Chapter
38
By Julie
Later that night, Nick awoke to find
his room empty, except for Brian, lying lifelessly in the bed next to him. He would have liked to get up and sit next
to Brian’s bed, but he felt too weak to even sit up, let alone get up and walk,
even only a few feet. He slowly rolled
over so he was facing Brian and began to speak to his best friend, hoping the
sound of his voice would bring Brian back to him.
“Bri?
It’s me, Nick. Listen Frick, I am
so worried about you. We all are actually, Kev, AJ, Howie, Harry, your parents,
everyone. I know you were very worried
about me too, but I’m awake now buddy, so it is time for you to wake up
too. Harry was in here this afternoon,
and he said to you that he knew you didn’t want to live if I was dead. I wasn’t supposed to hear that, but I
did. Brian, I am hoping that what
happened to you was just a freak coincidence.
I hope that you didn’t wish this on yourself. Bri, if you died, I don’t know what I would
do. I would hate myself, thinking that
because of me, you wished to die, and then you did. I… I love you, Frick. You are more than a best friend, you are like
my brother. Sometimes, I feel like I am
closer to you than my own brother. I
don’t know what I would do without you, Brian.
I wouldn’t be able to live without you either, so I can understand why
you said what you did. But now, Brian,
it is the other way around. Now you are
the one in the coma, and I am okay. If
only you would wake up, things would be almost back to normal. Dr. Collins said that me waking up was a
miracle. Brian, I know that you have
already been through one miracle in your life, but if only there could be a
second one.”
By now, Nick was in tears. He could no longer speak, and lay sobbing,
staring up at the ceiling. In his head,
he said a silent prayer. “Dear God,
please let Brian wake up and be okay.
You heard what I said to him. He
is my best friend, and I would never be able to go on without him. I know you have already saved his life once,
and I thank you for that, for without that miracle, I would never have met
Brian. But now, he needs another
miracle, God. Please, oh please, will
you let him wake up? Not just for me,
but for everyone one that loves him. The
rest of the guys, his family, and all the fans that adore him so much. Please God, that is all I want. Just let him wake up.”
With that, Nick squeezed his eyes
shut, letting the tears stream down his cheeks.
He lay still, just crying silently, not knowing what else to do. But suddenly, something told him to open his
eyes. He slowly opened his eyes and
glanced over at Brian, expecting to see him lying in the same position as
always, looking practically dead.
At first glance, Brian did look the
same. He was lying still, but when Nick
looked closer, he realized that Brian’s eyes were open. Nick gasped, the tears streaming even faster
down his cheeks.
***
I tried to focus on my
surroundings. I realized I was still in
the hospital. Something was different, I
knew that. Something bad had happened to
me. Suddenly, I heard a gasp from across the room. I slowly turned my head towards the sound,
amazed at how weak I had suddenly become.
When I saw the source of the noise, I tried to shout out, but I realized
there was another tube shoved down my throat, preventing me from talking. I could hardly believe my eyes. Lying in the bed next to me was Nick, his
eyes opened for the first time in over a week, his cheeks tearstained.
“Brian!” Nick cried happily. He was sobbing. Tears filled my own eyes at the site of
him. I had no idea what had gone on,
but that no longer mattered to me. The
important thing was that Nick was okay.
***
The next thing I knew, I was
surrounded by people. Dr Collins was there, along with my family. I must have fallen asleep with Nick before
because all I remembered was waking up and seeing him awake and crying.
“Babyduck!” cried my mother, leaning
over me and covering my face in kisses.
“Brian!” cried my dad.
I was shocked to see his eyes wet with tears. I could tell my mother had been crying too.
I still had no idea what had happened
to me, and I was dying to know. I
motioned to the night table, where the pad of paper and pen that I had used
before lay.
Harry grabbed the pen and paper and
handed it to me. I scribbled “What
happen?” on it. Harry looked at it,
trying to make out the words. Finally,
he showed it to Dr. Collins.
Dr. Collins studied it for a moment
and said, “Well that is a long story.”
Then he told me all that had happened.
I was shocked and horrified to hear about what had happened. I felt guilty for ever wishing that something
would go wrong in surgery. But it didn’t
matter anymore, because now, Nick was awake and doing better! I had a feeling everything was going to be
okay.
***
