Short story: Little heart

( Quang Ngai Newspaper) - When Mai was biting her lips and carefully writing each stroke on the square lines, a heart attack struck. Mai hugged her chest, her face on the table, the teacher's voice still ringing in her ears: "The white butterfly/ Floats around the rose garden/ Met a bee/ Was flying quickly/ The butterfly immediately called/ Invited her to go out...". The heart attack accompanied by shortness of breath made Mai panic. But the pain would pass quickly, the teacher and friends around did not know. Only the letters on the square lines suddenly became scribbled. When she got home, Mai opened her notebook and pointed at the scribbled lines to describe the pain: "Mom, you see, my handwriting at that time was exactly like an electrocardiogram". Mai often liked to make comparisons, like when she compared her headache to "flashing like LED lights hanging from peach branches on Tet holiday". Looking at her daughter's figure running around in the yard, Suong's heart suddenly tightened. Her two children were often sick, from flu to pneumonia, when outside medicine did not work, the couple carried each other to the hospital. But anyway, those illnesses will be cured with treatment. It is not as scary as a weak heart. Lying next to each other at night, Mai often lifted her mother's hand to her chest and whispered:

- Mom, can you hear my heart beating? Thump! Thump! Thump! How many thumps per minute is a healthy heart?
- About 70 - 110 times a minute, baby. As you grow older, your heart rate will decrease.
- When you have a heart attack, everything around you is still going on, only you are motionless. The difficulty breathing is very scary. Mom once told Dad that when she was in the delivery room, after receiving the spinal anesthesia injection, she was also scared because she had difficulty breathing. I was just as scared as Mom.
Suong hugged her daughter and patted her little back. She comforted her:
- It's okay, son. It's just a little stuffy. We'll take you to the doctor next week.

MH: VO VAN

But the next morning, when Mai was hurriedly bending down to put on her slippers to go to school, the heart attack struck again. Mai held her chest, just in time for her mother Suong to run over. Even though the pain had gone away, Mai was still taken by her father to the emergency room of the town's general hospital. The doctors listened to Mai's heartbeat and did a CT scan of her heart, but nothing was discovered. Before a heart attack and chest pain, everything was normal, but Mai became cautious every time she wanted to rush into her friends to play, cautious when cycling on the sidewalk every afternoon, cautious when the teacher asked which friends were going to experience the white goat farm nearly a hundred kilometers away... Mai was afraid that a sudden pain would make her weak and pitiful in front of her friends. There were nights when Mai did not dare to close her eyes and fall asleep for fear that a heart attack would strike without anyone knowing, and that she would not be able to wake up the next day. As if understanding her fear, her father comforted her:
- Next week, I'll take a leave to take you to the National Children's Hospital for a check-up. They'll definitely find out what's wrong and cure you.
- What if the doctors still can't find my illness?
- There's no such thing. The hospital in the city has modern equipment and good doctors. Every day, the doctors examine hundreds of children. Any child with a disease is found.

After a few days, her heart was at peace in her chest, and sometimes Mai forgot about it. But that afternoon, while she was receiving her lunch with her friends in class, the heart attack struck again. The tray of food fell to the ground, Mai held her chest with one hand, and held onto the table with the other. The teacher who was distributing the food quickly put down her spoon and ran over, and her friends gathered around. What's wrong? What's wrong? Does your chest hurt? The teacher helped Mai sit down. Remembering her parents' request, the teacher told a friend to get medicine from Mai's bag. Another friend quickly ran to get water. Mai felt easier to breathe, her heart attack gradually went away, and she had taken the medicine. Looking at the worried faces of her friends around her, Mai smiled and said:
- My heart just fluttered for a moment.

The teacher moved Mai to the front desk so she could keep an eye on her. She also reminded the whole class to always keep an eye on Mai so she could help her friend in time. Mai sat timidly among her friends, feeling the back of her neck burning from all the stares. During the break time after that, none of the friends played around or pushed Mai like usual. They even tried to stay a little further away so they wouldn't run into Mai. A few friends who accidentally bumped into Mai immediately turned around to ask and apologize. The laughter echoed far and wide, Mai felt lost among her friends and class. She put her face down on the desk, tears streaming down her small face. Mai didn't know that at that moment, there was a gaze looking at her affectionately from the podium.

That day, the sun was beautiful. Mixed with cold, rainy or humid days, there would be surprisingly warm sunny days like that. The school loudspeaker turned on, the familiar song "Chalk Dust" resounded: "When the teacher writes on the board/ Chalk dust falls/ Is there any dust/ Falling on the podium/ Is there any dust/ On the teacher's hair...". The time for outdoor activities had come. Students rushed out from all the classrooms, white shirts, red scarves, and bright smiles on their lips. Their feet happily danced on each step of the stairs and then blended into the schoolyard with the chirping of birds. Sam whispered to Mai:
- You know? My favorite part of school is outdoor activities. You know what?
- Then I can exercise, play games, and avoid having my homework checked by the teacher.
- Maths just flies up to the sky. My mind feels light, I don't have to think about anything. So happy!

Mai heard her friend say that, and burst out laughing, revealing her missing teeth. Suddenly, the principal's voice rang out, announcing the tug-of-war activity between the grades, combined with taking photos to participate in the "School Beauty" contest to celebrate the anniversary of the town's founding. Needless to say, the students were very excited. Very quickly, the head teacher of the Youth Union divided each grade into separate areas. The atmosphere was joyful like never before, cheers and encouragement echoed from every corner. Keep going! Keep going! The first grade was the smallest in the school, but the cheers were the loudest. Ten students came up to compete in the tug-of-war at a time. Mai cheered until her voice was hoarse, but it was still not her turn. Time was almost up, Mai felt dejected, thinking that the teacher and her classmates had forgotten her. Feeling sad because she had a weak heart and could not play and mingle with her classmates, Mai's tears were about to fall. At that moment, the teacher signaled for her classmates to run out and pull Mai's hand into line. Mai was placed at the very end, spreading her legs to stand firm. The cheers rang out again. 1C, keep it up! Mai, keep it up! In that moment, the voices of her friends and teachers rang out, making Mai very happy. Even when the rope slipped and the whole group fell on the ground in excruciating pain, Mai only saw the sunlight as golden and fragrant as a jar of honey, the leaves rustling happily, and the clear laughter flying up to the white clouds.
A few days later, Mai and her father took the earliest bus to the capital. This was Mai's first long trip, the city gradually appeared through the car window, very busy. Her father was worried that his little daughter would get carsick, but throughout the trip, Mai did not show any signs of fatigue. Enjoying the sight of tall buildings, bridges over the river, and elevated trains, Mai forgot her mother's advice: "Remember to take a nap when you get on the bus to feel better." The hospital was so crowded, there were children from the Central region who had been discharged the day before waiting in line for examination. While waiting in front of the cardiology department, Mai saw children her age. Behind that chest must have a heart that was malfunctioning like Mai's. That thought made Mai both sympathetic and not feel out of place. The doctor called her name, Mai and her father entered the examination room. But after the examination, echocardiogram, and lung ultrasound, the doctor said Mai had no problems with her heart or lungs. The symptoms suggested that Mai might have a digestive disease, so the doctor ordered an endoscopy. Before falling asleep under the effects of anesthesia, Mai asked her father, “When will we be able to go home?”

When Mai woke up, she opened her eyes to see her father's smiling face. The doctor said that Mai had acid reflux, so she occasionally had chest pain similar to a heart attack. She just needed to follow the prescription and abstain from sour, spicy foods and carbonated drinks and she would be fine. When her father called home, Mai seemed to hear her mother sigh in relief on the phone: "You're very lucky that your heart and lungs are fine." On the way home, Mai laughed and talked happily, and the candy in her mouth melted without her realizing it.

The next morning when Mai came to class, her teacher and friends kept asking her about her. Dat, who was usually mischievous and teased Mai, was very attentive today:
- Have you been to the doctor? What did the doctor say about your heart?
- I went to the doctor. It turns out my heart is fine. The doctor said it was because of acid reflux from my stomach into my esophagus, causing chest pain. I don't have to worry anymore. I can play with you guys freely.

The friends cheered, pulling Mai's hand into the middle of the school yard. Mai turned around her friends, put her hand on her chest, listening to her heart beat sweet words of love. The sky was so blue...

VU THI HUYEN TRANG

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