chapter four:
no man's land S1 : E4
Nadine's alarm didn't go off at four thirty like it normally did, but she still woke up anyways, for no point. Seeing as she was off work for the next two shifts since getting knocked over by a bike. George found it funny, Nadine found it annoying.
She heard him getting up and out of bed as she heard her daughters laughter. "You sure you don't need me?" He questioned his sister for the fifth time as she shook her head.
"I am twenty five, I'm fine. Cara and I will be okay, I think she's planning on a disney movie marathon." He said his goodbyes as her three year old climbed into bed.
Handing the remote to her daughter she checked her phone to find a message from an unknown number. "Hope you're feeling better. -McGleamy." Blush spread through her cheeks as she read the message.
Her phone buzzed again with another text. "Heard you're off shift, don't go swan diving into any more bikes please. -Evilspawn." Giggles erupted from her lips as Cara chose the little mermaid to start with.
Whilst they waited for the film to load, she saved the unknown number as Alex (Evilspawn) and shut her phone off, focusing on the mermaid.
An hour later and Cara was struggling to sit still. "Mommy, why does her daddy get angry because she likes Eric?" She questioned as Nadine thought.
"Well, the King knows that Ariel is still a child but Eric is an adult, and he wants to keep his baby girl safe." Cara settled down and paid attention to the film as Nadine dozed off.
When the film finished Cara started Sleeping Beauty and after that film came Nadine's favourite ever film, Beauty and the Beast which she woke up for. "Why can't our cups and plates talk?" Cara asked her seriously as the film finished.
"Because Chip and Mrs Potts are magical, they were enchanted. Our ones are boring from the shop." Nadine kissed Cara's head. "Never get older." She smiled as her daughter giggled, playing Cinderella.
Both O'Malley women fell asleep with Cinderella playing in the background, around seven in the evening Cara woke up her mom for dinner.
Since she had woken up, she'd had a pain behind her eyes and as she stood up dizziness swooped on her, before it washed away.
Cutting toast into squares before buttering it for her daughter and herself, Nadine noticed her hand shaking as she got a glass for herself and her daughter's sippy cup.
Her eye kept blinking, but only the right one as she filled her glass up. In one hand she had the drinks and the other the plate of toast.
Vision swimming in and out she stumbled into the wall as she fell backwards, glass and china shattering as she started to seize.
Shards of glass caught in her arm as she smashed her arm into the wall multiple times. Her phone rang as Cara picked it up. "Mommy shaking." Cara whispered, tears running down her cheeks. "Blood, mommy bleeding." She told her Uncle as he ran out of work.
Seven minutes later and the door slammed open, George could see the glass and china fragments across the kitchen floor and saw one shaking foot as he rushed over to his sister.
"Nads, I'm here." He muttered, gently moving her away from the wall, a pillow under her head as he held her on her side. Blood trickled down her arm as the glass was lodged in. "How long has mommy been shaking?" He asked his crying niece.
Cara was sat on the sofa, like he told her to on the phone. "Since before you phone. She just fell." She whispered, the three year old didn't understand why her mommy fell a lot but she knew it was normal for her and to call an adult.
George rubbed his sister's back as she continued to seize, groans escaping her lips. "Cluster seizures." He told himself as she eventually stopped and laid on the floor.
Nadine's fist was still locked shut as she whimpered, George rubbing her back and pushing her hair out of her face. "You did so good, Nay." He comforted his sister as she started to come round. "My shift finished ten minutes ago. We can either go to the hospital and stitch these up or I can ask Izzie and Meredith to get a suture kit before they leave." Nadine shook her head.
George called Izzie. "Hey, before you leave can you grab a suture kit and some bandages and bring it to Nadine's." She agreed as Nadine groaned, her hand spasming and hitting the wall.
Cries and groans left her mouth as another seizure started up. "And some diazepam. It's Nadine, she's been having cluster seizures for twenty minutes, she fell on glass and it's embedded in her arm. She won't go to the hospital." The call ended as George held his sister.
The door flung open as Meredith and Izzie walked in, blood was on the floor, Nadine's right wrist and forearm were covered in bruises from the wall and she had wet herself, Meredith grabbed a towel and draped it over her.
George tried to hold her arm as carefully as he could, you weren't supposed to restrain them when they were seizing, but she risked pushing the shards in deeper and could catch an artery.
"George you talk to her, Izzie inject two milligrams of diazepam and I'll start suturing." Meredith instructed as the seizure slowed and stopped. "How many is that?" She asked George.
He rubbed his hand over his sister's cheek gently and sighed. "Atleast three, maybe four. Cara said she'd started shaking about two minutes before I called and then she said she stopped and started again but didn't come round inbetween."
Epilepsy had been a part of Nadine since the day she was born, she was underweight as a newborn despite being full-term, she was the size of a premie baby, she had problems with her heart at first, but the arrhythmias stopped after a few weeks and was diagnosed with epilepsy at six months.
George knew how to help her and so did her brothers and parents, he had spent weeks teaching them before he felt comfortable leaving her and Cara alone with them after she was born. Yes they had dealt with it for twenty two years, but now a newborn was involved it became a lot harder.
It controlled her life, it was in control, epilepsy held the reigns, not Nadine. This disease was a part of her whether she liked it or not, so she got on with it.
After fifteen minutes without a seizure, Nadine's eyes began to flutter as she groaned. Izzie had got an ice pack for her right arm and held it there as Meredith finished the last sutures on her left arm. George smiled as she woke up.
"It happened again?" She whispered as George nodded. "Cara?" Her lips shook slightly as tears welled in her eyes. George rubbed her good hand.
After another five minutes, Izzie and Meredith helped her into the bathroom, she wanted a shower but they knew not to leave her alone in case she had another seizure. The two women faced the other way after helping her undress.
George passed a pair of shorts, a tank top, underwear and fuzzy socks through the gap between the door to Izzie as they kept talking to Nadine.
A crash sounded behind them as they span around, she was on the floor, but she wasn't convulsing. "I'm fine. I got dizzy for a second." She muttered, yawning as Meredith helped her step into her clothes and Izzie dried her hair.
An hour later and Izzie had helped George clean the apartment as Meredith sat with Cara. "What's your favourite disney princess?" She asked the three year old as Mulan ended. "Mine is Pocahontas."
Cara grinned as Pocahontas started. "I love Ariel, my mommy loves Belle and Aurora." She told the woman, resting her head on her shoulder.
Ten minutes into the film, Cara was asleep on the sofa, Nadine in her bed and George and Izzie had joined the two with the film.
At nine pm, Meredith and Izzie left as George chose to stay the night. He placed Cara into her bed before collapsing into his own, sleep welcoming him, but interrupted by worries for his sister.
Nobody had thought about the effects of her epilepsy on her twin brother, everytime he saw his twin seizing, or collapsing he felt sick and he hated a god that could put someone so innocent through that at a young age.
Everytime he had to clean up his sister after a fit, whether that was cuts, bruises, blood, sprains, accidents or the apartment, he hurt a little more but he didn't allow himself to be upset because he had to focus on his sister.
Yes it affected him, of course it did, but it was her disease, her pain and her seizures. She had every right to feel angry at the world but he, not so much. George had hidden her keys, since the seizures became more frequent again, she would have to wait another three months before driving again.