"Ouch! That hurts!" Nick whimpered as the paramedics re-bandaged his scraped knee.
"There, all done," said the nice female paramedic. "Now, can you tell me how you're feeling otherwise? Your friend says you passed out." Nick looked at me with a frightened look on his face.
"Hey, it's okay bro, just tell her how you feel." I was sitting next to the examining table as they looked over Nick. He wouldn't let them do anything unless I stayed. I don't know why he was so scared all of a sudden. I know he didn't like doctors, I didn't either, but hey, I was used to them after all I had just been through. I stayed there for him though, I know I wouldn't have wanted to be 18 years old and scared because I didn't know what was wrong with me. He didn't seem too open to telling them how he felt though. Nick turned back to the paramedic who was taking his blood pressure.
"I wasn't eating, that's why I passed out." he mumbled.
"Well, why weren't you eating, is something bothering you?" she questioned as she stuck a digital thermometer in his ear. Nick looked down.
"No, I feel fine."
"Well, your blood pressure is a little low, but I credit that to not eating, and you have no fever. Did you hit your head when you fell?"
"No, he didn't," I answered. "our friend caught him before he hit the ground, but he was out for a good 5 minutes."
She stuck a stethoscope under his shirt, "Take a deep breath for me Nick." Nick obliged weakly. "Well, I don't know what's wrong with him, but I doubt it's anything serious. His vitals are all pretty good and he's alert now. I would say he passed out from a combination of not eating and stress. As long as you get some vitamins in him and he takes it easy, I don't see why he can't perform tonight," she said as Kevin came walking in to the exam room we were in backstage.
"Is Nick doing okay?" Kevin asked the paramedic avoiding all eye contact with me. Oh now your worried Kev, yeah right, I thought you thought he did it for attention. How dare he think that.
"He's fine, I was just telling them as long as he eats and minds his knee he can perform tonight. But he needs to eat for sure. If he feels any different or sick again, bring him back in to me." she told Kev as Nick hopped off he table. I stood up to leave.
"Okay Brian, your turn," came Kevin's voice.
My turn? I glared at him. "Kevin, I told you, I'm fine!" I said in a warning tone. If you make me get checked out, I'll kill you. I thought silently. Kev turned to the paramedic again.
"This is my cousin Brian, he had open heart surgery 8 weeks ago and before, after Nick passed out, he was hyperventilating, he's also been running fever at certain times of the day, could you just look him over?" Okay dear cousin, I warned you, now you are going to get it...
"Sure I can, just hop on up here Brian."
I looked at Kevin. "Kev, I'm fine, really, I jus.."
"C'mon Bri." he said patting the table. I sighed angrily and jumped up. I winced as the paramedic paced the cold stethoscope against my chest.
"Just breathe regular for me Brian." Actually, I was breathing quite fast because I was going to kill my cousin, but I hope you don't know the difference lady. She finished listening and took my temperature. "No fever, and his chest sounds fine to me, sometimes heart surgery patients get low grade fevers for a few weeks after surgery, it's normal as long as they stay low and there are no other symptoms."
THANK YOU! I gave Kevin an 'I told ya so' look before I jumped down.
"Well, thank you anyway, I'll keep an eye on him and I'll make sure to bring him to a doctor if those fevers get higher."
Oh wonderful, now I was going to get temperature checks every half an hour, can I have my own tour bus, please? I ran out of the room before Kevin could ask her God only knows what else about me. I found Nick outside the door sitting on a bench.
"Hey buddy! How's the knee?"
"Okay," he replied. Oh no, all of a sudden he was turning back into silent Nick again.
"Hey Nick, you promised you would talk to me, remember?'
"I am talking to you."
Oh boy. Well, if he didn't hold up his end of the deal, I didn't have to hold up mine.
"Nick, c'mon, tell me what's wrong, please? I'm really worried about you. You're acting so weird. Was it something I did or said? I take it back if it was, and I'm sorry, just talk to me please!" I begged him.
"It's nothing Brian, I'm fine, I promise." he said, his gaze shifting to the floor.
I didn't believe him in the first place, but now it came to the point where he was flat out lying to me. I know him like a book and he can't lie to save his life.
"Nick.." I started
"I gotta get to rehearsals Bri, I'll catch you there." he said standing up. I sat down in his seat. I was really hurt, what had I done to deserve all of this? Why did Nick hate me? I couldn't ponder on it anymore though as Kevin came walking out of the exam room and looked at me.
"Okay Bri, I got a list of instructions on what to do if you still feel sick," he said proudly.
Excellent, super. What did you do, borrow The Journal Of Medicine? I decided I didn't care what Kevin did to me right now.
"Kev, I'm worried about Nick, I really am." I said desperately. Kevin didn't notice my mood change.
"Brian, worry about yourself, I told you, Nick is fine! You heard the paramedic!"
I gave up and started walking towards rehearsals. What no one realized is that I wasn't worried about Nick so much physically anymore as I was emotionally.