Chapter
30
Dr. Mitchell
was thrilled to find out that Nick had woken up. He came right up and talked to
Nick for a little. Nick no longer needed the respirator so the doctor took his
off of it. Nick was relieved to be able to talk. His voice was very weak and
hoarse from not using it in so long. He cringed when he thought about what he
might sound like singing.
As soon as Dr.
Mitchell had left his room, Nick asked his mother to send Brian in, alone. She
did, and Brian came in shortly. Nick noticed suddenly that Brian was sitting in
a wheelchair. He had been too groggy before to notice.
"Bri,
what happened to you?" he asked, concerned about his best friend. Brian told
him everything that had happened to him. Nick just stared at him in shock.
Brian smiled
slightly when he saw the expression on Nick's face. "That's not as bad as
what happened to you Nick," he said softly.
"What
happened to me?" Nick asked anxiously.
"You were
in a coma for a month. You couldn't even breathe on your own, and Dr. Mitchell
told your parents to consider turning the life-support machines off on
you," Brian told him, remembering the horror of the situation. Nick
gasped.
"I was
hurt that badly?" he asked. Brian nodded.
"Your
parents were going to have you taken off the machines so you wouldn't suffer.
They even had a time set up and everything for it to happen." Nick was
horrified. "We were all really upset about it. A couple hours before it
was supposed to happen, me and the guys were in your room, and we-"
"You were
singing," Nick interrupted.
"What?!"
Brian asked in shock. "How did you know that?"
"I
thought it was just a dream until now," Nick admitted. "But it
wasn't. It was real."
"What was
real?" Brian asked.
"It was
like I was lost in this dark cave or something. I couldn't find my way out. I
was just walking through all these dark tunnels, looking for the way out. And
then I saw this bright light ahead of me. I started to walk towards it. But
then, I heard singing. It was you. You were singing "End of the
Road". And I stopped and listened to it. Then the other guys started
singing too. I couldn't see you guys, but I could hear you, and I wanted to
find you. So I started running back in this cave, following the sound. And
that's all I remember. Then, I woke up." Brian stared at Nick in awe.
"You came
back to us," he said. "You squeezed my hand. Dr. Mitchell is calling
it a miracle. He said you were almost brain dead before, and then suddenly, you
came back." Both of them just stared at each other. Then came the tears.
They were tears of joy and relief of being back together once again. They
hugged each other gently, as the tears streamed down their faces.
***
