She expected to see him smoking a cigarette per usual but was shocked to see him unresponsive on a couch.
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Rajani's stomach did its best Titanic impression and sank.
"Dad! Dad!"
The silent air was pierced sharply by Rajani's loud cry. Panic seized her as she quickly ran over to her unreactive father and sat down on the floor. With trembling hands, she tapped his face firmly. Mr. Archarya's face was usually pale but this time, he looked whiter than chalk. His eyes remained closed as a wave of fear rushed over his daughter.
Oh my gosh, he probably fainted! she thought. Ugh, this is all my fault! I wish I could call an ambulance but God knows I have no money to pay for it.
"Dad, please! Wake up!" Rajani pleaded, her voice a mix of fear and desperation. His unresponsive form only tightened the knot of fear in her stomach.
She fumbled for her phone, her fingers shaking as she dialed for help. The seconds stretched into an agonizing wait as she clung to the hope that help would arrive in time to solve the mystery behind her father's sudden unconsciousness.
It wasn't so much of a "mystery," though. It was obvious that Rajani's irresponsibility had frightened her poor, cancerous father so much that he fainted.
The air felt thick and heavy as Rajani's chest rose and fell with every worried breath.
"Hello?" a deep, booming voice from Rajani's phone said.
Rajani gasped with relief. "Ravon! Please, where ever you are come back to my house. Now!"
"I'm in your driveway, why?"
"Just come in! The door is unlocked!" she begged. The desperation in her voice echoed off the walls.
Ravon hung up the call abruptly.
Why would he hang up? I need his assistance! Oh my gosh, what do I do now? Rajani thought. I know! I'll search for how to wake up a fainted person on my phone!
She quickly searched for her exact inquiry.
Okay, so it says to yell, call their name, and shake their shoulders, Rajani thought.
"Dad! Aryvan Archarya!"
She was practically screaming in his ears when she started to sob bitterly. She shook her father's shoulders vigorously, slapped his face, and sharply pinched him before some rather unsettling thoughts started to creep their way into her head.
What if he's in a coma? Take him to a hospital!
What if he had a heart attack? Take him to a hospital!!
He's dead. Just forget it.
Mr. Archarya did not wake up, and just when Rajani decided to give up on trying to save her father, a shiver went down her spine at the sound of the front door creaking open. She turned to meet worried eyes with her boyfriend running into the scene, his concerned expression mirroring the fear that clenched her heart.
"Rajani, what's happening?" he asked, his voice trembling. His eyes widened at the sight of Mr. Archarya's unconscious body lying on the couch like a dead fish.
"I-I don't know," Rajani quickly replied in a broken voice. "I just came in and saw him like that."
"Well, the fuck are you doing? Call an am-"
"No, just what the fuck are you doing?! Why are you getting mad at me?"
"'Cause you want to call me before calling a damn ambulance!"
"You know I don't have that kind of money, Ravon!"
"But you know I do!"
"Yeah, but-"
"Stop talking to me! Talk to the paramedics!"
It took everything in Rajani to hold back from socking Ravon in his stupid jaw. How dare he tell her to stop arguing with him and focus on her unconscious father!
Next time your stupid ass wants to yell at me like that, I'm gonna punch your fucking eyes out, dumb fuck, she thought.
Rajani quickly dialed 911 before summarizing the whole situation to the dispatcher. The pair anxiously waited for the ambulance to arrive.
Ravon's hands clenched into fists as he moved closer to Rajani, his eyes never leaving her father's motionless form. The room seemed to close in on them as the gravity of the situation sank in.
Torn between wailing like a banshee and staying strong for his girlfriend, Ravon said, "What if he's not even alive?"
After hearing these words, Rajani realized that her boyfriend's questioning was right. Her father who had anxiety, depression, a cigarette addiction, stage 2 lung cancer, and a carefree promiscuous daughter very well could've fainted that night and died that morning.
"Um, I don't know," she muttered as tears started to flow down her face like rain.
"Have you checked his pulse?"
Rajani shook her head.
"I'll check it," Ravon replied. He knelt over to Mr. Archarya and placed his two fingers just below his jaw.
"So? Is he dead?" Rajani asked in anticipation.
"No," Ravon answered as he turned to sit next to his girlfriend. "He's alive but his heart is beating very... slow."
"What does that mean?"
He shook his head. "I don't know."
"He's going to be okay, right?" Rajani whispered, the fear evident in her voice.
She rested her head on Ravon's heaving chest. "I hope so, Rajani. We need to stay calm and wait for the ambulance."
As the distant wail of the approaching ambulance grew louder, the room filled with tense anticipation. Ravon hugged his girlfriend, his presence a mixture of comfort and shared concern.
Soon enough, the paramedics came ringing on the doorbell. Ravon quickly stood up and ran to the door to open it. Once Rajani relayed the situation to the paramedics, they calmly but swiftly took charge, efficiently transferring Mr. Archarya's pale body onto a stretcher.
The urgency and quickness of their movements reassured Rajani that everything would be fine. However, she still felt such a lump in her throat so large, that she thought she had grown an Adam's apple.
Ravon placed a reassuring hand on Rajani's shoulder, his eyes reflecting a mix of concern and support. Together, they followed the paramedics out of the house. The blaring sirens of the ambulance drowned out the neighborhood noise as onlookers watched worriedly.
In the ambulance, Rajani sat close to her father, gripping his hand as if she was trying to anchor him back to consciousness. Ravon sat silently beside his girlfriend, offering support in the form of his arm wrapping around her shoulder.
As they arrived at the hospital, the whirlwind of medical staff enveloped her father, and Rajani felt a profound sense of reassurance. The harsh fluorescent lights of the emergency room cast a sterile glow on her worried face.
Ravon and Rajani followed the paramedics with Mr. Archarya to a room decorated with posters of happy and colorful monkeys, cats, and sheep.
Rajani sighed.
She had been here one too many times and was tired of waiting for a rich, white doctor to tell her that her father's lungs were more unhealthy than an STD-positive rat living in New York.
The hospital had obviously tried its best to lighten the mood, by displaying vibrant posters that read "Everything Is Going To Be OK" and "Did You Know That Fake Smiling Makes You Happier? Fake It 'Til You Make It!" but they weren't making anyone any happier, including the rich, white doctor who knocked on the door.
There was no answer to the knock, so the doctor decided to let herself in the room.
"Hello," she said. "How are you all doing?"
Ravon nodded at the doctor and smiled grimly. "Fine."
"That's alright," the doctor replied. She sat down on a muted blue stool in the middle of the room. "I heard about what happened with Mr. A. Please stay calm, I am going to wake him up."
Rajani sighed and kept her gaze fixed on her father's face when suddenly, he opened his eyes.
"Wait!" she said. "I-I think he's woken up by himself!"
The doctor stood up from the stool and looked at Mr. Archarya to see that he was awake. "Oh wow, looks like you both have a miracle."
Ravon gasped with relief after seeing that Mr. Archarya was awake.
"Yes!" he cheered. "Rajani, I hope you feel better now."
He hugged his girlfriend tightly. The doctor looked at the hugging couple and frowned bitterly, but then looked up at a poster on the wall and smiled greatly.
"W-where am I?" Mr. Archarya muttered.
Rajani caressed her father's arm. "It's okay, Dad. You're in the hospital."
Mr. Archarya immediately frowned even more than he had before. "Why? Get me out of here!"
"I'm so sorry, Dad, but you need to wait."
The doctor tapped on Rajani's shoulder to get her attention. "Actually, you don't need to wait, as long as you pay the bills for the ambulance and my time here."
Rajani brushed her shoulder as if something disgusting had touched it. "Um, Okay."
"I'll pay them for you," Ravon whispered to his girlfriend, "don't worry about it."
Rajani smiled at Ravon to say "thank you" and then turned her gaze to the doctor.
She was an overweight, middle-aged white woman who looked like she got angry whenever her time was wasted, and she looked quite frustrated, so Rajani decided not to waste any more time to leave the hospital.
"We will take our leaves now," she told the doctor.
The doctor frowned and crossed her arms. "If you're not going to pay the bills right now then when will you do so?"
"I believe that the hospital staff has my address in their system," Rajani replied. "Please mail me the bills when you get the chance."
The doctor started to walk toward the door. "Will do. Now if you don't mind, I will be leaving. You all are free to leave the hospital. Have a good day!"
Ravon's mouth formed a small rictus. "You have a better one."
Rajani held her boyfriend's hand. "Ravon, how will we get home without a ride?"
He turned to his girlfriend and her father. "I will call a cab to take us all home, don't worry."
Mr. Archarya sighed. "I'll try not to."
In a short amount of time, Ravon, Rajani, and Mr. Archarya gathered their belongings and made their way out of the hospital.