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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.