Chapter 11
Nick lay in bed, drowsy from the
constant pain medication dripping into his vein. His body was without energy,
and he struggled to even change positions. The only sound that was heard was
silence. It was eerie, yet comforting.
The setting sun was the only source of
illumination, expect for the sliver of light coming from beneath the door.
Though the nurse had told him of the
likeliness of getting out this evening, it was beginning to look doubtful.
Riley and AJ had left a while ago to go eat dinner. He had managed to eat a
couple of bites of a watery tomato soup, but left the rest.
Light suddenly splashed across the
entire room as the door opened. He expected it to be Riley or AJ, but instead,
it was his doctor.
“Nick… I wasn’t expecting to see you
until the middle of the week. Just couldn’t stay away from the hospital?” Dr.
Getz asked, setting Nick’s chart down in the chair.
“Yeah. I just missed having needles
stuck in me and being confined to bed.”
Dr. Getz chuckled as he went to the
other side of the bed. He turned on the light above Nick’s bed.
“How do you feel?”
”Groggy but no pain.”
“I made sure they doped you up for a
while. I’m going to lay your bed down.” He pressed the button on the rail as the
bed began to move. “So before last night, how were you doing?”
“Pretty well. I was still really sore,
but I had been able to get up and walk around pretty well. I was hurting pretty
last night, but I figured it was from traveling.”
“It probably was. And also from doing
too much too soon.” Dr. Getz pulled Nick’s sheet down and moved the gown up,
looking over the incision and impalement wound. “This might hurt a bit.”
He began to palpate Nick’s abdomen,
carefully avoiding the wounds, but still causing pain. “I’d like to check your
back. Can you turn onto your side?”
Using all the strength he could muster
up, he used the other rail to pull himself onto his side.
“Okay.” Dr. Getz helped Nick turn back
over, and then fixed the gown and sheet. “Your wounds are still healing nicely,
but the incision site seems irritated. It’s probably from getting sick last
night. It was nearly ripped open from the sudden use of those muscles.”
He picked up the chart and looked
through it.
“The blood tests show your counts are
all up. Rather than checking your CD4 cells four times a year, I’m going to
start doing it more often. Right now, we’ll start weekly, because of the severe
risk of infection you have right now. As you get better, we can do it less
often. Quite frankly, any infection you get right now could kill you. Your
immune system is still adjusting to not having your spleen, and it isn’t back
to where it should be.”
Nick was suddenly more awake. The
thought of dying so suddenly scared him. He hadn’t really gone over the idea of
dying since he first diagnosed.
“I’m going to release you tonight. I
don’t want you in the hospital anymore than you need to be, because of the risk
of a nosocomial infection.” Dr. Getz took a small pad of paper from his pocket
and began writing something down. “I’m getting you a prescription for pain
medication. It’s not the same kind that made you ill. This is stronger. It will
make you drowsy and possibly nauseous, but those are just symptoms you’ll have
to deal with. Rather than take this for just pain, you’re to take it once every
twelve hours. I’ve given you enough for the week, but I want you to stop taking
it the night before your appointment with me, which I’ll go make in a minute.”
Nick felt defeated. It seemed to be life
or death as to whether he took the medicine.
“I know, Nick. You don’t want to take
the medicine. Most guys your age try to be big and brave and get away without
help from a medicine. But in your condition, you need it. I want you to stay as
comfortable as possible, and with nasty pain like that, you can’t. I’m also
putting you on strict bed rest. The only time I want you out of bed is to go to
the bathroom, and to take a walk twice a day around your house to keep
everything flowing.”
Dr. Getz closed the file and took his
glasses off.
“Do you have any questions?”
“I don’t think so.”
“Okay. I’m going to call my nurse and
have her schedule you for an appointment. I’ll be right back.”
As he stepped out, Nick set the bed
back up in a slight angle. Just as he closed his eyes again, he heard the door
open. Footsteps neared the bed, but he heard the cushion of the chair squeak as
someone sat. He opened his eyes to see AJ sitting beside him.
“Shit. I didn’t mean to wake you.”
“Nah, I wasn’t asleep.”
“Riley was right behind me, but then
she cornered your doctor.”
“Oh jeez.” Nick sighed. “He put me on
strict bed rest. And pain medication.”
“That sucks. I’m sorry. But hey, we’ll
keep your entertained.” AJ offered him a mischievous smile.
“You mean when I’m not sleeping?”
“Aw it won’t be so bad. And it’s not
for that long, right?”
“At least until my appointment with
him.”
“Which is?”
“I don’t know. He’s making it.”
“Ah..”
There was an awkward silence. AJ sat
back in the chair, his hands folded behind his head as Nick shifted in the bed,
attempting to get more comfortable.
“AJ?”
“Yeah?”
“When I have to go back to the doctor…
do you think you could go with me? Instead of Riley?”
“You haven’t told her yet, have you?”
AJ sat up to face Nick.
“No.”
“You know, you really need to.”
“I know. It’s just… it hasn’t been the
right time.”
“Nick, there will never be a right
time. You just need to tell her. She’s your best friend. Don’t you think she
has a right to know? I mean hell, you kept it from us for four years, don’t
keep it from her for any longer.”
Nick sighed, rubbing his hands over
his face.
“But yes, I’ll take you. Just make
sure you tell her soon, before she finds out from someone else.”
~~
“Are you okay?”
“Mhm,” Nick replied, exhausted as he
sat down on the edge of his own bed.
Riley kneeled down in front of him to
untie his shoes. She slid them off and set them beside the nightstand.
“Do you want to change?”
“No, this is fine.” He looked down at
his basketball shorts and t-shirt.
Standing back up, she helped him lie
down.
“Want another pillow?”
“Sure.”
She took the pillow from the other
side of the bed and placed it behind his head, propping him up. Pulling the
blankets up, she covered his lower body, folding the sheet beneath his arms.
“Thanks.”
“No problem.”
“Do you want anything?”
“You.” He replied as he yawned.
“What?”
“Will you stay with me?”
“Oh. Yeah, sure.” She found a
butterfly had risen in her stomach when he said ‘you’.
Why are you freaking out over it? It was a simple act of wanting
someone to stay until he fell asleep. Hell, he would’ve asked AJ if he were in
here.
She shook off the feeling as she went
to the opposite side of the bed and sat down. Turning off the light that was
beside her, she darkened the room, the only source of light being the dimmed
shine of the streetlight across the bare wood floor.
“Riley?” Nick asked, his voice quiet.
“Mmhm?”
“Thank you for staying with me.”
Something touched her hand. It startled her at first, but it took hold. She
realized her hand with intertwined with his. The grip lessened as his soft
breathing could be heard. She waited almost ten more minutes before slowly
withdrawing her hand. She kissed him lightly on the forehead before climbing
off the bed. Tiptoeing to the door, she stepped into the hall, leaving his door
slightly ajar.
“Is he asleep?” AJ asked as she walked
into the living room.
“Yeah.”
“Poor kid.” He took his hat off,
tossing it onto the floor beside him as he kicked up his feet on the couch.
Riley sunk into the overstuffed armchair, swinging her legs over the arm of it.
“Why won’t Brian suck it up and come
see him?” Riley asked after several minutes of silence.
“What do you mean?” AJ had no idea how
much she knew about what had happened. He was afraid if he said too much, she
would find out the devastating news.
“What’s so terrible that they can’t
talk to one another? Kevin said it was just a scuffle. Then why not talk?”
“I don’t know.” He replied. “You know
they’re both stubborn. I never really saw Brian in New York after the accident
and I didn’t want to bring it up to Nick.”
”I should just call Leigh and make her bring Brian down here.”
“What makes you think Nick wants him
here?”
“Because they’re Nick and Brian. Frick
and Frack. They don’t go a week without talking to each other. And now, when
Nick’s doing the pain and suffering, Brian’s not here to help him through it.”
“But we’re here.”
“It’s different. We don’t have the
special bond like they do.”
”Babe, I’d say you two have one hell of a bond.”
“Yeah, but it’s not like the Frick and
Frack bond.”
“Well, go for it, then.”
“What time is it?”
“Almost ten.”
“I’ll wait until tomorrow.”
“Chicken.” AJ grinned mischievously.
“I am not. I just don’t want to wake
Baylee up.”
“Mhm.”
A pillow suddenly slammed into his
face. Pulling it away, he looked over at Riley to see a satisfied grin on her
face.
“I’m going to bed,” She yawned as she
stood. “See you in the morning.”
She quietly checked on Nick before
going down to her own room. Changing into a comfortable set of pajamas, she
climbed beneath the covers, nearly pulling them over her head. After a few
minutes, she heard the door across the hallway shut, and she knew AJ was going
to bed too. She turned over and closed her eyes, finding herself surrounded in
darkness.
~~
Nick woke and for the first time, he
felt no pain. Maybe it was because he had high doses of pain medication running
through him. Or maybe he was actually healing. As much as he would like to
think that it was the second choice, he knew it was only the pain medication.
He lay still, afraid any movement might bring on pain. He listened to the
sounds of the house. The hum of the air condition as it suddenly shut off. He
could hear a lawn mower in the distance. Pans clinked together in the kitchen
as water ran through the pipes somewhere in the house. What time was it? He
turned his head to look, only to find his clock facing the other way. He was
much too lazy to roll over and turn it around. The remote was also on the
nightstand, but he didn’t feel like watching anything.
The door creaked open slowly and the
front of a baseball cap appeared. It moved in further until there was a face to
put with it.
“You’re finally awake.” AJ said,
opening the door all the way. “How do you feel?”
“Great. But I haven’t moved yet.”
“Are you hungry?”
Nick thought for a moment, deciding
whether he really was or not.
“A little.”
“Anything particular?”
“Doesn’t matter.”
“Okay.” He began to leave,
disappearing into the hallway.
“Hey J?”
“Yeah?” He popped his head around the
corner.
“You’re not making it are you?”
“Psh. Who do you think I am? Martha
Stewart?”
He left an amused Nick as he went down
the hall to the kitchen.
“Is he up?” Riley asked, looking up
from the sink where she was elbow-deep in soapsuds.
“Yep. And hungry.”
“Good. Did he say what he wanted?”
“No, he didn’t care.”
Riley drained the sink as she handed
AJ a large pan.
“What do you want me to do with this?”
“Dry it.”
“With what?”
“You shirt. Hell AJ, a towel. Don’t
you ever do the dishes?”
“I put them in the dishwasher… and
then I take them out to use them.”
Riley rolled her eyes as she opened
pantry door. “You can’t wash that pan in the dishwasher.”
“Oh.”
AJ took the towel that Riley had left
on the counter and began drying it. When he finished, he set it on the counter
and turned to leave.
“Ah hem.” She said, closing the door
to the pantry.
“What now?” AJ whined.
“Put it away! I thought you lived
alone?”
“I do.”
“Are you sure your mother doesn’t live
with you?”
AJ scoffed as he put the pan into the
cabinet.
“Thank you.”
“Yeah yeah.” He sat down at the bar
and watched her as she opened a can of chicken noodle soup. “So did you call
Leighanne?”
“Yes.”
“You did?”
“I said I did, didn’t I? You didn’t
think I would?”
“I had some doubt. What’d she say?”
“She was going to try to talk him into
it. She said maybe she could at least get him to come down and then he could
decide when he got here. She’s going to call me back.”
“When?”
“Whenever she talks to Brian.”
“That helps.”
Riley grinned, looking up from the pot
of soup she stirred atop the stove. “She said probably by this evening. Hey,
would you do me a favor?”
“Depends.”
“Would you look in the cabinets and
closet for some type of tray?”
He nodded, getting up from the stool.
He searched around in the cabinets, and then left the room to look in the hall
closet. He returned carrying a wooden lap tray.
“He really has one.” She said, amused.
“Yeah. A little dusty. Probably a gift
from someone he stuck in the closet.”
“Care to rinse it off for me?”
He made a face, but wiped it free of
dust particles. Opening it, he set it on the counter as Riley placed a bowl of
soup and a spoon on it. As she was about to pick it up, the phone rang.
“I’ll get it.” AJ said.
As he answered, she went down the
hallway. She nudged his door open with her foot. He lay in bed, silent and not
moving, but turned his head as she entered.
“Hey.” He said, struggling to sit up.
He lay back down in defeat as pain ripped through his abdomen. She set the tray
on the floor and went to his bedside. With one arm behind his back and another
grasping his forearm, she managed to help him up. She set a pillow behind him
and helped him scoot backwards until he was leaning again the headboard.
“Thanks.”
“Uh-huh.” She placed the tray in front
of him and he surveyed the food. “Is it okay?”
“Yeah. Thank you.”
“Riley!” AJ called from the living
room.
“I’ll be right back.”
She hesitated leaving him alone, but
did as she walked down the hallway.
“Leigh just called. She was going to
talk to you, but she was in a hurry and had to go. But she said they’d be down
this weekend. She’ll call back with details later.”
“Oh thank god. Maybe we can knock some
sense into those heads of theirs.”
“Or just totally knock them out.
Whichever works best.”
“Or comes first.” She added. “Let me
know when she calls back.”
“I will.”
***
