Chapter 75
Nick headed
up to the hospital around noon the next day.
He assumed Claire had been moved into her new isolation room, and she
was probably hating it already. He was
determined to cheer her up… and hopefully ease the tension between them. To be honest, Nick almost dreaded facing her
after the night before, but he knew he had to.
That day marked the beginning of a new sort of journey for Claire, one
that not only going to be long and difficult, but dangerous as well, possibly
even life-threatening. If she rejected
Kyle’s bone marrow, or, worse, contracted an infection after the transplant,
when her immune system was virtually knocked out, she could die. He knew she was scared, and he was scared for
her. And he vowed that no matter what
happened, he would be there for her. She
was his friend, and he wanted do for her what she had done for him.
Before taking
the familiar route upstairs to the oncology ward, Nick stopped by the small
gift shop on the main level and browsed through it, looking for something to
bring her. There was a case of flowers
in the back, and he immediately gravitated toward it, his eyes scanning the
various floral arrangements.
Immediately, he was drawn to a large bouquet of roses, all in striking
shades of yellow, orange, and pink. The
bright colors made him think of Claire and her bandanas, and he immediately
opened the door of the glass case and picked it up off the shelf.
“That will be
$39.95,” said the cashier at the counter.
Nick handed her two twenty dollar bills.
“Thanks,” he
mumbled, as she handed him a nickel in change.
“Have a nice
day,” she said cheerfully.
“You too,” he
said with quick smile, then picked the vase of roses up and carried it
carefully out of the shop. He quickly
cut across the lobby to the bank of elevators that would take him to the fifth
floor. Juggling the large bouquet in one
hand, he smacked the up button with the other and waited impatiently for an
elevator to arrive.
“I hate
elevators; they always take forever,” sighed a voice behind him, and Nick spun
around, startled, to see a young girl standing a few feet away. When had she walked up?
“Yeah,” he
replied, “I know.”
The girl, who
looked about twelve or thirteen, clutched a cup that held two scoops of
chocolate ice cream. While she waited,
she dug a small plastic spoon into the dark, sticky mound and took a small
bite.
“That looks
good,” Nick said, as she swallowed and licked her lips. “Where’d you get that?”
“Spotted
Cow,” she replied, taking another bite.
“Spotted
Cow? Where’s a Spotted Cow?”
“Back that
way,” she said, motioning vaguely somewhere behind her. “Kinda by the cafeteria.”
Nick
blinked. “They have a Spotted Cow in the
hospital?”
“Uh-huh.”
Well, how had
he missed that? Then again, he’d
never actually been anywhere near the cafeteria… despite having been at Tampa
General Hospital all too frequently in recent months, he hadn’t been anywhere
inside it except the ER and Oncology.
Maybe he’d have to do a little exploring someday and uncover all of its
mysteries. But not today. Today he was there for Claire, and Claire
only.
“Finally!”
the girl exclaimed, heaving an exaggerated sigh as a pair of elevator doors
slid smoothly open with a soft ding. Nick
let her go in first, then stepped in after her.
“What floor?” the girl asked, immediately taking over the control panel.
“Um, five.”
“Five…” she
repeated, her eyes traveling to a spot above his head. He turned to see a large sign mounted on the
wall behind him, containing a listing of all the floors of the hospital and
what departments they contained.
“Oncology?” she read. “Isn’t that
for people with ca-“ She stopped
suddenly and looked at him, her face reddening.
Closing her mouth, she quickly turned away and punched in the number 5
and then the number 3.
“I’m visiting
a friend of mine,” Nick spoke up. “How
about you?”
“Oh… my
little sister’s having her tonsils taken out,” the girl replied. “So is that who the flowers are for? Your friend.”
“Yup.”
“They’re
pretty.”
“Thanks. So you think she’ll like them?”
“Yeah. So is she your girlfriend?”
He
laughed. “No, not my girlfriend,” he
answered quickly. “Just a friend… who
happens to be a girl.”
She
grinned. And then, all of a sudden, an
expression of recognition crossed her face, as if a light bulb had just
flickered on, and it had dawned on her who he was. He had half-expected it, based on her
age. He’d found that most little girls
around the age of thirteen recognized him.
But, of course, that was when he looked… well, normal. She was good.
“Are you… are
you Nick Carter?” she breathed, suddenly gazing at him in awe.
“Yeah, I am,” he admitted, blushing slightly. Why he was embarrassed to be recognized by a thirteen-year-old
was beyond him, but it was the first time he had really had a close encounter
with a fan since the world had found out he had cancer. And the way the girl was looking at him now
was beginning to make him uncomfortable.
“Um… do you want an autograph or anything?” he offered kindly.
“Uh…” She hesitated, and he
realized neither of them had a paper or pen.
He took a quick look around the elevator, as if it would magically
contain a random scrap of paper and writing utensil for him to use.
“Nothing to sign with,” he said, defeated. “Well, would a hug do?”
The elevator lurched to a stop on the third floor, and the doors
slid open. Clutching his bouquet in one
arm, Nick opened his other arm to the girl, but at this gesture, her eyes widened,
and she quickly backed up.
“Um, n-no thank you,” she said, smiling in a forced way. “This is my floor, gotta go, nice meeting
you!” she called in one breath as she darted out of the elevator. The doors closed behind her, leaving a very
confused and slightly hurt Nick behind.
“What, do I smell or something?” he asked, annoyed, to no one in
particular, as the elevator began to rise again. But then he realized… she had been
afraid. Afraid to hug him.
“I don’t blame her,” he muttered dully as he caught a very
distorted version of his reflection in one of the stainless steel walls. Pale and bald underneath his baseball cap,
with “the shrunken appearance of a [large] man who has lost a lot of weight in
a short time” (AN: Thanks to J.K. Rowling for that description – Harry
Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, p. 366)… who would want to
hug him? He was absolutely
gross-looking.
The elevator came to a stop on the fifth floor, its doors sliding
open with another cheerful ding. His
shoulders slightly slumped, Nick carried his roses out of the elevator and
plodded down the hall to the nurses station, having no idea where he was to
find Claire now that she had been moved to a new room. There were two nurses sitting behind the
round counter area, and neither were paying a bit of attention to him. One was hunched over the counter, her
gray-haired head bent over some paperwork as she wrote furiously, while other
was sitting in front of a computer, her eyes fixed on the screen, her fingers
flying a mile a minute over the keyboard as she typed. He started to approach the older, gray-haired
nurse, not wanting another encounter with the young redhead at the computer
like he’d just had in the elevator. But
then, taking another quick survey at the attractive young nurse, he recognized
her. He’d met her the last time he’d
been admitted to the hospital… she was a fan, he remembered. And what was her name? Something with an S… Sarah? Stephanie?
“Um, excuse me, Samantha?” he asked, just able to read the nametag
pinned to her scrub top.
Her head bobbed up, and her eyes went wide when she recognized
him. “Hi!” she squeaked, maybe a little
more excitedly than she had intended.
He smiled and swallowed back a chuckle. Well, at least someone still liked
him... “Hey,” he said back. “Uh, I was wondering if you could help
me. I’m looking for a friend of mine,
Claire Ryan? She’s been here all week,
but she was supposed to be moved to a new room today, and I don’t know-“
“Oh, sure, Claire! That’s
right, I forgot you two were friends.
Anyway, yes, she was moved into isolation this morning. But, um, technically, only family
members are allowed to… to visit her…”
Samantha bit her lip and looked up at him apologetically.
“Yeah, that’s what she told me.
But, um, technically, only family members are allowed to visit
people in the ICU too, right? And if I
remember correctly…” He trailed off,
raising a nonexistent eyebrow and hoping she’d remember how she’d bent the
rules and let Claire come see him when he was in ICU. And sure enough, her face went bright
red. Taking full advantage of his, he
flashed her the Carter half-smile and watched in amusement as her cheeks
darkened another shade.
“Okay, okay, you got me,” she relented finally, throwing her hands
up in defeat. “I’ll call Claire’s room
and ask her, okay? And if she says you
can come, then-“
“Thank you!” Nick exclaimed, smiling broadly.
“But you owe me!” she insisted with a grin and a blushing wink.
“Anything,” Nick promised with a chivalrous tip of his head. “Hey,” he said, testing her now, “how about a
hug?” Setting the roses down on the
counter, he stepped back and opened his arms, waiting to see what would
happen. Samantha cast a nervous look in
the direction of the older nurse, who was still lost in her paperwork, and then
jumped up from her seat. Trotting around
to the other side of the counter, she just about flew into his arms, taking him
by surprise. Laughing, almost in relief,
he hugged her and let her hang on to him for quite some time before she got a
grip on herself and pulled away.
“Thanks,” she said coyly, offering him a sheepish grin.
“Hey, no problem, babe,” he replied flirtatiously, giving her his
most charming smile. “Thank you.”
***