Chapter
9
When AJ got to the hospital, he headed straight for the ICU. When he got to Nick’s room, he stopped and
took a deep breath before entering the room, as if preparing himself for
whatever was to come.
When he stepped into the room, he found both Howie and Kevin
there, sitting beside Nick’s bed.
“Hey, guys,” he said dully, pulling up a chair next to them. He studied Nick, who looked no different than
the night before. He was unconscious and
still deathly pale and frail looking.
“Have you heard anything from Nick’s doctor?” he asked, looking back at
Howie and Kevin.
“Dr. Fergeson? Yeah, she
came in a few minutes ago. She said
Nick’s in a coma right now, but that it’s not very deep, and she expects him to
come out of it soon,” Howie replied.
“How soon? Like, hours,
days, what?” AJ asked.
“She said maybe by tonight or tomorrow,” Howie clarified.
“That’s good,” AJ said.
“Did she say anything about liver damage, or anything else?”
“Well, she said she did some bloodwork and other tests on him
before we got here, and that the results should be back later this morning, so
I guess we’ll find out more about that later,” Howie said.
AJ nodded. Then there was
silence. AJ hesitantly glanced over to
Kevin and found his older friend glaring back at AJ.
“AJ, you didn’t mention on the phone that you were the one
who got Nick drunk,” Kevin said sternly.
“I didn’t get him drunk!” AJ protested. “He’s an adult! He can make decisions for himself! And he was the one who chose to have all
those drinks!”
While AJ knew that what he was saying was true, he couldn’t
disagree with Kevin. He had been the one
who had driven Nick to the bar, bought him that first drink, and not supervised
his alcohol intake. Of course, he
shouldn’t have to supervise Nick at all, but being two years older and more
experienced, he felt he should have been the responsible one.
“AJ, you should have had more common sense than to let Nick drink
so much!” Kevin said, his voice rising.
“What’s wrong with you? Couldn’t
you tell how drunk he was? Or were you
so drunk yourself you couldn’t tell?”
“I didn’t get drunk last night!” AJ shouted. “Yeah, I had a few beers! But I know my limit, and I didn’t push
it! As for Nick, I didn’t realize that
he had drank so much until it was almost too late, and when I did try to make
him stop, he collapsed.”
Kevin said nothing, just stared at AJ, his green eyes
narrowed. “AJ, it doesn’t matter. There’s nothing you can do now. But let me just say that because of your lack
of responsibility, our friend is lying here in a freakin’ coma, and he could
have done enough damage to his body to kill him! I hope in the future you’ll grow up and use
some judgment!”
“But-“ AJ started, but Kevin turned sharply away from him,
signaling that he didn’t want to hear anything more. AJ gave up and slumped down in his chair,
feeling depressed and, more than anything, guilty.
***
