Chapter 2

“What? Nick, you’re bleeding.” Kevin replied hastily.

“I know. Don’t.”

By then, there was a commotion throughout the arena. Fatima was on the phone with the paramedics while the others watched in shock and horror.

“Nick, if I don’t put pressure, you could bleed to death.”

“Kev…” Nick said, his eyes burning with tears. It was something he had wanted to tell them for four years, but had never found the right time. He was always afraid of what they might think of them. And then, in a time like this, when they needed to know, they didn’t.

Kevin kneeled down beside Nick, ignoring his pleads as he placed the jacket around the pole, putting pressure onto the wound.

Tears streamed down Nick’s face as he attempted to push Kevin away. “Kevin. Stop. Please.”

“Nick, I can’t. The paramedics will be here soon to help you.”

“I have HIV. Stop touching me, Kev. I don’t want you to get it.” He sobbed. Kevin suddenly stopped. His face paled and he looked blankly at Nick. Above them, Brian sat slowly to the ground, comprehending everything Nick had just said.

Kevin’s instincts finally began working again. “Fuck HIV, Nick. I’d rather have you alive.” He continued putting pressure onto him until the paramedics ran in.

“Step away, please, sir.” A woman said, kneeling beside Nick.

“Do you have any allergies or conditions?” A man asked, pulling the jacket away from the wound.

“He… he has HIV.” Kevin said, finding it awkward for him to get it out.

“Okay.” The pair set to work quickly, opening small kits and packets. As one cut the shirt off, the other placed electrodes on his chest. Kevin looks at the wound on Nick’s abdomen. It was at least 2 inches in diameter. It was angled upwards when it had gone inside, so part of it look to be under his ribcage.

“He’s going into shock,” The woman paramedic said. “Do you guys have an electric saw?”

A crewmember ran from the scene, returning seconds later with an electric saw.

“I need you to cut this off right here.” She pointed to a place on the pole. Placing a sheet around the pole onto his stomach, she motioned from the crewmember to cut. He cut quickly, tossing the large piece to the side.

“Thank you.”

“We need to take him to the hospital now. It’s only two minutes from here. We can’t take anyone with us, but if you go there, we’ll have them update you as soon as they know anything.”

Kevin watched as Nick’s eyes rolled back into his head. They placed him onto a backboard, strapping him down, then laying it atop a gurney. They rushed out, leaving everyone to stare at the closed door.

They stood in shock, running the events through their heads.

“I’m going.” AJ said suddenly.

“Me too.” Kevin said. No one else said anything, let alone moved. Kevin ran backstage, closely followed by AJ. They ran down the hall to the backdoor where the vans sat.

“Do you have the keys?” Kevin asked the driver who was sitting outside on the curb.

“Yes.”

“Can you please take us to the hospital?”

Before he could answer, the two had climbed into the van. The driver, sensing urgency, sped out of the parking lot and drove the short distance to the hospital. He stopped in front of the Emergency entrance.

Kevin and AJ got out, walking inside the near-empty lobby.

“Can I help you?” A girl asked from behind a desk.

“Our friend was just brought in.”

“By the ambulance?”

“Yes.”

”Okay. Go down the hall and take a left. There’s a trauma waiting room there. I’ll let them know you’re here.”

They followed her directions down the hallway, and then turned left. It took them right to a small waiting room. It was decorated for a calming affect. Chairs lined two walls, divided by tables with magazines and boxes of tissues. A TV hung from the ceiling in the corner, muted on CNN. The room was empty except for an intern sitting off to the side, writing notes on a chart.

Kevin sat down, but AJ remained standing, pacing in front of him.

“AJ, sit down. It’s not going to help.”

“I can’t. Damn it, Kev. Why didn’t he tell us? Didn’t he trust us enough to tell us?”

Kevin sighed, rubbing his temples. “I don’t know.”

AJ sat down, leaning his head against the wall.

“Are you two with Nickolas Carter?” A man appeared, taking off a yellow trauma gown to reveal light blue scrubs.

“Yes.” Kevin stood.

“I’m Dr. Lynn. I was here when they brought Nickolas in. The pole penetrated his spleen, and possibly his stomach and intestines. In just a few minutes, we’re going to take him up to surgery. They’re going to take the pole out and basically do damage control, mostly to stop the bleeding and see what is injured.”

“Is he okay, though?” AJ asked.

“He’s near-stable. His blood pressure is very low, which gave us the hint about the spleen injury. Other than that, his other vitals are very good. He is still conscious, but he isn’t in any pain. He’s on morphine and he’s doing okay.”

“Can we see him before you take him up?” Kevin asked, a pleading look in his eyes.

“Uh…” He looked down at his watch. “Yeah. We’ll have to make it quick though.”

“Kev… you, uh, you go ahead. I’m going to call everyone.” AJ’s face had lost color and he had sunk back into his chair.

Kevin nodded, standing and following the doctor through a pair of glass doors.

“It’s kind of messy in here, but don’t let it alarm you. He did lose a lot of blood.”

Dr. Lynn opened a door to reveal a curtained area. From inside, several people could be heard talking, along with the beeps of the SAT monitor. He pulled the curtain back, and motioned for Kevin to go in.

Kevin drew a deep breath as he moved forward. Nick lay in the middle of the room on an oversized gurney. The pole remained, but had been wrapped with gauze and plastic. A thin sheet covered his body, spots of red blood decorating it. From an IV pole hung several bags of clear liquids, along with a blood transfusion bag. They ran down a long tube to his arm and were taped on, then covered with a foam board, and taped again.

Kevin stepped beside the bed. Nick turned to look at him, a sense of familiarity in his eyes.

“Hey buddy.” He squeezed Nick’s hand, careful not to move the pulse oximeter.

“Hey,” Nick replied, his voice muffled from an oxygen mask. “I’m so sorry.”

“For what?”

“For not telling you.”

“It’s not important right now. Don’t worry about it.”

Nick nodded, his eyelids becoming heavy.

“They’re going to take you up to surgery real soon, but we’ll be here when you wake up. AJ’s waiting out in the hall and calling everyone.”

“Aaron?”

“Yeah, I’ll make sure we call him.”

“Thanks.”

“We’re going to take Mr. Carter up to surgery now.” A nurse said from the other side of the gurney.

“I’ll see you later.” Kevin squeezed his hand once more, this time, receiving one in return.

Hesitantly, he turned to leave.

“Kevin, is it?”

He turned to see Dr. Lynn again.

“Yes.”

“The surgical waiting room is on the second floor. If you go to the desk by the waiting room, they’ll have someone take you up.”

“Okay. Thank you.”

Kevin returned to the waiting room to see AJ talking on the phone. He hung up as Kevin walked in.

“I called the guys and they were going to tell everyone.”

“Did you call Aaron?”

“No.”

“I’ll do it upstairs.”

Kevin went to the desk and asked for directions upstairs.

“I can take you up,” An elderly woman said. She walked out from behind the desk and led the two to an elevator. It took them up one floor. Getting off, they walked a short distance to an enclosed waiting room.

“Here you are. I’ll let them know you’re here. Who are you with?”

“Nickolas Carter.”

“Okay.”

The woman walked away, leaving them in the small room. In the corner, a man and woman sat, both reading out of a book.

“Is anyone coming up?” Kevin asked, sitting down on a couch.

“Howie is, definitely, and a few others.”

“Brian?”

“No. Howie said he was pretty distraught.”

Kevin sighed, picking up the phone.

“Do you have Aaron’s number?” He asked AJ.

“No.”

“I guess I’ll just call the operator.”

He dialed O and waited to hear a voice.

“Operator,” A woman’s nasally voice said.

“I need the number for an Aaron Carter in Marathon, Florida.”

(AN: I don’t know if Aaron lives in Marathon… I don’t know where he lives… but for the story, he’s going to live there… lol)

“I have one here, sir, but it’s a private number.”

“I know. Look ma’am, this is an emergency. I need to get a hold of him.”

“I’ll connect to him and see if he’ll take it. Who is trying to reach him?”

“Kevin Richardson.”

The line went dead for nearly a minute before he heard Aaron’s voice.

“Hello?”

“Aaron, this is Kevin.”

“Hey. What’s up?”

“Nick asked me to call you. Uh... there was an accident during rehearsal today. We had to take Nick to the hospital, and he’s on his way to surgery now.”

“Is he okay?”

“He’s stable. He has a penetrating abdominal injury. He lost a lot of blood.”

“Oh my god. Where are you guys at?”

“New York City. Roosevelt Hospital.”

“Okay. I’m going to try to be up there as soon as I can. I’ll tell Dad and see if he can get me up there.”

After hanging up, Kevin rested his head on the back of the couch. Physically and mentally drained from the day’s events, he let his eyes close.

Nearly two hours later, he was disturbed suddenly when the phone rang from beside him. Wiping the sleep from his eye, he answered.

“Hello?”

“Yes, I’m looking for the people with Nickolas Carter.”

“This is he.”

“I just wanted to update you on Mr. Carter. He’s doing fine. They’re thinking about another hour of surgery or so, but as soon as their finished, Dr. Resnick will be in to talk to you. I’ll let you know if there are any changes.”

“Okay, thank you.” He replaced the phone onto the cradle.

“Who was it?” A sleepy AJ asked from beside him as he struggled to sit up.

“Someone updating us on Nick. They said about another hour, then the surgeon will come talk to us.” Kevin stood, stretching his legs from the position he had kept for two hours. “I’m going to go down to the cafeteria and get something with caffeine in it. Do you want anything?”

“No… I’m going to go outside for a smoke.”

Kevin nodded before leaving the room. He retraced his steps to the elevator and rode down one floor. He followed signs that took him directly to the cafeteria. He opened a glass refrigerator and withdrew a cold bottle Coca Cola. Going to the cash register, he paid for the drink before returning to the hallway.

“Kevin!” A voice called from behind him. He turned to see Aaron jogging towards him. Kevin enveloped him into a tight hug.

“How is he?”

“He’s okay. They just called and said about another hour in the operating room, then they’d come and talk to us.”

Aaron followed Kevin in the elevator.

“Did your dad come?”

“No. I got my friend to buy the ticket. I haven’t been able to get a hold of Dad yet.”

“You can keep trying.”

Stepping out of the elevator, they walked to the waiting room. Upon entering, new faces sat against the wall. Howie, Kristin, and Leighanne all were there, worried looks upon their faces.

“Is he okay?” Howie asked as soon as they walked in.

“He’s still in surgery.” Kevin sat down across from them, as did Aaron.

The room grew silent, each person lost in their own thoughts. Several more people came into the room, eyeing the group as they took seats at the opposite side of the room.

Each time the door opened, their heads flew up, hoping for the doctor, but it was usually a volunteer, checking on everyone to make sure they didn’t need anything. Kevin checked his watch nearly an hour later, wondering how much longer it would be. Beside him, Aaron sat, his head resting in his hands. From the back, he looked like Nick. He had grown so much since the first time they had all met.

“Are you all with Mr. Carter?” A voice suddenly asked. They all looked up at a nurse standing in the doorway.

“Yes,” AJ spoke up.

“Are any of you immediate family?”

“I am,” Aaron said.

“Dr. Resnick would like to talk to his family only.”

“Could I bring someone with me?” Aaron asked standing.

“Sure,” The nurse replied, a sympathetic look on her face.

“Kevin?” Aaron asked quietly.

Kevin nodded and stood. He followed Aaron out of the room, turning to look at the faces he was leaving. “I’ll be back.”

The two followed the nurse down the hallway, stopping in front of a conference room.

“You can go on in and have a seat. Dr. Resnick will be in shortly. Can I get you anything?”

“No thanks,” Aaron said as they walked into the room. They sat down beside each other on one side of a large table. The room was plain except for a television in the corner, and a dry-erase board on one of the walls.

“Do you think he’s okay?” Aaron looked up from his folded hands, a frightened look on his face.

“I hope so.” Kevin replied, not knowing what else to say, for he really didn’t know if Nick would be okay.

There was a knock on the doorframe as a tall, burly man walked in. He had a surgical mask tied around his neck, but it draped down onto his chest. A cap remained on his head, decorated with different football teams.

“Hello, I’m Dr. Resnick.” He offered his hand to Kevin first.

“I’m Kevin Richardson,” He shook his hand.

”And I’m Aaron, Nick’s brother.”

“It’s nice to meet you both, under these circumstances at least.” He sat down at the end of the table near the two of them. “I’m a general surgeon here at Roosevelt. I was the head surgeon during the surgery today. Let me start by saying that he is stable right now.”

Kevin and Aaron both let out a sigh of relief, their throats becoming a little less tight.

“When they first brought Nick into the operating room, I looked over his injuries, and then the X-Rays and ultrasounds. Because we weren’t totally sure of where the bar went, this was basically exploratory surgery and damage control. When I got inside, I was able to take out the bar and see what damage was done. His spleen was bleeding, which was causing most of the blood in the cavity. Once that was taken care of, we could inspect the actual damage. His spleen is in very serious condition. The bar nearly went through it. His stomach and left kidney were also damaged. There are also two ribs in his back that were broken, but we’re hoping those will heal on their own. During the surgery, all I was able to do was stop the bleeding and inspect the damage. Because of swelling of the area, I was unable to close the incision. I packed it with special gauze and bandages, and using a special covering, we were able to cover the incision, rather than totally close it.”

“So he has an open incision?” Kevin asked.

“Basically. What it does is let the abdomen remain enlarged so the organs can go down in swelling without causing any other problems. Tomorrow, we’ll be taking him back into surgery to see what we can and can’t fix. By the looks of it, his kidney may be too damaged to save. People can live full lives without kidneys; so don’t worry about that so much. His stomach can also be easily taken care of. It only injured part of it, and that can be repaired easily. The thing I’m most worried about is his spleen. It was terribly damaged and will most likely have to be taken out. People can also live without spleens, but they are a main source with the immune system. People without spleens often get sick more often. With Nick’s HIV, we’ll have to watch that very carefully and make sure he gets all the vaccines he can in order to stay as healthy as possible. I know this is a lot to take in. I do believe Nick can and will make a full recovery as long as everything goes okay.”

“HIV?” Aaron asked suddenly.

A confused look crossed the doctor’s face. “You uh… you didn’t know?”

“No,” He replied.

“Aaron, I’ll talk to you in a minute,” Kevin said. “Dr. Resnick, can we see him tonight?”

“Yes. He’s in recovery right now. We’ll be taking him to his room in the ICU soon. He’s partially sedated because he has a breathing tube, but he will be conscious once he wakes from the anesthesia. If you guys want to go on back to the waiting room, I’ll have a nurse take you up to the floor when he goes up. They have strict visiting hour rules, but I’ll let them know you guys can see him.”

“Thank you,” Kevin shook his hand as the doctor stood.

“I’ll let you two talk.” He left the room, shutting the door behind himself.

“How come you knew and I didn’t?” Aaron asked, tears falling freely down his face.

“We just found out today. He told us when he fell. I tried to put pressure on the bleeding and he was yelling at me to stop because he didn’t want me to get it.”

“You touched his blood?”

“Yeah. But I’d rather have Nick alive and have it, than to see him die in front of me.”

“Why didn’t he tell us?”

“I don’t know. Maybe he was scared.”

“Is that why Brian isn’t here?”

Kevin nodded. “I think so. I think he’s scared and sad and angry.”

“I am too. But I still support my brother.”

“Some people just react differently.”

“Can we go back to now?” Aaron asked, looking at the clock on the wall.

“Yeah.”

They returned to the waiting room, greeted by curious and scared eyes.

“He’s stable,” Kevin said as he sat down. “He’s in recovery right now, but they’re going to take him up to the ICU soon.”

“Is he going to be okay?” Leighanne asked.

“His spleen, stomach, and left kidney were damaged. Dr. Resnick said it all can be taken care of, but he’s worried about the spleen. It’s part of the immune system, and with his…status, it could threaten his health. But he’s going back to surgery tomorrow. They didn’t close up his incision because everything was swollen, but they’ll do that tomorrow when they fix everything.”

As Kevin finished, the door opened and a new nurse entered.

“I can take you all upstairs, now. They just took him up and are getting him situated in the room.”

The small group followed the nurse to the elevator and rode up five floors before stopping on the ICU. She led them down the hall to a large waiting area.

“We encourage our families and friends to stay if they’d like. These chairs are rather comfortable for sleeping. There are plenty of pillows and blankets in that closet.” She pointed to a door in the corner. “There’s a lounge next door with vending machines and fresh fruit. There’s also a phone in here and in the lounge, free of charge for you to use. If you would like the use of a room, we do offer overnight rooms on the ninth floor. Dr. Resnick has asked that we bend our rules tonight. Usually, one person is allowed into the room for fifteen minutes each hour. With his request, we’re allowing one person to stay in the room with Mr. Carter at all times. You may have two people at a time, but only for fifteen minutes each hour. If you would like to trade off who stays, that is okay too. We do ask that you allow Mr. Carter to rest, as he did just have major surgery, along with a life-threatening injury.”

The nurse seemed nice, but very stern about her instructions. “Would you like to see him now?”

Aaron looked nervously at Kevin.

“I can take two of you,” She offered, noticing the look from Aaron.

Kevin nodded, placing his arm around Aaron and ushering him forward to follow the nurse. Kevin turned to see the others taking seats next to each other. “I’ll be back so you guys can see him.”

He followed Aaron and the nurse down the hallway. Each room had a window in the front, most with it partially opened for the staff to look in. The doors stood open, but curtains were closed around several of them. They stopped suddenly in front of room 607. The window was covered completely by a curtain, and while the door was open, the curtain around it was closed.

“We have a security guard on the way up. I’ll have security bracelets for each of you shortly. If you wish to have a bodyguard stand outside, rather than ours, that it is fine. Just let us know.”

***

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