Chapter 17 – One Small Miracle

Brian woke up around ten the next morning. Horrified that he had slept for over sixteen hours, he called for a nurse.

“I need to go up and see Nick,” he informed her.

She sighed. “Dr. Westin would rather that you stay put.”

“Everything is still all right with him, isn’t it?”

“Yes, he’s still around, don’t worry.”

Brian breathed a sigh of relief. “Well, I would really like to go see him.” He hoped that pitiful pleading would win her over.

“Actually, your friend Kevin has been asking for you. Would you like to go and say hello to him? Perhaps after that you can swing by and pop in on Nick.”

Brian looked eager. “Yes, that sounds great.”

As he was eased into the wheelchair, he had to bite his tongue to keep from crying out. His muscles, his ribs, and his back screamed in protest. He leaned heavily on the nurse as she got him seated.

“That all right?” she asked him.

“Yeah,” he managed to say.

She wheeled him up to the ICU and over to Kevin. He was sleeping, of course. Brian glanced back at the nurse for help on how to proceed.

“You can wake him up. It’s all right. He will be happy to see you.”

Brian nodded at her, and she stepped out to give them some privacy.

“Yo, Kevin,” Brian called softly. “Train, it’s me.”

Kevin stirred a bit and then opened his eyes.

“Hey, Bri,” he said drowsily. “It’s about time you showed up.”

“I came when I could, cuz.”

“Where’ve you been?”

Brian cracked a smile. “A.J. was having all of the fun causing trouble for the doctors and nurses so I thought I’d try my hand at it.”

“You’re causing trouble?” Kevin asked him. Brian was thrilled to see him looking so much more alert than he had before.

“Yeah,” he said, smiling and dropping his eyes.

“Well don’t get into too much trouble, cause whenever I get up I’m going to kick your ass.”

“Glad to hear it. Damn, you sound a lot better than the last time I was in here.”

“You came to see me?” Kevin asked, frowning a bit, trying to concentrate.

Brian’s face fell. “Yeah, I did. When you first woke up.”

“Oh.”

“Do you remember?”

“I don’t know what the hell I remember,” he whispered, looking upset.

“Hey man, chill out. It’s ok. You banged your head real good. Probably killed off your last three brain cells. Give it time, everything will come back to you.”

“Do you know what happened? Do you remember?” Kevin asked hopefully.

“No, I don’t remember,” Brian confessed. “But they told me what happened.”

“Will you tell me? I can’t remember if they told me before.”

“Sure. Sure I’ll tell you. Umm, well, a rig on the highway leaving San Antonio sideswiped us. A.J., Howie and I got thrown out of the bus, we went out through the windows-”

Kevin’s eyes went wide. “What?” he said hoarsely. “Are you all ok?”

Brian smiled at him. “We’ve been better. But we’re going to be ok. Howie’s doing great right now. A.J.’s going to be fine, and I’m going to be fine. We’re ok. We’re better than you are,” he added.

“Good,” he breathed out.

“And you and Nick were stuck in the bus. The bus rolled, and you two got thrown around.”

Kevin thought hard for a moment. “Nick?”

Brian’s eyes watered a little. “Yeah. You and Nick were together.”

“Where is he?” Kevin’s eyes were wide and full of concern. He looked so vulnerable, Brian was afraid to tell him the truth. Kevin was always the rock; he was the one they all looked up to. If he fell apart, as far as Brian was concerned it was over.

“He’s not doing so good, Kev.”

“Oh no…”

“Hey, hey. Don’t flip out on me. That’s my job,” Brian said. “We got a small miracle from him yesterday. He’ll come around. He always proves everyone wrong. This time won’t be any different.”

Brian wiped his eyes with the back of his hand. He wanted to believe his own words so badly. But deep in his heart he was terrified. He wasn’t sure if he could deal with losing Nick. He took Kevin’s hand and squeezed it, and smiled when he felt Kevin’s weak grip try and squeeze back.

After a while Kevin drifted back off to sleep. Brian stayed by his side the entire time, although his entire body was aching so badly he had to use every ounce of strength to stay upright. His face was white when the nurse came for him.

“Ok, that’s it. You are going to go back to your room. Right now.”

Brian protested weakly, but wound up gasping in pain.

“Come on,” she said urgently. She hurried him back and had Dr. Westin come in to see to him.

“I should have put my foot down,” he said angrily. “I should not have let you up.”

“Kevin needed me,” Brian whispered, his face pale and drawn.

“You are staying right here until you are strong enough to leave. Do you understand?”

Brian nodded slightly. “Yeah.”

* * *

A.J. flipped on the radio, feeling restless. He caught the end of a song, and waited for the next one to start. To his surprise, his own screech filled the room as ‘Larger Than Life’ came over the airwaves. Howie too looked up, surprised.

“Damn. The thought of doing that song right now is downright painful,” A.J. remarked.

Howie flinched a little at the sound of Nick’s voice as he took over his verse. “Do you think we’ll ever be able to sing it again?”

“Of course we will,” A.J. said, giving him an odd look. “Why wouldn’t we?”

“No reason,” Howie said listlessly. News of Brian’s regression had sent him into a depression. “I want to go and see Nick,” he said suddenly.

“Ok,” A.J. agreed, surprising him. “Let’s go.”

A little while later, they were in Nick’s room. They took turns chatting with him, telling him about what was going on, and lecturing him about letting Brian get so upset.

“Nicky, I’m telling ya, you’d better snap out of this and whoop B-Rok back into shape. He’s causing more trouble here than I am, and that’s just not fair.”

Howie chuckled. “No kidding.”

A.J. glanced up at him. “What do you think we should do?”

Howie was about to answer when A.J. held up his hand. He looked over towards Nick.

“What is it?” Howie asked, excited.

“Look,” A.J. said softly. A small sound filled the room. A.J. and Howie stared at each other wordlessly, and then looked back at Nick.

“Oh my God,” A.J. whispered.

“He’s crying,” Howie said.

“Quick, go get someone,” A.J. hissed. Howie hobbled out of the room to find a doctor. A.J. reached over and took Nick’s hand reassuringly. “Nick. Nicky. It’s A.J. Wake up man, quit crying. I know you want to stay asleep but we need you to open your eyes. It’s hard, I know. But you can do it,” his voice was calm and comforting, far from what he was feeling on the inside. He wanted to take Nick by the shoulders and shake him.

“Come on, Nick. Do this for me. Do it for Brian.”

Nick’s crying was louder now. His face was contorted and he looked as though he was trying to wriggle away from something. A.J. thought he saw his mouth move, and leaned over to try and hear him.

“No,” he murmured almost inaudibly.

“Come on, yes. You can do it,” A.J. argued. “Don’t fight with me on this one.” His crying was louder still. Suddenly his eyes came open, and suddenly he was sobbing uncontrollably. He gasped and moaned in pain. A.J. watched, helpless, as writhed in agony, trying to escape the hurt he was feeling, which only served to bring him more. A painful cry tore out of his mouth, tears wetting his cheeks. He gasped in anguish.

“God, somebody help him!” A.J. called over his shoulder.

Dr. Hite came in just then, and immediately saw to their friend. After several moments, Nick’s tears slowed down and then stopped. All that remained was a few hiccupping sighs.

“Congratulations,” Hite said to them. “Nick has decided to come back to us.”

* * *

Howie rapped his knuckles on Brian’s partially open door.

“Yeah?” Brian answered.

“Yo, B-Rok!” A.J. called. “Can we come in?”

“Sure.”

Howie entered, pushing A.J. ahead of him. “We’ve got something to tell you,” Howie said with a wide grin.

“What?” Brian asked, suddenly becoming interested.

“Nick’s back,” A.J. said

Brian’s blue eyes almost bulged out of their sockets. “What?”

“That’s right,” Howie said cheerfully. “He woke up a little while ago.”

“Sort of,” A.J. corrected him.

“What do you mean sort of?” Brian asked suspiciously.

“Well, he opened his eyes. He was crying when he came to. He didn’t say anything, but he was conscious,” Howie explained.

“So does this mean he’s going to be ok?”

A.J. and Howie exchanged glanced. “Well, Dr. Hite seemed pretty happy. I’m guessing he’s going to be ok.”

Howie laughed. “We were so excited, we really didn’t ask!”

“When can I see him?” Brian exclaimed.

“Dude, you still look awfully pale. Should you be out of bed at all?” A.J. asked, raising his eyebrow.

“You’re not my doctor,” Brian muttered darkly.

“No, but I’ve watched you fall to pieces at least twice in the past few days. There’s no way and hell you’re putting me through that again.”

“I love the way you show your concern,” Howie said, rolling his eyes.

“Thanks,” A.J. replied.

“I just want him to know I’m there,” Brian said, frustrated.

“We’ll tell him,” Howie offered. “As soon as we get to talk to him it’s the first thing we’ll say, right Bone?”

“Yeah, sure.”

Brian still looked unhappy.

“It’s the best we can do. You know that Westin’s not gonna let you up. You really pissed him off after you almost passed out in your wheelchair.”

“How do you feel anyway?” Howie asked him.

“See that Jell-o?” he asked, pointing to the jiggly red substance in a cup that sat on the tray by his bed.”

“Yeah,” Howie said warily.

“Now I know what it feels like to be red Jell-o. We understand each other.”

Howie laughed.

“See?” A.J. said. “Just stay here and chill. Howie and I can come and harass you whenever you want company.”

“Thank you,” Brian said dryly. A.J. flashed a smile.

“Oh, hey,” Howie said. “Did you hear? They are moving Kevin out of ICU this afternoon.”

“Really?” Brian asked, looking pleased.

“Yeah,” A.J. chimed in. They are moving him onto your floor.”

“Can they move him in here?” Brian asked hopefully.

“I don’t know. Ask Westin.”

A.J. turned his head towards the hallway. “Hey, Westin!” he hollered. Howie groaned and rubbed the bridge of his nose. “A.J…” he said. “Is that really necessary?”

“Brian had a question!” A.J. said defensively. A nurse poked her head into Brian’s room. “Can I help y’all with anything?”

“Yeah,” A.J. said. “My friend here wants to know if Kevin Richardson can be his new roomie since he’s moving out of the ICU.”

“I’ll go ask Dr. Westin.”

“Thank you ma’am,” A.J. said, tossing her a charming smile.

Dr. Westin agreed to the move, mostly because he thought it would help keep Brian in his room. Kevin was glad to have his company. He had been constantly calling in nurses when he had trouble remembering things, asking them to tell him what was going on. Now he had Brian there to help keep him on track.

“I need you to help me get my head back on straight,” he told him. “My memory is still a little out of whack.”

“I’ll do my best,” Brian said seriously. “But if you snore I’ll smother you with a pillow.”

Chapter 18

Index