasn't the best at cooking, but she sure is better than Josie. Josie was still young and she didn't want her daughter to get sick by touching certain foods.

Elaine was more of the quiet type, just like her daughter. They both spent their time working on their hobbies, school, vacations and working. It was a long road ahead. They even have a planned road trip coming up next week which they're so excited about it.

***

Once lunchtime came around, the hospital cafeteria staff came into each room and handed out their lunches which were fried chicken with mashed potatoes and a fruit cup. Of course, it had water as well. Josie ate hers rather quickly as she was starving

Elaine: "Josie, What are you doing? Slow down! You're going to end up choking."

Josie did as She was told to do, continuing to eat her food at a slower pace which seemed to settle her stomach well enough so she had to be careful. The next thing on their agenda was to pack up their clothes and get ready for her to be discharged from the hospital.

After many hours of waiting, the doctors for the lab results back and made an upsetting face. "I'm sorry but we're going to have to admit you for longer as an observation protocol so nothing bad happens to you."

Elaine and her daughter nodded and then Josie went forward and reached for her water and drink and few sips from it. She felt it down her throat properly this time considering like time her throat was swelling and she was very sick.

The number one thing that Elaine and Josie have in common is their hair color, eyes, and height. She wasn't very tall but it was alright with her.

— == —

Josie looked back up at the doctor and frowned. "Are you sure?" She asked, the doctor nodding "I'm sorry about this." He said quietly. The doctor ran and hand through his hair. "We can reschedule the appointment I made for you for next week, I won't be in town unfortunately but your mom has my phone number In case something bad happens, which is mostly a precaution." 

Josie nodded and pondered what the doctor could possibly be talking about, but she ignored it. She was clearly exhausted and she just wanted to go home. Thankfully, a few minutes later they were getting the discharge papers. Once she was all set to go, she races to the car and got inside. The second she sat down she could feel her heart pounding from running as far as she did. Perhaps, she pushed herself too hard.