Yesterday and Today

ME: I need to lie down.
BF: Just a minute.

I remember the first Grand Mal aka Tonic Clonic seizure I ever had in public. It was summer, during a short vacation. I was eighteen years old running wild and free with friends. We had danced all night at a club called The Fine Line. It was afternoon and we were wandering through thrift shops and record stores. It was over 100 F, a typical blazing hot Tucson afternoon.

We were in a record store called Zia Record Exchange. My then boyfriend was a huge Beatles fan. Huge. On the record store wall hung his Holy Grail. *cue angels singing* It was the Beatles' album Yesterday and Today, THE one with the controversial "butcher" album cover.

He had to have it. It would change his life. He knew it.

I had to have a seizure. It would change my life. I didn't know it.

I was not feeling well. My mouth had gone metallic, beads of sweat were forming on my upper lip, I began to wonder if I had caught a cold. Everything felt off; surreal.

ME: I need to lie down.
BF: Just a minute.
ME: Right now. On the floor.
BF: Hold on, don't lay on the floor. Almost done.
We were next in line at the cashier. Maybe I could hold on just a little bit longer. Maybe I...
ME: I ca...ah...

I woke up staring at an openwork industrial ceiling and bright fluorescent lights. Where was I? How did I get on the...ahhhhh the back of my head..I could feel the bump rising on the back of my skull. Was there blood? I wasn't sure if my head was bleeding. I was lying on a grey concrete floor. Sounds began to rush in. People. Everywhere. People. Crowding around me. 

My boyfriend was pushing through the crowd. He reached down to grab my hand. He was red-faced with embarrassment.

BF: She's fine. Back up. She can get up.
VOICES IN CROWD: *Gasp!* Ohhhh. *Mumbles.* *Shuffling*
CASHIER: Would you like us to call an ambulance? Sir?
BF: No. She's fine. It's fine.

I shakily rose to my feet. The crowd dissipated. Everyone pretended that nothing had ever happened. The cashier shuffled his feet and looked at the floor. He would not make eye contact with me. Nobody would. My boyfriend hugged his brown paper bag containing Yesterday and Today, dropped his head and yanked me by the arm out the front door.

BF: How embarrassing  You were flopping around like a fish. Never do that again.

What?

*/
RQ
www.seizethediary.com