A Second Chance
Chapter Seven
As Kevin stood at the foot of Nick’s bed, his mouth dropped open. He was
shocked to think that the aging process had hit Nick with such swiftness.
Kevin managed to find his way to a chair that he been pushed up into a
corner in the room. He found it hard to look at his “little brother,” the guilt
was starting to take hold of him. He had prayed that it wasn’t true when
Brian called him up and told him about Nick’s slowly slipping away, the
doctors losing the battle and they had no clue as to what was happening to
him.
He propped his elbows onto his knees and rested his head in his hands. He
squeezed his eyes shut, trying to block out the vision of Nick laying in that
bed, but the continuous hiss of the oxygen mask on Nick’s face and his
occasional gasps for air penetrated his thoughts.
Nick was dying and it was all his fault. Simply put. This was definately
murder, but only he knew it and no one else knew of this dark secret that
Kevin was carrying inside him.
The touch of a hand on his shoulder startled Kevin. He looked up into the
face of his cousin, Brian.
“I’m scared too,” Brian said softly.
He looked into Kevin’s eyes and could see the reddened eyes and the fresh
tears still on his unshaven cheeks. Kevin was taking this hard, as were all of
the members of the group.
“This shouldn’t be this way,” Kevin softly whispered.
Brian tightened his grip on Kevin’s shoulder. “I know, it’s not fair. The
doctors are trying everything they can, but nothing seems to work.”
“Is Nick.... is he in pain?” Kevin stammered.
Brian shook his head no. “I doubt if Nick even knows what is happening, let
alone where he is or even who he is.”
Kevin gasped. “Oh god, oh god, what have I done” he cried out as he buried
his face into his hands, rocking back and forth.
Brian rubbed Kevin’s shoulders, trying to soothe him as best as he could.
“The doctors have told me that they have done all they could for Nick and
his family is flying in to do the final paperwork for a nursing home
placement,” Brian tearfully stated. “We had a hard time locating them and
didn’t get a hold of Nick’s folks until last night. This is going to floor them.”
“A nursing home? This can’t be happening, this isn’t supposed to be
happening,” Kevin cried out. “How can I face them? Oh god.”
Kevin bolted from his chair and raced out of the hospital room. Brian tried
running after his cousin but lost him when the elevator doors snapped shut.
By the time he made his way down to the main lobby, he saw Kevin’s car
speeding out of the hospital parking lot.
+Chapter 8+