[ - ]
Table of Contents [Report This]
Printer Chapter or Story Microsoft Word Chapter or Story
- Text Size +
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.