Chapter
17
AN: Special thanks to my friend Auctor for helping me with some of the
stuff in this chapter. Thanks Auctor :-)
The four young men followed the young doctor to the ICU unit with
racing hearts and sweaty palms. The doctor stopped in front of Room 137 and
turned the door knob slowly and stepping back allowing the four young men to
enter the room before him. As he turned around to shut the door once he entered
the room, he heard four gasps of surprise come from the other men in the room.
He turned back around and faced them as he walked towards the bed, waiting for
them to follow him. When he realized they were frozen in their places in shock,
he walked towards them and whispered, "It is ok to come near him. It will
probably comfort him to know there are people here for him and who care about
him." The guys slowly nodded and followed him to the bed, taking in the
image at a closer range. Dr. Marx looked around the room at the young men
before he started to tell them what was wrong with their younger friend. He
seen the tallest young man hugging a shorter man with light brown hair who was
shaking. He came to the conclusion that the two young men were cousins
considering the tallest kept whispering to the shorter man "It is ok cuz.
It will be ok. I promise" He then looked at the other two young men. The
one with sunglasses on looked at the bed in shock with the tears streaming down
his face evident even through his sunglasses and the other man had his head
turned, looking out the window. Dr. Marx cleared his throat bringing the boys'
attention to himself. When he noted that everyone had their attention on him he
said, "Ok I'm going to explain to you what these machines are. First off,
the machine here is a respirator and the tube down his throat is helping him
breath because he can't breath on his own." He then pointed to another
machine by Nick's bed and explained, "This machine is a heart monitor. It
is keeping track of his heart rate, etc. The other machines monitor his blood
pressure and saturations." He stopped momentarily and gently asked Kevin,
AJ, Howie, and Brian if they had any questions and Kevin quietly spoke up,
"What exactly is wrong with him? Why is he in the ICU, is it that
bad?" Dr. Marx took in a deep breath and held it for a few seconds then
letting it out slowly as he ran his hand through his brown hair. He looked down
at the charts he held in his hand and when he looked up he found 4 pairs of
anxious, fear-filled eyes: one pair blue, one pair green, and two pairs brown
*AJ had taken off his sunglasses*. He cleared his throat and said "I hate
to be the deliverer of bad news. You guys may want to sit down, this may be a
shock to you" as he looked at Brian who was trembling terribly in his
cousin's arms.
Kevin gently led Brian to a chair and told him to sit down and when all
the guys took a seat, Dr. Marx started speaking as he looked at the chart,
"Well he has two broken ribs, some internal bleeding from repeated blows
to the stomach area, bruises on his stomach and chest area, a severly bruised
knee, a collapsed lung, and he caught an infection which has caused a high
fever, and..." he then trailed off "AND?" shouted the other four
men in the room "And he seems to have a severe head injury. He is now in a
coma and we don't know when and if he will come out of it. To tell you the
truth gentlemen, the prognosis doesn't look too good. Whoever did this terrible
act to the poor child was out to kill him." explained Dr. Marx as he took
a sudden interest in the patterns of the tile on the floor. He knew he loved
his job but telling the family and loved ones of the patient that the outcome
didn't look good was the worst part of it and the part he wished he would never
have to do. He opened his mouth to say something else but was interupted as an
announcement came over the P.A. system "Dr. Marx you are needed in the ER
immediately, Dr. Marx you are needed in the ER immediately." He let out a
frustrated sigh and offered the boys a apologetic smile as he patted Brian on
his trembling shoulders. "If you gentlemen will please excuse me I'm
needed in the ER. If you need anything, have a nurse page me. I'm going to
allow you to stay here as long as you want to, because I feel that your
presence may help him come through this. If a nurse or anyone gives you
trouble, have them talk to me about it. Goodbye gentlemen" Dr. Marx
approached the door and opened it and stepped out as he heard a faint chorus of
"goodbye". He grimly smiled as he shut the door and made his way down
the ICU hall, away from the room that held so much heartache, making a note to
himself to help the group through this as much as he possibly can. He entered
the chaotic atmosphere of the ER again preparing to try his best to save
another person's life.
***
