Chapter 10

 

By Julie

 

When Brian awoke, he found three anxious faces peering down at him.  “Hey, Bri.  How we doing?” asked Howie, looking relieved.  Brian looked around and suddenly realized he was lying in a hospital room.

           

“What am I doing in here?” he asked anxiously.

           

“You passed out in the waiting room, and Dr. MacDonald wanted to check you out to make sure you’re alright,” Kevin replied.  “He said you probably just passed out from the shock and because you hadn’t really eaten since breakfast.”

           

“He also said you were dehydrated, so he’s giving you some fluids,” AJ explained.  Brian then noticed the IV in his arm. 

           

“When can I get out of here?” Brian asked.

           

“Right now, if you want to,” said a voice.  Brian looked up to see Dr. MacDonald entering the room.  “I’ll take you off that IV and let you go if you promise to go right down to the cafeteria and get something to eat and drink.”

           

Brian nodded eagerly.  “I will,” he said. 

           

Dr. MacDonald smiled.  “Okay then, let me take out this IV, and then you can go.” 

           

A few minutes later, the four guys were on their way down to the cafeteria on the first floor.   The food there didn’t look too appetizing, but they were all hungry, so they ordered some food and managed to choke it down. 

 

As soon as they finished, they headed up to the third floor, the Neuro ICU, which was where Nick had been put.  He was in a private room at the end of the hall.  The room had a special lock on the door that you had to punch a code into to get in.  This was to protect Nick against any fans that might find out about him, although the place looked nearly empty right now.  Brian, AJ, Howie, and Kevin all hoped that the fans would not find out about this until it was all over.  None of them were in the mood for being stampeded by screaming girls.

           

“Have you been in to see Nick yet?” Brian asked as the other three led him to a waiting room to sit down.

           

They shook their heads.  “We’ve been in with you,” said AJ. 

           

“They moved him up here right after you passed out, but they haven’t let us see him yet.  We have to wait for someone to come out and tell us we can see him,” explained Kevin. 

           

Brian nodded sadly, hoping he could see his best friend soon.

 

***

 

About ten minutes later, Dr. MacDonald appeared.  “You may go in to see Nick now, two at a time,” he said.  “I have to warn you though, what you will see may scare you.  Nick is attached to many machines that are monitoring him and helping him breathe.”  The guys nodded nervously.  “Okay, which two are going first?” 

 

Immediately, they all looked at Brian.  He smiled weakly and stood up.

           

“Kev?” he asked, looking at his cousin.  Kevin shook his head.

           

“No, AJ, why don’t you go with Brian?” he asked.  AJ shot him a strange look, but nodded and stood next to Brian. 

           

“Okay then,” Dr. MacDonald said.   “Come with me.”  He led them down the hall to room 345, which was at the very end of the hall.  “Now, this is the special lock I was telling you about,” he said, motioning to a device on the door.  “All you have to do is punch a set of four numbers into the keypad and hit the star button.  The numbers are 2, 0, 7, 5.  You have to punch them in that order, or it won’t work.” 

 

AJ and Brian nodded.  AJ punched in the numbers, then hit the star.  The door opened, and they walked in.  It shut behind them.  Dr. MacDonald had remained outside, letting them spend time with Nick alone. 

           

Brian and AJ approached Nick’s bed slowly.  Even across the room, the sight of him was not a good one, but it got worse up close.

 

 Nick’s head was wrapped in bandages, hiding his blonde hair.   They could see angry looking bruises showing below the bandages on his head.  Other than the bruising, his face was colorless.  He was hooked up to many machines that beeped and hisses, giving the room a nightmarish atmosphere.  Brian saw that he was on a respirator, meaning he was unable to breathe on his own. 

 

 Brian didn’t know about a lot of medical things, but he knew that was not good.  He took one of Nick’s limp hands and held it in his own while he said a silent prayer for God to help his best friend get through this and be all right.

 

 

***

 

 

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