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Chapter Twenty-Four

Chapter Twenty-Six

Nick ended up being in surgery for over eight hours. Dr. Takaghishi told them that he thought the surgery was successful and felt that Nick will be on his way towards a full recovery and should be back to his old self within six months. He seemed to have been very confident that the paralysis would be only temporary and that the blood clots did not cause any permanent damage.

Jess and Brian went into the neuro ICU room that Nick was in. He laid there with all the equipment surrounding him and looked so small. Jess reached over and smoothed Nick’s hair away from his forehead. The respirator kept it’s steady hissing sound as it was pumping oxygen into Nick’s lungs. The doctor told them that he would have to be on it until after he was out of the suspended coma that they were keeping Nick in for two more days. Once he awoke and they knew that he had regained feeling, they would be able to take him off the respirator.

“Nick has never done anything in his life very easily, has he?” Jess asked Brian.

“I don’t know about that, but lately he’s proven that he takes the hard road on everything.” Brian quietly spoke back.

“I want him to wake up so bad and to know that he’s okay.” Jess spoke with her voice breaking.

Brian put his arm around her. “He’ll be fine, you heard the doc.”

“Yeah, I heard him, but I’m still worried about his voice with this tubing stuff. I pray to God that everything will be okay.”

“Jess, he’ll be okay, don’t think about anything else like that. You know the doctor was very cautious when he did that. Besides, if he didn’t do that, we would be at a funeral home instead of a hospital right now.” Brian replied.

“I guess I didn’t really think about that that way.” Jess touched Nick on the cheek.

“I’m gonna go back out so one of the guys can come in and see Nick.” Brian touched Nick on the shoulder before he turned to leave.

AJ walked into the room and stood next to Jess. He didn’t say anything but looked at the respirator and listened to it’s sickly rhythmn. Jess glanced over at AJ and could see tears in his eyes.

AJ finally touched Nick’s arm and rubbed it. “Kid, you’re putting us through hell right now. I’ve got a few things to say to you when you wake up.”

AJ hugged Jess and left the room. She could tell how broken up and upset he was about the whole thing. Jess was sure that he was just as concerned as she was about the tubing in Nick’s throat and how it could effect his voice forever.

Kevin came into the room and hugged Jessica. He too didn’t speak at first, he spent the time absorbing the surroundings with the machines and all the tubes going in and out of Nick. Kevin hated the noise of the respirator. He hated everything it stood for.

“Hey Nicky, you keep fighting this and get better.” Kevin took ahold of Nick’s hand and squeezed it.

Kevin hugged Jess and left the room so Howie could come in. When Howie came in, Jess could sense how nervous he was. He looked at Nick and turned away.

“I’m sorry, I’m not good at this.” Howie walked quickly out of the room. He was upset when he saw Nick on the respirator and he didn’t want Jess to see him lose composure.

Brian came back into the room again.

“Jess, let us give you a ride home. Nick will be out of it and he doesn’t know you’re here. You should come with me and we’ll come back later today or early tomorrow. Nick’s dad is flying in sometime this afternoon so we will probably be back here in awhile anyway.”

“Brian, you know how I hate to leave Nicky alone.” Jess stroked Nick’s hair.

“Yeah, but Nick is out of it at the moment and he won’t be awake for a few days. He would be mad if he knew you were hanging around here.” Brian tried to reason with Jess.

“Well, what if his dad comes here and no one is around, wouldn’t that look like we don’t care?” Jess asked.

“No, I’m sure that Nick’s dad knows that you have been constantly taking the best care that you can for Nick. He would understand why you aren’t there and would call you, now comeon.” Brian urged Jess to say goodbye to Nick and leave.

“Um, I guess. Nick, I’ll be back later.” Jess kissed Nick on the forehead.

Chapter 27