Chapter
22
AJ was lying
flat in bed, staring at the ceiling, when Howie and Kevin came in. When he got
a closer look at their faces, he realized they had both been crying.
"What
happened?" he asked, suddenly alarmed. He felt panic wash over him.
"Dr.
Mitchell asked Jane and Bob to consider taking Nick off the life support
machines," Howie said flatly.
AJ gasped.
"Oh my God," he whispered. He felt the tears rising up inside of him,
but he fought them back, trying not to cry in front of them. He wished he had a
pair of sunglasses with him to disguise his tears, but he didn't.
Howie saw him
trying to keep composed. "It's okay to cry, Bone," he said gently.
"Kev and I were just a few minutes ago."
AJ said
nothing. "So are they going to do it?" he asked.
"They
haven't decided what to do yet. It'll take some time. It's a big decision. Just
letting him die, or keeping him alive with machines, hoping that he'll recover,
but knowing that he might be suffering," Kevin said.
AJ could no
longer hold back the tears. They filled his eyes and ran down his cheeks. He
couldn't even move his hand enough to wipe them away either. Howie grabbed a
Kleenex and gently wiped the tears off of AJ's face. Kevin took his hand and
squeezed it tightly. To his surprise, he felt a weak squeeze back. He looked at
AJ and smiled slightly. AJ offered him a lopsided smile. It was an
accomplishment, but it was too hard to be happy over something so small when
one of their best friends was dying.
***