Chapter 8
“Well, Nick, I’m going to kick you out
this afternoon.” Dr. Resnick sat on the edge of the counter, facing Nick. “Your
labs look good. The incision and wounds look great and your CT scan came back
okay. I see no reason to keep you here any longer. Where is your home at?”
“Marathon, Florida,” Nick replied.
“Do you have a family practitioner?”
“Yes.”
“Okay. If you can just get me his name
or phone number, I’ll get in touch with him and discuss the injury and
surgeries, and I’ll fax everything down to them.”
“His name is Dr. Getz. I don’t have
the phone number with me.”
“That’s okay. I can look it up. There
can’t be many doctors in Marathon anyways.”
“There aren’t.”
Dr. Resnick chuckled before glancing
back over the chart. “I’ll send you home with some pain medication, in case you
need it. I can’t give you Valium to take because it will interact with your HIV
medications, but there is a different kind I can give you. There tends to be
more side effects with it, but some don’t have any problems. As soon as I get a
hold of your doctor and get everything straightened out, I’ll take out the
staples in your incision. And then I’ll get you out of here after lunch.”
“Great.”
”So, let me get out of here and call Dr. Getz. I’ll be back in a bit.”
Dr. Resnick tucked the chart under his
arm as he left the room. Nick shifted his weight in the chair so he could grasp
the phone that sat on the table beside him.
He dialed Kevin’s cell phone number,
unsure exactly of Riley’s.
“Hello?”
“Hey Kev,”
“Nick?”
“Yeah.”
“Is everything okay?” Kevin asked,
worry in his voice.
“Does something necessarily have to be
wrong for me to call you?”
“Well, considering you’re sitting in a
hospital…”
“Anyways,” Nick said, changing the
subject. “They’re springing me from here after lunch. Do you think perhaps you
or Riley could bring me some clothes and a ride?”
“I’m sure we could. Any preference in
clothing?”
“Something loose.”
“Okay. We’ll find something.”
“Thanks, Kev.”
As he hung up the phone, the day
nurse, Kathryn, came in.
“How are you doing this morning?” She
asked, a southern accent thick in her voice.
“Good. How about you?”
“I’m doing just fine, thanks. Dr.
Resnick wants to get you back into bed so he can take out the staples. Do you
think you can stand up yourself?”
“It’s worth a try.”
Nick slowly pushed himself off the
chair and into a standing position with little help from Kathryn. He took
several steps to the bed, and then sat down.
“Awesome.” She said, helping him lie
back. “Do you have someone bringing you clothes?”
“Yeah.”
“Anything stretchy or loose will be
all you want to wear for a few weeks, at least. Your stomach is still swollen
from the surgery and the incision will be tender.”
As Kathryn finished putting the bed
into a flat position, Dr. Resnick came back in.
”I’ve talked to Dr. Getz personally, and everything is taken care of. When you
get back, you’ll just need to call and make an appointment with him for a
check-up, and then another one in a few weeks. I’ll have this all written down,
also.” Dr. Resnick placed gloves on before lifting Nick’s gown to his chest.
“This shouldn’t hurt. It’ll just tug a little.”
Using special tweezers, Dr. Resnick
slowly pulled each staple out. “You’ll want to make sure you keep a close eye
on your health down there. You’re in a good area to not have a lot of allergy
and sinus problems, but when cold and flu season comes around, make sure you
get the flu shot. And if you feel like you’re coming down with something, go to
the doctor and get antibiotics immediately. It’s also worse with HIV because
the immune system isn’t as high as it’s supposed to be, but now that your spleen
is out, you’re doubling the chances for illness.”
He then placed steri-strips over the
incision. Finishing, he pulled the gown back down. Nick set the bed up as the
doctor tossed the staples and other supplies.
“Don’t bathe or soak in any water for at
least two weeks, to prevent infection. Dr. Getz will let you know when you can
again, because the impalement wounds may not heal as quickly. Showering is
fine, but try to keep the soap away from the wounds. I think that about covers
it. As I said earlier, I’ll have information for you when you leave. I have a
surgery to get to now, but I’ll be back up to sign the release papers around
twelve-thirty or so.”
“Thank you.” Nick said as the doctor
left the room again. He lay back against the pillows, staring at the ceiling
and wishing twelve-thirty would come soon.
~~
Riley stopped the blow dryer, thinking
she heard something. Stepping out of the bathroom, she heard knocking. Setting
down the blow dryer on the bathroom counter, she went to the door and opened
it.
“Hey Kev.” She greeted, opening the
door wider for him to enter.
“Sorry to bother you.”
“No, it’s okay. I was just attempting
to dry my hair with the cheap hairdryer.”
“Didn’t work?”
“Not so much.” She laughed.
“Sorry. Anyways, Nick called about
fifteen minutes ago and they’re releasing him after lunch.”
“Awesome.”
“Do you want me to go get him or do
you want me to?”
“I can do it, if you want.”
“That’s fine. We also need to get him
some comfortable clothes. Do you have his stuff?”
“Yeah. AJ had them close his room
account, so he brought the stuff here.”
“Okay. Have you tried the airlines
yet?”
“No..”
“I can do it. What time do you want to
leave to get him?” Kevin said pulling out his cell phone.
“About eleven?”
“I’ll let Frank know and he can take
you down and back, and then I’ll call the airlines.”
“I’d go for a non-stop to Fort
Lauderdale, if possible.”
“Yeah, I’ll try. Then you get a
different service from there to Marathon?”
“Yep. Just ask them about it. They’ll
hook you up. You’re a Backstreet Boy.”
“I’ll give that one a try.” He
jokingly rolled his eyes. “Well, I’m going to go figure this out and you can
finish getting ready and get his stuff. Let me know if you need anything.”
“I will. Thanks, Kev.”
As he left, she returned to the
bathroom. Deciding to abandon the hairdryer, she pulled her hair back into a
ponytail at the nape of her neck. Checking her watch, she realized it was
already ten-thirty. She turned off the bathroom light and went back
into the bedroom. Finding an empty shopping bag, she opened it and set it next
to his suitcases as she unzipped them. She dug deep into them, unsure of what
could be found. After going through nearly all of his clothes, she settled on
dark blue basketball shorts and a white t-shirt with a random basketball team
logo across it. She folded them and placed them in the bag along with a clean
pair of boxers, socks, and tennis shoes.
She set the bag by the door, and then
went in search of her own shoes. Deciding on sneakers for the day, she flung
her suitcase onto the extra bed and zipped it open. Digging several layers
down, she came upon her socks. Closing the top of the suitcase, she sat down on
the edge of the bed and pulled the ankle socks over her feet, followed by her
pink and white Nikes.
Dropping her room key into her purse,
she set it on her shoulder before turning the lights off in the room. As she
opened the door, she picked up the bag with Nick’s clothes, and then went into
the hallway.
“Just the person I was looking for.” A
male voice echoed down the hallway. She looked up to see Kevin walking towards
her.
“I was about to come up and see you.”
She replied. “So what did you find out?”
“Well, because it’s a holiday weekend,
ev-“
“Wait. What holiday?”
“Labor Day.”
“Already? Sorry, continue.”
“All the flights to Fort Lauderdale
and Hollywood are booked. Basically, everything to Florida is booked. Just for the
day though. However, I got you guys a flight for tomorrow morning at
five-thirty. There’s one stop, in Charlotte, but you don’t change flights. And
then you have an hour layover in Fort Lauderdale. At ten forty-five, the plane
leaves for Marathon. Since it’s a commercial flight, Frank is going to fly down
to Fort Lauderdale with you guys, but leave you from there.”
“Okay. Awesome.”
“What are we going to do about Nick
tonight, though?”
“I have an extra bed in my room. He
can sleep there. Doubt he’ll be able to sleep real well anyways.”
“True. All right. You’ll just have to
pick up the tickets tomorrow at the airport. Frank is waiting downstairs for
you now.”
“Okay.”
They walked together to the elevators,
but instead of getting in the same ones, she went down. Stepping out, she
shielded her eyes from the bright sunlight that was streaming through the
floor-to-ceiling windows.
“Hey Frank, how’s it going?”
~~
Nick sat in bed, watching the Lifetime
channel as Dr. Resnick walked in. Using the remote, he quickly turned off the
television.
“Did lunch go okay?” He asked,
fumbling with papers in his hands.
“Yeah.”
“Okay. Here’s some information for you
to take home. Basically, what you should and should not do for a while. There’s
also a prescription for your pain medication. It can make you kind of tired, so
if you’re pain isn’t too bad, you can take some Tylenol if you don’t want to
get drowsy. Who’s picking you up?”
“My friend Riley.”
“Is she going home with you?”
“Yeah.”
“I have some instructions for her,
too. I need to let her know about the pain medicine, also. Does she know about
your HIV status?”
“No.”
“Okay. I just need to know so I don’t
say anything about it. Anyways, I have all of your papers signed. As soon as your
ride gets here, you can leave.” He offered his hand for Nick, which he shook,
gratefully.
“Thank you for everything.” Nick said.
“No problem. If you have any questions
or concerns, you can always get me here at the hospital. Good luck.”
“Thanks.”
Dr. Resnick left the papers on the
over-bed table as he left. No sooner had the door closed, it opened again and
Riley walked in.
“Hey you.” Nick said.
“Hey yourself. Ready to kick this
place?”
“Yep.”
“The nurse said she’d be in to help
you get dressed, and I need to go talk to Dr. Resnick.”
“Okay.”
Riley left the sack of clothes on the
edge of the bed as she walked into the hallway.
“Hi, are you Riley?” The doctor asked
as she approached him at the nurse’s station.
“Yeah.”
“Alrighty… I just wanted to talk to
you about a few things since you’re going home with him. Basically, he needs to
take it easy for the next four to six weeks. A person of his age usually has
issues with having to take it easy for the long of time, but it will definitely
benefit him. His doctor in Florida does know about everything. He’ll need an
appointment at the beginning of next week for a check up on everything. He’s
got steri-strips on now, just to insure that the incision heals, and those will
come off by themselves over the next week or so, probably in the shower.
Speaking of which, he shouldn’t bathe or soak in any water for at least two
weeks, so he doesn’t infect the incision. You may also keep an eye on the two
impalement wounds, especially the one on his back that he can’t see.” Dr.
Resnick ran his finger down a list of items on a page. “He can eat whatever he
wants to now, but I told him to try and stay away from greasy foods for a
while. Since he had surgery on his stomach, the grease or anything heavy would
probably make him ill. He had a grilled cheese and soup for lunch, and it seems
to be okay. He might try staying with soups or soft food for a while… for uh…
pain reasons.”
Riley chuckled, definitely not wanting
the doctor to get into to the bodily functions.
“Anyways, the pain medication I’m
giving him has some side effects. They tend to happen more often with this
medication. The most common one is just nausea. Rarely, there’s vomiting,
vertigo, cold sweats. The basic side effects of every medication. I gave him
the prescription. I told him it could make him a bit drowsy, so if he doesn’t
want to take it, he can take Tylenol for minor pain. Usually, with a
laparotomy, patients are released within three to four days. In Nick’s case,
I’m really surprised he did so well, since it was injury related. He’ll
definitely need to be extra careful for a few weeks. He’ll be pretty sore and
will probably need a lot of help around the house. Car rides might be painful
at first, because of the bumps and potholes. And he’s not quite walking up to
speed yet, but it shouldn’t be too long. He may need a little assistance in
walking at first, because it’s sometimes painful for him to stand up for long
periods of time.”
“Okay.”
”I think that’s it. As I told him, I’m always here at the hospital, so don’t
hesitate to call if you have questions or concerns.”
“Thanks.”
She left him at the station, returning
to Nick’s room. She knocked and listened for an answer.
“Come in.” She heard his voice say.
“Are you decent?” She asked as she
opened the door a sliver.
“Mostly.”
She walked in, seeing him sitting on
the edge of the bed. He was in the process of pulling his shirt down over his
abdomen.
“I can get the rest.” Riley told the
nurse.
”Okay. I’ll go get his discharge papers and chair.”
Riley kneeled down in front of him,
loosening the shoestrings of his sneakers. She slipped them on over his socked
feet, then tied them snuggly against his foot.
“Does it work?”
“Yeah. Thanks.”
“Could you hand me that bag?” He
asked, nodding towards a small paper bag on the table. She handed it to him as
she sat down in the chair.
“What’s in it?”
“My stuff from when I came in. They
threw out my clothes because they had blood all over them. These are the shoes
I was wearing, so I’m guessing one of the guys took them back. This is just my
watch, necklace, and bracelet.”
“You still have that bracelet?”
“Why wouldn’t I?” He asked, clasping
his watch around his wrist.
“I just thought you would’ve put it
away.”
“Nope, still here.” He held up a
simple silver bracelet. It was held together with a single charm. It was the
Chinese symbol for friendship. She had a matching one, which she too, never
took off. But she was surprised he still wore it, as quickly as he changed
jewelry types.
The nurse returned pushing a
wheelchair with a file in the seat of it.
“I just need for you to sign a few
places.” She handed Nick a pen and pointed to several lines where he quickly
signed his name. “Okay, you’re free.”
With help from the nurse, Nick rose
slowly from the bed, and then moved over to the wheelchair. “I’ll come down
with you guys, so I can bring the wheelchair back in.”
“Do you want the flowers?” Riley
asked, motioning towards the near-wilting vase of flowers.
“Uh… nah.”
“Okay.” She looked around once more,
making sure he had everything, before she followed the wheelchair out of the
room. She tossed the bag that had held his clothes into a trash bin near the
elevator. They rode down nine floors before stopping in the lobby.
“I’m surprised there’s not a hundred
screaming teenagers waiting for you,” Riley snickered.
“That’s because they don’t know where
I’m at.” As the automatic doors opened, a hot breeze blew through the opening.
While Riley took the sunglasses off the top of her head and put them back on,
Nick shielded his eyes with his hand. Frank pulled up in the black SUV,
stopping in front of the sidewalk.
“Hey Carter,” He greeted, getting out
of the driver’s seat.
“Hey Frank,” Nick returned the
greeting, surprised to still see him in town.
“Front or back seat?” He asked.
“Uh… back is fine.”
He opened the back door and stepped
away, leaving room for Nick to get in.
”Maybe we should’ve got a car…” Frank said, realizing the height of the
vehicle.
“Nah, it’s fine.” Nick said, standing
slowly. He held his breath as he stepped up into the SUV. He released it once
he was sitting safely inside.
“Well, it was a pleasure being your
nurse. I hope you feel better soon.”
“Thank you for everything.” Nick said
as she began to go back inside. Riley closed the door for him before getting
into the front passenger seat.
“You okay?” She asked, glancing back
at him as she hooked her seatbelt.
“Yeah.”
Frank got in beside her and started
the engine. “Nick, I’ll try my best to miss potholes, but this is New
York City.”
“It’s okay.” Nick laughed.
“We’re only a few minutes away,
anyways.” Riley said.
”So what are the plans?” Nick asked, hooking his seatbelt loosely around his
stomach.
“Well, Kev tried to get us a flight
out for tonight, but it’s a holiday weekend, and everything is booked.”
“What holiday?”
“Labor Day.”
“Ah… anyways..”
“He got us a flight for five-thirty
tomorrow morning. There’s one stop in Charlotte, but we don’t change planes.
Then, we have an hour layover in Hollywood-Fort Lauderdale before our plane to
Marathon.”
“That’s not too bad.”
“Frank’s coming with us to Fort Lauderdale,
since it’s a commercial flight.”
“Okay.”
The ride was short, and before they
knew it, they had arrived in front of the hotel. Riley got out and opened the
back door.
“By the way… you’re staying in my
room.” She gave him a mischievous grin as she took his arm to help him out.
“Really?” He asked, a curious tone in
his voice.
“AJ cancelled your room because there
was really no point in it. I mean, if you want, we can get you a room, but-“
“Riley, it’s fine.” He looped his arm
into hers as she helped him inside the building. “Thanks Frank.”
Frank waved as he got back into the
SUV to move it.
“It’s fine, as long as you don’t start
snoring real loud or something really obnoxious. Then I might kick you out.” He
teased.
“Mind you, that’s my room. You can go
sleep in Kevin’s room or something.”
They walked to the elevator, Riley
pressing the ‘up’ button.
“It’s so nice to see normal colors
again, rather than pastels and white.” Nick said, looking around the inside of
the elevator once they stepped in.
“Yeah, because gold and red are so
much better.” She rolled her eyes teasingly. They rode up five floors before it
came to a gentle stop. It dinged upon opening and they walked out.
“Still feel okay?”
“Just peachy.” He replied, though he
was beginning to hurt.
“Liar.”
They stopped after passing several
doors. Riley slid the card-key into the door and waited for it to unlock before
turning the door handle. The room was dark, as the curtains were still closed
and the lights had been turned off. She flipped on a switch near the door as
they stepped into the room.
“I think you need to bring your
business over here so you can get you name known.”
“Why is that?” Riley asked, shutting
the door.
“So you can get bigger hotel rooms,”
Nick teased.
“I don’t need a lot of space. You see,
I manage to keep my belongings together, and not strung out; therefore, I have
more room. You guys just like big rooms so you can lounge around, drink beer,
and play videogames all night.”
“Ooh.” Nick said, sitting down slowly
on the edge of one of the beds. “I would kill for one of my game systems right
now.”
“You mean you didn’t bring them with
you?”
“I had them on the tour bus that I
never got to use. They’ll be waiting at home, probably.”
“Then you only have to wait until
tomorrow afternoon.”
“Yeah. But I’m tired of just sitting
around and watching dumb TV shows. I want to be able to get up and do stuff,
but nooo… it hurts like a bitch when I move even a little bit.”
Riley gave him a sympathetic smile.
“I’m sorry, babe. I wish there was something I could do to make you feel
better. Actually…”
“What?”
“Hold on.” She set her messenger bag
atop the table and began sorting through it.
“Ah-ha…” She pulled a small, yellow
flat box.
“What is that?”
“This, my friend, is the answer to
your boredom. Riley saved the day. Now give me a damn cape.”
She handed him the box, then returned
to the bag and took out a small black bag, tossing that onto the bed beside
him. He opened the box, his eyes widening.
“A Gameboy.” He said softly. “And the
new one, at that.”
“The games are beside you.”
“What color of cape do you want?” He
asked, looking through the bag before selecting a game.
“Any color will do.” She went to the
window and opened the curtains, allowing natural light to fill the room.
“Which bed is yours?” Nick asked,
looking at the two beds.
“I’ve been using the other one, but it
doesn’t matter.”
“This is fine.” He pulled a pillow out
from under the comforter and set it up against the headboard. Taking his shoes
off with the heels of the opposite foot, he scooted back on the bed, a refreshing
look on his face as he leaned back against the pillow.
“You comfortable?” Riley asked, taking
off her own shoes.
“Yeah.”
“Okay.” She lay down on her stomach on
the other bed, propping her chin up with her fists. Turning on the television,
she flipped through several channels before staying on a soap opera.
“You’re kidding me. You actually watch
soaps?” Nick asked, peering over the top of his game.
“I used to watch them between some of
my classes at school. A bunch of girls would get together in the dorms and
watch it. But when I went to Paris, all they have are French soaps. They’re
terrible and all in French. It’s a relief to see a normal one in English.”
“Right.”
“Just hush and play your game.”
Nick laughed, returning to the game. Every
so often he would find himself watching bits and pieces of it. A knock on the
door startled him. He glanced over at Riley, waiting for her to move, but she
didn’t. Putting the game down, he realized she had fallen asleep. He set the
game down beside him and swung his legs over the side of the bed. Holding his
breath, he eased himself up. He took several more deep breaths before moving,
hoping to alleviate the nagging pain in his abdomen.
The person knocked again as he neared
the door. Unlocking it, he opened it, not surprised to see Kevin standing
there.
“Sorry it took so long.” Nick said.
“Oh man… I didn’t mean to make you get
up. Where’s Riley?”
“She fell asleep.”
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay. Not your fault.”
“I was just going to see if you guys
made it back okay.”
“Yep. Do you want to come in?”
“Nah, I should get back upstairs. I
told Kris I’d only be gone a few minutes. We’re going out to dinner tonight. Do
you feel like coming along?”
“Uh… probably not. I’ll tell Riley
though.”
“Okay. I’ll see you later.”
Nick waited for Kevin to disappear
down the hall before closing the door. Carefully picking up the remote, he
turned off the T.V. Then, he returned to the bed, but instead of playing the
game, he pulled the pillow down. Easing himself down onto the bed, he laid down
gently on his side. He yawned before allowing his eyes to close. The pain in
his abdomen lingered on for quite a long time, before slowing dissipating and
allowing him to fall asleep.
When he woke later, the light in the
room had dimmed, except an orange light shining through the balcony doors.
Rolling over, he saw the other bed was empty, but there was a cord from the
wall opposite of the beds, leading out to the balcony.
Pushing himself up, he stood and
walked to the balcony doors. Outside, Riley sat in a metal chair, her feet
kicked up on the railing, while her laptop rested on her legs. As he stepped
outside, she looked up at him.
“Hey. How’d you sleep?”
“Good. How about you?”
“Great.”
He eased himself down in a chair
beside hers. “Kev came down. He wanted to know if you wanted to go out to
dinner with them.”
“I can’t leave you here alone.”
“Why not?”
“Because… you shouldn’t be alone yet.”
“I’m not an invalid. You can go out to
dinner.”
”Nah, I’d rather stay in tonight
anyways. We can get room service or I can go grab something.”
“Doesn’t matter.” He sat back in the
chair, crossing his legs at the ankles. “Too bad you can’t see the sunset on
this side of the building.”
“I know,” She replied. “I was thinking
that too.”
“We’ll have to watch it tomorrow
night. We can sit on the deck.”
“Ooh. You got a new deck, didn’t you?”
“Yeah.”
“Awesome.” She closed her laptop
before stretching her arms above her head. “I’m hungry. Are you?”
“Yeah.”
Putting her laptop under one arm, she
helped Nick stand, and together, they went inside.
“What do you want?” She asked, pulling
out a tourism guide from the nightstand.
“Pizza.”
“Are you sure?”
“Positive. We’re in New York. We have
to have pizza. And I haven’t had it in a long time. And I’ve been deprived of
real food. A slice of pizza won’t hurt.”
“Okay.”
She searched the guide for a place
that delivered.
“What do you want on it?”
“Doesn’t really matter. Whatever you
want.”
She decided just on cheese, for the
fact that anything else might be too spicy or make him sick. After she ordered,
she collapsed onto the bed beside Nick.
“This is just like old times,” She
said.
“What is?” He asked, looking over his
shoulder at her.
“Sitting in a hotel room, ordering
pizza. Just like it used to be when we first went on tour.”
“Yeah… the hotels changed a bit
though.”
“But we haven’t. We’re almost the
same.”
“Almost.”
***
