Chapter
11
Brian
lay in a hospital bed, watching the IV dripping slowly into his arm. He sighed impatiently. He didn’t want to be there in that bed. He wanted to go find out where Heidi and
Julie were and how they were doing. He
had already eaten some food, which was pretty bland, but it felt good to
finally get some food into his stomach.
He felt revived. Now all he had
to do was see the girls.
An
hour later, the IV bag was empty, and the ER physician that had admitted him,
Dr. Williams, came into the room.
“Well,
Mr. Littrell, I’m just going to check you out, and then if everything looks
fine, I’ll discharge you, okay?” he asked.
“Great,”
Brian replied. Dr. Williams quickly
checked him all over.
”Okay, everything looks fine. Just get
some rest, and you’ll be as good as new,” he told Brian.
“Thanks, doc,” Brian replied, smiling. Dr. Williams took out the IV and went to get
the discharge papers while Brian changed out of the hospital gown he had been
forced to wear. When Dr. Williams came
back, he signed the discharge papers and was on his way.
He
immediately headed to the nurses’ station.
“Excuse me, ma’am?” he asked a kind looking older nurse.
“Yes,
sir?” she asked.
“I
was wondering where I could find my two friends, Heidi Jennings and Julie
Lewis. They were brought in here a
couple of hours ago,” Brian said.
“Just
a moment, please,” the nurse replied.
She pulled up their files on a computer.
“Miss Lewis is in surgery right now, so you can’t see her. But you can see Miss Jennings. She’s upstairs on the second floor, Room
224.”
“Thanks,”
Brian said graciously. He walked down
the hall to the elevators and took one up to the second floor. The elevator doors opened, and he stepped
out. Following the signs on the wall
pointing him in the right direction, he found his way to Room 224. The door to the room was slightly ajar. Brian peeked in and saw Heidi lying in one of
the two beds, the one closest to the window.
No one occupied the bed closest to the door. Hesitantly, he stepped into the room and
approached her bed. Her eyes were
closed, but they opened as soon as he came closer.
“Hi,
Brian,” she said, a small smile forming on her lips.
“Hey,
Heidi,” he said, returning her smile.
“How are you feeling?”
“Tired,”
she murmured. She didn’t look great, but
she was much better looking than the last time he had seen her, right after her
second seizure. She looked awfully pale,
and she had three IV’s going, one in each of her arms, and a third in the back
of her left hand. “How are you?”
“I’m
tired too, but other than that, I’m doing pretty good,” he said.
“That’s
good,” she said. “The doctors told me I
had a second seizure while we were down there.”
“Yeah,
you did,” Brian said, shuddering at the memory of it.
Heidi
sighed. “Well, they’re pumping drugs
into me now so it won’t happen again,” she said. Brian grinned. “So, is anyone coming down to see us? Any of the guys?”
“I
don’t know, but I’m sure they will,” Brian replied. She nodded, briefly closing her eyes and
opening them. “Are you okay?” Brian
asked.
“Just
tired,” Heidi replied. “Hey, how’s Julie
doing? I asked my doctor, Dr. Parks, but
he wouldn’t tell me anything.”
“I
don’t know much either,” Brian admitted. “A nurse told me she’s in surgery now,
so I can’t see her.”
“Oh,”
Heidi said, frowning. “Hey, would you
mind if I took a little nap?” she asked.
“No,
go ahead,” Brian replied. “I think I’ll
head up to the surgery floor and see if Julie’s out yet. I’ll be back when I know something, ok?”
“Sure,
thanks, Bri,” Heidi said, smiling slightly.
“See ya later.”
“Ok,
Heidi. Get some sleep,” Brian replied,
bending and kissing her cheek. “I’ll be
back later.” Heidi blushed and grinned.
“Ok,
bye,” she said softly, smiling as he left the room.
***
Meanwhile,
the guys had just arrived at the hospital.
They went to the main desk right away.
“Hi, there,” Kevin said to the receptionist. “We’re looking for three of our friends that
were supposedly brought here a few hours ago.”
“Ok,
what are their names?” the receptionist asked.
“Brian
Littrell, Julie Lewis, and Heidi Jennings,” Kevin replied. The receptionist typed their names into her
computer and studied the screen.
“Ok,
it says here that Brian was discharged about a half an hour ago. Julie is currently in surgery, and Heidi is
in Room 224.”
“Ok,
thanks,” Kevin said, figuring Brian was waiting somewhere for them to
come.
“I
want to go up to the surgical floor to wait,” Josh immediately said, his blue
eyes full of fear, for he had no idea what had happened to his girlfriend.
“Ok,”
Kevin said.
“I’m
going to see Heidi first,” Sonny said.
Kevin
turned to the others. “Guys?” he asked.
“Sonny
and Heidi should have some time alone.
I’ll go wait with Josh,” Howie replied.
“Me
too,” AJ agreed.
“Yeah,
I’ll go with you guys then,” Kevin said.
“We’ll be down to see Heidi later, ok Sonny?”
“Sure,”
Sonny replied, and headed to an elevator to go upstairs to his girlfriend’s
room. Josh, AJ, Howie, and Kevin took a
different elevator to the third floor, the surgical floor.
“Can
I help you?” a nurse asked them when they reached the floor.
“Yeah,
my girlfriend is having surgery right now,” Josh replied. “Is there somewhere I can wait?”
“Sure,
there’s a waiting room right across the hall,” the nurse said, pointing.
“Thank
you,” Josh replied and headed to the room across the hall. It was a small waiting room, and it was
completely empty, except for one person.
“Brian!” Josh cried.
Brian
looked up from the magazine he had been leafing through. “Hey, Josh!” he said, breaking into a
grin. He stood up, and he and Josh
hugged each other lightly. Then the
other guys came in.
“Cuz!”
Kevin cried, enveloping Brian into a huge hug.
“God, Brian, we were so worried about you.”
Brian
said nothing, just buried his head into his cousin’s shoulder, happy to be safe
and back with his friends. He hugged
both AJ and Howie, and then of course, they all wanted to know what had
happened. He explained everything
briefly, and then he told Josh about what had happened to Julie.
Josh
looked devastated. Brian thought he saw
tears come into his big blue eyes, but then he turned his head away.
“Is
she going to be okay, you think?” he asked Brian, his voice soft and scared
sounding.
“I
think so, Josh,” Brian said. “I mean,
she was bleeding pretty badly, but we got that under control, and she was alert
most of the time. Plus, she’s strong…
and stubborn too. I think she’s going to
make it.” His tone was confident, but
deep down, he was not at all sure. She had
lost a lot of blood, and she could have some severe injuries to her
internal organs. But he could never tell
Josh that, although, he figured Josh, being a med student, understood the
possibilities. They would just have to
wait and see how serious it was.
***
They
waited for another hour, and finally, a young doctor came into the room. “Are you guys with Julie Lewis?” he asked
them. They all nodded solemnly. “Ok, my name is Dr. Nixon. I was Julie’s surgeon. Julie made it through the surgery just fine
and is in Recovery now. We should have
her moved into a private room in another hour,” he said.
“Is
she going to be okay?” Josh asked.
“Julie’s
very lucky. She did lose a lot of blood
from the bullet wound, but it managed to not damage any of her internal organs
very badly. We got the bullet out and
corrected what damage there was, and she should be fine after awhile. She will need some time to recover from the
surgery, but I’d say she’ll probably be released in a week or two,” Dr. Nixon
explained.
Josh
smiled. “That’s great,” he said. “So, when can we see her?”
“Not
for awhile, I’m afraid. She’ll be out
for another few hours probably, and she needs her rest, so it could be another
few hours,” he replied.
“Ok,”
Josh said, just relieved that Julie was going to be okay. “Thanks so much, Dr. Nixon.”
“You’re
welcome,” Dr. Nixon said, smiling. “If
you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask.”
“Thanks,”
Josh said again, and the doctor left the room.
Josh then turned to the others.
“Well, guys, should we go see Heidi now?”
“Sure,”
Kevin replied. “Let’s go.” They all smiled at each other and headed out
of the room for the elevators.
***
Sonny
had been sitting in Heidi’s room for nearly two hours, just watching her
sleep. She looked so peaceful, he didn’t
have the heart to wake her. Her doctor,
Dr. Parks, had told him she had suffered two seizures, but that she would be
fine now that they were getting her medication back into her system.
Suddenly,
Heidi let out a soft moan, and then, her deep brown eyes opened. “Sonny?!” she asked in disbelief when she saw
him sitting beside her. Was she
hallucinating? It seemed too good to be
true.
“Hey,
baby,” Sonny said, smiling. He leaned
over and hugged her as best he could.
She wrapped her arms around him and held him tightly.
“Oh,
Sonny, I missed you so much. I thought I
might never see you again,” Heidi cried.
When Sonny let go of her, he saw tears in her eyes.
“Why
are you crying, sweetie?” Sonny asked.
“I’m
just so glad to see you,” Heidi said.
Sonny just smiled and wiped her tears away with his thumbs. “Are the other guys here too?” she asked.
“Yeah,
they’re all up waiting for Julie to get out of surgery,” he replied.
“Do
you know anything about her condition yet?” Heidi asked worriedly.
He
shook his head. “I don’t, but maybe they
do. We’ve been here for about two hours,
so maybe they’ve been told something.”
“Oh,
Sonny, I hope she’s okay,” Heidi said, her eyes filled with concern.
“Me
too, baby,” Sonny replied.
Heidi
sighed and lay back against her pillows, praying that her friend was going to
be all right.
***
AJ,
Kevin, Howie, and Josh arrived in Heidi’s room a few minutes later. They found Heidi lying in bed, and Sonny
sitting next to her, holding her hand.
“Hey,
guys!” Heidi said brightly when they walked in.
“Hey,
Heidi!” they all replied, just as brightly.
“How’s
Julie?” was Heidi’s first question. The
guys looked at Josh to answer.
“She’s
gonna be okay,” he replied, smiling.
Heidi immediately relaxed. “She’s
out of surgery and in the Recovery room now.
Her surgeon, Dr. Nixon, said that there wasn’t too much internal damage,
and he fixed what damage there was and got the bullet out of her. He said she’ll need a long recovery period,
but that she should be fine eventually.”
“That’s
great!” Heidi cried, breaking into a grin.
“When can I see her?”
“Heidi,
hun, you’re not even out of the hospital yourself,” Sonny replied,
chuckling.
“Yeah,
you need to worry about getting better yourself first,” Kevin replied.
“So,
how are you doing, anyway?” Howie asked.
“I’m
fine now,” she replied. “I’m sure you
guys know about my epilepsy by now, don’t you?”
They all nodded slowly. “Well, I
had two seizures while we were locked in that room, but my doctor said I’ll be
fine. I’ll probably be out of here in a
couple days.”
“That’s
great,” AJ said, smiling.
Heidi
looked up at Brian. “So, Bri, how are
you doing?” she asked.
“I’m
fine,” he replied.
“Did
you tell the guys about your little experience with Lance?” she asked. Brian’s face flushed red.
“What
experience?” AJ asked.
“I’d
rather not talk about that now,” Brian said quietly.
“What,
did he make a move on you or something?” AJ teased. Brian’s head shot up, and he grew even
redder. AJ’s eyes widened. “I was kidding, dude,” he said.
“Brian,
what’s wrong?” Kevin asked. Brian and
Heidi exchanged glances.
“He…
uh… well, uh… he did,” Brian said.
“Huh? He did what?” AJ asked.
“What
you said,” Brian replied, blushing again.
“Made
a move on you?” AJ asked, laughing.
“It’s
not funny, Aje. It was scary. He tried to rape me!” Brian cried. There was dead silence.
“Brian? Are you serious?” Kevin asked, his green eyes
wide.
“Yeah. I was sound asleep, and suddenly, I woke up,
and there was this guy on top of me. I
realized what he was trying to do, and I tried to push him off me, but I was
weak from not eating, and he weighs more than me, and I couldn’t. Then Julie tackled him and kicked his ass,”
Brian explained, his cheeks still red.
“Julie
kicked his ass?” AJ asked, grinning.
“Go, Julie!” They all chuckled.
“Oh,
my God, Brian, I can’t believe it,” Kevin murmured.
“Jeez,
I always said he was gay, but I didn’t know it was true,” Josh said, in
disbelief. The others nodded.
“Hey,
don’t worry about it,” Brian said with a shrug.
“It’s all over with now, and anyway, he didn’t really do anything. Julie saved me.” They all chuckled again, but the atmosphere
was uncomfortable, as they all thought about how horrible that must have been
for Brian to go through. It was
something none of them could even imagine.
***
