Chapter 28

 

Only a half an hour later, Dr. Coleman returned.  I immediately had a bad feeling, thinking that something had happened to Nick.

 

But that wasn’t the case.  “Julie, I just read the results of the tests we ran on Josh’s heart earlier today, and I’m happy to let you know that there was no damage done,” Dr. Coleman told me, smiling.

 

I nearly collapsed with relief.  With all that had happened, I had nearly forgotten about the tests that were going to be run on my husband, but now I was filled with happiness.  Only hours before, it seemed everything was bad.  But now, Hope had been found, Nick had made it through surgery, and Josh was hopefully going to get better. 

 

“Is Josh awake yet?” I asked hopefully.

 

“Actually, he did regain consciousness very briefly earlier this evening, but you weren’t here.”  Dr. Coleman paused, seeing the disappointed look come over my face, and quickly added, “don’t worry, you didn’t miss much.  We have him on morphine now for the pain, and he was so out of it, he didn’t know what was going on anyway.  He was only awake a few minutes, and then he drifted off again.”

 

I nodded, still a little disappointed that I had missed it, but happy that he had woken up in the first place.  Hopefully he would wake up again soon.  I could barely wait.

 

***

 

“Hey, guys, I’m heading home to get some sleep.  Anyone want to come?” Leighanne asked awhile later.  It was going on one in the morning, and we were all exhausted.

 

“I’ll come,” AJ immediately said.  He looked ready to drop. 

 

“I’m so tired, but I don’t want to leave Sonny,” Heidi murmured, looking torn. 

 

“Go on back, Heidi,” I urged her.  “I’m staying, and I’ll call you if anything happens.”

 

“Well… okay, I guess I’ll go then,” she said hesitantly.

 

“Sammy, are you going?” Leighanne asked.

 

“No, I want to see Nick first,” Sammy said.

 

“Bri?”

 

“No, I’ll stay here with Sammy and Julie,” Brian replied. “That way I can be here if Hope needs anything too.”

 

Leighanne nodded.  “Okay then,” she said.  “See ya later.”

 

We all said goodbye to each other, and then Leighanne, AJ, and Heidi left the room.

 

***

 

Eventually, I drifted off to sleep in the chair I was sprawled in. 

 

When I awoke, I saw Sammy sound asleep in the chair next to me, and Brian was sleeping on a small sofa against another wall. 

 

I stood up and stretched, my back stiff.  I glanced at the wall clock to see that it was almost five.  I had been sleeping for about four hours.

 

Feeling much more alert than I had before, I headed out of the room and walked down the hall to check on Josh in the ICU. 

 

When I got to his room, he was sleeping, as usual, but I could tell that he was sleeping lightly, for I could see some movement of his eyes behind his eyelids.  I hoped he would wake up soon.  I longed to see his big blue eyes again.

 

I sat down in my usual spot and held his hand, like I always did.  But this time, as I gave his hand a squeeze, he squeezed back, and then his eyes fluttered open.

 

“Josh,” I gasped, breaking into a smile.  “Oh, baby, I’m so glad you’re awake!”

 

Josh just blinked up at me, unable to speak, for he was still on the respirator.

 

“They’ve got you on a respirator now,” I explained to him.  “You broke some ribs, and one of them punctured your left lung, so that’s why you’re having trouble breathing.”

 

He blinked again, and I hoped that was a sign that he understood what I was telling him.  I saw a look of worry in his eyes, and I realized that he did know what was going on.

 

“Don’t worry, honey,” I said.  “You’re gonna be fine.  It’ll just take some time.”  I smiled tenderly at him, hoping to ease his fear.  Then something else hit me.  “Are you in pain, baby?” I asked.  He shouldn’t be in pain because of the morphine, but maybe it had worn off.  I hoped not.

 

Mustering all his strength, Josh managed to turn his head slowly to the left and then to the right, signaling a “no”.

 

“Oh, good,” I said, relieved.  “You’re on morphine now, so you shouldn’t be in pain.”  I motioned to one of the IV lines attached to one of his arms. 

 

He blinked again, and his eyes closed sleepily, then opened again.

 

“I know you’re tired, sweetie,” I said sympathetically. “You just relax, and I’ll stay with you until you fall asleep.”

 

He couldn’t really smile with the tube from the respirator coming out of his mouth, but I could tell that comforted him.  Within minutes, he was sleeping peacefully again.

 

***

 

Two days later, things were looking even better.  Hope had been discharged from the hospital.  Nick was in a private room, out of the ICU, and he was looking good. Josh’s respirator had been replaced with an oxygen mask, which allowed him to talk.  He was very weak, but he was happy to be able to talk again.  He was not so doped up, and therefore, was more awake and alert, which was definitely good.  Sonny’s condition hadn’t changed much.  He hadn’t gotten much better, from what I could tell, but no worse either.  He was still weak, and I knew that just like Josh, he would take some time to recover.

 

It was a Tuesday morning, and Brian, AJ, Heidi, Sammy, and I sat in the cafeteria, eating breakfast together.  Leighanne was at home with Hope, and Josh’s family was still at their hotel.  So was Nick’s family, who had arrived early Sunday morning.  Heidi had finally gotten a hold of Sonny’s mother that morning, and she was going to call Sonny’s father, and they were both supposed to come sometime that day. 

 

I nibbled at the bagel I had bought, for I didn’t have much of an appetite.  Heidi and Sammy did the same with their food. 

 

“You guys done?” AJ asked when he noticed that we weren’t eating much.

 

“I am,” I replied.

 

“Me too,” Heidi and Sammy added in unison.

 

Brian and AJ finished up their breakfasts, and then we all took one of the elevators back up to the ICU.

 

***

 

Once in the ICU, we started down the hall to check on the guys.  Suddenly, Dr. Coleman came walking down the hall.

 

“Oh, I’ve got something to tell you,” Dr. Coleman said when he saw us, his face brightening.

 

“What?” I asked curiously.

 

“Well, isn’t that girl Britney Spears the one who shot Nick?” Dr. Coleman asked.

 

“Yeah,” I said, nodding. 

 

“Well, I’m not sure if you really care, but would you like an update on her condition?” he asked.  His eyes had a rather mischievous look in them, which just made me more curious.

 

“Sure,” I replied.  I had almost forgotten that Britney had been shot as well. 

 

“Well, she was shot right in the chest.  The doctor that treated her when she was brought into the ER immediately worried that the bullet could have gone into her heart or lungs,” Dr. Coleman explained.

 

I nodded, remembering that I had thought the same thing that night when I had seen Britney. 

 

“Did she die?” AJ asked, looking almost hopeful.

 

“Well, no…” Dr. Coleman said.  “Actually, the bullet didn’t go into her lungs or heart.”

 

“Wow, that’s lucky,” I said, rather puzzled.  “Where did it go then?  The chances of it not hitting her lungs or heart is pretty small.”

 

“Yes, it is,” Dr. Coleman said.  “However, Miss Spears had… well, I guess you could say some sort of  “armor” to protect her.”

 

“Huh?” Heidi asked.  “You mean like a bullet proof vest or something?”

 

“Well, no…” Dr. Coleman said, his mischievous grin growing wider.  “More like something “implanted” in her chest.”

 

Sammy was the first one to figure out what he was talking about and burst out laughing.  The rest of us soon followed.

 

“You… you mean the bullet was lodged in her implants?” Sammy cried breathlessly between giggles.

 

Dr. Coleman nodded, chuckling himself.  “Right smack dab in her left one,” he said.  “Very lucky, that girl is.”

 

We all cracked up again, laughing until we were gasping for breath.  I realized how good it felt to laugh again, something I hadn’t done in days.  Hopefully, things were getting back to normal.  Little did I know, another tragedy would soon fall upon us.

 

***

 

Later that morning, Heidi and I were sitting in Sonny’s room.  We had already visited Nick and Josh, who both seemed to be steadily recovering. 

 

Sonny didn’t seem to be feeling good that day.  He assured Heidi and I that he was fine, just tired, but I wasn’t sure.  He looked awfully pale to me. 

 

Sonny blew it off though, and so I did too.  I figured he would tell us if anything was wrong. 

 

We just sat there, watching TV.  I felt rather out of place, for although Sonny was my friend, he was Heidi’s husband, and I hoped I wasn’t intruding on them.  Josh had fallen asleep, and Heidi had invited me to come visit Sonny with her, so I figured she didn’t mind, but I still felt a little strange being there with just the two of them. 

 

After awhile, I got bored.  “Guys, I’m gonna go down and see if Josh has woken up from his nap yet,” I announced, standing up from my chair.

 

Heidi looked up from her seat next to Sonny’s bed.  “Okay,” she said.  “See ya later.”

 

“Bye, Julie,” Sonny said, offering me a small smile.

 

“Bye, guys,” I replied, smiling at them both.  Then I started out of the room.

 

“Baby, I feel kind of funny,” Sonny whispered to Heidi, as I was leaving the room.  I didn’t hear him though and continued out of the room and down the hall.

 

“What do you mean ‘funny’?” Heidi asked, confused and a little worried.

 

“I’m not sure.  I feel kind of dizzy, and my stomach hurts.  It’s weird though,” Sonny said, trying to explain what he was feeling.

 

Heidi looked puzzled.  “Do you want me to call a nurse or something?” she asked, her eyes filled with concern.

 

“Naw, I think it’s okay,” Sonny said after a moment, although he had gone a shade paler. 

 

Heidi could tell he was in pain.  “Do you need some pain medication?” she asked.

 

“No, I…” Sonny started, then stopped, his green eyes growing suddenly wide.   His whole body went suddenly rigid, and his features contorted in agony.

 

“Sonny!?” Heidi cried.  “What’s wrong!?”

 

“Stomach,” Sonny moaned, unable to say more. 

 

Heidi watched helplessly as her husband’s eyes rolled back in his head, and his body fell back limply onto the bed.  All around him, monitors started to wail and beep wildly, signaling that something was horribly wrong.

 

Her mind whirling, Heidi ran into the hall.  I was down the hall, waiting impatiently for an elevator, for Josh was still asleep, and I was headed for the cafeteria.

 

“Julie!” she screamed.

 

I whirled around and saw her, standing there, screaming, her eyes wide with panic.  I ran down that hall as fast as I could and made it to Sonny’s room, breathing hard from my sudden exertion. 

 

I had just stepped in the room, when almost immediately, the room filled with doctors and nurses, pushing Heidi and me aside.  I saw Dr. Bradley among them.  They surrounded Sonny’s bed and hovered over him so that Heidi and I could not see what was being done.

 

“BP’s falling!” a nurse cried.

 

“What’s that mean?” Heidi whispered, fear clutching her heart.

 

“His blood pressure’s going down,” I told her numbly. 

 

“Mrs. Williams, please come with me,” a nurse said, appearing next to Heidi.  She lay her hand on Heidi shoulder and gently led her out of the room.  “You come too,” she said to me. 

 

I snapped out of my stupor and followed her out of the room.  This was something new for me.  I was used to treating patients, not being escorted out of the room as a visitor. 

 

The nurse led us both back to the waiting room, where Heidi collapsed into a chair, sobbing hysterically.  I tried my best to console her, but there were no words I could say that would comfort her. 

 

“What happened?” she asked between sobs.

 

“I have no idea,” I said truthfully. 

 

“He… he was fine… and then… then he was unconscious,” she murmured shakily.

 

I didn’t reply, just lay my arm across her shoulders.

 

Suddenly, I heard two voices approaching from down the hall.  A woman and a man.  They were arguing.

 

“Well, you’re the one that’s always working!  I’m surprised you could even stop working long enough to come see your son!” the woman yelled

 

“Listen, Katherine, I have an extremely important position in office, and I’m sorry, but that requires me to work a lot of the time.  Deal with it!” the man retorted.

 

“Luckily, I don’t have to anymore!” the woman said smugly.  “I spent years dealing with it!  I’m through!”

 

“Then don’t bring it up!” the man replied, just as smugly.

 

Suddenly, the woman walked briskly into the room, followed by the man. 

 

Heidi looked up.  “Hi, Katherine. Hi, Derrin,” she said.  My heart sank as I realized these were Sonny’s parents.  Great timing.

 

“Oh, hello, Heidi,” Sonny’s mother, Katherine Williams, said, suddenly noticing us sitting there.  She smiled at first, but then she noticed my expression and Heidi’s tearstained face, and the smile dropped off her face, being replaced by a look of dread.

 

“What happened?” she asked.

 

“S… Sonny,” Heidi cried, beginning to sob again.

 

Katherine and Derrin, Sonny’s father, exchanged worried glances.  Then they both glanced to me, looking for an explanation.

 

“We’re not sure what happened,” I explained sadly.  “Something went wrong.”

 

“But he’s okay, isn’t he?” Katherine asked, her face stricken with panic. 

 

“We don’t know,” I said.  “It just happened a few minutes ago, and I’m sure his doctor will be here to talk to you soon.”

 

She nodded, looking extremely pale.  As if forgetting the argument they had held only minutes before, her ex husband took her hand in his and squeezed it, trying to comfort her. 

 

I smiled sadly, watching them.  How ironic it was that two people who fought all the time could suddenly get along when someone they both loved was hurt.  As little as it may have seemed, at least something good was coming out of this.  That was the only positive thing I could tell myself at that point.

 

***

 

 

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