Chapter 29



"Get your damn hands off me!" I shrieked into the nurse's ear as she rolled me into a new room. "Why are you moving us?!"

She attempted to pin my arms down. "Mr.Carter, we don't know what's wrong with you! And now that your friend is sick we have to isolate you!"

"Then why are you in here?"

"Someone has to get you two settled!"

"I am settled!"

"Mr.Carter, would you relax?"

"Would you stop pinning my arms down?!" I hissed mockingly at the overweight gray-haired woman with an annoying accent from hell.

"I can't do that until you calm down!"

I panted. "You're crushing me! And quit sticking your hairy mole-covered chin in my face, lady!"

"NICK!" Kevin hollered. "Behave! And apoloize to Nurse-Nurse"

"Gertrude," the thick accent beamed, batting her wrinkled eyelashes at Kevin.

Kevin visibly winced. "Okay, Gertrude....."

Gertrude- the walking human version of barium looks like while being disgested.

I kicked my foot into one of her rolling layers of flab. "Don't touch me!"

"Oof!" she bellowed, glaring at me. "If this doesn't stop, I'll be forced to sedate you!"

"As if you're not pumping enough sedatives in me! You can't figure out what's wrong with me!" Tears streamed from my eyes. "So you treat me as if I were a dog! When dogs get sick, you just put them to sleep! If you can't make them better, you just put them to sleep! Tell me, if I don't get better soon, are you going to put me down?!"

"Nick, you are not a dog!" Kevin yelled, sitting up as he fought the tears that glistened in his eyes . "You are not being treated as a dog! You are not going to be sedated and you are not going to be put down!"

Gertrude bite her lipstick covered purple lips. "If he doesn't calm down, he will be sedated."

Kevin's eyes narrowed, the tears disappearing. "I'm telling you, just get Brian in here. He'll calm down, I swear."

"No one can be in here yet, Mr.Richardson."

"Then get the damn room ready, get Brian the proper hospital gown and get him down here!"

She placed her hands on her gigantic hips. "I refuse to believe one person can calm down the little boy!"

"Brian isn't just anybody and if anyone can get through to Nick, it's him!"

I squirmed beneath the nurse's lockhold. Had she been a wrestler in her foreign country?

"Let go of me! You're hurting me!"

She struggled against me. "Someone go get Charlie!"

Charlie? Oh, no, I am not dealing with the Amazon, rejected NBA farm animal again!

I screamed at the top of my lungs. "LET GO!"

"Gertrude!" a soft voice yelled from the door. "What are you doing to him?"

I glanced up to see Katie rushing toward me decked in a new covering and a mask strapped to her face. Gertrude began preparing a syringe as Katie's small form attempted to pull her off me. "Let him be!"

"He is an endangerment to himself! He is going to be sedated!"

My kind nurse slapped the syringe out of Gertrude's huge hand. "You will do no such thing! You don't have permission from Dr.Turtle to do that! And your unit didn't even have permission to move them yet! The doctor wanted to talk with Nickolas beforehand. She didn't want him to be scared!"

"He isn't a child, he shouldn't be this panicky."

"Isn't a child?" Kevin repeated, his nostrils flaring.

Katie leaned over my bed railing. "Nick, sweetie, you have to calm down. If you don't, they will have to sedate you and make you go to sleep. Now, I don't want to do that. You have to work with me here."

I wheezed, my breathing coming in quick gasps.

Gertrude threw away the unused needle. "If he isn't sedated, he's going to hyperventilate."

Katie stroked my cheek. "Take deep breaths for me. Just relax."

Tears fell from my eyes. "But people are put in here because of AIDS or cancer!" I clutched the bedsheets. "Is that it? Is that we have?"

"Nickolas, you know that I don't have the answer to that question. This is strictly a safety precaution. It's a policy, honey."

"Isn't it a policy to make people well, too?!" I whispered, clutching my belly. "I feel very sick again."

Katie patted my hand as she faced the old hag from hell. "Go find Mr.Littrell. He's in the hallway, he's a small man with curly dark blonde hair. Get him into the correct clothing and send him in."

"You are not a nurse in this unit or his doctor! You are not able to make the decision!"

"Yes, but I am!" Dr.Turtle stated clearly as she entered the room, rushing to my side.

"You are not in the proper clothing! You must leave, doctor!"

"Enough! Go get Mr.Littrell as Katie said NOW! I will be in the proper clothing when I feel my patient is stable. Not that anyone would be after the torment you and your staff have managed to put him through. Not to mention you managed to disobey my orders."

The hideous creature crossed her burly arms. "Excuse me?"

"Mr.Carter was to receive a reason for the move, along with Mr.Richardson. The reason was to be given by me. Then, when I felt he was ready they would go into isolation. This is yet another mistake made by your the department. A department that happens to be possibly the most important of the sections of the hospital."

Go get 'em doc! Move over Judge Judy, there's a new redhead in town!

Gertrude's thunderous thighs carried her away as Dr.Turtle felt my pulse.

"Katie, Sissy is working this unit today, please have her stationed to Nick and Kevin's care."

She nodded. "Certainly."

The doctor pressed the stethoscope against my chest. "Breathe deep for me."

I did as told.

Kevin cleared his throat. "Not to sound well...rude to you, Ms.Turtle, but this is one of the most unorganized locations I've ever been to in my life." His tone showcased his obvious displeasure, but also gave consideration to my doctor and nurse's kind attempts.

She pushed my damp hair off my forehead. "I happen to agree with you, Mr.Richardson."

Okay, that's reassuring, doc.....Really it is.......

Kevin shook his head. "I don't understand."

"This hospital is well-known for providing treatment alone, not sympathy. There is a location on the southside of the city where I feel Nick would be greatly benefited. I worked there during my residency."

I sighed. I had been feeling better, but after my tantrum I felt miserable once again.

"What is this place?"

"St.Anne's. It was established by several chruches in the area. The treatment is excellent and the staff very friendly and considerate. They've never hired anyone like Charlie or, well, Miss Gertrude. They specialize in terminal illnesses. They might be better suited for this mystery."

I rubbed my stomach. "Why don't you work there? You're nice, so is Katie."

"Sadly, you have to take work where you can get it in this field. And this is where the job opportunities were."

I winced.

"What is it?"

"I just feel really sick again. My stomach is churning."

"Are you going to vomit?"

"Not right now. I thought I was getting better?"

"You were, but only slightly. After your panic, I'm sure your stomach once again returned to its original state."

"I just want this to be over. If you never find out what's wrong with me, I don't care. I just want to get the hell out of here. I don't want to deal with this anymore!"

"Nickolas, I can't release you to walk the streets with a mystery illness. Don't you realize the harm you could do to yourself?"

Of course I did, but after all of this, the harm didn't sound so bad.

She frowned. "I'll telephone St.Anne's this afternoon. I assure you, Nick, it's a very nice facility."

"Why didn't you call earlier?" I spat.

"I kept hoping this would just go away on its own. Obviously, it won't. Now, with the possibility of it being contagious, it's out of my hands. I'm sorry."

 She turned to Kevin. "Are you all right? I'm sure Nick gave you a scare."

Kevin's eyes displayed sympathy for her. "He did. But that's nothing new. I'm as fine as I can possibly be."

She nodded, refusing to look at me, keeping her focus on Kevin. "Very well. Brian will be in soon, Nick. I hope you feel better and I'm sorry I couldn't help you."

Kevin glared at me. "I know you're scared, and I know you're sick as hell....But there is no reason to bitch at one of the only employees that is trying to help you. Hell, she's been babying you through, Carter."

Try being eighteen, scared as hell, making someone else terribly sick and having Gertrude breathe in your face......You'd bitch, too! I'm even a whiny brat when I'm deathly ill!

"Nick!" a voice shouted.

"Brian!" I gasped as he threw his arms around me, his gown wrinkling against me.

"God, I'm so sorry, buddy!"

I clutched him, losing my composure. I refused to be strong. I sobbed. "Brian..."

"What, Frack?"

"I don't want to be strong! I don't want to act like an adult about this! I can't!"

He stroked my hair. "Shh....You don't have to!"

My tears soaked the gown. "I need my Dad! I need my family, Brian! I need them! I want my daddy here! Just in case I don't-don't...What if they never find out what it is? What if I don't get to say 'goodbye'?!"