As soon as Martin left, Steve grabbed his heart. He felt a sharp, stabbing pain in it. The lines on the monitor had been quivering less regularly for some time, but now all three were starting to create sharper spikes. If it took a little longer, Paxton knew the medical staff would be alerted, so he tried his best to control himself.
Breathe, just breathe normally without thinking about anything that might bring you any anxiety. Just breathe, nothing more ...
He made it. His heavy breathing began to return to normal and his readings stabilized.
During the conversation with Martin, Steve did not lie that he was feeling very well. At least it was like that in the beginning, because during the conversation with the boy, the anesthetic effect faded away completely and the tears in Martin's eyes reminded Paxton of how close he was to a pointless death.
