Chapter 35

Within minutes, the ambulance arrived at the hospital, with the rest of the group following close behind.  As the crew rushed Katie through the double doors into the emergency room, Nick trailed behind, in hysterics.  There he was, watching his little girl’s lifeless body jump with every compression from the CPR treatment the emergency crew was using, and nothing was happening.  He watched in horror as the lead doctor called for the crash cart.  Nick knew the only thing that meant was that they needed to shock his little girl’s heart to get it beating again.

Without thinking, he lunged at his daughter, trying so hard to do anything he could to wake her up.  “Katie…come on, baby!  You can’t leave me!!!” he screamed in terror as several nurses struggled to keep a grip on him.

“Get him outta here, now!” the doctor yelled, trying to keep Nick away while they worked.

As the nurses escorted him out of the room, Brian and Leighanne came running up.  “Nick, what’s going on??”

“I don’t know…they are shocking her heart!  She’s dying, Brian!  My little girl is dying!” Nick cried as collapsed into a chair.

“No, Nick!  You need to be strong.  She is not going to die.  God doesn’t want her right now.” Brian said, hoping that it would calm Nick down.

“Don’t you get all high and mighty on me Brian!  You didn’t see her little body.  She is all blue and lifeless!  How do you know anything?!” Nick snapped at Brian.

Brian took a step back, stunned that Nick had blown up at him.  “Look, Nick, just have faith.” He said as he and Leighanne went to find the others.

Nick sat impatiently outside the trauma room while the doctors worked on Katie.  He could only hear the steady tone from the heart monitor, meaning that his little baby’s heart was not working.  Terrible thoughts started to run through his head as listened to the doctor yelling orders at everyone.  “I am not gonna let you die like I let your mother.  I was dumb to have never done anything to help her.  I could have made her get help, but I was a stupid fool.  It is all my fault that this is happening.” He thought to himself as everyone walked up.

“Any word Nick?” Howie asked with terror in his eyes.

“NO…and they won’t let me in the room.” Nick answered, in shock.

Everyone stood around in shock, not sure what to say or how to act.  How could this accident have happened?  Nick was asking the same thing I his head, yet was not ready to really hear what had happened.

After what seemed an eternity, a nurse appeared at the doorway.  “Mr. Carter?”

“Yes ma’am, is Katie okay?” he asked as he leaped from his seat.

“Would you come in here with me, please?” she asked as she eyed the others standing around.

Nick didn’t hesitate to follow the nurse back into the trauma room.  When he entered, he could hear a very faint beeping coming from the monitors that surrounded the room.  “Mr. Carter, your daughter is alive, but it is hard to tell what is going to happen.  She was under so long that we fear that the lack of oxygen to the brain may have caused some damage.  Right now, her vital signs are weak, but steady.  She is unconscious, and we are afraid that she is in a coma right now.  But, if you want to sit with her for a few minutes, that will be okay.  We will continue to monitor her down here until we can arrange for a bed for her in P.I.C.U.  upstairs.”

Nick just shook his head as the doctor pulled over a stool for him to sit on.  “Mr. Carter, she is very lucky to be alive.  Be glad that the ambulance arrived when it had.  If someone at the scene had been trained in CPR, they could have started it before they arrived.  But, because her body was without oxygen for over 8 minutes, she may have suffered irreversible damage.  We won’t know more until she wakes up.” He said and then left Nick alone in the room.

As the doctor walked out of the room, he noticed the group standing around.   “Sir, is Katie alive?” Brian asked.

“Yes, but she is in a coma.  I hope all of you realize how critical her situation is.  You all should know you shouldn’t leave a little child near a pool all by herself.” The doctor scolded them, and then walked away.

Brian, Leighanne, Dee, Kevin, and Liz looked at each other in horror.  It was because of them that Katie almost died.  Howie and Kat watched as they all sat down solemnly in the chairs lining the hall.

“Brian, how did this happen?” Howie asked, concerned.

“I don’t know.  We…we were all sitting around the pool talking and laughing.  Katie was sitting on the pool deck right next to us playing.” He said.

At that moment, Brian went hysterical.  “I almost killed my best friend’s daughter!  Oh God…how could I have been so stupid!?” he cried into Leighanne’s shoulder.

“Brian, it was all our faults.  We should have been paying more attention to her.” Kevin admitted, his eyes glistening with tears.

“Well, when did you all notice she was gone?” Howie demanded.

“We all suddenly turned and didn’t see her.  It was too quiet.  Katie is normally chatting up a storm with herself, and then it was suddenly quiet.  When we didn’t see her, we all stood up, and on the other end of the pool, one of her little water wings was floating in the pool.” Brian continued.  “And then, we looked in the water, and her tiny body was down near the bottom of the deep end.  I dove in to get her, but it was too late.  She wasn’t breathing and she was all blue.” He cried.

Howie and Kat looked sympathetically at Brian.  They knew that this was killing him.  Brian usually was very responsible about things, and have made such a horrible mistake was eating him up.  “It was an accident Brian.  Things got out of control and something bad ended up happening.” Howie said, trying to sooth Brian.

“Yes, and because we were too busy trying to have fun, Nick’s little girl is in critical condition.  She may never wake up.  How am I ever going to face Nick?” Brian said.

Suddenly, AJ ran into the hallway, dragging a young lady behind him.

“My God you guys!  What happened?!” he hollered, scaring everyone.

“It’s Katie.  She is in critical condition after she almost drowned.” Howie answered, staring at the girl that accompanied AJ.

“What the hell happened???  How did she almost drown?  Is she okay?????” AJ panicked, worried for Katie.
“She is alive but in a coma.  Nick is with her now.  They don’t know if she will pull through without complications.” Kevin answered.  “It’s kind of a long story.  Stick around for once, and you may know what is going on.”

AJ looked around at everyone, noticing their cold stares.  He knew that everyone was upset that he wasn’t around when it happened, and now he walks in the a woman, who didn’t really belong.  “And where were you AJ?” Kevin demanded.

“I was out at the Millennium club.  I am sorry I wasn’t there.  God, am I ever sorry I wasn’t with you guys.” AJ said softly.

Kevin looked cautiously at the girl, her soft features looking scared by the situation.  AJ knew that everyone was wondering who she was, and what she was doing with him.  Well, they knew why she was with him, but they didn’t know who she was, and were a bit reluctant to talk about the situation any further without having a little knowledge of who she was.

“And who, pray tell, is this young lady?” Kevin questioned, authoritatively.

“This is Sakari.  I met her this evening at the club.  We were just driving back to the hotel when management called me on my cell phone.  We came here immediately.” He answered.

Sakari stuck her hand out, a friendly gesture in a very awkward situation.  “Hello, it’s nice to meet all of you.  I know this is a very bad place to have to meet, but, I hope that your friend’s little girl will be okay.” She said softly, hoping not to upset them.

As the introductions were made, Nick made his way out the door of the trauma room.  He was totally oblivious to the new person standing there.   He just stood there, his face pale and his eyes distant.  “They are moving her upstairs in a few minutes to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit.  I will be allowed to go up there with her, but only to visit for short periods of time.” He said, his voice devoid of all emotions.

Brian walked over to his friend.  “I am so sorry Nick.  I promised that I would take care of her.” Brian said as he hugged his friend.

“It’s not your fault Brian.  It was mine.  I should’ve kept her with me until I came down.  And, if I had done CPR when I first saw her, we could’ve helped her.  The doctor told me that no one at the scene knew CPR.  If someone had, we could have prevented this.” Nick stated.

“Nick, it was an accident.  She went under…and she was under for a few minutes.  Even if someone DID know CPR, do you really think we could have been able to help her?” Dee asked.

“Yes, because Dee, I KNOW CPR…how do you think I saved Heather that day at the beach.  If only I had done what I knew, I could’ve gotten her heart started sooner.  But I was scared, and I panicked, and now my daughter is in a coma.” Nick said as he watched the nurses wheel Katie’s bed out of the room.

“Go with her Nick.  We will go and take care of things back at the hotel.  And we will get you some stuff.” Howie said, trying to take a little control of everyone.

“Can you bring my journal.  The one in my back pack?  Katie likes me to read it to her.  Maybe that will help.” He said as walked away.

Liz offered to stay behind to help Nick, while the others went back to the hotel.  Nick was the only one allowed to visit with Katie, so he asked if Liz would be willing to sit in the waiting room for him.  His heart was torn apart by the whole accident and he really didn’t think that he would be able to sit and chat with her anyway.

As Nick walked into the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, his heart sake as he looked around at all the children that were in there.  All of them surrounded by their parents, who looked and probably felt the same way he did.

He quietly sat down next to his daughter bed, and took her tiny hand in his.  If only she could hear him, maybe she would wake up.

“Katie honey, this is Daddy.  You need to wake up from your little nap.  I want to see you smile.  I want you to tell me all the fun you had today.  Please, baby, open your eyes for Daddy.  I love you so much.” He said, wiping the tears away from his eyes.

“I promise Katie, I am gonna take care of you.  I am not going let anything happen to you.   I love you…and you just can’t leave me.  I need you Katie.” He whispered, trying his hardest not to sob.

“Please don’t leave me like your mommy did.”
 
 

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