Chapter 3

 

The paramedics got there just over five minutes after Nick had collapsed, but already, AJ could tell he was getting worse.  His shallow breathing had gotten even slower, and he was not responding to AJ’s desperate attempts to wake him up. 

 

As soon as they got into the bar, the paramedics took over.  They gently pushed AJ away from Nick and surrounded him, attaching all kinds of pieces of medical equipment to him and taking his vital signs. 

 

“BP’s only 90/80,” a female paramedic shouted. 

 

“Bag him,” another paramedic instructed.

 

“What’s this man’s name?” asked the third.

 

“Nick Carter,” AJ told him. 

 

“Nick!  Nick, can you hear me?” the paramedic shouted to Nick, trying to get him to respond.

 

Meanwhile, AJ slumped to the floor, feeling completely numb.  He couldn’t even think straight.  It was as if he was in a fog.

 

Suddenly, he felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up to see the only female paramedic standing over him.  “My name’s Aileen,” she said.  “You’re a friend of Nick, right?”

 

“Yeah,” AJ said.

 

“Ok, we’re taking him to the hospital now.  Do you want to ride in the ambulance with us?” she asked kindly.

 

“Yeah, sure,” AJ said, climbing to his feet.  He saw the other two paramedics had Nick on a stretcher now and were wheeling him outside.  He followed Aileen out to the ambulance.  She opened the passenger door of the front of the vehicle and motioned for AJ to climb in, which he did.  Then she went around back to help the two men load Nick into the back.  She closed the back door of the ambulance and climbed into the driver’s seat.  She started the motor, switched on the siren, and sped onto the highway, heading for the nearest hospital.

 

AJ sat with his hands clasped tightly in his lap, his heart racing.  He could hear the two men in the back calling out things that he didn’t understand.  Then he heard a slow, unsteady beeping and realized they had Nick hooked up to a heart monitor.   He tried to block the beeping out of his ears, but when it suddenly stopped and turned into a single, drawn out beep, he whirled around, his eyes wide with fear.

 

“No pulse,” one paramedic said.

 

“Paddles,” the other replied.  The first opened a case and brought out the paddles that AJ knew were for shocking people’s hearts into beating again. 

 

As he watched the men charge up those paddles and press them to Nick’s now bare chest, he felt as if he was watching an episode of ER.  Surely this couldn’t be real.  But as he glanced at Nick’s ashy gray face, he knew how real it really was. 

 

Luckily, the beeping started up again, very slow, but at least it had started again, signaling that Nick’s heart had started again.  AJ breathed a sigh of relief.  He knew that Nick’s situation still looked very grave, but at least he was still alive.  The question was, how long would he stay that way?

 

***

 

Soon, the ambulance pulled up the emergency entrance at Orlando General.  Aileen shut off the engine and hopped out.  The two in the back had already opened the back doors and were preparing to bring Nick out.  AJ climbed out of the front seat and walked hesitantly around back.  A group of doctors and nurses came running out of the hospital to meet them.  They all unloaded Nick from the back of the ambulance and whisked him inside.

 

Aileen hung back.  “Come with me,” she said to AJ.  “I’ll show you where you can sit down.”

 

“I don’t want to sit down,” AJ said.  “I want to see Nick.”

 

“You can’t do that right now, I’m afraid,” Aileen said.  “The doctors are working on him now, and you can’t be in the room while they’re doing that.  Just come with me.”

 

AJ nodded reluctantly and followed her into the building.  They walked down a hallway to waiting room filled with chairs, a TV, and a line of vending machines. 

 

“Just take a seat here for now,” Aileen instructed.  “One of Nick’s doctors will be out to talk to you as soon as they know something, ok?”  AJ nodded, without saying anything.  Suddenly, Aileen’s beeper went off.  “Sorry, but I’ve got to go now.  Good luck with Nick,” she said and hurried off, leaving AJ alone.

 

He sighed and glanced around the room.  There was only three other people in the room, an old man, sitting in the corner and reading a newspaper, and a young man and his daughter, who looked to be about three.

 

AJ figured none of these people would be likely to recognize him, and that was good, for now was definitely not the time for him to be dealing with fans. 

 

AJ knew it could be awhile before he heard anything on Nick, and so he picked up a magazine from a table next to him and glanced at the cover.  It was a Reader’s Digest.  Sighing, he opened it up and tried to read, but he could not concentrate and ended up just mindlessly thumbing through the pages, his mind focusing on Nick and nothing else.

 

***

 

 

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