On a hot summer day, in the middle of a crowded restaurant, I collapsed. When I came to, I saw a sea of unfamiliar faces and an EMT. When I turned my head, I sighed in relief at the comforting sight of my dining partner — a man I’d only been seeing for two weeks.
We met through a mutual friend
A couple of weeks prior, he and I met for the first time through a mutual friend. They had been in the same fraternity in college, and our friend had been telling us about each other for a month because he thought we’d hit it off. When he threw a birthday party in New Jersey, my soon-to-be date drove down from his home in Boston to celebrate, and we finally met.
At first, he was shy and could only say hello. But he eventually opened up, and we hit it off.
The party was on Friday, and he was adamant about going on a date before he went back to Boston that Sunday night. At the end of the date, he told me he was bad at texts, calls, and FaceTime. I shook my head, thinking it would never work between us, especially with the distance. But against all odds, after two weeks of texting and calling, I booked a two-week trip to Boston, where I’d stay with him for the first week, and my college friends the second week.
Photo Credit: Benjamin Tayas
At first, I wondered if we were moving too fast
A few days into my visit, we attended an EDM concert to see one of our favorite artists. During the rave, he turned to me and shouted, “I think I’m in love with you!”
Taken aback, I pushed the comment aside and told him to say it again another time. The next morning, he doubled down on the comment, and, on our following date, asked me to be his girlfriend.
I told him it was too soon. I felt as if he was love-bombing me and being hasty with this decision. I was nervous he would feel differently once we parted, and he might break up with me a few months later when he realized he didn’t feel the same anymore.
I had a seizure, and he was there for me
A week later, we grabbed breakfast before my bus home. We had gone out the night before, and I wasn’t feeling well. The restaurant was crowded, so we sat at the bar with high chairs. I grabbed a sip of my water; then, everything went black.
From what he tells me, I began to do a strange stretch with my left arm. I fell over on my left side and hit my head against the wall. Once I was on the floor, I started seizing for about two minutes, which doesn’t sound like a long time, but time is relative. Luckily, one of the waitresses had experience with seizures and turned me over to my side. Once it stopped, they sat me up and put a towel behind my head.
When I came to, I remember being unable to speak. As the EMT asked me questions, I answered in my head, but the words wouldn’t come out of my mouth. They eventually laid me on a stretcher, rolled me into the back of the ambulance, and asked my date if he wanted to come with. He followed before the EMT even finished the sentence. I remember seeing his face; he looked like someone had sucked the life out of him. He was pale, and his eye sockets were sunken.
Courtesy of Suha Cho
We made it official in the emergency room
I couldn’t walk, so they put me in a wheelchair. It was all so surreal. Suddenly, the man I had only known for two weeks was now rolling me around in a wheelchair. I wouldn’t have blamed him for never wanting to see me again.
After six hours of waiting in the emergency room, I was admitted to triage. The nurse asked me questions, including who my companion was and whether he was a friend or boyfriend. Since it was a complicated situation and I couldn’t tell her that we weren’t exactly official because I had rejected him a week before, I told her he was my boyfriend.
When the nurse left, I jokingly said to him, “I guess we’re dating now!”
He laughed, but the smile slowly faded. He began to tear up and said, “I finally got you, and I almost lost you. I don’t ever want to lose you.”
At that moment, I realized he truly loved me. This wasn’t some silly relationship to him; he was serious about me, it just took a seizure for me to realize it.
That was almost two years ago, and we’re still together. We’ve been long-distance ever since, and although it’s difficult not being together physically, we make it work by visiting at least once a month. Though having a seizure was unpleasant, I’m actually thankful for the experience. It reassured me that everything does happen for a reason.
