The Illusion of Us

Chapter 39

"Follow my finger please. There you go, just like that. This way. Now this way please."

"Is she going to be ok?" Mina was impatient, her arms crossed tightly over her chest in anticipation of what the EMT might say and she only grew more tense at each sigh he heaved.

He turned off the flashlight he had been waving in front of Mrs. Mendes's face, turning skeptically to Mina. The concern painted across his facial features was evident and he heaved out yet another a body-shaking sigh before he said, "She inhaled a lot of smoke in there."

Mina held her breath, immediately regretting it as she held up a hand to cover her abrupt cough. The EMT that had examined her had told her the cough was nothing to be concerned about, that she would ultimately be fine with a little rest, Mina ust hoped the EMT standing in front of her now would come to the same conclusion regarding her mom.

"Her lungs and airways are extremely inflamed and swollen." He diagnosed.

"So-" Mina hesitated, not exactly sure of what exactly the man's diagnosis had meant. "So is she going to need surgery?" She questioned, wringing her hands together beneath her and shooting a quick glance over the man's shoulder where her mother sat on the back edge of the ambulance truck, a small baby blue blanket draped delicately over her shoulder.

She seemed to be enamored by the flattened and singed grass below her.

"No." The EMT shook his head, his lips protruding slightly with the action. "Not necessarily." He said, and now it was Mina's turn to heave out an audible sigh of her own. "But she will need to be intubated until we can get her to the hospital and onto a ventilator."

"A-ven-ventilator?" Mina echoed, her medical terminology knowledge abandoning her.

Gripping the miniature flashlight in his hand tighter, the man lowered his voice, bowing his head slightly. "Do-" He whispered out, as if he were telling her an important secret. "Do you have anyone you can call?" He asked. "Any family members or friends you could stay with for a while?"

"How long-" Mina shook her head, wrapping her arms around herself. "How long is a while?" She asked skeptically, and she felt the corners of her mouth began to tremble as the EMT shot her an apologetic tight-lipped smile.

Khalil had once told her that he hated that look, now she finally understood why.

"Your mother is going to need a lot of rest for the next couple of weeks." The EMT said, his voice low and concise, every word calculated before it fell from his lips, as if he were explaining complicated philosophies to a child.

"If she's going to fully recover, you're going to have to give her some space." He replied, still ignoring her direct questions, and Mina suddenly felt queasy, as if the popcorn she had downed at the game might make a return.

"Space." She repeated quietly under her breath. "Right."

"Listen, I'm going to go grab one of my coworkers and when I come back we can get you ready for transport." He finished, turning over his shoulder momentarily to address Mina's mom behind them now too.

Both Mina and her mother both nodded in unanimous silence at the EMT's words, and he gave them both an identical curt smile before beginning to make his way back across the damaged and trashed front lawn over to the hurdle of police officers chattering with one another a few feet away, their heads all bowed closely together.

"Did you hear that mom?" Mina turned her attention to her mom once more. "You're going to be ok." She said, though she said it more in an effort to convince herself more than anything, and she found herself repeating it once more. "You're going to go to the hospital and they're going to take care of you and you're-"