Chapter 12
Days slowly turned into weeks and still not a change in Brian’s
condition. He continued to hang between life and death. Every single day Howie,
A.J., Kevin, and Nick never failed to visit him. Pleading with everything they
had in them for their friend to wake up. His doctor never had good news to
deliver. Always the same depressing news, no change. Everyone from Brian’s mom
to Nick’s mom clung to the hope that Brian would come out of his coma soon.
Howie, Kevin, A.J. and Nick never had the chance to deal with
everything that had happened to them emotionally or mentally. Their minds were
solely fixed on bringing Brian back to them. It was ripping each of them apart
in so many ways. Nick awoke the next morning; A.J. sat with him watching ESPN.
“Hey…”
“Hey Nick, man wanna go see Bri?”
Nick and A.J. were then wheeled out of his room and into Brian’s.
Brian looked the same as he did the day before. Sucking in a deep breath, Nick
spoke. “Hey Bri, how are ya?”
“Brian, dude you are gonna have to come back to us man…we are all
goin nuts! You survived the whole Rob kidnapping ordeal, I am sure you can
survive this…your strong I know you can,” A.J. said beginning to break down
again.
Nick watched A.J. carefully, ready to rush to his side if he was
needed. He then drew his attention back to Brian and gasped.
“Oh my God!”
Brian’s eyes slowly fluttered open, he let out a small barely
audible moan. His eyes darted up to Nick then to A.J.
Both Nick and A.J. sat stunned. Their mouths agape. Brian lay
confused and terrified.
Nick noticed it first, and immediately began to soothe him.
“Brian, can you hear me?”
Brian said nothing. His breathing coming in short gasps.
A.J. and Nick began panicking.
A.J. grasped Brian’s hand tightly. Brian looked up his eyes wide
in fear. A.J. decided that the only way to get his point across was to yell.
Hoping Brian would understand he began. “BRIAN CALM DOWN! It’s okay, everything
is going to be okay, I promise,” he spoke, his voice softening as Brian’s heart
monitor began to slow. Nick slammed the nurse call button, and within a matter
of seconds a nurse came running in.
“Brian—he…he woke up!”
The nurse smiled kindly and went to get Brian’s doctor.
“Rok? You okay now?”
Brian motioned to the tube that went down his throat. “Okay, I’ll
take care of it.”
Doctor Roberts returned with a smile on his face. “Brian wants to
know if you can take that tube out of his throat.”
He approached Brian’s bed and helped him into a sitting position.
Brian was then told to take a deep breath. The tube was removed and Brian
gagged and coughed, struggling for breath. The nurse handed Brian a cup of
water, and he gratefully accepted. “Is everyone okay,” Brian asked hoarsely.
“Yeah, everyone is fine Bri.”
“God, Bri you scared the crap oughta us. We thought we’d lost
you.”
“Brian, would you like to see Leigh, your parents, Hal, Howie, and
Kevin,” A.J. asked searching for any trace of a smile.
“Uh huh,” Brian said nodding his head. He then winced in pain.
“You okay? Are you in a lot of pain?”
“Yeah…” Brian said in a pained voice.
Leighanne then entered the
room, glancing up her eyes went wide, and a large smile formed on her face.
“Brian! Oh my God!” Tears flooded down her pale face, and a wide
grin spread across her face too, making the bags under her eyes disappears. She
rushed to his side, and wrapped her arms around her husband tightly. Clinging
on to him, as the tears flooded down her cheeks onto Brian’s shoulders and
neck. Brian murmured several reassuring words to her, clutching onto his wife.
Suddenly realizing how much he had missed the beautiful woman he held tight in
his arms. He wasn’t given the time to sit and think about how much he had
missed his wife. Leighanne pulled away and wiped the tears that continued to
stream down her face. “I’ll go get everyone,” she said excitedly and darted out
of the room.
Brian watched as she disappeared from his view and smiled
brightly. “I missed her so much,” he said to himself quietly, then glanced up
to AJ and Nick. “What happened to me?”
“Welp Rok,” AJ began, but stopped as Brian’s parents, Harold,
Leighanne, Howie, and Kevin appeared at the door. Their eyes all shined with
tears of relief and extreme happiness that Brian had come back to them. Jackie
ran to her son, with a glittering smile, reflecting the joy that her son had
pulled through, once again. Everyone talked with Brian for nearly a half-hour.
Brian then convinced Leighanne to go back to the hotel and get some rest. She
obliged, knowing that she could sleep with the reassuring knowledge that her
Brian was okay. Everyone else then cleared the room to let Brian get to sleep.
That night Brian lay on his bed, watching TV. Nick walked in with
a mischievous grin on his face. “Hey Bri, thought I’d come in and see ya. I
heard your TV, and all.”
“So, what’s up? How do you feel? Are you still in pain?”
“Whoa, Nick slow down,” Brian giggled. His voice still contained
hoarseness. “I’m fine. Can I ask you something though?”
“Sure Rok, shoot.”
“Did they get them, did they find Rob, Craig, Charlie, Chris, and
Jack?”
The smile vanished from Nick’s once cheerful face. “Wow, I haven’t
given it that much thought….They didn’t find them, at all. Once they find out
that we aren’t dead, they could come back!”
Brian’s eyes wondered to the window, lost in thought. He
contemplated Nick’s idea thoroughly. Not wanting to begin his worrying. Brian
shut his eyes and drifted off into a deep sleep. Nick gently pulled the
blankets up to Brian’s chest, and turned off the TV. Lost in worry he returned
to his room.