Please Stay

Aneurysms are unpredictable. They can strike anyone at any time. Author Greg Payan and his partner, Holly, learned this the hard way one terrible, traumatic morning.

Greg and Holly were very much in love. They had met on a beach in Mexico, and after ten years they were spending their lives together, for better or for worse.

The "worse" part came on a Monday morning in the spring of 2014. Greg heard frightening cries from the bedroom and ran in to find Holly barely responsive and unable to move. An ambulance got to her in time, but she almost did not survive the next twenty-four days in the intensive care unit.

Greg faithfully chronicled Holly's health crisis and the surgeries she endured to fix her ruptured aneurysm and to limit the damage caused by her brain hemorrhage. Using the emails and texts sent to and from friends and family, Greg allows readers to relive the story as it unfolds. His memoir shows the intense stress and emotional roller coaster ride experienced by those who loved Holly.

The doctors warned them that she might not live or ever be herself again. But Greg and Holly's shared courage and determination allowed them to defy the odds.