| Chapter 26 Lyn was sitting on the plane looking out the window. She couldn't believe what Kevin had told her. Ted was sitting nearby, having insisted that he come too. He considered Nick the son he never had, and the news was hard on both of them. "Lyn, honey, when we get there, I'll talk to the doctor and see exactly what's going on," he said. She looked over at him, her eyes red from the tears she was shedding. "Kevin said they hit him exactly where his surgery was, what's he gonna be like when he wakes up? Is he even gonna wake up?" she asked. Ted scooted closer to her, putting his arm around her protectively, "Honey, I don't know. We won't know till it happens, but I promise you, we'll take care of him." "I can't lose him, I just can't," she whispered. He pulled her into a hug, holding her as she cried, "I know honey, I know." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Kevin sat in the waiting room, staring across the hall into Nick's room. The doctor's hadn't been able to take him to surgery. Not since he started having seizures. There were two nurses and a doctor in with him now. Somehow during one of his seizures Nick managed to bite through the tube from the ventilator that was down his throat. Now the doctor and nurses were trying to figure out how to put him back on the ventilator without that happening again. They had been giving him blood also, pints and pints of it. Kevin had lost count a long time ago. Howie walked over and sat down next to him, "Lyn should be getting here soon." "Yeah," Kevin said, "I couldn't tell her everything on the phone, she won't be prepared for what he looks like." "Well, we can catch her before she sees him and tell her," Howie said. Kevin looked at him, "You wanna tell her?" Howie looked like a deer in the headlights, "No." Kevin sighed, "That's what I thought." Brian and Aleisha were sitting away from the others. Brian was extremely upset, blaming himself because it happened in his house. Aleisha was doing her best to comfort him. "Brian, you can't blame yourself for this," she said. He shook his head, "It was my house, it should've been me, not him." "Brian, thinking like this isn't going to help Nick any," she said. Brian sniffed and looked across the hall, just as the doctor was replacing the ventilator tube. "I should've listened to him," he whispered. "About what?" Aleisha asked. "He knew something bad was going to happen. He kept telling me, but I wouldn't listen," Brian said, looking down at the ground. "Bri, he couldn't have known this was going to happen," she said. Brian shook his head, "He did. He was told by.......um, someone we trust. He knew." Aleisha looked at him, curious, "Who?" "It doesn't matter," Brian said, getting up and walking over to Kevin. Aleisha watched him, wondering who this person was. Kevin looked at his cousin, "Bri..." Brian looked back at him, just as Lyn and Ted rounded the corner. "Brian, how is he?" she called from down the hall. Brian and Kevin hurriedly went to intercept her, "Lyn, we need to tell you a few things before you see him," Kevin said. She stared at them, panic in her face, "What?" Brian and Kevin looked at each other. "Guys, tell me!" Lyn almost screamed. "Nick's in pretty bad shape," Kevin started, "He um, well, he's lost a lot of blood, and his hands are cut to pieces." "And, he has several broken ribs, and a punctured lung," Brian said. "Oh God," Lyn said, putting her hands to her mouth. "They haven't been able to take him to surgery because he's been having seizures," Kevin said. "Seizures? How many has he had?" Ted asked. Kevin and Brian looked at one another, "I'm not sure. They've been every few minutes since they started," Brian said. "How long ago did they start?" Ted asked. "When I called you," Kevin admitted. Ted had a strained look on his face, "Where's the doctor?" "He's in with him," Brian said. Ted squeezed Lyn's shoulder, "I'll be back in a few. I'm going to have a word with him." Brian reached out to comfort Lyn as they all watched him go down the hall and into Nick's room. Lyn cried on Brian's shoulder for a few minutes, then lifted her head up, "I want to see him." Kevin and Brian walked down the hall with her, until they reached the window. Lyn looked in, and gasped. Nick was white as a sheet, a large bandage on the side of his head. His hands were wrapped past his wrists. She could see the blood soaking through the bandages. He was on a ventilator, and every monitor the hospital had. He had an IV, plus he was being given blood. She wiped her tears, trying to hold it together. She didn't want to break down in front of everyone. Kevin put his arm around her, "Lyn, why don't you come sit down with us?" She just shook her head, she couldn't leave her spot. She watched as Ted talked with the doctor, looking over Nick's chart and making suggestions. After a few minutes, Ted came out. "They're gonna try a few things to get his seizures under control, maybe they will work and they can get him up to surgery soon," he said. Just then Nick started twitching. "I'm gonna go in and see if I can help," Ted said, going back into the room. "At least they aren't as bad now," Howie said, walking up and hugging Lyn. She looked over, seeing Nick shaking, "They were worse?" Brian nodded his head, "Much worse." "God, help him please," she whispered. Brian heard her, and closed his eyes, fighting the pain those words inflicted. He then turned and walked back to Aleisha. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Several hours later, everyone was still sitting in the waiting room. They had finally taken Nick up for surgery, letting Ted go with them. A.J. had arrived, along with Leighanne. She had left the baby with Gary at home, knowing it would be hard for her to stay at the hospital with her. Kira and Aleisha came back from getting everyone something to eat, passing the burgers around. No one really felt much like eating though. Lyn sat there staring at her food. A.J. walked over, "Hon, you gotta eat." "I'm not hungry," she said, "You can have it." "I don't want it," he said, sitting down next to her. "How long has it been?" he asked. "Two hours," Lyn said. A.J. sighed, "How long is it gonna take?" Lyn just shrugged her shoulders. She looked over, seeing Brian standing in the window, staring out. She got up and walked over. "Hey," she said. He looked at her, "Hey." "Brian, I know what you're doing," Lyn said. "What's that?" he asked, staring back out the window. "You're blaming yourself for this, and don't lie to me cause I can see it in your face," she said. He just nodded his head. Lyn reached out and touched his shoulder, "Brian, it's not your fault." "It was my house though. How could someone break in like that? Security should've been better than that," he said. "Bri, it's in the past. We can't change what happened now," she said. "Yeah, guess not," he said. Lyn looked at him and smiled, "I talked with Aleisha, she's nice." Brian smiled and looked at her, "Yeah, I really love her." "I'm glad you found someone Brian," she said, "Um, can I ask you something?" "Sure," he said. Lyn stared at him, tears in her eyes, "Brian, will you pray with me?" He felt like someone had just punched him in the stomach, "Lyn, I....I can't." "Please Brian, I don't know what else to do. I can't lose him," she pleaded. Brian felt the tears running down his cheeks, "I can't lose him either, but....I...." Lyn reached out and took his hand in hers, "If I pray will you at least stand here with me?" He stood there for a long time staring at her, then he finally nodded his head. "Thank you," she said, as she took his other hand and started praying. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ted came down the hall and into the waiting room. Everyone crowded around. "Guys, the surgery went alright. He had more internal injuries than we were expecting, but we got everything. He's in recovery right now, and after that they will take him into ICU," he said. "How is he? Is he gonna be alright now?" Brian asked. "His body will heal, it'll take time though. Brian, we don't know about his head injury yet. He's in a coma, and we're not sure that he'll wake up, and if he does we aren't sure what his mental capacity will be," Ted said. Everyone's faces fell. "Are you saying that he could be a vegetable?" A.J. asked. Ted shook his head, "We just don't know yet." "What do we do now?" Kira asked. "We wait," Howie said. "And pray," Lyn added. Chapter 27 |