I woke up a few hours later and saw AJ and
Howie sitting in the chairs next to me. I saw Dr. Martinez walk up to me.
“Hello,
Dr. Martinez. Are you here to update us
on Nick?” I asked.
“No, I’m here to tell you about Mr.
Richardson,” Dr. Martinez said.
“Is he OK?” I asked.
“Mr. Richardson is still unconscious. He has two broken ribs, he also a punctured
lung which we will have to take him into surgery for when he gets stronger and
wakes up, and he’s on a respirator,” Dr. Martinez said as I felt tears stinging
the back of my eyes.
“Do you
know when he’ll wake up?” I asked.
“We don’t know. It’s hard to say,” Dr. Martinez said as I nodded. “Would you like to see him?”
I nodded as I stood up and walked with Dr.
Martinez to Kevin’s hospital room. I
walked in his room. I pulled up a chair and took Kevin’s hand in mine as I sat
down. I listened to the beat of the respirator. I put my head down on the rail
and heard footsteps.
“Hello,
I have an update on Mr. Carter,” Dr. Martinez said as I picked up my head and
looked at him.
“W…what’s wrong with him?” I asked as the
doctor looked at me.
“Mr. Carter’s heart went out on him because he
doesn’t have enough blood in his body if we don’t two pints of blood in him
within two hours, and I advise you to call his family now, in case we don’t
find a donor,” Dr. Martinez said as I tried to open my mouth to speak.
“I’ll do it,” someone said, as I looked to the
doorway and saw AJ standing there.
“Are you sure you want to do this, sir? There’s
a high risk of heart failure,” Dr. Martinez said.
“AJ, don’t do it,” I said, as AJ shook his
head.
“No, I’m going to go through with it. It’s my turn to be there for Nicky,” AJ said
as Dr. Martinez nodded.
“Please
come with me. We have no time to lose,”
Dr. Martinez said, as he and AJ disappeared from the doorway.
I put my head back down on the rail and watched
Kevin’s chest rise and fall. When I
looked up I saw a pair of green eyes looking back into mine.
“Oh my God, Kev!!” I said as I hugged him
carefully trying not to hit the IV’s hooked up to him. He pointed towards the
respirator in his mouth.
“Do you want me to get the doctor to take the
respirator out of your mouth?” I asked as Kevin nodded weakly.
“OK, I’ll be right back,” I said as I walked
out of the room and saw Dr. Martinez walk out of Nick’s room.
“He’s
awake,” I said as I walked up to him.
“That’s good to hear. Does he want me to take out the respirator?”
“Yeah,” I said as I followed him back into
Kevin’s room.
“Hello, Mr. Richardson. I’m your doctor along with Nick’s. I want you to blow when I get to three,” he
said, as Kevin nodded weakly in agreement.
“1…2…3” Dr Martinez said as the tube came out
of Kevin’s mouth, and I heard him gag.
“You OK, Kev?” I asked as he tried to regain
his breath.
A few minutes later, he responded. “Yeah, how’s Nick doing?” he asked, as I
looked down at the ground.
“His heart stopped because he didn’t have
enough blood in him, and AJ’s donating some of his to Nick,” I said as I saw
tears in Kevin’s eyes.
“Where’s Howie?”
“He’s still sleeping in the lobby I’m going to
wake him up in a little while,” I said as Kevin nodded, and I saw his eyelids
close, but quickly open.
“It’s all my fault this is happening to us,”
Kevin said as he yawned.
“No it isn’t, Kev. It’s all our faults. Kev,
we should have been there for him,” I said as Kevin’s eyes closed and opened quickly
once again.
“Kev, go to sleep. You need your rest,” I said as I saw Kevin’s eyes fall and heard
the sound of his light breathing.
“Night, Kev,” I said as I walked out into the
lobby to tell Howie the news.