The Improvised Plug-In Blood Pressure Device
Short Stories from Türkiye 🇹🇷 — Short Story #3
Hasan and Leyla are a retired engineer couple living a peaceful life in the mountains, where they built their own tiny house built on a hill. Their wooden tiny home overlooks the breathtaking view of the Marmara Sea.
Despite their serene surroundings, Hasan is quite concerned about Leyla’s fluctuating blood pressure these days.
The doctor said she needs to avoid stress, but even in the midst of beautiful nature and serenity in the mountains, Leyla finds little things to be stressed about.
One stormy night, as the rain lashed against their windows and the wind howled, causing their tiny house to shake every now and then, Leyla stood up to go to the restroom.
She suddenly held her head, stumbling backward. Hasan rushed over to help.
“Are you okay, my love?” he asked.
I feel dizzy,” Leyla replied.
Hasan helped Leyla lie down on the couch. She held her chest in pain.
“Hasan, I can feel my heart beating. It’s pounding, almost like it’s trying to break free.”
Hasan took the blood pressure monitoring device, a lifeline for the couple in moments like these, and quickly put it on Leyla’s arm. He pressed the ON button, but the device didn’t work.
“What is it?” Leyla asked.
“Hold on. The battery must’ve run out.”
Panic set in as Hasan fumbled to find fresh batteries for the blood pressure monitoring device. He checked the drawer in the living room, but there was only the empty packaging of Duracell.
“Take deep breaths, my love. Here, I’ll do it with you. Inhale… 1, 2, 3, 4. Hold. Exhale… 1, 2, 3, 4. Good. I’ll be right back. Keep doing it.”
Lightning struck as Hasan rushed outside to the shed in only his T-shirt and pajama pants. Rain showered on him before he threw himself into the shed.
“Come on! Come on!” he uttered, looking through the shelves of boxes and tools. The dim light in their shed cast eerie shadows, intensifying Hasan’s panic.
As Leyla’s cries echoed through his ears, Hasan scoured the shed for batteries with his trembling hands. The shadows seemed to dance with each flicker of lightning, playing tricks on his frayed nerves.
The storm raged outside when Hasan rushed out of the shed and into the tiny home. Leyla was still lying on the couch, holding her chest and taking deep breaths.
“No batteries, Leyla.”
“It’s okay. It’s probably my high blood pressure. Can you make me some lemon water, please?”
But Hasan brought some tools from the shed and laid them on their coffee table.
“What are you doing?” Leyla asked curiously, still holding her chest and trying to breathe.
“Let’s not jump to conclusions about your blood pressure. We know it’s been fluctuating a lot these days, honey. Please calm down,” Hasan replied.
“I know it’s high. Let’s just get it over with,” Leyla insisted.
“If it’s low, lemon water will make it lower. We can’t drive anywhere in this storm. It’s dangerous! We have to make sure,” Hasan asserted.
His engineer instincts kicked in as he assembled spare wires, connectors, and a salvaged power adapter. He carefully opened the battery compartment of the blood pressure monitoring device and identified the positive and negative terminals.
“Keep breathing,” Hasan uttered.
“I can help,” Leyla said as she stood up and approached him.
With Leyla’s assistance, Hasan stripped the ends of the wires and connected one end of each wire to the respective terminals.
The couple’s years of engineering experience fueled their passion for this work of art for them… Turning a battery-powered device into a plug-in.
Sweat dripped down Hasan’s forehead as he worked swiftly, his mind focused on the task at hand despite the looming fear for Leyla’s well-being.
Leyla helped him connect the wires to the corresponding terminals of the adapter and voilà.
The improvised plug-in device was ready, and Hasan rushed to plug it in. Leyla sat on the couch, out of breath and feeling worse than before. She placed the device on her arm.
“Will it work?” Leyla asked.
“It has to,” Hasan replied.
They took a deep breath and pressed the ON button again.
The digital display of the blood pressure monitoring device flickered to life. The cuff inflated with a sudden and amplified ‘whoosh,’ the noise echoing through the room.
Leyla and Hasan exchanged a worried glance.
Finally, the display revealed a concerning 188. Panic gripped Hasan, but they know the traditional remedy of water with lemon.
Hasan swiftly prepared the remedy, squeezing fresh lemon into a glass of water. He handed it to Leyla, who gulped it down in distress.
Hasan held her close on the couch as the storm outside continued to shake their tiny home.
As the seconds ticked by, Hasan took another reading. This time, relief flooded over him as the numbers normalized. Leyla’s eyes met Hasan’s, gratitude and love shining through.
“You’re okay, my love,” Hasan embraced Leyla.
A lifetime of engineering has paid off through the darkest of the nights. The storm outside raged, but within the walls of their tiny home, Hasan and Leyla emerged stronger than ever.
The stories in this series are a blend of possible truth and fiction, inspired by things I’ve heard from friends and family in Türkiye 🇹🇷. While the core narrative may have real roots, the characters, locations, and details have been fictionalized due to the impossibility of fact-checking and asking for permission.
Thank you for reading this story. Stay tuned for the next short stories in this series and be sure to subscribe to get notified!
If you liked what you read, consider supporting me, but regardless, I hope you continue to prioritize your mental health and do what you love -♡-