Chapter 12
Days slowly turned into weeks and still not a
change in Brian’s condition. He continued to hang between life and death. Every
single day Howie, A.J., Kevin, and Nick never failed to visit him. Pleading
with everything they had in them for their friend to wake up. His doctor never
had good news to deliver. Always the same depressing news, no change. Everyone
from Brian’s mom to Nick’s mom clung to the hope that Brian would come out of
his coma soon.
Howie, Kevin, A.J. and Nick never had the
chance to deal with everything that had happened to them emotionally or
mentally. Their minds were solely fixed on bringing Brian back to them. It was
ripping each of them apart in so many ways. Nick awoke the next morning; A.J.
sat with him watching ESPN.
“Hey…”
“Hey Nick, man wanna go see Bri?”
Nick and A.J. were then wheeled out of his
room and into Brian’s. Brian looked the same as he did the day before. Sucking
in a deep breath, Nick spoke. “Hey Bri, how are ya?”
“Brian, dude you are gonna have to come back
to us man…we are all goin nuts! You survived the whole Rob kidnapping ordeal, I
am sure you can survive this…your strong I know you can,” A.J. said beginning
to break down again.
Nick watched A.J. carefully, ready to rush to
his side if he was needed. He then drew his attention back to Brian and gasped.
“Oh my God!”
Brian’s eyes slowly fluttered open, he let out
a small barely audible moan. His eyes darted up to Nick then to A.J.
Both Nick and A.J. sat stunned. Their mouths
agape. Brian lay confused and terrified.
Nick noticed it first, and immediately began
to soothe him. “Brian, can you hear me?”
Brian said nothing. His breathing coming in
short gasps.
A.J. and Nick began panicking.
A.J. grasped Brian’s hand tightly. Brian
looked up his eyes wide in fear. A.J. decided that the only way to get his
point across was to yell. Hoping Brian would understand he began. “BRIAN CALM
DOWN! It’s okay, everything is going to be okay, I promise,” he spoke, his
voice softening as Brian’s heart monitor began to slow. Nick slammed the nurse
call button, and within a matter of seconds a nurse came running in.
“Brian—he…he woke up!”
The nurse smiled kindly and went to get
Brian’s doctor.
“Rok? You okay now?”
Brian motioned to the tube that went down his
throat. “Okay, I’ll take care of it.”
Doctor Roberts returned with a smile on his
face. “Brian wants to know if you can take that tube out of his throat.”
He approached Brian’s bed and helped him into
a sitting position. Brian was then told to take a deep breath. The tube was
removed and Brian gagged and coughed, struggling for breath. The nurse handed
Brian a cup of water, and he gratefully accepted. “Is everyone okay,” Brian
asked hoarsely.
“Yeah, everyone is fine Bri.”
“God, Bri you scared the crap oughta us. We
thought we’d lost you.”
“Brian, would you like to see Leigh, your
parents, Hal, Howie, and Kevin,” A.J. asked searching for any trace of a smile.
“Uh huh,” Brian said nodding his head. He then
winced in pain.
“You okay? Are you in a lot of pain?”
“Yeah…” Brian said in a pained voice.
Leighanne then entered the room, glancing up
her eyes went wide, and a large smile formed on her face.
“Brian! Oh my God!” Tears flooded down her
pale face, and a wide grin spread across her face too, making the bags under
her eyes disappears. She rushed to his side, and wrapped her arms around her
husband tightly. Clinging on to him, as the tears flooded down her cheeks onto
Brian’s shoulders and neck. Brian murmured several reassuring words to her,
clutching onto his wife. Suddenly realizing how much he had missed the
beautiful woman he held tight in his arms. He wasn’t given the time to sit and
think about how much he had missed his wife. Leighanne pulled away and wiped
the tears that continued to stream down her face. “I’ll go get everyone,” she
said excitedly and darted out of the room.
Brian watched as she disappeared from his view
and smiled brightly. “I missed her so much,” he said to himself quietly, then
glanced up to AJ and Nick. “What happened to me?”
“Welp Rok,” AJ began, but stopped as Brian’s
parents, Harold, Leighanne, Howie, and Kevin appeared at the door. Their eyes
all shined with tears of relief and extreme happiness that Brian had come back
to them. Jackie ran to her son, with a glittering smile, reflecting the joy
that her son had pulled through, once again. Everyone talked with Brian for
nearly a half-hour. Brian then convinced Leighanne to go back to the hotel and
get some rest. She obliged, knowing that she could sleep with the reassuring
knowledge that her Brian was okay. Everyone else then cleared the room to let
Brian get to sleep.
That night Brian lay on his bed, watching TV.
Nick walked in with a mischievous grin on his face. “Hey Bri, thought I’d come
in and see ya. I heard your TV, and all.”
“So, what’s up? How do you feel? Are you still
in pain?”
“Whoa, Nick slow down,” Brian giggled. His
voice still contained hoarseness. “I’m fine. Can I ask you something though?”
“Sure Rok, shoot.”
“Did they get them, did they find Rob, Craig,
Charlie, Chris, and Jack?”
The smile vanished from Nick’s once cheerful
face. “Wow, I haven’t given it that much thought….They didn’t find them, at
all. Once they find out that we aren’t dead, they could come back!”
Brian’s eyes wondered to the window, lost in
thought. He contemplated Nick’s idea thoroughly. Not wanting to begin his worrying.
Brian shut his eyes and drifted off into a deep sleep. Nick gently pulled the
blankets up to Brian’s chest, and turned off the TV. Lost in worry he returned
to his room.
***
