By Julie
The
next few hours passed slowly. Everyone
sat in the cramped waiting room, barely even speaking, for they for so worried
about Brian. Jane and Bob Carter were
worried about Nick as well. Dr. Collins
had come down to check him over, but they had received no word on his condition
yet.
Finally,
Dr. Collins came into the room.
"How's
Nick?" Jane asked, standing up.
"I'm
afraid Nick has gone into a coma. We're
pumping him full of antibiotics, but they aren't getting rid of the pneumonia
like they should," Dr. Collins explained.
"What
can you do to help him?" Bob asked.
"We
have a new experimental drug that we can try.
It's very powerful, and we have only used it on a few people, but so
far, it seems to work well, better than some antibiotics," Dr. Collins
said.
"Try
it," Jane said, without even thinking.
"Do anything you can to help him."
"Are
you sure you understand the risks?" Dr. Collins asked. "We don't know
all of the possible side effects of this drug yet."
"What
will happen if you don't use it? He'll
die, won't he?" Jane reasoned, tears brimming in her eyes.
"It's
likely," Dr. Collins admitted.
"You'll need to sign a form for Nickolas to be started on this
drug. I'll have a nurse bring it to
you."
"Thank
you, Dr. Collins," Jane said.
"Have
you heard anything on Brian?" asked Jackie, before Dr. Collins left.
"No,
not yet, Mrs. Littrell," Dr. Collins said.
"I'm sure he's still in surgery.
Don't worry, someone will come talk to you when the surgery is
over."
Jackie
nodded. "Thank you, Dr.
Collins," she said.
He
nodded and left the room. A few minutes
later, Becky, the young nurse that was in Nick's room before, came in, holding
a piece of paper. She handed it to Jane
and Bob.
"Here's
the form you need to sign for Nickolas to be started on that new drug,"
she said. Jane and Bob both signed
it. "Thank you," Becky said
and took the form out of the room.
After
a few more minutes of waiting, another doctor finally came into the room.
"Are
you all here for Brian Littrell?" he asked, looking around the
lounge. Everyone nodded nervously. "I'm Dr. Hart. I was one of the surgeons that operated on
Brian. He pulled through surgery and had
been taken to recovery again, where he is being monitored."
"What
happened to him?" Howie asked.
"His
pancreas ruptured," Dr. Hart said.
"There was a lot of bleeding in his pancreas, but it was hard to
detect, and we missed it before. We were
able to repair his pancreas luckily, so once it heals, it will still be able to
function."
Everyone
nodded, relieved that Brian was going to be okay.
"Did
you get everything this time?" AJ asked, rather testily.
"Yes,"
Dr. Hart said. "We checked over and
over to make sure all of the bleeding was stopped. But I'm afraid he lost a lot of blood in the
surgery. He will need another blood
transfusion. Would-"
Dr.
Hart was interrupted by Harold, who jumped up and said, "I'll donate blood
to him. He's my brother, and we have the
same blood type. B negative."
"Thank
you," Dr. Hart said, pleased.
"Why don't you come with me, and I'll have a nurse get you
started."
Harold
nodded. Before he left, Dr. Hart turned
back to the rest of the group. "Are
there any questions before I go?" he asked.
"You'll
have someone come down and tell us when we can see Brian, right?" Jackie
asked.
"Yes,"
Dr. Hart replied.
"Okay,
thanks," Jackie said. Dr. Hart
offered her a smile and led Harold out of the room.
They
waited another hour. Finally a nurse
came into the room. "I'm just here
to tell you immediate family members may go down to recovery and see Brian
now," she said. Harold, Jackie, and
Harold stood up and eagerly followed the nurse down to the recovery room.
"I
just want you to know that he's still unconscious," the nurse said as they
reached the doorway. "I'm not sure
when he will wake up. He was given a
high amount of anesthesia because the doctors didn't know how long the surgery
would take. It could be another few
hours until he wakes up."
Jackie
and Harold nodded. When the nurse left
the room, they both pulled up chairs to their son's bedside. Jackie began to cry softly when she got a
good look at Brian. He looked so still
and pale. His chest and stomach were
once again bandaged. He was attached to
two IV's, one with clear liquid, and the other with red, Harold's blood. He also had many tubes attached to him, and
he was hooked up to several monitors.
Jackie
picked up his limp, pale, hand and gently squeezed it, hoping that Brian would
wake up soon.
***
The
first thing I felt when I opened my eyes was pain. That horrible pain in my stomach was
back. I tried to cry out, but
couldn't. There was something down my
throat. I squeezed my eyes shut, waiting
for the pain to pass.
"Brian?!"
I heard a voice call anxiously. I
immediately opened my eyes again and found myself looking up at my mother.
"Mom!"
I tried to say, but once again, couldn't.
"Don't
try and talk, Babyduck," she said gently.
"You just had surgery, and there is a tube down your throat
still." I tried to nod my head, but
I felt so weak that it was nearly impossible.
"Oh, Brian, honey, I love you so much," Mom said, bending over
and tenderly kissing my forehead.
"You had Dad and I so worried."
I
tried to remember what had happened, why I had just had surgery. At first, my mind was blank, but then it all
came back to me. The plane crash, the
pain in my stomach, throwing up blood, Nick.
Nick! Was Nick okay? I felt frustrated not being able to speak. I wanted to ask my mom how Nick was doing,
but I couldn't utter a single word.
She
must have seen the frustration in my eyes because she said, "Baby, are you
alright? Is something wrong?"
I
didn't know how she expected me to answer her, since I couldn't talk. But then she pulled a small notepad and a pen
out of her purse.
"Do
you think you can write, sweetheart?" she asked, handing me the paper and
pen.
It
was very hard to write lying down. Plus,
there was an IV coming out of the back of my hand, and I was very weak. But still, I was determined to find out how
my best friend was doing. I awkwardly
scribbled out "Nick" on the piece of paper. Mom took it when I was finished and studied
it for a moment.
"Brian,
honey," she started slowly. I knew
this wasn't going to be good news.
"Nick is very sick with pneumonia, honey. The antibiotics aren't helping much, and he
has gone into a coma. The doctors are
trying to give him a new experimental drug to see if that will help him,"
she explained sadly. I felt tears well
up in my eyes, and I didn't have the strength to reach up and brush them
away. What little strength I had had
before, I had used writing Nick's name.
Mom
reached up and gently wiped away my tears.
She said nothing. I looked at her
carefully and realized her own eyes were shiny with tears. I mustered my last bit of strength and
reached up my arms to her. She gave me a
tearful smile and gently hugged me. It
felt so good to have my mother holding me again, that I didn't want her to let
go. We hugged for a long time, until
finally, I felt myself grow sleepy again.
I finally drifted off into a deep sleep.
***