The
Gift
It was the end of summer, and the Backstreet Boys had just
finished recording their album. Now they
had returned to the United States for some vacation time. While the other guys had just wanted to hang
around in Florida, Brian and Kevin had decided to fly back to their home state
of Kentucky. Brian brought his fiancée,
Leighanne, with him, and Kevin brought his wife, Kristin. The four of them had flown to Kentucky to
stay for a week before going back to their homes. In Kentucky, Brian and Leighanne stayed at
Brian’s parents’ house, while Kevin and Kristin stayed with Kevin’s
mother.
One afternoon, Kristin and Leighanne decided to go shopping
together. Brian and Kevin didn’t want to
go, so they opted to do something else, just the two of them. It was Kevin’s idea. Brian didn’t know what Kevin had in mind, but
he would soon find out.
“Bri, I want to go out to the old camp,” Kevin said that morning.
“What? You mean, the old
summer camp your dad used to run?” Brian asked.
Kevin nodded.
“I just thought it might be fun.
I haven’t been back there in years.
Mom said it has been abandoned.
No one is living there anymore,” Kevin said. “That means we can do whatever we want.”
“Cool,” Brian said. “Let’s
go swimming, it’s hot out.”
“Ok,” Kevin said, nodding.
They packed a small bag with their swim trunks and some food and set out
for the old camp, which was about forty-five minutes away from Lexington.
Once they got there, Kevin was haunted my many memories of the
good old days, when he was just a kid, and his father was still alive. Kevin and Brian walked across the property to
the main cabin, which was near the lake.
“Whew, it’s hot,” Kevin murmured, wiping his forehead. “I’m jumping in the lake right now.” He grabbed his trunks out of the bag he was
carrying and put them on in a corner of the cabin. Brian also put his trunks on. “Ok, let’s go,” said Kevin anxiously. Brian nodded eagerly and they started out to
the lake. Suddenly, Brian heard a phone
ringing from inside the cabin. He
sighed.
“That must be one of our cell phones,” he said, hurrying back into
the cabin. Kevin followed. “It’s mine,”
Brian said, grabbing his cell phone and answering it. He listened for a moment, then grinned. Kevin knew it was Leighanne by the way he
was smiling.
Kevin flashed a smile at him and mouthed, “I’m gonna go
ahead.” Brian nodded. Kevin went back outside and started down to
the lake. He walked onto the dock, to
the very edge, and jumped in. He swam
under the water, trying to get used to the coldness.
Suddenly, his foot got caught in something. Kevin forced his eyes open under the water,
trying to see what was wrapped around his ankle. He found himself surrounded by tall weeds. As he
struggled to get out of them, he just got more tangled in. Soon his breath started to run out, and he
needed to get to the surface. But the
weeds were wrapped around him, and he could not get out, try as he might. He yanked and twisted around, panic-stricken. If he didn’t get out of there soon, he would
drown! His lungs felt like they were on
fire from lack of oxygen. Finally, Kevin
could not hold his breath any longer, and in an instant, he knew he was going
to die.
Suddenly, up above him in the water, he saw a bright light, then a
figure descending into the water. He
couldn’t make out its face. The only
thing he could really see was something shiny hanging from the person’s
neck. That was the last thing he saw
before darkness overtook him.
***
“Ok, bye, honey,” Brian said, hanging up the phone. Leighanne was shopping with Kristin and had
just called to check in with him. She
is so sweet, Brian thought happily.
He put away his phone and started outdoors to the lake. He looked out into the lake, for Kevin, but
didn’t see him.
He’s probably under water, Brian figured, and watched
as he neared the lake. But no one came
to the surface. Brian headed to the
dock, still wondering where his cousin was.
And that’s when he saw him, lying on his back on the dock.
At first, Brian just thought Kevin was sunbathing. But as he got closer, he realized something
was terribly wrong. Kevin’s skin looked
blue, and his chest was not rising.
“Kev!!” Brian screamed, rushing over to him. He thought about doing CPR, but knew he
needed to call for help first. He raced
back up to the cabin and grabbed his phone, shakily dialing 911. When someone answered, he told them what had
happened and where he was. Then he hung
up and carried the phone with him back down to his motionless cousin. Seeing that he was still not breathing, Brian
began mouth to mouth, then checked for a pulse.
There was none. Although he felt
like having a panic attack, Brian struggled to remain calm as he began
CPR.
A few minutes later, the paramedics arrived, carrying a stretcher
down to the dock. Kevin still was not
breathing. Brian stepped back to let
them work and began to cry, as he watched them attach his cousin to all kinds
of things. After a few minutes, one
paramedic called for a life flight helicopter.
Brian’s eyes widened, for he knew that meant Kevin was in bad
shape. The paramedic saw this and
hastily explained that because there were no hospitals very close, it was
easiest to use a helicopter to get him quickly to the hospital.
The helicopter arrived a few minutes later. It landed on the lawn behind the cabin and
some more paramedics rushed out of it.
They all loaded Kevin onto a stretcher and hurried him into the
helicopter. Brian followed, and the
paramedics sat him down in the front, next to the pilot, while they all worked
on Kevin in the back.
Brian had never been in a helicopter before and never wanted to
again. The ride was horrible for him,
since his cousin was lying nearly dead in the back, and also because he was
terrified of heights.
Once they landed at St. Joseph Hospital, Kevin was immediately
brought out of the helicopter and rushed into the ER. One paramedic stayed back and led Brian in to
a waiting room in the ER where he could wait for some news on Kevin. Brian immediately took out his cell phone
again and called Kevin’s mother. Then he
called Leighanne on her cell phone and told her and Kristin to come to the
hospital. Finally, he called his own
parents.
A few minutes later, everyone had arrived, and they all sat
together, praying and waiting for information on Kevin. Brian still was not sure what had
happened. It was obvious that Kevin had
drowned, but as Brian thought more about it, there were many questions left
unanswered. For example, if Kevin had
actually drowned, how did he get onto the dock?
Someone must have pulled him out of the lake. But Brian hadn’t seen anyone else there.
Brian was suddenly pulled out of his thoughts when a doctor appeared
before the group of them. “Are you all
with Kevin Richardson?” he asked. They
nodded solemnly. “I’m Dr. Knight. I was working on Kevin when he was brought
in. I’m sorry to tell you, but it
doesn’t look good.” Ann Richardson
gasped. “We’re not sure how long Kevin
was without oxygen, but it was enough to cause brain damage. Right now, he is in a coma. We have moved him upstairs to ICU, where we
are monitoring him closely. Right now,
only immediate family can go see him, and only two at a time.
Ann and Kristin looked at each other, for they were the only ones
there that were Kevin’s immediate family.
“Come with me, I will take you all up there, and the rest of you can
wait in the waiting room while the other two go in,” Dr. Knight said. He led them upstairs to the third floor,
which was ICU. He showed Brian,
Leighanne, and Brian’s parents, Jackie and Harold, the waiting room. They all sat down while Dr. Knight took Ann
and Kristin down the hall to Kevin’s room.
He had been given a private room so no fans would bother him or his
family.
When Ann and Kristin entered the room, they gasped. Kevin lay lifelessly in the bed, attached to
so many monitors and machines that they could barely see his face. He was no longer blue, but deathly pale. Kristin began to sob. She slowly took a seat next to her husband
and took his hand.
“Baby, it’s me, Kristin,” she said tearfully, rubbing his limp
hand.
Ann cried silently as she watched Kristin. She eventually sat down on the other side of
Kevin’s bed and ran her fingers through his dark hair, still damp from the
water. As she looked down at him, she
prayed silently that her son would live.
She had already lost her husband, Jerald, to cancer a few years
before. She couldn’t handle losing another
member of her family.
***
Days
passed, and Kevin didn’t get any better.
One day, Dr. Knight ran some tests on Kevin to measure his level of
brain activity. When he had the results,
he came into the waiting room to discuss them with the family. Kevin’s two brothers, Jerald Jr. and Tim,
were there now too.
“I’m afraid I have some bad news,” Dr. Knight started
bluntly. “The tests show that Kevin is
brain dead. I am requesting your
permission to turn off the life support machines.”
Ann began to sob bitterly.
Jerald Jr. put his arm around his shaking mother, trying to hold back
tears himself. Kristin cried openly as
well, and Leighanne tried to comfort her.
“You have our permission,” Ann finally said through her
tears. “But can we see him one last time
before you do?”
Dr. Knight nodded. “You may
all go in to see him one last time, as long as you keep quiet,” he said.
“Thank you,” Ann whispered.
They all stood up and went into Kevin’s room to say their final
good-byes. They all went to his bed one
at a time to say goodbye, then all joined hands for a prayer.
Then Dr. Knight walked into the room. They all stood back as he unplugged the
respirator. A few moments later, the
line on the heart monitor went flat.
Everyone began to cry softly.
“Goodbye, honey,” Ann said tearfully. They all started for the door, unable to stay
in that room any longer. Ann was the
last one out of the room. But suddenly,
as she stepped through the doorway, the continuous wail of the heart monitor
stopped and began beeping slowly. Ann
stopped and spun around. She gasped when
she looked at her son. His eyes were
open, and he was staring right at her.
Dr. Knight looked shocked. Kevin
was alive. It was a miracle.
***
“Kevin?” It was the next day, and Dr. Knight had just
come into Kevin’s room. Kevin looked up
at him anxiously. He was still on a
respirator and wanted to be taken off so that he could talk to his family. He could tell they were very confused as to
what had happened to him, and he wanted to tell them what he had seen.
“Do you
want me to take that tube out of your throat now?” asked Dr. Knight. It was as if he had read Kevin’s mind. Kevin nodded eagerly. “Okay, I want you to take a deep breath, and
on the count of three, let it out slowly,” Dr. Knight instructed. Kevin nodded and took a deep breath.
When the doctor had counted to three, he let
it out while Dr. Knight pulled out the breathing tube. Kevin gasped for air once it was out, but
soon caught his breath. “You had water
in your lungs. That’s why you were on
the respirator,” Dr. Knight explained.
“Am I going
to be okay?” Kevin asked nervously.
“Kevin, I’m
going to be honest with you. Yesterday,
all the tests we ran on you signified that you were brain dead. We were going to unplug the life support
machines. But just as we did, you came
back to life. In all my years of being a
doctor, I have never seen anything like that before. I don’t know how to explain it, medically
that is,” Dr. Knight told him. Kevin was
shocked. He had remembered almost
drowning, and the figure in the water, but he didn’t know about what Dr. Knight
had just told him. He had no idea that
had happened the day before.
After Dr.
Knight left, Kevin’s mother came hurrying in.
“Oh Kevin,” she cried, hugging him tightly.
“I love
you, Mom,” Kevin said, hugging his mother back.
“Kevin,
sweetheart, what happened?” she asked.
Kevin
thought back to the day before. “I was
swimming in the lake, and I got tangled in some weeds. The more I tried to get out, the more tangled
I got. I couldn’t get out, and I
couldn’t breathe. I thought I was going
to die. But just as I couldn’t hold my
breath any longer, I saw this bright light, and then someone came into the
water with me. I couldn’t see the
person’s face, only some shiny thing hanging from his neck.”
“A shiny
thing?” asked Ann, confused.
“Yeah, like
a medal or something. It was round and
shiny,” Kevin said.
“Do you
know if it was a man or a woman?” asked Ann.
“I think it
was a man,” Kevin said. “But I don’t
think it was Brian. It looked too big to
be Brian.”
“No, it
wasn’t Brian. He said he was in the
house on the phone and when he came down, he saw you unconscious on the dock,”
Ann said. “He didn’t see anyone else
around.”
Kevin was
puzzled. Someone had pulled him out of
the weeds and onto the dock. But who?
***
A week
later, Kevin was released from the hospital.
Amazingly, he had no brain damage from lack of oxygen and was perfectly
fine. Dr. Knight was calling it a
miracle.
Kevin was
happy to be alive, and he knew that without that person, the one that had
pulled him out, he would be dead for sure.
He wanted to thank whoever had saved him, but he didn’t know how. How could he thank someone if he didn’t even know
who they were?
The day
after he was released from the hospital, Ann and Kristin had gone out to get
some groceries, so Kevin was left alone in the house. Suddenly, the phone rang. Kevin hurried to answer it.
“Hello?” he
said.
“Hey, Kev,
it’s me,” said a voice. It was Brian.
“Hey, Rok,”
Kevin said.
“Look, Kev,
can Leigh and I come over real quick. We
have to show you something. It’s
important,” Brian said.
“Sure,
Bri,” said Kevin, wondering what could be so important.
“Okay,
we’ll be over in a few minutes,” Brian said.
“See ya then.”
“Okay,
bye,” Kevin said, hanging up.
A few
minutes later, Brian and Leighanne arrived.
Brian had something in his hand.
“Look at this, Kev,” he said. He
opened his hand to show Kevin what he was holding. Kevin gasped when he saw what it was. It was a medal, round and gold. It looked exactly like what the person in the
lake had been wearing, except it looked more rusty than shiny.
“Where did
you get this?” asked Kevin eagerly.
“Leigh and
I decided to go swimming up at the lake and see if we could find anything that
might help us find out what happened and who saved you. I found this stuck on some weeds in the lake,
near the dock,” Brian replied. It was
then that Kevin realized both Brian and Leighanne’s hair was wet.
“What does
it say?” asked Kevin.
Brian
squinted at the letters engraved on the medal.
“It’s hard to read,” he said.
“It’s kind of rusty, probably from being in the water. I can make out the word ‘bravery’ and that is
about it.” He handed it to Kevin. Kevin studied it carefully, but he could not
make out the words either.
“Well, at
least this proves that I wasn’t hallucinating or something,” Kevin said with a
chuckle. “But it still doesn’t tell me
who the person was.”
Suddenly,
they heard the garage door going up and knew that Kristin and Ann were
back. “We’re home,” Ann called as they
walked inside. Then she saw Brian and
Leighanne. “Well hi, guys,” she said,
smiling at them.
“Hi!” they
said in unison.
“Hey, Mom,
look what Brian found,” Kevin said, handing his mother the medal. She stared at it for a moment, her eyes
widening. When she looked up at them,
her face was white.
“What’s
wrong, Aunt Ann?” Brian asked.
“Where did
you get this?” she asked, her voice barely a whisper.
“I found it
in the lake up by the camp,” Brian replied.
“Kev says it’s the same medal the guy that saved him was wearing.” Suddenly, Ann’s eyes filled with tears.
“Kevin, do
you know who this belongs to?” she asked, her voice trembling.
“No,” Kevin
replied.
“It was
your father’s,” Ann whispered. Kevin
gasped. “Kevin, before you were born,
your father was a firefighter.”
“I know,”
Kevin said. “I know that he was a
firefighter, but that’s about it. He
never liked to talk about it though.”
“I know,”
said Ann. “One day, when he was a
firefighter, there was a terrible fire in a large school. There were many children trapped inside. All the firefighters worked hard to get
everyone out, because the fire was so large, they knew the school was going to
burn down. They couldn’t stop the
fire. They thought they had gotten
everyone out, but then they realized that one of their firemen was still in the
building. He had gone in to look for a
little girl that was missing. The little
girl had already come out, but that firemen didn’t know it. He was one of your father’s best friends, so
your father ran back in the burning building along with another firefighter to
look for him. They found him unconscious
in the building and pulled him out just before the building collapsed. Your father and the other man with him were
awarded these medals for their bravery.
But unfortunately, the man they pulled out ended up dying anyway because
his burns were so severe. Your father
didn’t think he deserved this medal, so the only time he wore it was at the
ceremony where he was honored with it.
After that, he quit his job as a firefighter and stuck the medal in a
drawer. But after he died, when I was
cleaning out his drawers, I found it. I
thought that he was very brave, not just for going back into that school, but
for fighting cancer. So, the day of the
funeral, I stuck it in his casket before he was buried.” Suddenly, she burst into tears.
Kevin
stared at her, open mouthed. If she had
put the medal in his father’s casket, then how could it end up in the lake.
Kevin knew how, but it was so unbelievable.
But it made sense, the bright light, how Brian couldn’t see anyone
around the lake, and the whole fact that Kevin was still alive. What had happened to him was a miracle, and
his father had caused it. His father had
given him a final gift, the gift of life.
The End
The Gift Ó 2000 by Julie