Rebuilding
As
I had predicted, we all sat around for hours waiting for any word on
Anita. The nurses knew nothing and weren’t bothering to ask. So we
sat in the dark. Nick and Howie had shown up after a quick call from
Kevin. They paced around the waiting room unable to sit still. As I
poured myself my umpteenth cup of coffee a little girl no more than six years
old walked up to me.
“Are
you Brian’s girlfriend?” she asked me, her big blue eyes stared up at me.
“Um,
yeah,” I replied taken a bit aback.
Usually
only teenagers came up to me to get autographs.
“I’m
sorry,” I continued. “But Brian is sick right now so I can’t get you an
autograph.”
The
little girl giggled as if what I had said was funny.
“No
silly,” she said. “I don’t want no autograph, I know Brian’s sick.”
I
was puzzled and extremely curious.
“So
what then?” I prompted.
“I
want you to keep this,” she said slipping a ring out of her pocket.
She
handed it to me. It appeared to be a gold plated band with several gems
imbedded in it.
“But
why?” I asked still a bit confused.
“Well,
when I was sick in the hospital with cancer my mommy gave it to me for good luck.
She wore it when she was sick and got better. I wore it when I was sick
and got better, so now it can help Brian get better too.”
Right
then and there my heart melted. It was about the sweetest thing anyone
had ever done for me. Tears stung my eyes.
“Are
you sure it’s all right?” I asked.
She
nodded quickly and looked over towards an older woman who must have been her
mom. She nodded too. I dropped to my knees and hugged her.
“Thank
you so much,” I whispered into her ear.
“You're
welcome,” she said.
I
stood back up.
“How
would you like to meet the other Backstreet Boys?” I asked her.
Her
face brightened.
“Really?”
she asked anticipation dripping from her voice.
“Yes
really,” I said and offered my hand.
She
took it and I led her back out to the waiting room. And that was almost the
best part of all. The good deed had come straight from her heart.
She’d expected nothing in return. If only the world had more people like
her. I introduced her to Kevin, Nick and Howie. It was wonderful to
see her, Jenny, so thrilled. They spent about a half an hour with her
before she had to go home. It was a nice diversion for those thirty
minutes.
I
looked up at the clock on the wall. It was
“Are
you Anita’s friends?” he asked us.
We
all nodded.
“I’m
Dr. Carson,” he said introducing himself.
I
held my breath without even realizing it.
“If
he said . . . If he said,” I couldn’t finish the thought.
Dr.
Carson sighed and ran his hand through his thinning grey hair.
“Well,”
he started then paused seeming to collect his thoughts. “She is still
alive.”
We
all breathed an audible sigh of relief. I didn’t know if we could handle
another death. I loosened my grip on Michaela’s hand. But he sighed
again looking at us wearily. He had to deal with death every day. I
did not envy him.
“Is
she going to live?” I asked voicing everyone’s thoughts.
My
voice shook a little.
“It’s
not likely,” he replied the sorrow evident in his voice. “She ingested an
incredible amount of medicine. The dose Anita took was way beyond
lethal. You are lucky you even found her alive. All of her systems
just shut down. If you want to say goodbye I suggest that you do so
now. If you wait any longer it could be too late. I’d give her a couple
more hours, max. I’m so sorry,” he finished and went back over to the
nurse’s desk.
A
couple hours my mind echoed. How was that possible? He had just
told us that another one of my best friends was going to die. Say
goodbye? How could I possibly? It had been hard enough to say
goodbye to A.J. I weakly got up barely able to support my own
weight. But none the less I had too. I’d never forgive myself if I
didn’t. I slowly made my way to her room with Michaela by my side.
I was going to need the support.
***
