A television set was on in the corner of the lobby. The morning news was on. As Jess had suspected, the media had already found out about the accident. She strained to hear what the reporter had to say:
“Nick Carter of the group The Backstreet Boys was involved in a fatal collision yesterday afternoon near his hometown of Ruskin, Florida. Details are sketchy at this time, we will be keeping you posted as information develops.”
Great, Jess thought to herself, they have him dead. Oh no, I didn’t think about the rest of the guys, if they see this they’ll think he is dead too. I don’t have anyone’s phone numbers, but I know that Nick kept them in his wallet. I wonder if the trauma nurse has his personal affects. She got up and walked down the hall towards Nick’s room. It looked like they were preparing to move him to a new room. She stopped one of the technicians and asked if she knew where the stuff that he had on were.
“Let me get the bag for you, it should be under the gurney.” The tech bent over and grabbed a large plastic bag with the words “Tampa Bay Hospital” on the front. “Here you go, I take it that you are family?”
“Yes, thank you.” Jess took the bag. It did
not
contain any of his clothes, which led her to believe
that
nothing was left of his clothes after the accident.
His
wallet was at the bottom of the bag along with his id
bracelet. His name was simply engraved on the front
of the
bracelet with Jessica’s initials engraved on the back.
She
picked up the wallet and got the phone number to his
agent.
“Is there a phone I could use rather than the one
out in the lobby? I need to let someone know that Nick is
okay. The news has this stuff all screwed up.”
The technician pointed to a phone on the wall.
“Just press the first button and dial 8 to get an
outside line honey.”
Jessica called Nick’s agent to let him know that
Nick was not dead, it was probably the person in the other
vehicle. She didn’t elaborate on his condition but
requested that he pass the word onto the guys so that if
they heard the television they wouldn’t be thinking the
worst. She also asked them to pray for Nick.
Jess finished the phone call in time to go with
Nick to his room in the intensive care unit. She looked at
his face while the gurney was going down the hallway hoping
to see something that would acknowledge that Nick was still
here. Although the swelling in his face was going down,
scrapes and cuts on his face still made Nick look like
anyone but Nick. Jess ignored the mindless banter of the
hospital attendants as they were in the elevator. “How
could they be so cold and uncaring, joking around like
that?” she thought to herself. Jess found it hard to
believe how she herself could go on with the way things were
right now.
After they got all the equipment hooked back up
and Nick settled into his room, a resident physician came in
to check Nick’s vital signs. Jess hesitated but then
decided to ask what that doctor knew about how Nick was
doing.
“Well, he seemed to have a relatively stable
night last night, nothing popped up which is good. We will
still have to keep a close watch on him for the next couple
of days. Hopefully he will awake from his coma. I would
like to see some other signs so that we can remove him from
the respirator. The longer he needs one, we would have to
change the set up,” the young resident sighed.
“What do you mean by changing the set up?
“We would do it only as a last resort, as long
as Nick couldn’t breathe on his own, we would have to hook
the tubes up to his throat which would require a
tracheomontry. With Nick’s career being a singer, there is
too much risk involved with messing with his throat and when
you have to cut the throat, there is always that risk that
his voice would never be the same, let alone that he could
wind up never singing again. But try not to think about
that, we have to think positively and believe that he will
pull through this and be on his way to better things and
bigger concerts. Dr. Gaynor will be in shortly to check
Nick out and he will have a more clearer picture than what I
would have. You may want to ask him when he comes in.”
And with that, the resident continued his
meticulous job of going over every square inch of Nick
making sure the equipment was hooked up right and that there
were no more signs of injuries that were missed.
Jessica took a hard chair that was in the
corner and sat down, staying out of the way. She waited
until the doctor left and then she moved the chair closer to
the bed. She touched Nick’s hand gently, noticing that his
skin was still quite cold to the touch. She reached up and
smoothed back his hair. Jess remembered what Dr. Gaynor had
told them yesterday about people still being able to hear
and feel while they were in a coma. She felt kind of silly
but decided to lean closer to Nick and whisper into his ear
hoping that it would stimulate some type of reaction from
him.
“Hi honey, I just wanted to let you know I’m
here,” Jess whispered into his ear. “Your mom and dad said
that they would be coming back in this morning to see you.”
Jess noticed that the pinging noise of the
heart monitor seemed to have increased in it’s rhythm. She
watched the monitor as she talked to Nick again.
“I called your manager to let the guys know
about you being in the hospital.”
This time she knew for sure. She saw the
rate go from 76 beats per minute up to 83. She couldn’t be
mistaken - he did hear her!
“Oh, Nick, I wished you would wake up,” Jess
sighed as her eyes filled with tears.
Just as she finished speaking, Dr. Gaynor
entered the room with Nick’s chart in his hand. He
immediately went over to the bed and listened to Nick’s
chest with the stethoscope. He then lifted one of Nick’s
swollen eyelids and shined a penlight into the eye. Nick’s
eyes were not focused and it looked scary to see him look
past the light. During the night they had kept close watch
on Nick doing bloodwork and checking his vitals all through
the night. As Dr. Gaynor flipped to the chart, he came
across something that he evidently did not like. He closed
the chart, excused himself and left the room abruptly.
Within minutes he reappeared with the resident and a nurse.
“I told you how important it was for you to
call me if there were any changes in his condition, any.
His first blood draw was 11.3,
which remained stable until the last draw which showed it a
8.5, which is a significant change. I want the lab in here
to do another draw stat.” Dr. Gaynor barked his orders
which made the resident and the nurse scatter from the room.
It did not take long before a lab tech was by Nick’s bedside
preparing to take a blood sample from his arm.
Jessica watched the technician put the rubber
strip to cuff off the blood flow to Nick’s arm. Just as the
technician was preparing to insert the needle, Jess looked
at Nick’s face. It looked to her as if he frowned with the
pain. No noise was made by Nick, only the hissing of the
respirator.
Dr. Gaynor reappeared in the room. He
apologized for his abruptness with the staff earlier. “I
always insist that they give me updates on my critical
patients. I’m sorry that you had to see this scene.”
“I couldn’t help but overhear when you were
talking about 11. 3 and 8.5, what does that indicate?” Jess
was curious.
“It would be Nick’s hemoglobin level. A normal
healthy man’s range is roughly thirteen to fourteen. An
eleven point three is not unusual for someone that has
sustained a traumatic injury. When the level drops to a
seven or below, we have to start thinking about a
possibility of internal bleeding. Depending on what the
test results show, we may have to give him a transfusion to
see if that will pick the numbers up.”
“I spoke with the resident earlier and I had
asked him about the respirator and he told me he didn’t know
how long Nick would have to be on it but then he also said
that the longer he was on it that changes would have to be
made, is this right?” Jessica was hoping that the resident
was wrong.
“Well, yes it does make a difference how long a
patient is on a respirator because we would have to go into
the throat, which in Nick’s case would be very risky because
of the vocal cords being right there. It would be very easy
to nick a cord and hurt his voice. I would have went
through the throat when he was in the trauma room, but
decided against it. I’m planning on weaning him off the
respirator today to see how he does. If he is still having
trouble, we may have to go into the throat.”
Jessica wiped the tears from her cheeks. This
was not fair, this should not have happened to Nick. She
heard slow even footsteps and looked into the doorway to see
Brian standing there, his face looked pale and his mouth was
open as if in shock. Jess stood up and motioned for Brian
to come into the room by her. Dr. Gaynor brushed past Brian
on his was out the door.
Brian went up to Jess and held her in a tight
hug that seemed to last for an eternity. As they pulled
away, Jess looked at his face and saw tears brimming in his
eyes.
Brian looked over to the bed at his best friend.
He couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Only a few days ago
Nick was over to his house playing basketball, laughing and
teasing him.
“How is he? I came as soon as I heard.” Brian
talked softly as if he would wake Nick up.
“Oh Brian, Nick is hurt really bad.”
“How?”
“We got into a fight and Nick left my house and
drove off kinda fast. A little bit later I heard sirens and
found the accident. A truck had pulled out in front of him
and Nick was going too fast to stop in time. The driver of
the truck was killed.” Jess cried as she told the story
again.
“Oh my god, is Nick gonna be okay, what’s wrong
with him?” Brian could see the obvious and it hurt to look
at his friend this way.
“Nick is in a coma right now, I don’t know when
or if he will come out of it. The doctor said it could be
hours, days, weeks, months or never. His brain was bruised
in the accident. He fractured all of his ribs on his left
side which in turn punctured his left lung. His back
suffered a whiplash trauma and there is swelling in the
spinal cord. They weren’t sure if Nick would be paralyzed
from the accident, they would know better once he came out
of the coma to access his injuries. Right now they are
waiting the results of a blood draw to see how his
hemoglobin is. It dropped down low last night. The doctor
said that if it goes to a seven or below that would mean
that he could have some possible internal injuries. If the
tests come back low, the doctor wants to do a transfusion.
I don’t know....” Jessica’s voice trailed off as she looked
at Nick again.
Brian held Jessica close. He kept looking at
Nick’s face and couldn’t believe that this was his friend
who was like a baby brother to him laying there helpless.
Memories of the times that they have shared together went
through his mind.
“Brian, the doctor said it was good to touch
and talk to Nick. He said that people that are in a coma
can hear and feel. Let Nick know you’re here for him.”
Brian took a deep breath. He was trying to
find the right words to say to Nick. He put his hand on
Nick’s shoulder and rubbed it.
“Hey buddy, I came as soon as I got the call.
You sure do things the hard way you stupid----” Brian
couldn’t keep his composure. Jessica pulled Brian towards
her and they held each other. After a few minutes Brian
wiped his eyes and looked back at Nick. He looked at the
tubes going into his mouth to help him breathe.
“Oh god, Jess, I’m sorry, so sorry. This
shouldn’t be the way. This isn’t fair.” Brian looked hurt
and upset.
A nurse entered the room with a unit of blood.
Jess knew that this wasn’t good news, that this meant that
his hemoglobin was lower.
“Do you know what the results were on the
test?” Jessica asked the nurse.
“Yes, it was eight point three. Doctor
ordered the transfusion to see how the level goes.”
Jessica and Brian looked at each other. They
both knew what they were thinking and yet would not allow
themselves to think the worst. After the nurse got the IV
started, Nick’s parents arrived. They hugged Jessica and
Brian.
“Any news?” Jane asked anxiously.
“They said that Nick had a pretty stable night
except that his hemoglobin dropped sometime during the night
and that is why Dr. Gaynor ordered a transfusion.” Jessica
thought about telling them what she had heard regarding the
respirator but decided against giving them more bad news.
“Why did his hemoglobin level drop so?” Jane
asked.
“The doctor was not sure, he said that they are
watching the levels closely and that right now it is at
eight point three. When Nick came in he was at eleven point
five. The doctor would be very concerned if his levels went
down to seven or below, then he said that there could be a
possibility of internal injuries.”
“Oh dear lord,” Jane put her hand to her mouth.
Jessica and Brian left the room to give Nick’s
parents some time with him alone.
“Jess, did you want me to take you back home so
that you can get refreshed? It would do you some good.”
Brian offered.
“I don’t want to leave Nick.”
“I don’t think Nick will be going anywhere
soon--”
“But I want to be here when he wakes up.”
“I can’t argue with you on that one, but
really, you should go home and at least shower and change or
you will scare him.” Brian teased. He was trying hard to
make Jessica smile.
“Oh, thanks. Yes, I guess it would be better
to go now, I don’t think he will be waking up within the
next couple of hours.
Brian and Jessica went back into Nick’s room to
tell Bob and Jane that he was taking Jessica home to shower
and change. Jess leaned over the bed and touched Nick’s
hair and then gently kissed his bruised cheek. She hugged
the Carter’s goodbye and then left with Brian.