Chapter 112
AN: Thanks to Susan for all her help! You kick kass, little Kokonutt!
It had been a week now, one full week since the amputation. To Nick, it didn’t seem like seven full days
could have gone by, but they had. Still,
though he had far from adjusted, the reality had begun to sink in. He had grown used to the void under the
covers and knew that although he could often feel his left leg – sometimes the
whole thing, other times just his foot, or his toes – it was not there. Sometimes it took a failed attempt at flexing
his foot or curling his toes to remind him of this though, for the phantom
sensations seemed so real.
He had been taken off the PCA machine on Sunday. Now it was Wednesday, and he was slowly being
weaned off of the painkillers Dr. Chavez had used in substitution of the
morphine. The phantom pains still
plagued him occasionally, but just as he was growing stronger and healing, they
were gradually weakening and going away.
He found that it usually helped just to lie perfectly still and
quiet. Unfortunately, he was never
allowed to lie there for very long. Now
that he had been freed from the IV’s that bound him, he had been forced to get
up and out of bed more often. The first
few days, “getting out of bed” just meant moving into a recliner. But then he was introduced to a woman who
would change everything.
Her name was Susan Drevil, and she was a physical therapist. A nice-looking woman in her late twenties,
she probably would have been someone that Nick liked, had it not been for the
fact that the first thing she did after a round of introductions and brief
spurt of small talk was give him a pair of crutches and help him out of bed.
Nick had never realized how difficult it would be to hobble around
on a pair of crutches. Still weaker than
usual from the surgery, it took all of his strength just to support his weight,
and standing up left him feeling dizzy and unbalanced. Despite the time he’d spent on crutches the
previous year for the fracture that had started this whole mess, he had never
quite mastered the art of walking on them, and it was scary to think that if he
lost his balance now, there was no left leg for him to come down on to catch
himself. Luckily, Susan had remained at
his side the entire time, assuring him that she would not let him fall.
His strength was sapped after just a few wobbly laps around the
room, but his confidence had been solidified.
Being able to get out of bed and move around again, despite the energy
it took, was liberating and made everything just a little better.
So maybe he did like the physical therapist after all.
Along with getting him up and walking (well, okay, more like
hobbling, hopping, whatever you want to call it), Susan had shown him a set of
exercises to do while lying in bed that would strengthen his limbs and prepare
him for learning to walk on a prosthesis.
“And that will be when?” Nick had questioned eagerly. He had seen and heard of amputees who could
not only walk on artificial legs, but run, swim, rock climb, even sky dive, and
he had begun to long for the day when he could do the same. Well, maybe not all of those things, but
walking… just walking would be good.
“Well, with a little more practice, I think you’ll be able to get
around fine on crutches,” Susan had told him, sending his heart
plummeting. He didn’t want to be
restricted to crutches, which were just awkward and slow and hurt his arms. But her next words sent his heart soaring
again. “So I think you’d be ready to
start on an initial prosthesis on Wednesday.”
Wednesday… Wednesday…
That was the word he had chanted in his head through the days of
painfully hobbling around on crutches and the long minutes of uncomfortable
exercises, which he dutifully performed like he was supposed to.
And now it was Wednesday afternoon.
The day had started out rather unpleasantly, with Dr. Chavez
showing up after breakfast for a wound check.
She had sawed off the cast, and for the first time, Nick had seen the
actual stump of his leg. And truthfully,
it had freaked him out. The skin was
slightly red and swollen, especially puffy between the row of sutures that ran
like train tracks across the end of the stump, creating a bumpy, uneven
look. He had stared at it in horror,
queasiness ripping through his stomach.
“Couldn’t you have at least sewed it straight?” he had asked feebly.
He had only been half-kidding, but Dr. Chavez had chuckled and
replied, “Hey, no bashing now. This is
the best you’re going to get, hon.”
Smiling, she’d assured him, “Don’t worry. Once the swelling goes down and the sutures
come out, it will even out and get smooth.”
Nick had nodded, turning his head away even so, as the eggs he had
choked down for breakfast scrambled around in his stomach, threatening to come
right back up.
After examining how the end of the stump was healing, Dr. Chavez
had put on another cast, but this one was different from the first. Attached to the end of it was a long, metal
pole, called a pylon. At the end of the
pylon, there was a foot, and at the top, right below where the cast ended,
there was a bendable “knee”.
“This is your IPOP,” explained the doctor. “Immediate Post Operative Prosthesis. You’ll leave this on for about a week and
learn to walk on it with your physical therapist, and after that, if everything
is still going as expected, we’ll probably be able to remove the cast and
sutures and transfer you to a preparatory prosthesis, which you’ll be able to
take off when you want.”
Nick had nodded, staring at the device in awe, anxious to give it
a try. He had been instructed to wait for Susan to come later that day though,
and wait he did.
AJ and Brian were there waiting with him now, while Kevin and
Howie were off representing the group in a meeting with their management and
public relations people. So far, the
media and public hadn’t gotten wind of the amputation yet, but it had already
been a week, and everyone knew they couldn’t keep the news under wraps for much
longer. A press conference would need to
be held, and the public, fans in particular, would have to be informed. Though he knew it had to happen at some
point, the thought made Nick nervous.
How would the fans react?
He tried not to think about it much, for it was just one more
thing that made him feel like throwing up, and that was the last thing he
needed.
“So, Nick, when’s that physical therapist of yours supposed to get
here?” Brian asked, glancing at his watch.
It was just after two in the afternoon.
“I dunno,” Nick replied with a shrug. He wished she would hurry up though; he was
getting anxious and wanted to move around a little. He eyed the recliner parked a few feet away
from his bed, in which AJ was stretched out happily, and announced, “Hey, J,
get your ass up, I wanna sit there.”
Giving Nick a disdainful look over the top of his green-tinted
sunglasses, AJ remarked, “Well, certainly, your majesty, your wish is my
command. And would you like a cool drink
as well? Rok, better fetch a couple palm
fronds cause I’m sure King Nickolas will need to be fanned. And maybe when Claire gets here, she can put
on her coconut bra and give him a massage.”
He grinned wickedly.
Nick rolled his eyes, trying to hide his smirk. Actually, that didn’t sound too bad…
especially that last part…
“You need help, Nick?” Brian asked, giving AJ a playful smack
upside the head as he came over to Nick’s bed.
“Um… maybe… just a little,” Nick grunted, struggling to sit up
straight. He managed to perch himself on
the edge of the bed, and, with Brian’s help, he stood up, putting weight only
on his right leg and leaning heavily on the pair of crutches AJ quickly brought
him.
“You know, you look kinda like a pirate with that leg,” AJ commented,
eyeing the makeshift prosthetic leg, which Nick carefully prevented from
touching the ground as he hobbled awkwardly over to the chair. “Can we start calling you Peg-Leg? Peggy for short?”
“AJ! Shut up and help me!”
Brian hissed, glaring at AJ as the two of them helped Nick sink slowly down
into the recliner. “Quit teasing him!”
Nick heard Brian whisper sharply into AJ’s ear as AJ stooped to put the
footrest of the recliner up for Nick.
“What?” AJ replied loudly.
“Nicky doesn’t mind. Do
you?” AJ looked up at Nick, meeting his
eyes.
“No,” answered Nick, cracking a smile. In truth, he really didn’t. He knew AJ wasn’t being mean; he was just
handling an uncomfortable situation the way he always did – by making
jokes. Brian eyed Nick warily, but only
shrugged and let the issue drop.
“Hey, I’ll be right back,” AJ said suddenly and dashed out of the
room before anyone could ask where he was going.
“What is he up to now?” Brian mumbled, rolling his eyes, yet
smiling at the same time. He and Nick
exchanged amused looks, as if to say, “That’s just AJ.”
‘That’s Just AJ’ returned a few minutes later, supplied with a
smallish gauze pad and a roll of thin gauze.
“That one nurse Samantha is great,” he announced merrily, as he stood
over Nick, purposefully unrolling the gauze.
“Um, AJ? What are you
doing?” Nick asked nervously, glancing up at his friend.
“Shut up, let me work.”
Grinning amusedly, his tongue between his teeth in concentration, AJ
pressed the pad up against Nick’s left eye and barked, “Hold that.”
“AJ!” Nick laughed, now knowing exactly what AJ was doing. Snickering, he obeyed, holding the pad in
place while AJ stretched a long piece of gauze across the pad and looped it
around his head, ripping it off and tying it in the back. “There’s your patch, matey,” AJ said,
stepping back to admire his work. “Hm,
you need something else though…” He
glanced around the room, and then his eyes lit up. A devilish grin spreading over the width of
his face, he went around to the other side of Nick’s bed, bent down, and picked
something up. As he brought the object
back over to Nick, Nick recoiled.
“AJ, no! Get that thing
away from me!”
“Hey, it’s clean!” Cackling
evilly, AJ lowered the stainless steel bed pan upside down onto a squirming
Nick’s head. “There’s your pirate hat,
ye scurvy landlubber. Brian, look! Presenting Long John Carter!”
Brian stared, his mouth twitching between expressions of amusement
and disgust. Shaking his head, he
finally gave him, laughing until his eyes watered. Then, “Ugh, Nick, take that thing off your
head, that’s nasty.”
“What, it’s been sterilized,” AJ defended. “And anyway, he’s the last one who used
it. Don’t take it off yet, Nick, we
gotta show Kev and D.”
“Kevin’s gonna freak out,” snickered Brian.
“Which is exactly why we gotta show him!” AJ exclaimed with
glee. “Nick, you gotta practice your
pirate lingo. Like, go ‘Arrrrr!’
a lot, and then when Kevin and Howie get here, you gotta go, ‘Ahoy therr,
mateys!’ Okay?” Nick just snorted. “Okay?” AJ prompted again, urging him on.
“Arrrrr!” Nick growled dutifully, causing AJ to double over in
hysterics.
“That’s my boy!” AJ wheezed, holding his stomach as he
laughed. Brian’s reaction was not so animated;
he was clearly amused, but at the same time, looked guilty for being
amused. “Dude!” exclaimed AJ, slapping
Nick a high five. “Wait till Kevin sees
this; he’s gonna totally flip and bitch at me for ‘making a mockery’ of you or
some shit like that.” He chuckled to
himself, then sobered, glancing at Nick.
“You don’t care though, right, Nick?
I’m not offending you, am I?”
Nick blinked in surprise.
That was probably the first time in history that AJ had checked to make
sure he hadn’t hurt Nick’s feelings.
Although it seemed like a caring gesture, Nick didn’t like it. Guys were supposed to bag on each other
without the threat of hurt feelings, and that’s how it had always been with the
group. So many things had changed… he
didn’t want that to be one of them.
“No,” he answered quickly.
“’Course I don’t mind you making a mockery of me.”
AJ paled and swallowed hard, looking stricken. “Nick… I-I didn’t mean to-“
“Yo, I’m kidding, J, chill,” interrupted Nick.
AJ visibly sagged. “Oh…
thank God. S-so you’re okay, dude?”
“Hell yeah, I’m fine,” Nick said gruffly. “And hey…”
He held out his arms. “Instant
Halloween costume, right?”
AJ roared. “Well, there ya
go, Kaos! We just need to get you a
parrot or somethin’, and you’ll be all set!”
Nick’s laughter was cut short by the sudden appearance of his
physical therapist, Susan, who was there all of a sudden, standing in the
doorway, an astonished expression on her face as she took in the scene before
her. Feeling his face flush bright red,
Nick whipped the bed pan off of his head and tore away the “eye patch.”
“Hi,” he squeaked, offering her a sheepish grin, while wishing he
could just sink through the floor and disappear.
“Hi…” Susan said slowly, stepping into the room, her lips
twitching in amusement. “Am I, uh,
interrupting something, guys?”
“Well, heeello,” said AJ, putting on his most charming smile as he
sidled up next to Susan. “You must be
the physical therapist, am I right?”
“You’re right,” replied Susan, holding out her hand as she
introduced herself. “I’m Susan Drevil.”
“AJ McLean. Just AJ is fine
though. And this here is Brian, by the
way.” Brian nodded in greeting. “So,” continued AJ, “you’re gonna teach
Captain Nicky here to walk on that peg-leg?”
Susan glanced from AJ to Nick, her eyes dancing with
laughter. “Captain Nicky, huh? Well, if you’re feeling up to it, we’ll head
down to the physical therapy room and get a start on that. I don’t have a plank for you to walk, but I
do have a nice set of parallel bars.”
“Sounds good,” Nick mumbled, smirking.
“Excellent. I’m just going
to grab a wheelchair from the hall so we can get you down there, okay?”
“Sure,” replied Nick.
“Hey, excuse me, Susan?” Brian caught the therapist as she started
to leave the room. “Are we allowed to
come to the therapy session too?”
“If Nick doesn’t object, you’re more than welcome to watch,”
replied Susan, glancing back at Nick, who hesitated.
“Um… you guys mind if I do it alone this time?” he asked, glancing
from Brian to AJ. It wasn’t that he
didn’t want their support, but the thought of having the two of them watch his
every move as he struggled just to do something as simple as walk made him
uncomfortable.
“Oh… sure, Nicky,” replied Brian.
“We’ll just hang out here then, okay?”
Nick offered him a grateful smile.
“Okay.”
Susan returned a moment later with an empty wheelchair. “Your vessel, Captain,” she said, motioning
to it.
Okay, so it looked like the pirate jokes weren’t going to end
anytime soon now that AJ had gotten them going.
But that was okay with Nick. It
was easier to laugh with them and pretend the whole situation was a big funny
joke than to mope and feel sorry for himself and have everyone else pity him as
well. So he grinned and bore it, all the
while fighting the nervous butterflies that were fluttering ever more
frantically in his stomach.
***