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Chris had always been healthy. He and his brothers had always been healthy kids; they played many, many sports and were active throughout all their lives. That’s why he didn’t understand what was going on with him.
It started with a faint tightness in his chest. He really didn’t really remember the first time he felt it, but when he realized he was getting that tightness more often than not. He usually shrugged it off as stress or being a little anxious; it happened to everyone, right?
While filming a car video, he didn’t realize he had been rubbing his chest a lot until Matt furrowed his brow, and looked at him with questioning eyes.
“You okay?”
Chris didn’t realize he was rubbing his chest with two fingers. He quickly dropped his hand, and nodded. Nick was saying something really funny, so he turned to look at his brother, and he didn’t think about his chest again that day. But the tightness didn’t leave him, it kept happening, and without fully being aware of the action he kept rubbing his chest.
“Dude, you okay? Why do you keep touching your chest?” Matt asked, and it made Nick lean forward, fully looking at Chris.
“I’m good. It’s nothing.”
“Is it itchy?” Nick asked.
“No, it’s not itchy.” He didn’t feel like explaining himself. “I don’t know why I was doing that.”
Matt rolled his eyes. “You are so weird.”
“You are probably choked from inhaling those fries.” Nick teased Chris’ fast eating. “Here, drink something.” His brother offered a sip of his soda, and Chris drank from the straw while his brother held it.
“There you go.” Matt joined in the teasing, and patted Chris’ chest.
He knew it wasn’t because of eating too fast; he had felt that before. That tightness felt different, but he just laughed along with his brothers, genuinely not worried about such a small thing. He figured it would pass like everything did.
It didn’t.
The next day, the tightness was still there–subtle but lingering. Chris just continued to rub at his chest absently and kept moving.
After some days, the tightness was joined by a dizzy spell. When he got out of Matt’s bed, he stretched himself, and was ready to go greet his brothers, who were already awake. Maybe he stood up too quickly, because for a moment the world was tilting slightly. Everything seemed to sway. He blinked, and held onto something, waiting for his vision to clear. When the world was returning to normal, Chris shook his head.
“Get it together, Chris,” he muttered to himself, rubbing his face.
“Morning, Chrissy.” Nick greeted him from the kitchen, already smiling looking at how disheveled Chris looked.
“Morning,” he said, opening the fridge and going for his usual Pepsi. He hesitated.
“I think I need to drink more water.” Chris forced himself to choose the water bottle instead of the Pepsi. He thought that maybe it was a little dehydration that gave him the dizzy spell.
“Oh my God, really? You think?” Matt teased him. His brothers were usually appalled by how little water he drank.
“Dude, I almost passed out,” Chris said, opening the water bottle, and chugging half of it.
“You are so dramatic.” Nick said, and stared at Chris’ chugging.
“No, for real. Like, everything went–” Chris moved his hands and arms trying to convey the dizzy spell he experienced. “Like that.”
“Yeah, Chris. That’s why bodies need water. You see, 60% of the body is water, what would lead people to believe that drinking water is kind of important, so–”
Chris rolled his eyes at Nick, and ignored his brother. He decided to change the subject. Soon after, they were already planning their days.
He didn’t think any of it, until it kept happening more and more often. It started to creep in more persistently, joined by a flutter in his chest every now and then. It was a pain because their Youtube channel thrived on spontaneous, fast-paced energy. Not only that, but all of them were really active, always doing something together, and Chris had been getting more and more annoyed with whatever was going on with his body for interfering.
He woke up feeling like something heavy was pressing right beneath his ribs. It was so hard to explain.
Chris kept stretching himself, trying to shake out the sensation, but nothing seemed to help. When they were ready to film a video in their kitchen, Chris had to actually hold onto the marble, fighting a wild dizzy spell. He squeezed his eyes shut, which only made it worse. For a moment Chris thought he would end up on the floor.
“Yo, Chris, we are ready,” Matt was sitting down on the chair, tapping Chris’ seat while Nick finished adjusting the camera.
“Yeah,” he tried to answer casually, but both his brothers realized there was something off.
“Are you okay?” Matt asked, already getting up.
Chris turned around, blinking repeatedly, trying to get his world to get back to normal.
“Woah, you don’t look good.” Nick was next to him in a blink. “What’s going on?”
“I don’t know. Maybe it’s because I didn’t have breakfast.” He felt his brother’s hand guiding him to a chair. Chris rested his arms on the table, then lay his head on them.
“Well you should eat something. Let’s get you something to eat first.” Matt got up, and opened the fridge, trying to find something for Chris.
Chris couldn’t really pay much attention to them, because his focus was on his heart tripping over itself. He groaned, feeling dizzier. He kept rubbing his chest, with his head still down.
“I don’t think we should film today.” Nick said, rubbing Chris’ back. He wanted to argue, but his heart kept flipping in his chest, and it started to freak him out.
“Eat this. Chris, hey, come on.” Matt handed him a sandwich, and Chris made the great effort to straighten himself “Is your chest still bothering you?” Matt asked, sounding a little alarmed.
He saw his brothers share a look, and Chris tried to diffuse the situation. He didn’t want to ruin the day of filming, and he didn’t want to worry his brothers over nothing.
“It's just a little tight, it doesn’t hurt.” Chris said, swallowing hard, finally out of the dizzy spell, but still unable to act like usual due to how his heart was feeling.
“Chris–” Nick used an alarmed tone, and Chris rubbed his face.
“I want to film, I’m fine.” He took a bite of the sandwich, lowering his gaze after feeling his brothers’ intense gazes on him.
He somehow convinced Matt and Nick to film, but he wasn’t 100% in it. Chris couldn’t help but question if what was happening was normal or not. He had been brushing it off; he had been drinking more water, eating a little less like shit, yet it was still happening. And now it was getting in the middle of their routine, making it harder to ignore.
They filmed for the next hour, and it was pissing Chris off that it was hard to keep up with his brothers’ jokes. It took a lot to stay focused, because his breath felt shallow, as if he couldn’t quite get enough air.
They have been doing a mostly sit-down video, to make it easier for Chris. But when they were about to finish filming, they got up, and Chris felt like he had to follow. When he did, his heart raced, and the flapping was so intense that it stole his breath. He had to grip the edge of the table; his vision was blurred, and for a second, Chris thought he might actually pass out on camera.
“Hey, hey,” Matt grabbed his arms.
Nick, who was facing away from them, grabbing something, quickly snapped his head.
“What’s going on with you?” Nick realized Chris was way too unsteady on his feet, so he circled an arm around Chris’ waist.
“Need to sit down.” Chris mumbled, and the world faded in and out. When he realized, he was resting on the sofa; the video was forgotten.
“Why is he so dizzy if he ate the sandwich?” Matt was fanning him with a cushion, carrying an alarmed look on his face.
Chris attempted to straight himself, instead of being limp on the couch, but Nick’s hand quickly stopped him. “No, no, no way. You are staying like that until you feel better.”
His brothers’ eyes were analyzing him. Nick kept patting Chris’ cheek, trying to help him stay awake.
“I feel hot,” he mumbled, his vision still fussy.
“Yeah, your cheeks are all red.” Matt said nervously. “Shouldn’t we, like, get his legs up or something like that?” His brother asked Nick.
“Maybe? Google it–I’m getting a cold pad.” They had some cold pads from when Nick got his wisdom teeth pulled out. His brother sprinted to the freezer.
Chris flinched when he felt the cold sensation on his neck, but he quickly welcomed it. It was actually helping him.
“I think we should get your legs up.” Matt stopped fanning Chris, then moved him into a horizontal position. Nick grabbed his legs and held them up.
“They do this in tv shows,” Chris attempted to joke, but his brothers were not in the mood for it.
Raising his legs, plus the cold pad and fanning quickly made Chris feel better. But he felt bad for worrying his brothers that much; he didn’t mean to.
“I’m fine. I swear I’m fine now,” he tried to reassure his brothers, who were still looking at him as if he would faint at any time. Nick was worriedly biting at his lip, and Matt was nervously touching his fingers.
“You don’t look fine, you are still pale.”
“I want to finish the video–”
“No way. Chris, it was scary. It’s scary seeing you fainting.”
“I didn’t faint.”
“You were very close to.” Nick said, then touched Chris’ hair.
“Just, rest. I don’t give a fuck about the video. Something’s going on with you.” Matt said, grabbing Chris hand, intertwining their fingers together.
“I’m fine, guys. I swear.” Chris let out a sight.
He hated worrying his brothers.