Chapter
40
"I wonder how things are going. I mean,
it's been four hours and we haven't heard anything," AJ commented.
"Oh, I hope everything is
alright," Jackie said with worry on her face.
"I'm sure that everything is just
fine," Harold said. "No need to worry."
"I'll go to the nurses' station
and see if they have any sort of updates if everyone wants," Howie
volunteered. Everyone just gave nods as he got up and left.
"Can I help you?" the nurse
behind the desk asked.
"Yeah. I was hoping you could
give me some information on how Brian Littrell's surgery is going."
"Brian Littrell," she
murmured. "He should have been out a couple hours ago. Let me see what I
can go find."
Howie felt his face go white as she
was saying this. "Thanks," he managed to choke out.
"Don't worry. I'm sure Dr. Thomas
just hasn't given me the papers that say he's back in his room yet," she
said with a reassuring smile and then left to investigate on what happened to
Brian.
Howie walked back into the waiting
room where everyone else was and all conversation stopped. "Howie! What's
wrong?" Kevin asked.
"The nurse at the desk told me
that she doesn't know where Brian is right now. He should have been out of
surgery a couple hours ago. She left to go see what happened to him."
Before Howie could say anything else, Jackie let out a loud sob.
"Something's wrong!" she
cried. "I can feel it!"
Harold put his arms around his wife.
"Honey, I'm sure that everything is fine."
"Yeah," Howie added.
"She did say that it was possible that Dr. Thomas just didn't give her the
papers saying that he was out of surgery."
Harry sighed loudly. "I think I'm
gonna go for a walk."
"I think I'll join you," AJ
said. Both men got up and left.
"Oh my poor Babyduck,"
Jackie mumbled. Harold just wrapped his arms around his wife tighter.
"So now what do we do?" Nick
wondered out loud. He tried not to move too much because Krista was asleep in
his lap.
"We wait patiently," Angela
said calmly out of nowhere.
"I thought you were asleep,"
Nick said turning his attention toward her.
"You honestly think I can sleep
when my fiancee is in there with his life on the line?" Nick just shrugged.
"Like I said, we have to be patient. He will pull through and no one
should be doubting him."
Jackie pulled away suddenly from
Harold. "Angela, honey, you're right. I shouldn't be doubting my son at
all. He will pull through for all of us."
Dr. Thomas then poked his head into
the room. "Is it a bad time?"
"No!" Everyone said in
unison.
"What about AJ and Harry?"
Kevin asked.
"We're right here," Harry
said.
"Dr. Thomas found us in the
hallway and told us that he had news, so we followed him back," AJ added.
Nick gently woke Krista up as everyone got
situated and waited for Dr. Thomas to tell them the news.
"OK, I have news that is good,
but bad. So I guess I'll just start at the beginning." Jackie and Angela closed their eyes at the
same time. "Well, we lost Brian
twice during the surgery; the bullet was farther down than we had anticipated
and was grazing his heart. Luckily, no damage was done. The rest of the surgery
went well. Right now he's in ICU in a coma. The only thing we aren't sure of
yet is how much, if any, brain damage he has due to his heart stopping both of
those times. We have to wait until he wakes up to take tests. And as much as I
hate to say this, that's if he wakes up."
Everyone just sat there stunned, silenced
by the words that had come out of Dr. Thomas's mouth. Brian have brain damage?
He might not wake up again?
It wasn't that long ago that everyone was
talking to him and he said that he was going to make it. But at the same time
Dr. Thomas did say that there was that chance that Brian may not live. It was
slowly becoming a reality for all in the waiting room that their lives might
never be the same again.
When no one spoke, Dr. Thomas said,
"I'm sorry to have brought all of you this news. You'll be able to go see
him tomorrow, but for now, I suggest everyone goes to get some rest. If any of
you have any questions, you know where you all can reach me." With that,
he left.
"Well, what else can we do?"
Krista asked, breaking the silence. "If we can't see him we might as well
go home and try to take our minds off of it for a while."
"You're right," Kevin
agreed. "It isn't going to do Brian or us, for that matter, any good to be
sitting here when we can't do anything."
The rest of the group nodded at Krista and Kevin and slowly got up,
reluctant to leave Brian here. Harold put his arm around Jackie as they left
with Harry following so they could go back to their hotel.
"We'll call if we hear
anything," Harold said over his shoulder and left.
The rest of the Backstreet Boys got up
to leave. "Are you going to be alright Angela?" AJ asked.
"Yeah," she sighed.
"You can stay at one of our
houses," Howie offered.
"No, I've got Krista," she
replied. "But thanks anyway."
"Call if you need anything,"
Kevin said in a fatherly tone.
Angela smiled. "I will Kev. I
promise."
Nick leaned over to give Angela a hug.
"Stay strong. He needs it," he whispered in her ear. Angela nodded in
his shoulder as she felt a tear slip down her face. He pulled back and smiled
at her knowing that as much as he wanted to break down because it was his best
friend in there, he had to be stronger for Angela.
Nick then turned around to Krista and
gave her a kiss on the cheek. "I'll talk to you soon. Love you."
"Love you too," she mumbled.
As Nick turned away, all the guys left. Krista watched her boyfriend leave and
then turned to face her best friend. "You ready to go?"
Angela stared at her engagement ring
and sighed heavily before getting up.
***
