It had been two weeks since that awful morning that drastically changed the lives of five young men. During most of that time, AJ McLean kept a vigil next to Nick, talking to him, reading to him, telling him his deepest thoughts, doing anything he could possibly do to wake him from the coma his brain had slipped into.
Two weeks of agony for everyone. Nick’s family had to continue with demanding schedules, his parents felt that it would be in the best interest for the children to keep as much normalcy in their lives as possible, so they left after a long consult with Nick’s neurologist.
Dr. Bennington spelled it out in clear words to the Carter’s as well as Nick’s close friends that each day looked grim as long as he was trapped in the coma and he feared that Nick may never wake from it.
Nick’s family reluctantly accepted the prognosis. Everyone seemed to agree that things didn’t look hopeful - everyone except AJ.
AJ decided that when Nick weaned off the breathing tube that he was making progress. Nick still used oxygen but now it was delivered with the clear green tubes that went around the face. He definately felt that when Nick was moved to another area of ICU that he had made progress.
Jim Lowe had been a Neuro ICU nurse for over thirty years. He had seen many cases during his years good and bad but something about his young patient seemed different to him. This young man was the same age as his own son. As he flipped through the man’s chart to the meds page he quickly logged his name in under the 7am - 7pm slot and slid the chart back into the holder for ICU room number 20.
Pushing the door open, he startled AJ who had evidently dozed off.
“Good morning AJ,” Jim smiled, walking over towards the sink and started to meticulously wash his hands.
AJ’s voice cracked as he tried to aknowledge the nurse’s greeting. After clearing his throat, he successfully managed “’mornin’.”
Walking to the opposite side of the bed after grabbing a pillow from the closet, Jim lifted the covers off of Nick’s body. “Nick, it’s time to reposition you.”
AJ sat and watched the procedure he had seen Nick being put through over and over day in and day out. Every two hours. They told AJ this was to prevent bed sores since Nick wasn’t moving and the pressure points of his bone against the skin would eventually break down if he wasn’t moved from one side to another for a few hours.
Jim folded Nick’s arms and gently pushed against his shoulder as he placed a rolled pillow behind his back and hips. Once Jim finished, he drew the covers back over his patient’s body and adjusted the oxygen and IV tubing.
AJ felt the need to talk to someone about Nick. Somehow, he felt drawn to the nurse and decided he could confide in the man. He watched as the nurse was preoccupied with hanging new IV’s on the pole.
“Jim?”
“Yep,” the nurse replied, not looking at AJ.
AJ drew in a quick breath and decided to plunge into the subject of concern. “You’ve been an ICU nurse for a long time, right?”
“Yep, graduated in 1972.”
“So um, you’ve seen some pretty bad things during your time then, right?”
“Oh, I’ve pretty much seen it all, some pretty bad things,” came the reply.
“What do you think about Nick’s prognosis?” AJ asked, not daring to look at the nurse when he asked the question that was weighing heavily in his heart.
The nurse stopped working on the IV’s and turned to face AJ. “I think Nick’s prognosis is guarded. There’s a lot of things that can go on between now and next month that could change the outcome if Nick were to wake up.”
“Things like what?”
“Well, there’s pneumonia, seziures.....” his voice trailed off as he could sense that AJ was getting scared. “Those are just typical things that have happened, but don’t think that this could be Nick. Judging by what I’ve seen so far, I’m willing to take a bet that Nick is stubborn and he’s in there right now, fighting to wake up. It’s just going to take time.”
AJ grinned for a moment. “Yeah, he is stubborn.” The smile faded as quickly as it appeared. “How can we get him to wake up? I’ve tried everything I can think of.”
“You’re doing everything that can be done AJ, there aren’t any clear cut ways that work, just keep touching him and talking to him, if it will happen, it will happen. Touch, sounds those are the things that are proven stimulants for people asleep in a coma.”
The nurse’s pager chimed and Jim pulled it from his scrub pocket. Sighing, he shoved the device back into the pocket and pulled the latex gloves off, tossing them into the wastebasket as he strode towards the door. “I’ll be back in a bit, they need help with another patient.”
AJ settled back in his chair and stared at the ceiling. He was alone in his thoughts for a few moments when he heard distinct footsteps entering the room. “Hi Bri,” AJ called out, not taking his eyes from ceiling.
“How’d you know it was me?”
“You’ve got feminine footsteps,” AJ cackled.
“Ha ha,” Brian replied dryly. “Hey I brought some stuff in for Nick.”
The rustling of a plastic bag caught AJ’s attention. As Brian pulled an item out, he lost his grip on the bag and it fell to the floor with a loud thud.
“OMIGOD!” Brian breathed.
“God, don’t spaz, I’m sure it’s something you can replace,” AJ snickered as he jumped up to retrieve the fallen bag. When he saw that Brian was staring where Nick was, mouth agape, AJ turned and looked over at the bed confused at Brian’s reaction. “What’s wrong Brian?”
“He jumped!” Brian smiled.
AJ rubbernecked from Brian’s face to Nick’s form in the bed. “Huh? He’s laying where he’s always laid.”
“No, AJ, Nick jumped when the bag hit the floor. Watch,” Brian annouced as he proceeded to pick up things and slam them down, waiting for a reaction from Nick.
“Have you gone psycho?” AJ rasped as he watched Brian run from one place to another trying to get a reaction from Nick.
Defeated, Brian hung his head. “No... no, I saw it, AJ, I saw it!”
A thought crossed AJ’s mind as he noted the look of dispair in his Backstreet brother’s face. Sliding his forefinger and thumb between his teeth, AJ drew a deep breath and exhaled, emitting a high pitched whistle.
He was rewarded with a grimace on Nick’s face. He clearly didn’t like the noise.
Brian and AJ hugged and started whooping it up in ICU room number 20.
Things were looking better.
