Chapter 14
One week
later
It
had been two weeks since the accident.
Two weeks, and still, Nick remained in a coma. Dr. Madden did not seem very hopeful about
Nick’s condition. The only encouraging
thing was a slight increase in Nick’s brain activity level. Dr. Madden had told Jane and the guys that
that could be a sign that he might be waking up. But it was not for sure, and lately he had
been stressing the point that even if Nick did wake up, he might never be the
same as he was before the crash.
Still,
through all this, Nick’s family and friends refused to give up hope. Brian, AJ, Howie, and Kevin were at the
hospital every day, as was Jane, while Bob and Nick’s younger siblings came to
visit on weekends. All the while they
prayed, begging the Lord to bring Nick back to them.
***
Aaron burst into Nick’s room, his eyes filled with hope as
he glanced at his big brother. Almost
immediately, the hopefulness left his face as he realized Nick looked no
different than the week before, when he had last visited him.
He glanced around, realizing he was alone with his
brother. His father and sisters had met
up with his mother as soon as they’d arrived and had gone to the cafeteria to
eat lunch with her. Anxious to see
Nick, Aaron had refused lunch and instead gone into Nick’s room in Neuro
ICU.
Now that he was there, he was not so sure he wanted to
be. During the flight to Atlanta, he had
had a feeling that things would be different when he got there, that Nick would
be better. But now, it looked as if his
feeling had been wrong. Nick was no
different, and Aaron felt uncomfortable being there in that eerie room with
him. He regretted not going for lunch
with his family.
But he knew he wasn’t going to leave Nick all alone because
he was afraid to be there. Nick had
always supported him, and now here he was, there to support Nick.
“Hey, bro,” he whispered, his voice faltering as he inched
closer to the bed, his eyes fixed on all those scary machines around his
brother. You’d think that after two
weeks, he would be more accustomed to the medical equipment, but he wasn’t. The machines and monitors still terrified
him.
Still, Aaron wasn’t going to let them scare him away from
Nick. He had to be there for his
brother.
Bravely, he sat down in the chair that customarily sat next
to the bed and gazed at Nick, at his deathly complexion, bruised face, and the
wisps of matted blonde hair peeking out from beneath his gauzy headdress.
“Hey,
Nick, it’s me. AC,” he said, his voice
increasing in volume as he gained more confidence. “Just wanted you to know I’m here,
bro…. Hey, you ‘member that time when
you came to my concert in New York?”
Aaron smiled, remembering that night.
It had been months since the two brothers had seen each other, and Nick
had showed up at Aaron’s concert, surprising him onstage and bringing tears to
his eyes. “You were there for me then…
and I’m here for you now. But please,
man, you gotta wake up… okay?
Please?” Aaron’s voice broke, as
tears started to rise in his brown eyes.
He blinked furiously to keep them back.
He wasn’t a baby anymore. He was
thirteen, and thirteen year old boys didn’t cry. Aaron sniffed loudly, rubbing at his eyes to
get rid of the tears.
He
glanced at Nick, wishing that he would awaken to see his little brother crying
and make fun of him for it. Aaron would
give anything to be teased and tormented by his older brother again. Anything.
Aaron rested his hand lightly upon Nick’s limp one for a
moment. Suddenly, he gasped and jumped
back as he felt Nick’s hand move under his.
“He
moved!” he gasped aloud. “Nick? Nick?”
He stared anxiously at his brother’s still face, just waiting for his
blue eyes to open. He had moved! He had to be coming out of his coma.
But
minutes passed, and nothing happened.
Nick’s face looked blank, expressionless, as it always did.
Aaron
sighed, but refused to give up hope. He
stood up slowly, his gaze never leaving Nick as he backed towards the
door. When he reached it, he whispered,
“Be right back, Nick,” and darted out.
He had to find his family and tell them the good news.
***
“Mom! Hey, Mom!”
Jane
looked up to see Aaron running through the crowded cafeteria, shouting. At first, she jumped up in alarm, but she
could tell right away that nothing bad had happened. The expression on his face was not at all
upset. She sighed, slightly embarrassed
by her youngest son’s rambunctious behavior.
“Aaron,
what’s gotten into you?” she scolded gently when he arrived, breathless, at
their table. “You know not to run
through a hospital, of all places!”
“Sorry,
Mom, but I gotta tell you somethin’!” Aaron insisted.
“What?”
“Nick
moved!” he cried, his eyes wide with excitement.
They
all gasped, exchanging shocked glances.
“He’s
awake?” Angel asked hopefully.
“No,
not yet, but I bet he will be soon,” Aaron told her.
“Did
Dr. Madden come to check on him yet?” Jane asked.
“I
don’t think so,” Aaron said. “I was the
only one there when it happened, and I didn’t tell anybody besides you guys.”
“So
what exactly happened?” Bob asked.
“He
moved his hand,” Aaron replied.
Bob
and Jane glanced at each other and smiled, each thinking that this could be a
turning point for their son. Hopefully,
the worst was now over.
***
