Just To See Her

~~~~Chapter 32~~~~


Alexa led Kathy into Nick's room after the family and the group had returned to the waiting room. "Only for a few minutes okay? You know the routine." Kathy nodded and squeezed Alexa's hand in thanks. She looked at Nick in amazement. She had seen all this stuff before...had seen Nick hooked up to most of it before, but she didn't know him then. It was all so different now. He looked so pale laying there. A tube was stuck in his throat, holding his mouth open. Kathy could hear the machine it was attached to chugging away, breathing for him. Tubes ran out of his nose, a multitude of them hung from his arms, monitors were attached to his chest, and, most horrifying of all, patches of blood seeped through the bandages on his chest. She pulled a chair closer to the bedside and took his cool hand in hers.

"Hey Nick. I should know what to say, but my bedside manner is shot to hell right now. Your mother apologized to me, told me I could stay on and work with you. That's good, right?" Kathy looked at his face and reached up to stroke his cheek. "Oh Nick, everyone is so worried about you. Please come back to us. Aaron is almost catatonic, Alexa is crying her eyes out. They should never have let her work on you, it's really affecting her." Kathy watched the green line on the monitor bump up and down, signifying Nick's life. "Nick come back, wake up. We all need you back so much. This will sound selfish, but I was just getting to know you. You can't leave now. Please come back to us." Kathy sat and just looked at him, silently praying for a miracle. He had already been through so much trauma. How much more could his body take, before it told him - no more? Alexa opened the door and quietly entered the room. "Is everyone staying?" Kathy asked her, without taking her eyes off Nick. "I think the guys are leaving and coming back in the morning. AJ is going to stay since I have to." "You should never have worked on Nick." Kathy said, turning around to look at the doctor. "He's your friend." Alexa sat on the arm of Kathy's chair. "He's my friend, but he's also my patient. I had to because I know the history." She looked at Nick, so still, and sighed. "I didn't actually work on him, until he flatlined, then..." The doctor went quiet and Kathy gave her a hug. "I'm sorry you had to see that." Alexa wiped her eyes with the hem of her coat. "I just hope he is alright. I hope I did help him."

Kathy brushed her lips across Nick's cheek and got up to leave the room. Roberta was still waiting for her in the waiting room. "Do you want me to take you back? Or do you want to stay here?" she asked her. "I want to stay, but his family is here and I can't see him anyway, until morning. Would you mind, I'll get the dogs out and come back in the morning." Kathy said her goodbyes to the guys and Nick's family. Aaron frightened her a little bit, he was sitting the same way he had been when Alexa had given them the awful news. Dried tears lay on his cheeks and he rocked slowly back and forth. "Aaron?" She leaned down to give him a hug. "Aaron, you need to be strong for Nick." His eyes flickered briefly and he resumed rocking. "Take care sweetie." She squeezed him tight and left the room before her tears overtook her again.

"Do you want me to stay with you? I can, Howie will understand." Roberta shut the door behind them and set the keys on the hall table. "Would you?" Kathy hugged her friend gratefully. "I don't think I will get much sleep and I know I will be too shaky to drive tomorrow." Rho held Kathy tight and kissed the top of her head. "No problem, let me call Howie and let him know so he doesn't worry about me too." Kathy showed her where the phone was and went to let the dogs out in the yard. They ran around her legs in circles and back to the door. "Daddy couldn't come back with me, puppies, but he'll be home soon." She bent to pick one up and cuddled it in her arms. "Yes, he will. He is gonna come home and get all better." Her tears started to fall again and she set the squirming pug down. "He will, he has to." she whispered to the ocean scented air. Rho joined her out on the patio. "Howie is going over to AJ's and look after their dogs and spend the night. Kevin and Kristin went to Brian's house. No one wants to be alone tonight. Kathy wrapped her arms around herself and shuddered. "I'm so worried about him, he's been through so much." "He's strong." Rho comforted. "He'll pull through." The two friends sat and looked out at the swirling water while the dogs ran around the yard. "Let's go in." Roberta tapped Kathy's shoulder. "You have to try and get some sleep."

As they walked through the door they could hear the phone ringing. Kathy looked at it fearfully as Rho picked it up. "Hello?" Her face creased in confusion for a moment. "What?" The expression on her face changed to disbelief. "Go screw yourself sideways!" She finally yelled into the phone and banged it on the table for good measure before hanging up. "Some reporter." she muttered. "Damn them. Wanted me to confirm that Nick died tonight." Kathys face drained of color. "It's not true Kathy, he's still alive." Roberta took her friend by the shoulders and shook her gently. "You stay away from the phone, got it? I'll look after any creeps that call here."

Kathy showed Rho to her room and set out towels for her. "I'm alright. You get some rest for the morning." "I can't sleep. I can't stop thinking about him." "Try." Rho hugged her tight and pushed her towards her room. "For me, please?" Roberta made a comical face and Kathy smiled lightly. "There you go! I'll see you in the morning, okay?" Kathy entered her bedroom and patted the bed to encourage the dogs to jump up. "You might as well sleep with me tonight fellas." Kathy lay her head down and pulled the puppies close to her. She tried to push all the thoughts of Nick out of her head and closed her eyes, praying for sleep.

Bright sun shone through the windows the next morning when Kathy awoke. She could smell coffee brewing and bread toasting. "God bless Rho!" Kathy smiled and got out of bed. "Sorry I couldn't do more for breakfast." Roberta apologized when Kathy entered the kitchen. "Pickings are slim." "We haven't had a chance to get proper groceries yet." Kathy replied, taking a sip from her mug. "But this is fine. Thank you." "It's no problem." Rho took a bite of her toast and looked at Kathy. "Did you sleep alright?" "Yes, I did. I honestly didn't think I would." They finished their breakfast in silence. "I need to take the dogs out before we go." Kathy spoke up. "I'll run them outside, you get ready." Rho offered. Kathy went and changed her clothes and freshened up a bit. She entered Nick's room and grabbed his CD player and some discs sitting by his bed on a whim. "Give you something to listen to." she said to herself. Rho bustled in with the dogs and Kathy fed them, while Rho gave them fresh water. "Okay puppies, I'll be back later, be good for daddy." She ruffled their fur and kissed their noses. "Bye."

Kathy entered the waiting room that had been assigned to Nick's visitors and was surprised to see Aaron still sitting with his arms clutched around his knees, still rocking eerily back and forth on the chair. His sisters were in the other corner of the room and Howie and AJ had just arrived. "Did Alexa come with you, or is she still here?" Kathy asked AJ. "She's just changing in the office, why?" Kathy pointed silently to Aaron. "He hasn't moved, I'm worried about him." AJ moved to sit beside the almost teenager. "Hey Air. How are you doing?" AJ ruffled Aarons hair and put his arm around his shoulders. Aaron remained silent and continued rocking. "You should get up and stretch your legs, they're gonna fall asleep on you." AJ joked. "I'll get Lex in here to check him out." AJ said, getting up. "I don't like the looks of him." "I think he may have gone into shock." Kathy said. "I'll get her." AJ promised as he headed out the door. Kathy sat beside Aaron and rubbed his back, murmuring comforting words to him to no avail. Jane and Bob walked into the waiting room and Jane smiled wanly at Kathy. "Oh, you're looking after Aaron too, thank you." Her eyes looked empty and Kathy wondered if she even knew who she was talking to. "You can go into see Nick now, if you want to." Bob offered and took her place beside Aaron when she stood.

Kathy pushed open the door and saw Nick lying much the same way he had been the night before. The bandages were clean, so someone had changed them, but he otherwise looked the same. "Hi Nick. I brought your CD players and some music for you to listen to." Kathy looked for a plug and propped the player on the bedside table. "How about some Metallica, huh? Get your head banging? Hmmm, Journey, Alan Jackson, Nirvana, Eminem. I don't know, what's this one?" Kathy had heard of the group Nick was managing but she had never heard them so she popped the disc in. She sat and held his hand, just talking about anything, the dogs, Aaron, his house, anything. "These guys are good Nick, I really like this music." Kevin entered the room with Brian. "How is he?" "No change, but I've brought his music in, and I've been talking to him, it's all we can do. Let him know we are here." "Do you mind if we stay for a bit?" Kathy stood and offered her chair to Brian. "Of course not! I need to find Alexa, anyway."

Kathy went back to the waiting room and noticed immediately that Aaron was gone. "Here's the room number." AJ pressed a piece of paper in her hand and propelled her out the door. "Lex wanted you to come right away. Kathy moved down the hall looking for the number AJ had given her. Alexa was just coming out a door and almost bumped into her. "Oh there you are. Aaron has gone into a state of shock, the poor kid. I had to give Mrs. Carter some meds to calm her down, the girls are going batty, Bob is the only sane one right now and I think he is cracking too. "Alexa you need to rest, you're not going to be any good to anybody in this condition." I will, I did. Age took me home last night for a bit, I have a scheduled shift today and then I will go home again, I promise." They entered Aaron's room quietly. "He just went to sleep. Once we got him off the chair he really kicked up a fuss. And then he just kept saying he wanted to be with Nick, that Nick couldn't be alone. We gave him a shot and he quieted." Kathy looked down at the sleeping boy, young man really, and sighed. He had been through enough horror in his young life too, he didn't need this. "What about moving him in with Nick?" Alexa looked at Kathy in curiosity. "What do you mean?" "Put him in Nick's room. Aaron will need to be under observation for a few days right?" Alexa nodded. "Maybe being with Nick would be beneficial to both of them!" Alexa smiled. "You could be right, let me go check with my supervisor." Kathy returned the smile and gazed down at Aaron again. "You might be the one to save him Aaron, your love for him can help him pull through."

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