Chapter
20
By
Julie
Howie sat in a chair next to Nick’s bed, his head resting
on the edge of the bed, fast asleep. It
had been about a half an hour since Nick had gone into cardiac arrest. Dr. MacDonald had gotten him back,
luckily. Howie didn’t know what had
happened to Brian and AJ, who had ran out of the room. Kevin had left to get some coffee, telling
Howie to stay with Nick. Exhausted and
completely stressed out, Howie had finally fallen asleep.
Suddenly, he was jerked awake by what sounded like
a muffled scream. Howie’s eyes widened
in shock, and for a moment, he thought he was dreaming. He blinked and shook his head, but when he
looked again, he realized he was not dreaming.
Nick’s eyes were open. But when
Howie looked closer, he saw the look of fear that filled their blue
depths. By listening to the rapid
beeping of the heart monitor, he could tell Nick’s heart was racing.
“Nick!” Howie cried. Nick stared straight ahead at first, a look
of horror on his face, but then, slowly, he turned and focused on Howie. Suddenly, his face relaxed, and his heartbeat
slowed to a normal pace again. “Nick?”
Howie asked gently.
Nick opened his mouth, but he couldn’t speak
because of the respirator he was still on.
Weakly, Nick reached up and motioned to the respirator he was on. He looked distressed again, and Howie figured
he wanted off the respirator.
“You want to be taken off that thing, Nick?” he
asked. Nick nodded vigorously. Howie chuckled. “Ok, Kaos, how about I go find your doctor
and see, ok?” Nick nodded again.
Howie felt like he was practically floating as he
walked down the hall. It still seemed
like this was too good to be true. Only
half an hour ago, he had watched Nick almost die, and suddenly, he was awake
and seemed to know exactly what was going on.
Howie wasn’t looking where he was going, and
suddenly, he collided with someone. When
he looked up, he saw it was Dr. MacDonald.
“Hey, Doc, you’re just the person I was looking for,” Howie said
happily. “You’re not going to believe
this, but Nick’s awake!”
“He is?!” Dr. MacDonald cried. “When did this happen?”
“Just a few minutes ago,” Howie replied. “I think he must have had a nightmare or
something. He screamed, and then for a
moment, he looked absolutely terrified, but then he calmed down. Anyway, he wants to be taken off the
respirator. Can you do that?”
“I sure can, if he’s able to breathe without it,
which I’m sure he will be now that he’s awake,” the doctor replied.
“Ok, thanks.
Can you do that now, or are you busy?” Howie asked,
“Now’s fine,” Dr. MacDonald replied. They walked back to Nick’s room. Nick’s eyes lit up when he saw the
doctor. “Hello, Nick, I’m Dr. MacDonald,”
Dr. MacDonald replied. “I’m going to
take you off that respirator now, okay?” he asked. Nick nodded.
“Ok, pretend like you’re blowing out candles on a birthday cake. Take a deep breath on the count of three,
and then blow, ok?” Nick nodded
again. “All right, here we go. 1… 2… 3…”
Nick blew while Dr. MacDonald pulled the breathing tube out of his
throat. Nick gagged and coughed for a
minute, then lay back against his pillows, breathing rapidly. “Are you okay?” Dr. MacDonald asked.
“Yeah,” Nick tried to say, but his voice was weak
and hoarse. He cleared his throat
loudly. “Thanks,” he said, his voice clearer.
“You’re welcome,” Dr. MacDonald replied. “Welcome back, young man.”
Nick looked a little confused. “Huh?” he asked.
“Uh… Nick, you’ve been in a coma for a few days
now,” Howie said.
“I was?” Nick asked, horrified. Then it all came back to him. The ghost on the balcony, his fall. And then the images of his dream came flooding
back. “Uh, Dr… uh…”
“MacDonald?” the doctor replied, smiling.
“Yeah,” Nick said, grinning sheepishly. “Can Howie and I be alone for a little
while?”
“Of course,” Dr. MacDonald replied. “I’ll be back to see you later, Nick.” He left the room, leaving Nick and Howie to
talk amongst themselves.
But before Nick could speak, Howie did. “Nick, um…this might be a hard question, but…
Nick, did you jump off the balcony?” he
asked uncomfortably.
“What?” Nick cried, aghast. “No way!! It was the ghost! I was on the balcony, and… and he scared
me! The next thing I knew, the railing
had broken, and I was falling.”
“The ghost?” Howie asked thoughtfully.
“Listen, Howie, I know you guys don’t believe it,
but there really is a ghost,” Nick insisted.
“No, wait, Nick!
I know there is. I haven’t seen
him, but Brian and Kevin did!” Howie cried.
Nick’s mouth dropped open. “They did?” he asked.
“Yeah, they did.
They went to the library and did some research, and they found out that
the ghost is the ghost of this guy that used to live in our house, back in the
1930’s or something. He was killed in a
fire,” Howie explained.
“I know,” Nick said slowly, recalling the vivid
dreams he had been having.
“You do?” Howie asked, confused.
“It’s a long story, D,” Nick said. “Do you have the article?”
“Yeah, it’s right here,” Howie replied. He grabbed the copy of the article from off
one of the chairs and handed it to Nick.
Nick studied it, his eyes widening.
“It’s her!” he exclaimed suddenly.
“Huh? Who?”
Howie asked.
“The little girl from my dreams!” Nick cried.
“What?” Howie asked again.
“I had this dream, Howie, while I was in a coma, I
guess. I was at this house, with this
little girl, and the house caught on fire.
It was our house, but it was a long time ago. Anyway, the house was on fire, and the girl
and I were trapped in the basement. I
tried to yell at the little girl, but she couldn’t hear me. Then….then…”
Nick’s eyes suddenly filled with tears.
“Then what, Nick?” Howie asked gently, shocked
that one dream could bring Nick to tears.
“She burned to death,” Nick said softly. “I could hear her screaming. And then the house collapsed, and I was
right under it. But then I woke up.”
“Oh, my God, Nick,” Howie whispered, remembering
what he had read in the article. There
had been a fire, and the whole house had collapsed. But how could Nick know that? Howie didn’t know, nor did he
understand. But maybe Nick did.
***
