Ab(solutely) Normal by Rocky Callen

Author:Rocky Callen [Carpenter, Nora Shalaway; Callen, Rocky]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781536231595
Publisher: Candlewick Press
Published: 2023-06-15T00:00:00+00:00

2.

The ambulance ride was different than I had imagined.

“How are you feeling?” the paramedic asks me.

I hate that question. “Like shit.”

She nods. “On a scale of one to ten, how bad is your chest pain now? You said an eleven before.”

“A solid ten, I think,” I answer, holding my chest.

Adrian watches from where he’s sitting in the ambulance—I’ve never seen him look so worried. He has his hand on my shin but moves it away to answer a text.

“Your mom is going to meet us at the hospital,” he says. I nod.

“You’re too young to have a heart attack, but take this just in case,” the paramedic says, handing me an orange pill and a cup of water. “It’s aspirin,” she explains.

“Oh,” I said, and tip the cup back.

Adrian, Myra, and I had been eating frozen yogurt at the Tyler Mall when suddenly my chest began hurting. It was as if my heart was getting crushed. And then I was doubled over in pain and clutching my chest on the floor. I couldn’t even make it to the car. Each breath and step was excruciating. Myra called the paramedics, and Adrian called my mom.

Mom was already at the hospital. She told Adrian and Myra to go home and that I’d call them when I got out. Adrian seemed reluctant, but Myra offered to take him and they left.

The nurses have me get undressed and into a gown—I regret not shaving my legs when I see my nurse. He places sticky pads with wires all over my chest and explains it’s an EKG machine and will show if I’ve had a heart attack.

“On a scale of one to ten, what’s your pain level?” he asks.

The pain is all but gone, and now I feel silly sitting in the hospital. I’ve wasted everyone’s time.

“I’d say, like, a low two. Or even a one. It’s not like it was at the mall.”

He nods.

Yup, I’d just wasted everyone’s time.

The doctor came in quicker than I had anticipated.

“Hello, María, I’m Dr. Lee, the attending physician. I hear you had an eventful day at the mall.” She looks at her tablet.

“Yeah, my chest hurt.”

“What did you eat today?”

I try to remember. “Oatmeal at breakfast. Then we had tacos at Miguel’s for lunch. And then the frozen yogurt. Plain with fruit.”

“Hmm. Okay. Have you had pain like this before?”

“No, she hasn’t,” my mom answers for me. “I would’ve brought her in if she did.”

“Of course, ma’am,” Dr. Lee says, smiling at my mom. “We just have to ask.”

“She probably just ate something spicy and was being dramatic.” My mom looks over at me.

“No, Mom, I literally thought I was going to die.”

“Ay.” My mom sounds annoyed.

Dr. Lee smiles that way people do when they’re trying to be professional but are about to say something you, or in this case my mom, don’t want to hear. “María, would it be okay if I spoke to you alone?”

“You can’t do that!” My mom stands up. “She’s a minor.”

“In the state of California, I can speak to your daughter alone,” Dr.

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