Chapter Twenty-three

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After three weeks in the hospital, the day finally came when the doctor discharged Nick. He would be going back to the hospital every day for physical therapy and was to continue to see the doctor that had been helping him since his suicide attempt. Nick didn’t care that he had to keep coming back for therapy, he was getting out and finally becoming more independent.

Nick was able to take a few steps, they were almost baby steps but at least they were steps. His left leg dragged a little behind him, but the doctor assured Nick that with time, it would get better. Nick couldn’t walk alone though, he needed a walker just to take the three steps. His wheelchair was still his constant companion.

“Are you sure you’re ready to leave this place?” Jess teased Nick.

“In more ways than you could ever imagine.” Nick answered.

Jess looked at the empty room. Brian’s friend Pete had brought his van up to the hospital last night when they found out that Nick would be going home and loaded all of the presents up to take over to the house.

“I guess we’re ready then, I have the car waiting for you.” Jess smiled.

Nick sat on the side of the bed. He was so pale, the bruises from the accident had faded all that remained were a few scrape marks and some bright scars where he had been scratched so deeply on the side of his neck and arm. The clothes he was wearing looked like they hung on him.

“Okay, anytime you’re ready.” Jessica waited until Nick wanted to leave.

“Did you want to walk to the chair or what?” Jess asked Nick.

Nick waved off the walker. It would be quicker to just get into the chair. As he slid off the bed to stand, Jess grabbed his elbow to support him.

“I’ll carry the walker then.” Jess folded it up and walked to open the door. Nick followed her moving the wheelchair like a pro.

Just what they both were dreading was waiting for them outside by the car. It was mass hysteria, the press, fans, photographers, the whole works.

“I knew this would be happening.” Jess sighed. “Are you ready for this?”

“Got no choice. Let’s just do it.” Nick winked at Jess. He was wearing his favorite white Nike hat backwards as usual and he looked like a highschool kid to Jess.

Both Jess and Nick tried to ignore the cameras and the people yelling and screaming at him. It was difficult to concentrait let alone manage Nick getting into the car.

Nick waited until Jess had the rear door open and put the walker into the backseat.

As Nick slowly stood up, cheers and applause errupted from the crowd. Nick smiled in spite of himself. He was thrilled with that accomplishment and was proud to be able to do that. Jess had the car door positioned in a way that Nick could hold onto the door and ease his way into the car without her assistance, which made him look better than what he actually was. Nick glanced at Jess, winked and softly said “Thanks, I love you.”

Jess repeated the phrase to Nick and quickly folded the wheelchair up and put it into the backseat after she closed Nick’s door. She hurried around to the driver’s side trying to push her way through the photographers that had gathered in front of the car. They were taking pictures of Nick through the windshield of the car. Nick kept his head down looking at his lap.

“Okay, I really hate doing this stuff.” Jess said as she started the car. She got nervous driving when there was a crowd gathered. She was always afraid that some obesessed fan would jump in front of the vehicle and she would hit them. Nick had more of a flair for driving through crowds.

“Just put it in drive and hammer it.” Nick suggested.

“Oh, yeah, that always works.” Jess always tried to be a little more cautious than Nick would be.

“Just a suggestion.” Nick laughed.

The whole time Jess and Nick were talking, Nick never once raised his head or looked over at Jessica. He kept looking down at his lap. He did not want to look up because he knew the photographers were waiting for that one good picture that they could sell and make money off of. He hated knowing that people could make profit off of him.

Jess got out of the parking lot without any incident. Nick was ready to go home and she couldn’t drive fast enough for him. They had talked about her staying with him at his house for awhile. He was still not able to be alone yet, and he did not want to hire a nurse to be there for him. Jess was the best answer. She was more than happy to be there for Nick.

“God, the house looks so good to me.” Nick sighed as they pulled into the driveway.

“I thought it would. How are you feeling?” Jess asked as she stopped the car.

“Tired, I can’t believe that a little thing like a car ride can wear me out.” Nick replied.

Jess walked around the car and got the wheelchair out of the backseat. As she was setting the chair up, she couldn’t help but notice that the street was busier than usual. God, now they are coming over here and stalking Nick. Good thing his dad put a fence around the house or we would be having weird people coming up to the door, Jess thought to herself.

“Okay, here you go.” Jess said as she opened the car door and moved the chair towards the seat.

Nick lowered himself out of the carseat and stood up slowly. He turned slowly and almost fell because of his balance being offset. He quickly regained his stance and sat slowly down into the wheelchair. Jess and he decided that the best way for him to enter the house would be through the garage, there would be less steps to go up and Jess could manage the two that were there.

“I don’t plan on being in this thing too much longer, but I never realized how many places have steps. I guess you never think about it until you are in this situation.” Nick said as he wheeled himself into the garage.

Once they got into the house, Jess walked into the livingroom and saw the flowers, baskets of fruit, stuffed animals and balloons that surrounded the area. It looked like a gift shop.

“Wow, Nick, you gotta take a look at all of this stuff!” Jess couldn’t believe the outpouring of get well wishes from fans.

When Nick came into the livingroom, he was astounded. It touched him to think that people cared that much about him.

“This is great. What am I gonna do with all of this stuff, though. I can’t keep all of this. I wonder if there is anyway I can get a message out to the fans and ask that the best gift they could give me would be a donation to some type of charity. That would make me feel one hundred percent better.”

“You could call your publicist. They can get the word out to places like MTV and stuff. You would have to have a charity already in mind before you call though.” Jess responded.

“What would a good charity be?” Nick wondered outloud.

“How about something to do with children? That’s always a good charity.” Jess offered.

“What children’s charity though.” Nick asked.

“St. Jude Children’s Research Center, they deal with all types of things with children.” Jess suggested.

After that was settled, Nick decided to go through the stuff that had been delivered and keep certain things and have the rest be delivered to nursing homes and hospitals. It was way too much for him to keep and he felt kind of selfish having the stuff around. Before the truck came to take the stuff away, Jess suggested that she take a picture of Nick with all the things and send copies of the picture to fan magazines and people magazine. Nick usually hated having his picture go out like that, but he thought that this would be a good idea and a nice way to thank the fans and tell them to send stuff to the charity instead.

“I’m glad you thought of that, that makes it so much more easier.” Nick said to Jess.

“Thanks, it was the least I could do.” Jess replied.

It didn’t take long once Nick got home for his phone to start ringing off the hook. Jess didn’t mind answering the first few calls, but it started getting crazy so they let the answering machine pick them up.

“Nick, did you want to lay down and get some rest, you look tired.” Jess asked.

“Yeah, I guess I am a little sleepy.” Nick replied as he yawned.

“Did you want to try and use the walker to go to your room, or did you want to lay down on the couch?” Jess asked.

“Bed sounds good to me, but I don’t know if I can walk that far yet.” Nick answered. He thought about how far away the bedroom was from where the livingroom was. It seemed like miles.

“Why don’t you try to walk as far as you can, I’ll be right beside you. If you start to feel like you can’t go on, I’ll bring the chair right to you, in fact, let me put the chair partway down the hall. Try to walk to that point at least. I know you don’t like to do this, but the more you do this, the better you’ll be.” Jess said as she moved the wheelchair down the hallway after Nick got up and sat on the couch.

“I forgot to bring the walker in, I’ll be back in a sec.” Jess said as she hurried past the livingroom and then out the front door. Once outside, she could hear noises coming from a crowd across the street. She could barely see them through the front gate. Ignoring them, she pulled the walker out of the backseat and dashed back into the house.

Nick stood up slowly and grabbed the walker that Jess sat in front of him. His footsteps were slow and caluclated. It was painful to watch Nick have to struggle so much just to talk a few steps. His left leg dragged slightly behind him with each step. Jess noticed that the farther he walked, the more pronounced his leg dragged. It took Nick almost 5 minutes to accomplish a walk that would take less than 30 seconds. He was drenched in sweat by the time he got to the wheelchair.

“I’ve got your bed opened up for you to crawl into. Is there anything else I can get for you?” Jess asked Nick as he pushed himself down the hall.

“Nope, I’m fine now.” Nick waived her off.

Jess walked out into the kitchen. She glanced over at the accumulated messages on the answering machine. The phone had been constantly ringing since they came home. She pressed the review button to see if there were any calls from people Nick would want to hear from. Most of the calls were from friends and some fans. One call caught Jessica’s attention, it was a call from Nick’s agent. Jess wrote the number down and planned on giving it to Nick later.

Chapter 24