Chapter
4
Jessie
stood in the corner of the operating room and watched curiously as the
surgeons, nurses, and specialists worked to save Brian's sick heart. She inched
her way closer to the operating table to watch.
'So this is what it looked like
when they opened my chest.' she thought. 'That explains why it hurt so bad afterwards.'
She
walked to the top of the operating table and got her first real look at Brian's
face. His sandy blond hair was barely visible around the edges of the surgical
cap and with the big intubation tube in his mouth he looked anything but
threatening. She gently laid her hand on his cheek and concentrated on reading
his thoughts.
Howie
pulled out his cell phone and dialed the studio. Jeremy picked up after only
half of a ring.
"Finally! I've been going nuts waiting for one of you
to call,” he said. "Have you heard anything?"
"Yeah. We just got done talking with his surgeon."
Howie said.
"Surgeon? You mean he went under the knife,
again?" Jeremy sighed.
"I'm afraid so. His heart stopped beating in the
ambulance and they had to shock him to get it back. The surgeon says that the
artery that supplies his heart with blood is blocked. They're doing a bypass to
re-route the blood."
"How are the guys holding up?" Jeremy asked.
"Well, you know AJ, he's a toughie, but um...Kev and
Nick aren't taking it so well. I'm still in shock."
"Tell them all of us are pulling for Bri." Jeremy
said.
"I will Jer, thanks. I'll call you if I hear anything
more." Howie hung up the phone and sighed.
Jessie
followed as the nurses wheeled Brian into a room in the ICU. She was relieved
to see that he had the room to himself. That should make her job a little less
complicated.
"Poor kid." the one nurse said to the other.
"I'm not sure he'll make it."
"Let's just hope he survives the night, that would be
amazing all in itself." the other replied. This made Jessie angry. If she
failed, Brian would die and end up watching the rest of his friends from a
cloud like she had hated doing the past week. She looked at him and felt guilty
about not wanting to come in the beginning.
"It's okay, Brian. Don't be scared. I'm here to help
you,” she whispered.
The two nurses finished arranging all of the IV's and tubes
that were helping to keep Brian stable and then left the room.
Kevin had been pacing back and forth for three hours and had finally settled up against a wall now.
The others had given up on consoling him. Dr. Lake soon entered the room and they all looked up eagerly.
"There were no complications with the surgery,” he
explained.
"Thank God." Kevin said under his breath.
"We've stabilized his condition for now. He's in a room
in the Intensive Care Unit. I can take you to his room if you like."
"That would be great, thank you." Kevin replied. A
nurse helped each of the boys to put on sterile surgical gowns over their
street clothes to help minimize the risk of Brian getting an infection after
the surgery.
Jessie
heard voices in the hall. She looked toward the door just as four guys walked
in. She recognized Kevin and realized that the others were the rest of the
group. She was able to decipher who was who by recalling Jerald's descriptions
of each. Nick glanced up to see Brian in the bed and quickly turned away.
"I can't do this." he sighed in despair.
"Nick, the doctor said that there would be a tube in
his mouth, forcing him to breathe, remember?" AJ said. "He warned us
that there would be machines helping to keep him alive, and bandages all over
his chest."
"I didn't forget any of that, AJ." Nick said
defensively.
"Brian needs his kid brother, Nicky." AJ said
sincerely. Nick took a deep breath to focus and then walked toward the bed.
"Look, Bri, I dunno if you can hear me but you have to
pull through this." he said. "You're gonna beat this thing, like you
did before."
Jessie wanted so badly to reassure Nick and tell him to keep
talking because Brian could hear him perfectly and was hanging on his every
word. She glanced at Howie. His thoughts were positive. His mind was easy to
read. He just knew that Brian would be okay, somehow and he prayed silently.
Kevin was also fairly simple to read. He was hoping for the best but trying to
prepare himself for the worst. AJ, on the other hand, was very good at blocking
his train of thought. She sensed that he didn't dare expect Brian to live or
die. He was scared to admit that loosing a brother was a possibility but didn't
want to bring anyone false hope. He kept silent.
Nick squeezed
his best bud's hand and was shocked to feel a small response.
"Whoa! He squeezed my hand!" Nick exclaimed.
"Do it again, Frick. C'mon man..." he coached.
Everyone inched closer to the bed and watched as Brian squeezed
Nick's hand a second time.
"Way to go, Rok." AJ said softly. Brian slowly
opened his eyes and blinked at the pain the bright lights above his head
caused. It took a second for everything to come into focus and he realized
where he was.
"Brian! Thank God you're awake." Nick sighed.
Brian tried to speak but soon became very aware of the not-so-unfamiliar
intubation tube in his throat.
"Its okay, cuz. Just relax." Kevin said with a
smile.
"You gave us quite a scare." Howie added.