A Little Excerpt

February 2019

Kevin Maggliardi and his girlfriend, Shanti Lee, spent an evening together watching cartoons in Kevin’s Cambridge, MA apartment. Their friends were out doing other things, so it was just them.

Shanti’s ear was on Kevin’s chest so that she could listen intently to his heart beating. She thought it sounded very deep.

“You have a soothing heartbeat,” she said to him. He drew in a deep breath.
“It’s been through hell and back,” Kevin remarked.
“Your heart?”
“Yup.”
“How so?” Shanti asked.
“When I was held at gunpoint for one, they pressed the revolver into my chest to the point that my heart actually stopped for a split second,” Kevin remarked.
“Oh wow.”
“And then do you remember a couple years ago when I pulled the all-nighter?”
“You’ve pulled several all-nighters.”
“Yes, and then I feel like crap the next day. But this time was fueled with energy drinks, pop, and coffee. All at the same time.”
“Do I remember what you were doing?” Shanti asked.
“I was working on a huge side chemistry project,” Kevin replied.
“That’s right. Now I remember.”
“I was living on energy drinks, pop, and coffee throughout the whole day since I didn’t want to leave the project unfinished. It screwed me over when I finally went to bed around 6 the next morning. My heart was pounding so hard I thought I was going to throw up. I even had to apply an ice pack to my side to slow down my heart rate.”
“Poor heart.”
“Now I know to never drink all three at the same time ever again. That was horrible,” Kevin said.
“No doubt,” Shanti replied.
“When I pull an all-nighter anyway, I always notice an increase in my heart rate.”
“Well yeah because of the increased adrenaline levels.”
“Damn straight.”