Helpless
Author's Note- this is a story based on true events in my life. I have another story like this but for a TV show called 'The Sentinel'- rest in peace. Since this is based on real life, it has no ending yet, but when it comes, may it be happy.
~~~~~~~~~~
Everything was still in the Nsync tour bus. They were once again on the road, and the humming of the bus had put them all to sleep. Justin lay awake, listening to the road sounds and trying to relax. The last concert had them pumped, but the others had been too tired and fell asleep as soon as they hit their beds. Now Justin lay on his back, looking into the darkness that surrounded them. He was just about to drift off when Chris began thrashing around in his bunk.
Knowing his friend sometimes talked and moved in his sleep; Justin took the pillow out from under his head and threw it at Chris's bunk beneath him, trying to wake him up. When he got no reaction from Chris, Justin whispered Chris's name. Then he repeated, "Chris, man, wake up!"
Still hearing Chris thrash wildly, Justin called again louder. Then sighing, Justin turned on the bedside lamp. Squinting in the soft light, he leaned over his bunk and looked at Chris. "Chris!" he yelled, realizing what was happening.
Chris was having a seizure. He lay on his back, jerking convulsively. His eyes were rolled back and his mouth opened and closed, his teeth coming down hard on his tongue.
J.C. and the others slowly woke up at Justin's yell. "What's happening?" J.C. asked groggily as he rolled over to face Justin. Justin was at Chris's side, watching helplessly. "I think he' shaving a seizure!" Justin replied, watching Chris's convulsions.
"What?" J.C. woke up fully along with the others. He jumped down and was on Chris instantly. He straddled Chris, pinning him down and gathering the flailing wrists. The others gathered around as J.C. talked to Chris, trying to calm him down. "Come on Chris, just relax," he coaxed.
"What do we do?" Lance asked, worried.
"Nothing," J.C. replied as he kept talking to Chris. After a few more seconds, Chris stopped seizing and lay still, staring blankly around the dimly lit room. "What time is it?" J.C. asked.
Joey lit his indiglow watch and announced, "1:27."
J.C. made a mental note and watched as Chris continued to look around with dilated, distant eyes. J.C. then asked softly, "Would one of you get me a damp paper towel?"
Lance went obediently into the bathroom and emerged with the paper towel. He handed it to J.C., then stepped back.
J.C. took the paper towel and gently wiped Chris's bleeding mouth. Chris looked at J.C. as if he hadn't seen him in years. "Welcome back," J.C. smiled.
"What happened?" Chris asked confused and looking around. "And why are you sitting on me?"
"You had a seizure," J.C. explained, getting off Chris.
"What? Why? How?" Chris asked, not believing J.C. As he licked his lips, he tasted blood.
Chris gingerly touched his bottom lip as J.C. explained, "I don't know. They're caused by an enormous amount of electrical impulses in the brain. As to what specific cause, I have no idea. You think you can get up?"
"Yeah," Chris replied weakly.
"Okay, now just take it slow," J.C. cautioned, helping Chris up. Chris rose shakily to his feet, J.C. and Joey at his side. He clumsily walked to the couch, Justin and Lance standing off to the side.
Chris almost made it to the couch when he tripped over his own stiff- moving feet, but was caught by J.C. and Joey. "Calm down," J.C. said, helping Chris sit down. "Just go to sleep now, we'll get you to the doctor the first thing in the morning," J.C. comforted as Chris lay down. Within seconds, he was fast asleep.
"Is he gonna be okay?" Lance asked.
"He should," J.C. replied, running a hand through his dark brown hair.
"How'd you get to be an expert on seizures?" Justin asked quietly, his eyes glued to Chris.
"My uncle has Eplilepsy," J.C. replied, taking a breath. "He had a seizure one day, while I was alone with him. I was 11, and I freaked and called 911. They told me there's not that much you can do, beside make sure the person can't hurt themselves, and that they should walk a little bit after they have one. I just never forgot it," J.C. finished.
"Can they kill?" Joey asked, almost against his will.
"No," J.C. replied, getting a relieved sigh from the others. "They just leave you really tired."
"Like me," Joey yawned.
The others agreed, and soon the room was dark and quiet again.
~>~>~>~>~>~>~>~>~>~>~>~~>~>~>
The next morning, Justin slowly opened his eyes and looked around. Remembering last night, he jumped and rolled over to look in Chris's bunk. When Chris wasn't there, his heart started racing. Looking around, he found Chris fast asleep on the sofa. Justin breathed a sigh of relief as he momentarily relaxed, then jumped down to go wake his friend. Justin kneeled down by Chris's head and gently started to wake him up.
The sun was shinning brightly, waking the others too. Lance stretched and sat up, his bare chest getting warmed by the sun. Then he looked over to see Justin kneeling by Chris and asked, "Is he okay?"
Chris stretched, contracting all his muscles. His arms went in opposite directions, his left hand hitting Justin in the forehead and knocking him backwards. "Yeah, he's fine," Justin replied as he picked himself up.
"That's good," J.C. said as he got up. "I'm first!" he announced, grabbing his clothes and heading for the bathroom. "Then we'll take Crazy to the vet's."
Chris shot him a look as he went to play his playstation. "The vet might reject him," Joey teased.
"Don't make fun of me," Chris whined as he waited for his game to start.
"It's only 'cause we love ya," Lance smiled as he and Justin poured their cereal.
"How sweet," Chris replied bitterly.
"What's wrong?" Justin asked, taking a bite of his AppleJacks.
"Oh I don't know…maybe the fact that I had a freakin' seizure last night!" Chris exclaimed, keeping his eyes glued to the game.
"But J.C. said you would be okay," Lance replied.
"Well last time I checked, he wasn't a doctor," Chris snapped.
"But he I your friend," Joey said softly.
Chris softened, and he knew they were right. But he hated people seeing him helpless. He worked so hard for his happy-go-lucky image, but last night destroyed all that. And he didn't want it to happen again.
~>~>~>~>~>~>~>~>~>~>~>~>~>~>
"Well," the doctor began, "I have fairly good news."
"What?" Joey asked.
"There is nothing neurologicaly wrong with Mr. Kirkpatrick."
"So what is wrong?" J.C. asked.
"It seems he has a liver infection. The bacteria caused a high white blood cell count and overacting neurons in the brain, causing the seizure. It's not the best condition to have, but it can be cured with antibiotics, which I have prescribed."
"Thanks," J.C. smiled, relieved. Although he would never admit it, he had secretly feared the worst. The condition that gave his uncle seizures had increased intensity so fast, and no medicine would help.
"So can he come home?" Joey asked.
"As soon as he's done getting dressed," the doctor smiled.
"I'm ready!" Chris announced as he appeared behind the doctor. "Let's go before they give me another shot."
"Okay big baby, we'll go," J.C. teased. They thanked the doctor again, then headed out to the bus.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Okay guys, show in half an hour! Get dressed," the choreographer encouraged before leaving them alone in the dressing room. Chris and Joey were having a quick match of Pac-man, which Joey was winning. The others were getting dressed and once they were done, they questioned the other two.
"You guys do know we have a performance in 20 minutes, right?" Lance asked.
"Really?" Joey asked sarcastically. "I better get moving then."
Neither of them made a move to get up, so J.C. said, "Well, we're going outside to play Hackey sack, if you two care to join us."
"Okay dad," Joey teased, getting up.
"You forfeit, I win," Chris warned.
"Congratulations then," Joey smiled. "I'm gonna get ready."
"We'll be waiting outside," J.C. said as he, Lance, and Justin left, leaving Chris alone with his game.
A few minutes later, Joey appeared, dressed for the show. "Your turn," he said, taking the control from Chris.
"Fine, just don't kill me," Chris replied, referring to the game.
"Would I do that?" Joey asked innocently.
"I don't know," Chris teased, glaring at Joey.
"Just hurry," Joey laughed, watching Chris disappear into the bathroom.
Joey smiled to himself and began playing the game, instantly dying. "Oops," he muttered, restarting the game.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chris shut the door after him and took off his shirt. Suddenly a wave of dizziness passed over him, clouding his vision with black spots. He steadied himself on the sink, feeling his muscles twitch uncontrollably. His body grew numb, and the next thing he knew, he was falling.
Then darkness.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Joey heard a crash. "Bet that hurt," he teased. But when he heard the fast rhythm of something hitting the cabinets, he got to his feet. "Chris?" he called, walking to the door. He opened it, and found Chris spasming on the floor, his head hitting the cabinets under the sink. Joey quickly pulled the tense body away from the cabinets, into the middle of the floor. Chris's mouth was bleeding again, and his eyes were almost closed.
Joey tensed, not knowing what to do. He managed to grab Chris's flying hands and pin them down. "J.C.!" he yelled, hoping anyone would come. Joey wrestled to keep Chris as still as possible, but the convulsions were strong. "Come on Chris, wake up," Joey pleaded. "You're scaring the shit out of me."
~>~>~>~>~>~>~>~>~>~>~>~>
"Go see what he want's," J.C. told Lance.
"They probably beat the game or something," Justin said, kicking the small, bean filled ball.
"If they have been playing this whole time…" J.C. started, rolling his eyes.
"I'll get them," Lance smiled, going back in the dressing room.
He returned a few seconds later, a little paler than before. "He's having another one," he exclaimed, his eyes pleading with J.C.
"Shit," J.C. mumbled, jogging inside. Lance and Justin slowly followed, not really wanting to go.
Sure enough, Chris lay on the floor, rigidly convulsing and Joey kneeled at his side, trying to stop it. J.C. sat on the other side of Chris and asked, "How long has he been having it?"
"A minute or two," Joey replied.
As J.C. got a wet paper towel, Chris turned limp. He stared blankly around the room as J.C. wiped away the blood from his mouth that was trickling to the floor.
Justin felt his throat tighten at the sight before him. He hated seeing his friend so helpless, and being helpless himself. He looked at Lance and knew they both felt the same way.
They watched J.C. as he called Chirs back from semi-concionus. They could tell it seemed almost routine, the way J.C. ran through the procedures like he had years ago. They realized that this was the reason it didn't bother J.C. as much, because he had seen it all before.
But the others had never witnessed anything like this. Lance had become upset when his pet fish had died when he was a little boy. This whole being sick thing didn't sit well with them. Even Joey seemed somewhat upset.
Then their attention turned back to Chris, who finally showed recognition in his eyes. Chris's brown eyes appeared almost haunted as he looked at J.C. "It happened again, didn't it?" he asked, lying perfectly still.
"Yeah," J.C. whispered, his own throat tightening. He couldn't stand seeing the pain and helplessness in his friend's eyes.
"But I thought that's why I was taking this fifty dollar prescription," Chris replied, a child like, innocent confusion arousing in him.
"I don't know," J.C. sighed. "It might not have kicked in yet."
Seeing Chris's eyes drifting closed, Joey asked, "Should we move him?"
"Yeah, we can't leave him in the bathroom," J.C. replied. When Chris's eyes locked on his again, he asked, "Can you get up?"
"No," Chris yawned, his eyes shutting again.
"Tough," J.C. siad, pushing Chirs into a sitting position.
Together, he and Joey steadied him as he silently rose to his feet. Lance and Justin stood off to the side, then asked, "Should we go tell someone?"
"Yeah, go ahead," J.C. said, helping Chris out to the leather chair in the other room.
Justin and Lance left, while Joey eased Chris onto the chair. The moment Chris sat down, he fell asleep.
J.C. saw the doubtful look Joey wore and assured him, "Don't worry. He's strong. He'll get through this. We all will."
~>~>~>~>~>~>~>~>~>~>~>
Finnis
"He is your friend, your partner, your defender, your dog. You are his life, his love, his leader.
He will be yours, faithful and true, to the last beat of his heart. You owe it to him to be worthy of such devotion."
-Unknown-
This story is written in memory of Annie, my 13 year old Weimaraner. The story is entirely accurate, in terms of what I went through with my dog. I couldn't finish the story because in real life, there was no happy ending.
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