stella zegras, twin sister of trevor zegras, navigates her way through the ups and downs of being the only female on the new jersey devils, or any nhl team for that matter.
while she lives in new jersey, and the rest of her family lies in anaheim, i...
MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT 11.24.2022 jack's point of view
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you know that one taylor swift lyric that says, "dancing round the kitchen in the refrigerator light."?
it one hundred percent applies to the situation at hand besides the fact that i'm not a gaslighting liar that is jake gyllenhaal.
after watching grease, and a plethora of other musicals, we find ourselves past midnight eating snacks in the kitchen. the fridge and freezer door are both open, being the only light in the place at the moment.
we messed around, me twirling her around for a little bit, before we stopped.
we're both sitting on top of the kitchen island, a pint of ice cream in my lap with a spoon.
we used to do things like this when we were younger specifically with candy and ice cream, but tonight, stella isn't eating anything.
"do you want something else?" i say hoping down from the counter looking in the fridge and pantry.
"no, i'm good." she says.
i shouldn't think anything of it, but i do.
"when's the last time you ate something?" i ask. i've been with her all day, and she hasn't eaten once.
"i ate breakfast." she says.
"it's past midnight, it's been almost eighteen hours, you need to eat something." i say.
"i'm not hungry, j, it's fine." she says.
"are you-?" i say. i know she knows what i mean before i say it.
"no, of course not." she says.
"promise?"
"promise."
we interlock our pinkies and each kiss our thumbs before pressing them together.
i convince her to eat a rice krispy treat before we go back into the living room to watch high school musical.
it started to seem to be an all nighter, but i look over to her and she's asleep.
i smile to myself before carrying her bridal style into my room. i don't have a guest room and surely enough i wasn't going to let her sleep on the couch.
i balance her over one of my arms while i pull my comforter back on the ride side of my bed. i place her softly on my bed and i get in on the other side.
i don't know what we are right now, but it doesn't matter to me as long as she's happy.
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my eyes bolt awake by a sudden movement next to me. it's stella, she bolted up, hand clutching her chest.
"stel? what's wrong?" i say putting my left hand on her back.
she looks... scared.
"it's not right." she says.
"what's not right, love?" i say.
"m-my chest it, it hurts." she says.
"like panic attack hurts?" i ask. she shakes her head.
"my heartbeat, it, it feels different." she says.
there's this rare condition that stella's grandma suffered from, it's a rare type of cardiac arrest. they can feel it then, they just stop breathing.
i don't know how long she's been able to feel it for, so i don't know how long she has until she stops breathing.
"i need to get you to a hospital." i say.
all without leaving my room, i slip on my tennis shoes, and call 9-1-1. while i'm talking to the operator, i put her air forces on her. i have to go unlock the door, but i can't leave her side, she's so scared.
"i have to unlock the door, stel. i'll only be a second." i say. she's holding onto my hand with the free one she has.
"j-jack p-please don-don't g-go." she says. stuttering is one of the symptoms.
"stel, please. i need to let the emts in." i say. i can see the red and blue lights flickering outside.
she nods and let's go of my hand. "h-hurry p-please." she says.
i leave my bedroom door open and run down the steps, almost falling over them.
i let the emts in and they follow me upstairs. once i get up there, she's not sitting up, she's laying down.
she's not breathing.
i shouldn't have left.
i don't know how long she hasn't been breathing for.
the emt gets her on the stretcher and i follow them outside.
i choose to follow them to the hospital, i don't think i could handle being in that ambulance in the circumstance that she-
no. that won't happen.
she's the strongest person i know, she'll get through it.
i dial trevor's number and surprisingly he answers, but then again, it's only midnight in california.
"why are you calling me at three am new jersey time?" he asks.
"stella is in cardiac arrest, the one your grandma had." i say.
"what?" trevor says.
"i'm following the ambulance to the hospital now." i say.
"let me know when you get there, keep me as updated as possible." trevor says. "is she awake?"
"she's not breathing."
i can hear mr. and mrs. zegras in the background and i can't help be feel bad for them, they can't be here right now.
their child/sister isn't breathing and their stuck helplessly across the country.
"i'm about to be at the hospital now. i'll keep you updated." i say.
"yeah."
the red and blue flashing lights that have been on my face the whole ride which i'm just now realizing are giving me a major headache. but i don't care about that headache right now.
i could be bleeding out for all i care and all i'll be worried about it stella, my stella.
i've never parked faster in my life and find stella being wheeled into the hospital.
"sir, you're going to have to wait in the waiting room." one of the nurses says to me before disappearing behind the big doors with stella.
i want to go back there with her, be with her so i can know if she's okay, but i can't.
she's probably so scared right now, but honestly i hope she's at least feeling something because then i'll know if she's alive.
