Chapter 14
The drive to the University of
Kentucky campus went relatively quickly. Traffic in Lexington at 4:00 on a
Tuesday afternoon was fairly mild, but once they'd hit campus Nick thought they
would never make it to the hospital's parking garage. Sitting on Rose Street in
UK traffic as students crossed back and forth in front of the cars carrying
backpacks and textbooks could certainly set one back an hour or two.
Nick sat in the driver's seat and
watched the students walking by and tears began to fill his eyes. This was
where Grace should be. She had been enrolled at UK this semester and was in the
process of earning her master's degree when she'd been diagnosed with cancer.
Their trip to Hawaii had been during her spring break and she'd had to drop out
as soon as she'd started chemotherapy treatments.
He watched as couples walked by
holding hands and thought of how he should be visiting her here on campus and
not a few blocks away in the hospital. It was almost too much for him to take.
When the light turned green and the
traffic finally flowed the hospital came quickly into view. Nick hated
hospitals and UK's was no different. It was a very nice hospital, but it was a
hospital and nothing anyone could do would take away that fact. He turned the
car into the parking garage and collected his ticket. He didn't even bother to
look for a spot close to the ground floor and just drove straight up to the
top. Very few people parked up there and they were less likely to be bothered
walking in.
He pulled into an empty space and
turned quickly to AJ.
AJ looked at him and nodded his head
as if to ask him if he was ready. Nick nodded back and slipped on his baseball
cap and sunglasses as AJ did the same. They both clambered out of the car and
rode the elevator down to the main floor of the garage, thankfully without any
company. Once there they headed quickly over to the Markey Cancer Center.
Nick had come to know this place very
well. The ladies at the front desk knew the group and treated them with great
respect by honoring their privacy. They nodded their heads as soon as they saw
the two of the them walk in the door and one of the women stepped out from
behind the desk and whispered, "I'll take you to her room."
Nick followed behind the young woman
and AJ followed both of them. They were taken up an elevator and down a long
hallway to a door that was marked "Family Waiting Area." The young
woman turned to them and motioned towards the door. "This is your private
waiting area and her room is down the hall and to the right, number 218."
They each thanked her as she walked back down the hallway and AJ turned to open
the door of the waiting area. It was empty.
Nick was already heading down the hall
when AJ closed the door and he was quick to follow him. Nick walked to the end
of the hall and turned right and that is when he saw them all standing there in
the hallway.
Nick stopped dead in his tracks. Brian
was the first to turn towards him, his eyes bloodshot, face tear stained.
Leighanne stood beside him her hand in his and she whispered something into his
ear.
~~~~~~~
Howie was the first to speak, walking
up to AJ and Nick and hugging each of them in turn. "Thank God you're
here!" He finally said breaking the silence as he motioned for Kevin to
come over.
Kevin joined the group and took Nick
in a hug. He pulled him away and looked him in the eye. "Things aren't
going well Nick. The doctor went in to talk to her several hours ago and since
then she won't talk to any of us. She's been shut up in that room for two hours
and she'll only let the nurses in. They said they gave her something to help
her relax and sleep, but Nick no one knows what's going on, Brian's really
freaking out."
Nick could feel the tension in his
body release and build at the same time. When he'd turned the hall and seen
Brian crying his thoughts had wandered to dark places... he had thought she was
gone... that he was too late. Now as released a sigh of relief he also feared
for his fiance who lay beyond the door at the end of the hall suffering more
than he could ever imagine and he had been an ass to not be there for her when
she needed him most.
He pushed past Kevin and Howie and
walked up to Brian hugging him tightly. He kissed Leighanne on the cheek and
then walked up to the door breathing in a deep breath of air. He opened the
door just enough to slip in and squeezed his body through into the darkened
room.
The shades were pulled and all was
quiet with the exception of the steady beeping coming from the monitors beside
the bed. He stood back at the door and took in the sight of the woman he loved
more than life itself laying there in her hospital bed. Her face was pale and
the nurses had placed a cool rag upon her forehead, he could hear the sound of
her breathing as he moved closer to sit down in the chair beside the bed.
He sat there next to her and watched
her sleep as he'd done so often in the past few weeks. She looked so
beautiful... so peaceful... and yet there was something different there,
something he hadn't noticed before those many nights he'd watched her doze.
Today her face was moist with the tears she'd cried and their were dark circles
beneath her eyes. He hated himself at that moment for what he'd done to her,
for not being there.
He took her hand in his and held it
tightly.
"I'm here baby... I'm not going
anywhere."
***
