Chapter 5
The high pitched squawk came again, as Diana watched Zac run to open the front door for the ambulance that could be heard in the distance. One of Jessica's friends was running with a brown paper bag for Jessica, in an attempt to get the girl to stop hyper ventilating.
Diana crawled to her feet patting children on the head as she headed to the squawking noise in the other bedroom. She found her husband ear glued to Isaac's chest. He had a blank expression as if he had been shot. He gasped for air, which made another squawk like noise, Taylor seemed to have melted into tears in the far corner. Walker caught sight of her just as she touched the bed. Grabbing her head he placed it on Isaac's chest then looked at her. She cried, overpowered with emotion, then felt a vibration. Her eyes went wide. Seeming to have collected himself somewhat, Walker leaned over and whispered to her.
"Did you hear that too?" He asked, as if trying to discern whether or not he was hearing things. Diana's mouth fell open. She tried to get closer but the ambulance drowned out all sound. She saw her husband mouth the word 'heart?', just before a rushed stretcher broke their grasp on their son.
They scooped him up and had him on the road before anyone other than the terrified fans (who had been camped in front of the property) could really tell what was happening. It seemed to take even longer for Walker to realize they had taken him in the ambulance with them. He watched in hast as they took off the baggy blue shirt his son had been wearing and hooked him up to a machine with a green line. It seemed to indicate his son was dead but then it would beep and die again. No one was happy with that. Walker tried to get out of the way as they scurried around the small space using different tactics to keep the green line moving. By the time they reached the hospital, Isaac had a shallow yet somewhat steady pulse. Walker struggled to run with them through the hospital halls but he was soon stopped and ordered to the wait room. Where he waited and waited. Some children were watching cartoons behind him. He cried.
"Sir?" A young lady, dressed in white approached him with a kind smile. "You are Mr. Hanson, are you not?" She spoke with a French accent.
Walker nodded, wiping his tears. "You may see your son now. He's sleeping." She walked him down a hallway and into a room filled with about three nurses and two doctors. "Don't worry your son will be given the star treatment." The lady assured him then, with the other nurses, left the room. This was, in Walker's opinion, the only upside he had seen to his sons' fame. The older doctor walked over to him and smiled.
"May we ask you a few questions?" The doctor showed Walker to a seat by his son. Isaac was now breathing, visibly, in healthy breaths.
"Has this sort of thing ever happened before . . . Mr. Hanson?" The doctor tried to get the man's attention.
"Hmm? Oh no." Walker answered and looked back at his son.
"Do you have any other children?" The older doctor asked. The young doctor to his left shook her head and gave him a look of annoyance.
"We know he has other children." She stated. "How many other children do you have Mr. Hanson?" She rephrased.
"Seven." Walker answered.
"Has this happened to any of them before?"
"No."
The doctors took a note of that.
"Is there any history of this happening to anyone on your side of the family or your wife's?"
Walker shook his head.
"Ok," The young doctor placed the note pad down. "Basically what happened here is your son's heart gave way. It just cut off. Thankfully, for some reason it started up again."
"Are you saying my son died and came back to life?" Walker gasped.
"No, but sort of." The young doctor explained. "Did someone perform CPR on him after his heart stopped?"
"I don't know. I don't think so."
"Does anyone in your house know how to do CPR?"
"Yes my three oldest do."
"Does that include him?" The older doctor pointed at Isaac.
Walker looked at his son. "Yes."
"Ok." The older doctor wrote that down. "We're going to need to talk with the people who found him. Who were they?"
"My second and third oldest."
"Ok." The doctor rubbed his eyes, as if tired. He explained that Walker should stay in the room incase Isaac should wake up. Which they didn't think would happen quickly. And they left to contact the rest of the family.
~ ~ ~ * * * ~ ~ ~
The two doctors walked to the waiting room, knowing fully well that at least three fans had followed the ambulance to the hospital. They wanted them out before they could contact others and the hospital would have to deal with a bunch of distraught pre-teens. The got there to discover the entire Hanson family plus 11 girls and a few patients had the waiting room over flowed.
The older doctor took the lead. "We need to speak with the two oldest Hanson's other than the one sleeping in Emerg. And yes he is sleeping." The doctor let that set in among the crowd of people. "We also need the Hanson mother. And obviously someone to watch the other Hanson children. Sorry no one is allowed in the Emerg. room under the age of 10." He watched as the woman, who he figured was blond enough to be the mother he was speaking to, spoke to a young woman beside her. "Anyone else, who is not here for another patient will have to leave."
"Can you help Jessica watch the kids?" Diana asked her niece, Mindy, who had been driving into the driveway as the ambulance arrived. The girl nodded.
~ ~ ~ * * * ~ ~ ~
Nervously Taylor sat in a room just beside where his brother was. They had let him see Isaac while they questioned his mother. She had returned crying.
"You were the one who found Isaac unconscious?"
"My brother and I."
"Your brother Zac?"
"Yes."
"Interesting." Taylor felt as though he were being interrogated for a murder.
"Was he breathing when you found him?"
"Yes."
"How do you know?"
"I saw his chest moving up and down and up and down." Taylor lost himself in the memory of the moment.
"When did he stop breathing?"
"I don't know."
The young doctor scrunched up her face trying to think, then asked.
"How long were you in the room?"
"About two or three minutes."
"You know CPR?"
"Yes"
"Did you use it?"
"No."
"Why?"
"I don't know." Taylor starting crying for some reason, which he could figure out. He was too upset to realize that the doctors were truly being quite kind. The young doctor put her hand back on his shoulder.
"That's ok. I'm sure you were very frightened." Taylor didn't hear her.
"Now, I want you to be as truthful as possible." The older doctor tried not to upset the boy.
"I AM!" Taylor snapped.
The doctor took a deep breath and let that flow off his back. "Is there any chance that drugs could have been involved in this?"
Taylor froze and thought for a moment. "I don't think so."
"Has he ever done drugs?"
"Maybe."
The doctor groaned. "Maybe when?"
"Last week . . . maybe. Can you tell anyone anything I tell you?"
"No, that's why we're asking you separately and not as a family. Might he have done any drugs today? And if so what kind?"
"Pot and maybe. I don't think so." Taylor shifted uncomfortably.
"Your brother has lost a lot of weight these last few months." The young doctor stated.
"How do you know that?" Taylor demanded.
"My little sister is a fan." The woman gave him a small smile then went serious again. "That is a very common sign of a large use of cocain."
"We don't do cocain." Taylor replied.
"Are you sure he wouldn't?"
Taylor thought about it. "If he did, it wouldn't have been a lot or I would know about it."
"Has your bother ever expressed a desire to die?" The older doctor asked carefully.
Taylor fought with a new serge of tears that were coming on. "I little."
"He's expressed 'a little' desire to die?"
"Like not serious serious."
The doctor made a face. "I'm afraid I don't' know what serious serious means."
"Like he's been depressed before but he'd never kill himself."
"Ok, thank you." The doctor said standing up. They showed Taylor the door and let Zac in.
They went through a large amount of the same questions. Many of Zac's answers were different.
"Has Isaac ever done drugs?"
"Never."
"Drugs could not have anything to do with this."
"Nope."
"Ok, alcohol?"
"I don't think so mom and dad were home."
"What happened when you realized your brother might be dead."
"I shook him."
"Did you hit him?"
"Yeah a little."
"Did your dad hit him?"
"No, he shook him a little though."
"Your brother has lost a lot of weight lately."
"So."
"Why do you think that might have happened?"
"Because he's stressed and we've been rock climbing and stuff."
"Thank you, sir." The older doctor said with a sigh and ushered Zac to leave.
"Wait." The young doctor called out. "Is Isaac self confident?"
Zac thought about that. "Sure sometimes."
"Is he a perfectionist?"
"About some things."
"Like . . . ?"
"His music."
"The way you look when you perform and go on TV?"
"Sometimes." Zac answered cautiously.
"Who are his idols, musically?"
"Um . . . Chuck Berry, Jonny Lang, Slash, Billy Joel, Beck."
"What bands does he like?" The older doctor groaned and gave her a questioning stare.
"Um . . . Counting Crows, Black Crows, silverchair, Larry Land, Guns and Roses sorta."
"How long does he take to eat?"
"Oh!" Zac's eyes opened wide realizing the reason behind the questions. He shook his head. "Forever he eats forever."
The young doctor nodded and smiled. "So he refills his plate a lot?"
Zac paused. "I guess so." He thought for a moment.
"Thank you." She shook his hand and took a note.