Chapter
12
Later that day, they were finally allowed to see
Julie. Naturally, the guys let Josh go
in to see her first, while they went to get some dinner. Excited to finally be able to see the girl he
loved more than anyone in the entire world, Josh hurried down the hall to the
private room where she had been put.
***
When I awoke, I knew something
was different. The pain in my stomach
was there, just as it had been ever since I had been shot, but it felt
different this time. Not worse, not
better, just different. Then, I realized
my throat hurt too.
My eyes flew open, and I
looked around, startled to find myself in a much different place than the basement
room I had grown accustomed to over the last few days. As I surveyed the room, I realized I was in a
hospital. Suddenly, I focused on
something not only familiar to me, but very much loved by me as well. It was Josh.
He was sitting in a chair beside the bed I was lying in, his attention
focused on the TV, which was tuned into a baseball game.
“Josh,” I tried to say, but it
came out as only a hoarse whisper.
Still, it was enough to grab his attention. He spun around to face me, his blue eyes wide.
“Jules!” he cried,
grinning. He grabbed my hand and gave it
a squeeze. “How are you feeling, babe?”
“Awful,” I admitted.
“You just had surgery a few
hours ago, sweetheart,” Josh said sympathetically.
“That would explain that,” I
replied. “How did it go?”
“It went great. They got the bullet out of your stomach, and
there wasn’t much damage that they had to take care of. Your surgeon, Dr. Nixon, said you’re really
lucky,” he told me.
“Did they catch ‘N Sync?” I
asked.
Josh nodded. “Yup, they got them all.”
“Good,” I said, my eyes
narrowing just at the thought of them.
“How did we get found?”
“You aren’t going to believe
this, but JC called me,” Josh said.
“What? He called you?”
“Yeah, he called your cell
phone, and I answered. He told me to get
the Backstreet Boys away from the hospital because they were coming to kidnap
them. So we all went to Sonny’s hotel
room to stay,” Josh said.
“Sonny’s here?” I asked.
“Yup, he’s with Heidi,” Josh
said.
“That’s good. How is Heidi anyway?” I asked.
“She’s doing good. She’s conscious and everything, and she said
she’s getting out in a couple days hopefully,” he replied.
“That’s good,” I said,
managing a smile. “How about Brian?”
“Bri’s fine too,” Josh
replied. “He and the other guys want to
see you. They let me go first though
while they went to get some food.”
I smiled. “Good,” I said. “I love them all, but you
know I love you best, and I always will.”
He grinned and leaned over to kiss my forehead. I smiled and weakly reached up to run my hand
through his light brown hair. As much
pain as I was in, I was happy, for we were all safe and alive, and that was all
that mattered.
***
A week passed, and I grew
stronger each day, as my pain slowly disappeared. By the end of the week, I was feeling much
better, but I was lonely. Brian, AJ,
Howie, and Kevin had all flown back to Lexington so they could be with
Nick. Sonny had to get back to base, so
he had flown back to Virginia, and Heidi had gone with him. Now, I only had Josh with me. He was staying in a hotel near the hospital,
and he spent most of the day with me, every day.
A few days later, I was
discharged. I wanted to go to Lexington
to be with the guys. They had been
calling everyday, and so far, Nick’s condition still didn’t look
promising. He was still in a coma, and
his chances for surviving got lower with each passing day. However, Dr. Nixon told me I needed to get
home and rest. He said it would take over
a month for me to recover from the surgery.
Also, I had on a special diet of food that were easy to digest because
my intestines had been damaged and needed to heal. The recovery sounded like it was going to
suck, but it didn’t matter much. At
least I was alive.
***
One week later, the phone rang
in our apartment. I was relaxing on the
couch, watching TV. I grabbed the phone
off the table next to the couch.
“Hello?” I said.
“Hi, Julie?” a voice asked.
“Brian?” I asked, recognizing
his voice.
“Yup,” he said. “How are you doing?”
“I’m doing pretty good,” I
replied, smiling. “How about you?”
“I’m okay,” he said.
“How’s Nick?” I asked.
“Well, actually, I’ve got
someone here who wants to talk to you.
He can tell you how Nick’s doing,” Brian said.
“Ok,” I said, rather
confused. I listened for a moment. I
could hear whispers in the background, but I couldn’t make out what was being
said. Suddenly, another voice came on the
phone.
“Hello?” it said, rather
uncertainly.
“Hi,” I replied, my brow
furrowing as I tried to recognize the voice.
It sounded vaguely familiar, but I couldn’t place it. It definitely wasn’t Kevin, AJ, or
Howie. “Who is this?” I asked finally.
“Nick,” replied the
voice. I gasped.
“Seriously?!” I asked.
“Yeah, it’s me,” he
replied. I broke into a grin.
“Oh, my God, Nick! I can’t believe it!” I exclaimed, thrilled
beyond words. “How long have you been
awake?”
“I woke up last night,” he
replied.
“That’s great!” I said. “How are you feeling?”
“I’ve been better. How about you?
Brian told me everything that happened to you guys.”
I smiled, feeling as if we
were old friends, even though we’d never formally met, only when he was
unconscious, and I was giving him CPR.
“I’m doing a lot better,” I replied.
“That’s good,” he said. “Julie, thank you so much. The fellas told me what you did.”
I smiled, blushing. “Nick, you don’t have to thank me,” I
said. “It’s not like I really had a
choice. I did what I had to do.”
“Well, thanks anyway. Without you, they said I might not be alive
right now,” he said quietly. I sucked in
a breath.
“So how are you doing,
really?” I asked. What I was wondering
was how much use he had of the rest of his body, but I didn’t want to say that.
However, he understood what I
meant. “Well, if you mean, can I sit up,
walk, anything like that, the answer’s no,” he said, suddenly sounding
bitter. “I can move my arms a little,
but nothing else really. Everything else
from my chest down is numb.”
I suddenly felt close to
tears. “Nick, I’m sorry,” I said
softly.
“It isn’t your fault,” he
said.
“That must be horrible,” I
murmured. “Do you know when you’ll get
the feeling back?”
“Dr. Cantrell said I should
regain the use of my arms and pretty much everything from the waist up, but he
also said it’s unlikely that I’ll ever walk again.”
“Oh, Nick,” I whispered
sadly. “I’m so sorry.”
“Hey, you don’t have to
believe what he says. I plan on walking
again, no matter what he, or any other doctor, tells me,” Nick said stubbornly.
I smiled, glad that he hadn’t
given up hope. He was determined, and
that was good. Maybe, just maybe, with
some luck, his goal might come true. But
I knew I had to face reality and understand that it was still very unlikely,
even with his strong determination.
However, I wouldn’t give up hope that maybe, someday, he would be
walking again.
***
A few weeks later, school
started up again, and Josh and I were gone most of the day at our classes.
One afternoon, after my last
class got over, I came home and got onto the internet, as I often did. Josh had one more class to go to, so he
wouldn’t be home for awhile longer.
After getting on the net, I logged onto Instant Messenger. Almost immediately, someone IM’d me.
Sharkman80:
Hi
I had no idea who this
was. I clicked on the person’s profile,
only to find he or she didn’t even have one.
Curious, I replied back.
RokofAges75:
Hi
RokofAges75:
Who’s this?
Sharkman80:
Nick
(AN: This
is not really Nick’s screen name, as far as I know. I made it up.
If this happens to be your screen name, or the screen name of someone
you know, it is pure coincidence.)
I was both surprised and happy
to hear from him. I didn’t know he had
gotten my screen name. I wondered where
he had gotten it from.
RokofAges75:
Hey! J
RokofAges:
How are you doing? I haven’t heard from you in a couple weeks.
Sharkman80:
Yeah, I know. I got home from the hospital a few days ago.
RokofAges75:
That’s great!! J
Sharkman80:
Yeah
RokofAges75:
So where are you now? In Florida?
Sharkman80:
No, actually, I’m in Cali living with my parents
RokofAges75:
cool
RokofAges75: so, how did you get my SN?
Sharkman80:
Heidi told me it
RokofAges75:
oh, cool. So, you talk to her online
too?
Sharkman80:
yup
RokofAges75:
cool
RokofAges75: so, how are you doing? Do you have much movement yet?
Sharkman80:
kind of. I’m in physical therapy
Mon-Fri. I have pretty good movement w/
my arms, but the legs are still useless. I’m in a wheelchair, and it sux
RokofAges75:
I bet it does.
I felt bad for him. He sounded upset about not being able to move
his legs, and I didn’t blame him one bit.
I knew I’d be feeling the exact same way if it were me.
Sharkman80:
Well, I gtg now. I just wanted to say hi
RokofAges75:
Ok, thanks for IMing me. TTYL
Sharkman80:
k, bye J
RokofAges75:
Bye J
I watched as his screen name
disappeared from my buddy list and sighed. It was nice talking to him, but he
sounded depressed. I wished there was something I could do, but I knew there
was nothing. This was his battle to
fight, and I knew that he had the strength and determination to win that
battle, if he would just believe in himself.
***
