Chapter 17:
One Small Miracle
Brian
woke up around ten the next morning. Horrified that he had slept for over
sixteen hours, he called for a nurse.
“I need
to go up and see Nick,” he informed her.
She
sighed. “Dr. Westin would rather that you stay put.”
“Everything
is still all right with him, isn’t it?”
“Yes,
he’s still around, don’t worry.”
Brian
breathed a sigh of relief. “Well, I would really like to go see him.” He hoped
that pitiful pleading would win her over.
“Actually,
your friend Kevin has been asking for you. Would you like to go and say hello
to him? Perhaps after that you can swing by and pop in on Nick.”
Brian
looked eager. “Yes, that sounds great.”
As he
was eased into the wheelchair, he had to bite his tongue to keep from crying
out. His muscles, his ribs, and his back screamed in protest. He leaned heavily
on the nurse as she got him seated.
“That
all right?” she asked him.
“Yeah,”
he managed to say.
She
wheeled him up to the ICU and over to Kevin. He was sleeping, of course. Brian
glanced back at the nurse for help on how to proceed.
“You
can wake him up. It’s all right. He will be happy to see you.”
Brian
nodded at her, and she stepped out to give them some privacy.
“Yo,
Kevin,” Brian called softly. “Train, it’s me.”
Kevin
stirred a bit and then opened his eyes.
“Hey,
Bri,” he said drowsily. “It’s about time you showed up.”
“I came
when I could, cuz.”
“Where’ve
you been?”
Brian cracked
a smile. “A.J. was having all of the fun causing trouble for the doctors and
nurses so I thought I’d try my hand at it.”
“You’re
causing trouble?” Kevin asked him. Brian was thrilled to see him looking so
much more alert than he had before.
“Yeah,”
he said, smiling and dropping his eyes.
“Well
don’t get into too much trouble, cause whenever I get up I’m going to kick your
ass.”
“Glad
to hear it. Damn, you sound a lot better than the last time I was in here.”
“You
came to see me?” Kevin asked, frowning a bit, trying to concentrate.
Brian’s
face fell. “Yeah, I did. When you first woke up.”
“Oh.”
“Do you
remember?”
“I
don’t know what the hell I remember,” he whispered, looking upset.
“Hey
man, chill out. It’s ok. You banged your head real good. Probably killed off
your last three brain cells. Give it time, everything will come back to you.”
“Do you
know what happened? Do you remember?” Kevin asked hopefully.
“No, I
don’t remember,” Brian confessed. “But they told me what happened.”
“Will
you tell me? I can’t remember if they told me before.”
“Sure.
Sure I’ll tell you. Umm, well, a rig on the highway leaving
Kevin’s
eyes went wide. “What?” he said hoarsely. “Are you all ok?”
Brian
smiled at him. “We’ve been better. But we’re going to be ok. Howie’s doing
great right now. A.J.’s going to be fine, and I’m
going to be fine. We’re ok. We’re better than you are,” he added.
“Good,”
he breathed out.
“And
you and Nick were stuck in the bus. The bus rolled, and you two got thrown
around.”
Kevin
thought hard for a moment. “Nick?”
Brian’s
eyes watered a little. “Yeah. You and Nick were together.”
“Where
is he?” Kevin’s eyes were wide and full of concern. He looked so vulnerable,
Brian was afraid to tell him the truth. Kevin was always the rock; he was the
one they all looked up to. If he fell apart, as far as Brian was concerned it
was over.
“He’s
not doing so good, Kev.”
“Oh
no…”
“Hey,
hey. Don’t flip out on me. That’s my job,” Brian said. “We got a small miracle
from him yesterday. He’ll come around. He always proves everyone wrong. This
time won’t be any different.”
Brian
wiped his eyes with the back of his hand. He wanted to believe his own words so
badly. But deep in his heart he was terrified. He wasn’t sure if he could deal
with losing Nick. He took Kevin’s hand and squeezed it, and smiled when he felt
Kevin’s weak grip try and squeeze back.
After a
while Kevin drifted back off to sleep. Brian stayed by his side the entire
time, although his entire body was aching so badly he had to use every ounce of
strength to stay upright. His face was white when the nurse came for him.
“Ok,
that’s it. You are going to go back to your room. Right now.”
Brian
protested weakly, but wound up gasping in pain.
“Come
on,” she said urgently. She hurried him back and had Dr. Westin come in to see
to him.
“I
should have put my foot down,” he said angrily. “I should not have let you up.”
“Kevin
needed me,” Brian whispered, his face pale and drawn.
“You
are staying right here until you are strong enough to leave. Do you
understand?”
Brian
nodded slightly. “Yeah.”
* *
*
A.J.
flipped on the radio, feeling restless. He caught the end of a song, and waited
for the next one to start. To his surprise, his own screech filled the room as
‘Larger Than Life’ came over the airwaves. Howie too looked up, surprised.
“Damn.
The thought of doing that song right now is downright painful,” A.J. remarked.
Howie
flinched a little at the sound of Nick’s voice as he took over his verse. “Do
you think we’ll ever be able to sing it again?”
“Of
course we will,” A.J. said, giving him an odd look. “Why wouldn’t we?”
“No
reason,” Howie said listlessly. News of Brian’s regression had sent him into a
depression. “I want to go and see Nick,” he said suddenly.
“Ok,”
A.J. agreed, surprising him. “Let’s go.”
A
little while later, they were in Nick’s room. They took turns chatting with
him, telling him about what was going on, and lecturing him about letting Brian
get so upset.
“Nicky,
I’m telling ya, you’d better snap out of this and whoop B-Rok back into shape.
He’s causing more trouble here than I am, and that’s just not fair.”
Howie
chuckled. “No kidding.”
A.J.
glanced up at him. “What do you think we should do?”
Howie
was about to answer when A.J. held up his hand. He looked over towards Nick.
“What
is it?” Howie asked, excited.
“Look,”
A.J. said softly. A small sound filled the room. A.J. and Howie stared at each
other wordlessly, and then looked back at Nick.
“Oh my
God,” A.J. whispered.
“He’s crying,”
Howie said.
“Quick,
go get someone,” A.J. hissed. Howie hobbled out of the room to find a doctor.
A.J. reached over and took Nick’s hand reassuringly. “Nick. Nicky. It’s A.J.
Wake up man, quit crying. I know you want to stay asleep but we need you to
open your eyes. It’s hard, I know. But you can do it,” his voice was calm and
comforting, far from what he was feeling on the inside. He wanted to take Nick
by the shoulders and shake him.
“Come
on, Nick. Do this for me. Do it for Brian.”
Nick’s
crying was louder now. His face was contorted and he looked as though he was
trying to wriggle away from something. A.J. thought he saw his mouth move, and
leaned over to try and hear him.
“No,”
he murmured almost inaudibly.
“Come
on, yes. You can do it,” A.J. argued. “Don’t fight with me on this one.” His
crying was louder still. Suddenly his eyes came open, and suddenly he was
sobbing uncontrollably. He gasped and moaned in pain. A.J. watched, helpless,
as writhed in agony, trying to escape the hurt he was feeling, which only
served to bring him more. A painful cry tore out of his mouth, tears wetting
his cheeks. He gasped in anguish.
“God,
somebody help him!” A.J. called over his shoulder.
Dr.
Hite came in just then, and immediately saw to their friend. After several
moments, Nick’s tears slowed down and then stopped. All that remained was a few
hiccupping sighs.
“Congratulations,”
Hite said to them. “Nick has decided to come back to us.”
* *
*
Howie
rapped his knuckles on Brian’s partially open door.
“Yeah?”
Brian answered.
“Yo,
B-Rok!” A.J. called. “Can we come in?”
“Sure.”
Howie entered,
pushing A.J. ahead of him. “We’ve got something to tell you,” Howie said with a
wide grin.
“What?”
Brian asked, suddenly becoming interested.
“Nick’s
back,” A.J. said
Brian’s
blue eyes almost bulged out of their sockets. “What?”
“That’s
right,” Howie said cheerfully. “He woke up a little while ago.”
“Sort
of,” A.J. corrected him.
“What
do you mean sort of?” Brian asked suspiciously.
“Well,
he opened his eyes. He was crying when he came to. He didn’t say anything, but
he was conscious,” Howie explained.
“So
does this mean he’s going to be ok?”
A.J.
and Howie exchanged glanced. “Well, Dr. Hite seemed pretty happy. I’m guessing
he’s going to be ok.”
Howie
laughed. “We were so excited, we really didn’t ask!”
“When
can I see him?” Brian exclaimed.
“Dude,
you still look awfully pale. Should you be out of bed at all?” A.J. asked,
raising his eyebrow.
“You’re
not my doctor,” Brian muttered darkly.
“No,
but I’ve watched you fall to pieces at least twice in the past few days. There’s
no way and hell you’re putting me through that again.”
“I love
the way you show your concern,” Howie said, rolling his eyes.
“Thanks,”
A.J. replied.
“I just
want him to know I’m there,” Brian said, frustrated.
“We’ll
tell him,” Howie offered. “As soon as we get to talk to him it’s the first
thing we’ll say, right Bone?”
“Yeah,
sure.”
Brian
still looked unhappy.
“It’s
the best we can do. You know that Westin’s not gonna let you up. You really
pissed him off after you almost passed out in your wheelchair.”
“How do
you feel anyway?” Howie asked him.
“See
that Jell-o?” he asked, pointing to the jiggly red substance in a cup that sat
on the tray by his bed.”
“Yeah,”
Howie said warily.
“Now I
know what it feels like to be red Jell-o. We understand each other.”
Howie
laughed.
“See?”
A.J. said. “Just stay here and chill. Howie and I can come and harass you
whenever you want company.”
“Thank
you,” Brian said dryly. A.J. flashed a smile.
“Oh,
hey,” Howie said. “Did you hear? They are moving Kevin out of ICU this
afternoon.”
“Really?”
Brian asked, looking pleased.
“Yeah,”
A.J. chimed in. They are moving him onto your floor.”
“Can
they move him in here?” Brian asked hopefully.
“I
don’t know. Ask Westin.”
A.J.
turned his head towards the hallway. “Hey, Westin!” he hollered. Howie groaned
and rubbed the bridge of his nose. “A.J…” he said. “Is that really necessary?”
“Brian
had a question!” A.J. said defensively. A nurse poked her head into Brian’s
room. “Can I help y’all with anything?”
“Yeah,”
A.J. said. “My friend here wants to know if Kevin Richardson can be his new roomie since he’s moving out of the ICU.”
“I’ll
go ask Dr. Westin.”
“Thank
you ma’am,” A.J. said, tossing her a charming smile.
Dr.
Westin agreed to the move, mostly because he thought it would help keep Brian
in his room. Kevin was glad to have his company. He had been constantly calling
in nurses when he had trouble remembering things, asking them to tell him what
was going on. Now he had Brian there to help keep him on track.
“I need
you to help me get my head back on straight,” he told him. “My memory is still
a little out of whack.”
“I’ll
do my best,” Brian said seriously. “But if you snore I’ll smother you with a
pillow.”
***
