"Serena?" I call out, rushing towards her sprawled out body.
Any hope that she may have just fallen over or is playing some sick joke on me dissipates when I turn her body over, her lips blue and her face drained of any colour.
"Lucian!" I shout, panic coating my voice.
My fingers prod back and forth from her neck and wrist, my actions desperate as I try and find a pulse. I can't find one but I keep going, hoping if I try for long enough one may appear.
"Lucian!" I repeat, my voice strained and anguished.
I don't hear his or my dad's footsteps rattling through the hallway as they approach my room, my ears filled with ringing as a panic attack sets in.
I've never been good in high stress situations, my brain always shuts down and becomes utterly useless and since the stakes are so high right now that's exactly what it's doing.
"What the fuck," Lucian mutters, standing in the doorway as I hold onto Serena.
"Call an ambulance," I shout at him, his voice snapping me out of my haze slightly. I don't look at him, unable to take my eyes off her but I do hear the sound of his phone fumbling about in his hands before he begins to dial.
"Son if she isn't breathing you need to start cpr," My dad, clearly the rational one instructs as he stands over me.
His stern words register in my panicked mind and I lay Serena out on the wooden floor, my hands shaking slightly as I start delivering compressions.
I could have been doing it for minutes or hours but I keep going, my hands roughly pushing into her chest as I pray that it'll be enough to bring her back to me.
Suddenly she lets out a gasp, harshly sucking air into her deprived lungs as she bolts upwards.
I hear the distant sound of paramedics entering the house as I pull her into me, my hand resting against her hair as I cradle her into my chest.
Her breathing is still shallow and pained as she grips onto my arm, clearly terrified.
She tries to talk but horrifyingly it just sounds like she's choking.
"Ssh it's alright, you're going to be okay," I try and comfort her, gently stroking her hair.
Not only until the paramedics come in and pry her off me do I realise that she'd passed out again. I'm slightly less panicked considering that she's now breathing.
We watch her be taken out of the room, the paramedic's worried actions doing nothing to ease my fear.
"Come on I'll drive you to the hospital," My dad offers, extending his arm out to me. I take it, allowing him to pull me to my feet.
"No I want to be with her," I reply curtly, rushing to follow the paramedics out the door. I follow them to the ambulance, attempting to climb in when one of them stops me.
"Only relatives can ride in the ambulance," He states, looking me up and down. "I'm her husband," The lie flys out my mouth.
"Sorry but.." He trails off. He goes to finish his sentence but I interrupt him.
"We could stand here talking or maybe you could fucking do your job and get her some help," I seethe at him, angry that we're standing here instead of rushing towards the hospital.
He concedes, allowing me into the ambulance just as it takes off down the road. He tells me to hold onto a handle as we speed down the street but my hands remain grasped around Serena's,.
We pull up and I rush in after them as they bring her into the hospital, my mind blocking out the chatter of other patients and the blaring sirens of other ambulances as my mind zeros in on one thing, her.
"You can't come beyond this point sir," The doctor stops me as we approach a set of double doors.
I don't argue, sighing as I turn around and wonder over to the waiting room.
Now that I'm no longer focused on getting Serena help my mind has a minute to calm down and think, the events of the night replaying over and over again in my head.
I run a stressed hand through my hair, an overwhelming wave of guilt washing over me as I wonder what signs I missed.
She seemed fine all day, expect for fever but I'd just assumed that she had a cold or something. I should have seen something was seriously wrong.
My pessimistic thoughts are interrupted by the arrival of a very worried looking Harper, Tyler and Miles followed by Lucian.
"Is she okay?" Miles asks worriedly as he approaches me.
"I don't know," I reply, my mind stuck on the image of her blue lips and lifeless face. "Do you know what happened?" Harper questions, the anxiety evident in her voice.
I shake my head, honestly having no idea.
They all sit down, the air surrounding us feeling tense and suffocating. "She'll be alright," Lucian comforts, his hand squeezing my shoulder.
We must have waited for over three hours, the hospital eerie and quiet due to the late hour. Lucian suggested we get some sleep while we wait but it became clear that nobody could rest without knowing how Serena was doing.
This whole thing has made us all realise just how important she truly is.
"Family of Serena Verlice?" A voice calls out, cutting through the silent waiting room. I immediately sit upright, my head snapping in the doctor's direction.
"Yes here," I call out, getting up to greet her.
"Relation?" She questions, flipping through pieces of paper attached to a clipboard. "Husband," I reply immediately, knowing they won't give me any information if I weren't her family.
"Follow me sir," She instructs.
I follow her through hallway after hallway, the smell of disinfectants flooding my nose as I travel through the hospital.
She opens a door and I'm met with a sight I would have never imagined would effect me so deeply, Serena hooked up to numerous machines and wires.
"Do you know what caused this?" I ask, not even making eye contact with the doctor as my eyes remained fixed on her sleeping body.
"Yes," She says, looking down at her chart. "She suffered Pneumothorax which is when there's a build up of fluid in the lungs," She explains.
I nod as she continues explaining but no matter how hard I try her words won't register, my brain too clouded.
Fluid.
Lungs.
"This could have been fatal Mr Verlice, if I were you I'd seriously consider getting her on some type of treatment plan for her illness because there may still be time to reverse the damage it's done."
This snaps me out of my mindless haze, my head snapping from Serena over to the doctor.
"Her illness?"