Chapter
6
AJ suddenly jerked his head up when he felt a hand lightly touch
his shoulder. He realized he had fallen
asleep, his head resting on Nick’s bed.
He turned to see a nurse standing over him.
“I’m sorry, sir,” she said apologetically. “I just have to get some blood from Mr.
Carter.”
“No problem,” AJ mumbled groggily.
He didn’t know how long he had been asleep, but he felt exhausted.
As if reading his thoughts, the nurse studied him for a moment,
then said, “Maybe you should home and get some sleep. You look exhausted.”
“Yeah, I am,” AJ admitted.
“Do you think he’ll be all right?
I don’t want to just leave him.”
“He looks stable right now.
If something should happen, we’ll be sure to call you. Just leave your name and number at the
nurses’ station,” the nurse assured him.
“Ok, thanks,” AJ said gratefully.
He looked back at Nick and whispered, “Bye, buddy.” The nurse offered him a small smile and
watched as he left the room.
AJ wandered down the hall to the nurses’ station and gave one of
the nurses his name and number, making her promise that someone would call him
if anything would go wrong with Nick.
Then, feeling a little bad about leaving Nick, but happy to be
heading home to finally sleep, AJ left the hospital. He drove home and fell into an exhausted
sleep as soon as he collapsed into his bed.
***
When AJ awoke, he looked at the clock and was shocked to see it
was after 9 in the morning. He had only
slept a few hours, but still, he had wanted to be up early to go see Nick.
He knew there was something else he had to do first though. He had to call the other guys. He knew Brian, Howie, and Kevin wouldn’t know
what had happened, and they needed to know.
AJ feared that Kevin would yell at him once he found out what had
happened, and he knew Brian would be the most emotional, for Nick was his best
friend. So, AJ started with Howie. He dialed Howie’s number by heart and waited
impatiently for his friend to pick up.
***
