Chapter
13
After visiting
AJ, Kevin glanced at his watch and saw that it was 8:30 in the morning. He
realized he was exhausted, so he and Howie left. They didn't have any
transportation, but luckily, there was a hotel just a few blocks down the road.
He and Howie got a room there and went up right away to sleep. Once they got in
the room, Kevin realized he still didn't even know what state they were in. He
got out the phonebook from the night table drawer and found they were in North
Platte, Nebraska. Then he and Howie went to sleep.
***
When Kevin
woke up, he looked at the clock. It was 3:00 in the afternoon. He climbed out
of bed and walked over to Howie's bed.
"Howie,"
he whispered, shaking him lightly. Howie rolled over to face him.
"What?"
he mumbled groggily.
"Wake up,
man. It's three in the afternoon. We gotta go back to the hospital." Howie
sat up and yawned. Then he climbed out of bed.
The two of
them took turns taking showers and getting dressed. Then they headed for the
hospital.
When they got
there, they asked for Dr. Mitchell to be paged. The receptionist paged him, and
he was down a few minutes later.
"Well,
good afternoon," he said when he saw Kevin and Howie.
"Hello,"
Kevin said. "We were just wondering how our friends are doing."
"Well,
Mr. McLean is still in his room. He's just been resting all day. Miss Carter
has been moved to a private room. Mr. Littrell and Mr. Carter are in ICU right
now," Dr. Mitchell told them.
"How are
Nick and Brian doing?" Howie asked.
"Brian
has been unconscious for most of the day, but that's normal, considering he
just had major surgery. There has been no change in Nick's condition. He is
still in a coma."
"Can we
go see everybody?" Kevin asked.
"Yes,"
Dr. Mitchell said. "You are only allowed 10 minutes in the ICU
though."
"Okay,
thanks," Kevin said.
"I'll
take you up there now, if you'd like," Dr. Mitchell offered.
"Sure,
that would be great. Thanks a lot," Howie said.
"Its no
trouble," Dr. Mitchell said kindly. He led them to an elevator and took
them up to the third floor, ICU. Once they were in the ICU, he took them down
the hall to a small cubicle. Then he left them alone. Kevin and Howie walked in
tentatively. Kevin became choked up as he stared at the site in front of him.
Both Brian and Nick were in the small room together, in beds side by side. Both
of them were hooked up to many machines and were pale and lifeless looking.
Kevin walked to Brian's bed first and pulled up a chair beside it.
"Hey
cuz," he said, taking his hand. "It's me, Kevin. Howie and I are both
here with you, and Nick's bed is right next to you." He looked over
towards Nick. Howie was now sitting beside Nick's bed, holding his hand and
talking quietly to him. Kevin felt his tears spill over. He prayed to God that
both of them would be alright.
***
