Chapter
33
By Rachel
The
next time I awoke it was the start of a new day for me. "I must have fell asleep last night
after Jane visited Nick," I thought sleepily as I looked around the
room. Near the doorway my parents
talking with Dr. Collins and my brother was sleeping uncomfortably in a chair
near my bed. I seen my mom look over towards
my bed and she smiled as soon as she realized I was awake. I gave a weak smile back and as soon as she
reached my bed I found her hand and gave it a squeeze.
"Good
morning Babyduck" she said as she gave me a kiss on my forehead.
"Morning
Mom. Morning Dad and Dr. Collins,"
I said as my dad and Dr. Collins approached my bed.
"Morning," they both answered.
"So
what was you all talking about over there?" I asked.
Dr.
Collins lost no time in explaining
"We were discussing the situation with your broken leg Brian. In a few minutes you are going to be taken down
to get x-rays taken of your leg and if it isn't healing the way we want it to,
it will require surgery."
I
nodded solemnly when he finished "Another surgery?" I thought
"How many more would I have to have?"
"...and
we will be taking you down to x-ray in about 5 minutes, ok Brian?" I looked up into Dr. Collins' face and nodded. He smiled and then turned around and walked
out the room.
"How
is Nicky?" I asked my parents as
soon as Dr. Collins left.
"He
isn't much better honey," my mom answered truthfully.
"When
they take you down to get the x-rays taken, they will be running tests on him
to see if he is any better."
"I
know he will get better mom" I said confidently, trying to convince myself
my words more than I was trying to convince
her.
"I
hope so Babyduck. He has made it this
far, hopefully he will make it all the way and recover," my mom said as
she pushed my hair away from my face.
The
next few minutes were spent in silence.
I looked at the clock and when exactly five minutes had passed since Dr.
Collins had left Nurse Becky and two more nurses I have never meet came into my
room pushing a gurney. My mom quickly
made her way over to my sleeping brother and woke him up so he could move out
of the way of the nurses as they moved the gurney closer to my bed.
Once
he got up and the gurney was in place beside me, they gently transferred me
over and moments later I was in the hall of the ICU being pushed towards the
elevator with my IV's still attached.
We
got off of the elevator and I was pushed into a room marked "X-RAYS"
and put a heavy apron over me to protect me during x-rays and told me to hold
still while the x-rays were taken. 10
minutes later we were again on our way to the elevator and back up to the ICU
room I shared with Nick. Even though I
hadn't done much of anything since I woke up I was exhausted and fell asleep
immediately after I got to my room.
***
The
sound of someone crying brought me out of my peaceful slumber. I opened my eyes slightly and seen Dr.
Collins and Nick's parents standing next to Nick's bed.
"Oh
god, no," I thought as I seen the sad expression on the doctor's face and
watched as Jane started to shake in Bob's arms.
"I'm sorry to tell you this Mr. and Mrs. Carter," Dr. Collins
started "I'm afraid Nickolas' chances of surviving are close to none. His test results show that his pneumonia is
getting worse and his brain activity levels are going down. I'm sorry but I need to advise you to prepare
for Nickolas to pass on." I flinched
as Jane let out a scream of grief and buried her head into her husbands
shoulder. "I am sorry to give you
that bad news, but I feel it is better to tell patient's families the truth
rather than tell them the patient will be ok when they really won't be." Bob nodded and rested his chin on top of his
wife's head looking at his first born son as he struggled to hang on to
life.
"Oh
god please let him live. He is only 20,
he has a full life in front of him. Take
me instead," I pleaded. I quickly
shut my eyes and I seen Dr. Collins turn around and walk towards my bed on his
way out. The next few minutes I laid in
my bed with my head turned towards the wall with tears streaming down my face
as I listened to Nick's parents both cry and comfort each other. It was then I made an important decision, I
couldn't and wouldn't live if my best friend didn't make it. I buried my head in my pillow to muffle my
sobs and cried myself to sleep.
***
