Housemate medical emergency

I need to work on my selective hearing/hearing comprehension, be more aware of my surroundings, and control my panic. It's disconcerting to realize you couldn't discern someone's call for help. It's more troubling to feel like you're thinking and moving so slowly while trying to help them.


So this morning, I got up late, rushed to get ready, and drove toward work. My car was making a weird noise whenever my car moved, and I thought something might be stuck in my wheel or fender. I stopped the car to check but didn't see anything. I decided to go back and work from home just in case I was damaging my car by driving it. On the way home, I realized the noise wasn't consistent and seemed to momentarily stop whenever there was a dip in the road. Something has to be dragging. I eventually decided to look at the undercarriage instead of just taking the car to a shop. Lo and behold, part of a tree branch was stuck, just on the inside of my right tire. I pulled it out, and the noise was gone. Since I was home and I didn't want to deal with the later traffic, I just decided to stay home.

I started my work and then took a mini break to eat breakfast. Matt and I talked for a bit in the kitchen. The homeowner's uncle talked to me a bit too. Matt went to work, and I went back to my room to do more work.

After a while, someone's voice broke my concentration. It was Alden, another housemate. Why do I hear his voice? Why is he talking so loudly? I couldn't understand what he was saying because there are at least two walls and a hallway between our rooms and we're at the opposite ends of the hallway. I assumed he was talking loudly on the phone, but his tone sounded weird. I didn't know why it sounded weird; it just did.

So I decided to walk down the hall and slowly pass by his room just to see if he was really saying anything or if I was imagining his voice. I didn't hear anything. I walked to the kitchen. As I was opening the fridge door, I thought I heard a voice again. I stopped and waited. Nothing. I closed the fridge and walked back to his door. Silence and then some mumbling.

Maybe he's sleep-talking. I waited and didn't hear anything else. I walked back to my door and waited. After hearing nothing for a while, I figured it was just sleep-talking. As I was closing my door, I heard more mumbling coming from Alden's room. And for some reason, the only word I could clearly hear in that moment was "help." I opened my door, stuck my head out, and heard more mumbling. And a very clear "ambulance." "Help" and "ambulance." I grabbed my phone and immediately walked back to his door, knocked, and asked if he was ok. He responded, but again I couldn't understand. I could only clearly hear those two words. So I told him I was opening the door.

He was lying on the floor on his stomach. He asked me to call the ambulance for him. He had fallen, couldn't get up or move, had been vomiting, and had been calling out for help. He said he'd been on the floor for an hour.

I got out my phone. I stared at it. I don't know why I stared at it. I was telling myself to call 911. I have the SJPD emergency and non-emergency numbers on my phone. I eventually got to the number and called, but it felt like I was moving in really slow stop-motion. I felt like I couldn't think or move. I could only parrot the dispatcher or Alden to give the dispatcher the pertinent information. I followed his instructions and thanked him.

I talked to Alden and let him know an ambulance was on the way. I apologized that I couldn't move him or help him get his clothes on because I didn't want to risk injuring him. I cleared the stuff around him so that the paramedics could get to him more easily.

The fire department arrived in 5-10 minutes since they're basically down the street from our neighborhood. I couldn't answer their questions because I barely know Alden. This was probably the tenth time I've ever spoken to him. So I just stood aside, waited, and listened. The uncle asked me what happened, and I told what little I knew. The guys asked Alden questions and checked his vitals.

Maybe it was the state I was in, but I felt like the lead responder wasn't very friendly. Also sounded a little condescending. Just his tone with Alden. But again, I was not in a good mindset, so maybe I misinterpreted his tone. Maybe he can't be that friendly when he's doing his job.

The ambulance arrived, and Alden was loaded in. I asked the first responder what was gonna happen now, wondering if there was anything else I needed to or could do. "What's gonna happen now? We're taking him to the hospital. That's what's happening now. After that, I don't know." I thanked him. And they left.

And that was that. They didn't take his phone or anything with them. So I'm not sure what's gonna happen from here. I hope Alden at least remembers someone's contact information.

But yeah, this was my start to the day. Since then, I've been in bed thinking and overthinking as I normally do. I'm trying to figure out why I felt like I was moving so slowly. Like I was moving through sludge. Like my brain shut down.

I'm glad I went back home. Because who knows how long he would have been on the floor before someone heard him? Who knows what would have happened? Time could have been critical. The uncle had heard him early on but assumed he was on the phone talking to someone; and the uncle was about to leave the house for a while too. I had assumed he was on the phone too, when I heard him later. But his tone just sounded off. Now, I realize his voice sounded distressed. But I couldn't pinpoint it at the time.

Anyway, I'm hoping it's not anything life-threatening :/

This really scared me. I was nearly oblivious to his calls for help. My reaction made me wonder if I'm gonna be like this every time there's an emergency. If so, how dependable can I really be, if I'm gonna panic and have to remind myself to stay focused and to move? If this had really been a time-sensitive situation, things could have been really bad.


For now, I'm trying to remind myself that I heard him and he's in a hospital. Things are okay... Now, I'm just hoping for the best.

I'm also wondering why this is affecting me so much. It feels... debilitating to think about this, but I can't help it.