Chapter 10:
"She is going to be ok isn't she Nicholas?" Jane asked as the two sat nervously in the waiting room. He turned to her and wrapped his arm around her shoulders
"I don't know, I don't even know what happened. She'll be ok; you know what she's like. She a fighter" he said and she leant her head against his shoulder
"I've never felt so scared in my life ... I've never had anyone ... die in my family" Jane explained as soft tears began to fall. Nicholas kissed the top of Jane's head and tightened his grip on her shoulder
"You're one of the lucky ones" he muttered in response. Jane lifted her head looking at him confused but her eyes caught on someone else
"Mark!" she said standing up and Mark pulled her into a hug. She sobbed into his chest as he looked towards Nicholas
"Are you two ok?" he asked still holding Jane
"We still haven't heard anything" Nicholas explained and Jane parted from Mark
"I'm sorry" she said and Mark dried her cheeks
"Don't apologise, I'm glad you guys are ok. I've called the others they are on their way" Mark explained sitting Jane down and sitting between the two
"What about Roger?" Jane asked
"As soon as I called he went straight to the airport and that he'd be here ASAP so until he gets here I'm standing in as dad" Mark explained
"Has she ever had a turn like this before?" Nicholas asked and Mark shook his head
"She's always had issues with her medication as her stomach never cooperated with them but nothing like this. We told her to go the doctor when she collapsed at the Cafe when she found out about the play. She said it was because she hadn't eaten all day but I knew I should have pushed her to go. I've noticed she's been tired and losing weight lately, I should have taken her myself" Mark explained leaning back on his chair
"You did what you could Mark, don't blame yourself" Nicholas said
"I'm sorry you had to deal with this"
"I didn't do anything, if it weren't for Nicholas covering her with his jacket, holding her hand and talking to her she could have been in a much worse condition. I certainly wouldn't know what to do" Jane explained and Nicholas stared at the floor in silence
"I know Roger will want to thank you Nicholas for being the hero of the hour" Mark said and Nicholas shook his head
"I'm not a hero ... I felt myself shaking the whole time" he explained with tears in his eyes and Mark wrapped his arm around Nicholas's shoulders to comfort him
"You kept it together though, that's the main thing. I'm sure she appreciates it too" Nicholas nodded at Marks words as he leant forward resting his elbows on his knees and hands against his mouth. There they sat in silence until Maureen entered making a lot of noise running through the corridors and slamming the doors
"Where is she?" Maureen asked approaching Mark who stood up and pulled her into a hug
"They are still working on her" he explained as he held her close
"Oh Jane come here" Maureen said parting from Mark. She saw Jane was still in tears and held her close. It wasn't long before they were joined by Joanne and Tom. All they could do was sit and wait and they did so for an hour
"Amy – Rose Davis family?" a doctor asked approaching them and the gang stood up
"Yeah that's us is she ok?" Mark asked making him the centre person in the group for the doctor to focus on
"Hello I'm Doctor Fields. Are you her father?" the doctor asked carrying a file
"No I'm a close friend to the family we all are. Her father is in Chicago he's on his way back, please tell us if she is ok" Mark asked
"I'm afraid that I can only give my patients information to family" he explained and everyone looked annoyed especially Maureen
"Listen buddy, we ARE family. We may not be related to Amy and her father by blood but we have been through EVERYTHING together for the past 15 years that we have known Roger so we are family. So why don't you look at those documents you have in your hands there and tell us what the hell is going on ok?" Maureen said raising her voice. Joanne took her right hand and squeezed it to calm her down
"Look we are the closest thing she has while her dad is away, please?" Tom asked and the doctor nodded
"Ok, we have taken a few tests as her file shows that she has had HIV since birth. Have you noticed any changes in her behaviour lately?"
"She has been really tired lately and feeling ill but we thought it was because of the play she is doing" Jane explained
"She did collapse last month but she hadn't eaten" Tom explained
"She's losing weight too" Mark added
"She found those legions yesterday. What is it?" Nicholas asked
"I'm afraid that Amy's medication is not strong enough as her disease has developed. Tests have shown she has reached stage one of AIDS" Everyone stood in stunned silence. "We found that she must have rubbed the legion at the base of her neck too hard causing it to open and bleed. It has become infected causing the others to also become infected and bleed. We have bandaged up her back to prevent further infection and to make her more comfortable. The infection has given her a fever as well as a form of hallucination so we have sedated her to prevent further damage to her back. We have put her on a ventilator to help her breath also as she has been having some trouble. Now we know where her health currently stands we have started her on a cause of new medication to fight the AIDS and control her fever but I have to tell you she is in a critical condition with her fever. I'm sorry but it is possible that this fever could be enough to destroy her immune system entirely" he explained and Jane clung onto Nicholas who let her sob into his shoulder
"She's dying?" Nicholas asked his voice breaking with emotion
"Not dying but in a position where she is close, the next 24 hours will be crucial" the doctor tried to explain in the best possible way
"How long will she be here?" Joanne asked
"It is a case that we have to wait and see. It is up to her. If she pulls through this then after that depending on her stability both physically and mentally she may or may not be sent to a private rehabilitation centre"
"Mentally? You think she's got mental issues?" Tom asked in shock
"No I mean that with such a big change some patients feel they need to spend some time sorting out their issues before returning the their everyday life. Also we do not know how her back will be and she may need more rest in a place that will be more comfortable for her. This isn't a place that a celebrity would want to stay I'm sure of it and also with the private centre she can be away from the press which have gathered outside. I'll discuss it further when her father arrives"
"Thank you, can we go see her?" Maureen asked
"Of course but remember she is heavily sedated and won't be awake for some time. It's up to her now" he explained and led them into Amy's room. On entering they saw Amy lay on her back extremely pale with her bed sheet up to her chest, her arms over the top. Beads of sweat covered her face and bare arms and they could see her bed robe and the bed sheets themselves clung onto her. She had a breathing tube down her throat that was hooked up to a machine and she was also linked up to IVs and machines that read her vitals. No one could talk they just stared at her in silence all feeling total despair
"Can she hear us?" Maureen asked turning to the doctor
"Yes if she listens, with patients that have hallucinations and fevers they only focus on voices and such if they choose to. We don't know what she is dreaming, what she can see or hear so we can't tell. Talk to her, it may help, many patients also that are in comas respond very well to hearing their relatives talk to them. I'll let you spend some time with her. If you need me I'll be on the ward and
the nurses' station is just outside" the doctor explained and left the room. Maureen walked to Amy's side and took one of Amy's hands that rested on her chest
"Hey baby cakes! You know if you wanted our attention you didn't have to go to these lengths! We are all here as well as Jane and Nicholas but your dad is still in Chicago. He's on his way isn't he Mark?" Maureen asked as silent tears fell and indicated for him to come over which he did
"Yeah, yeah he's on his way so you are going to have to put up with us for the meantime"
"Poor thing!" Tom said making the others giggle
"Yeah and what were you thinking wearing a hoodie anyway girl? I told you they don't flatter unlike a good leather crop top!" Jane added making Maureen smile
"See I like her, I wish she was playing me in the play" Maureen said
"Well she's stuck playing me for the meantime" Joanne said and Jane smiled
"That is not a bad thing. Nicholas is under worse pressure he has to play Roger!"
"Hey you know I look good in the leather jacket Miss jealous!" he responded smiling while inside he was hitting the depth of despair. Suddenly the sound of a cell phone going off filled the ears of everyone in the room
"Someone should turn that off, it could affect the machines" Tom said and everyone checked theirs to find it did not belong to them
"I think its Amy's phone" Nicholas said going through Amy's bag. He pulled out the ringing phone and looked at the ID. Seeing Anthony's name flash up on screen he felt pure anger. "I'll take it outside" he explained and answered the call as he left the room
"Oh my God Amy is that you? Are you ok?" Anthony's voice echoed in Nicholas's ears and he felt his anger increase. He walked down the hall and headed for the stairs so the gang couldn't hear
"It's Nicholas; Amy's friend, we've met a few times" he explained
"Oh Nicholas sorry, is she ok?"
"Why don't you come to the hospital and find out or are you too busy making out with other girls to do so?"
"What the hell are you talking about?" Anthony asked and Nicholas could hear the tone of anger in his voice
"I saw you today making out with that girl on the back of your motorcycle ... you make me sick do you know that?"
"Look kid, I don't have to explain myself to you"
"Just because you are one year older than me it does not make me a kid ok? At least I'm here with Amy; I'm not making her look like an idiot"
"Hey I've tried to get to the hospital but security aren't letting anyone through that isn't family and there are so many photographers that I can't get through the crowd unless you come out and get me" Nicholas let out a laugh
"No way!" Nicholas looked out of the window along the stairway and saw the huge crowd of press and the police vehicles preventing the crowd from getting any closer to the hospital
"Well Amy would say otherwise"
"Yeah well Amy could be dying and is heavily sedated so she isn't in a position to say otherwise" silence fell over the two of them
"What?" Anthony asked softly
"You heard, there is nothing we can do except sit and wait to see if she decides to pull through or not from her fever. I'm not going to come down so you sit out there and wait just like the rest of us and consider what she means to you. If you really cared for her you wouldn't have done it. Now who is the kid?" Nicholas responded and hung up the phone. He turned off the cell phone and took a deep breath. He took a few moments to calm himself down, sitting on the steps before going back. On entering the room he put the phone back in Amy's bag
"Who was it?" Tom asked
"Anthony, he heard what happened but he can't get here because of the press and the police outside, they have shut off the entrance to the hospital to the press and aren't letting anyone through unless with medical staff. Since Amy and Anthony have managed to keep their relationship on the low from the press they don't believe who he is and won't let him through the barrier"
"We should go down and get him" Jane said heading for the door and Nicholas stopped her
"No he's gone back to campus"
"He's her boyfriend, he should be here" Mark said and Nicholas shook his head
"He's made his choice" everyone looked at each other confused but turned their attention back to Amy
-----
Mark used a flannel to wipe the beads of sweat off Amy's face and hands as he had nothing else to distract him. He had stayed up all night and had been the only one in the room who managed to stay awake. As he put the flannel down he glanced out the window and saw the sun was beginning to rise. It had been an extremely tense few hours as there was no improvement to her health and Mark counted down every second, minute and hour. He sat on the edge of the bed close to her and held her right hand
"You've done really well Amy, but you're going to have to hang on a bit longer. I'm not sure when your dad will get here. You can't go without him being here and seeing you first ... Look I've never done the sappy speech or anything to you but if I don't get this off my chest now I never will. I'm sorry you have to put up with me right now. I've never understood you, ever since you were little. You had this way of being able to completely understand everything and everyone, a skill I've always wanted to possess but I could never reach it. You have this ability to make everyone like you and you can do anything! But at the same time you are stubborn and so head strong and you've grown up so fast in a blink of an eye that I just want to scream sometimes from a dad perspective that is ... I've always wondered what our lives would have been like if you weren't in it. Both I and your father wouldn't have our careers; we would still be trying to get by paying the rent and having our power cut by Benny, and I wouldn't have met Tamsin or be a dad myself. The positive defiantly outshines the negative but I want you to know I don't regret and you shouldn't regret anything. You set a goal of living your life as you wanted and spending everyday like it's your last and for being in or lives I want to thank you for that. I think it is safe to say that from the prospective of me and your dad ... you were the one that saved us so thank you" Mark explained quietly and wiped away silent tears on his cheeks. As he did he noticed her vitals machine began to beep which awoke everyone
"What's going on?" Joanne asked
"I don't know" Mark responded and hit a button of the wall to call for help. "Within a minute two nurses entered. "Something's wrong" Mark said to her and stepped aside
"Amy? Can you hear me?" one asked and glanced at the machine. "Page Doctor Fields and get the crash cart" she explained and the other came to the group
"We are going to have to ask you to step outside"
"What? No we have to stay here, she needs us" Jane explained
"I'm afraid we need to help Amy and we need all the room possible" the nurse explained ushering them out of the room. They nervously waited in the relatives room in silence, the only sound was of Maureen pacing back and forth across the room. When the door opened everyone stood up to see Doctor Fields
"Is she ok?" everyone asked and Doctor Fields smiled softly
"Her fever became too much making her vitals go astray but her temperature hasstarteddecreasing. Her fever is breaking" he explained and everyone hugged each other with relief. "She isn't out of the woods yet. She is still sleeping and on the ventilator and will be for a few more hours but we are really hopeful giving her signs"
"Thank you so much" Tom said and the Doctor nodded. Mark however didn't focus as the flashing lights outside distracted him. He looked out of the window and saw the press swamping a car that was coming into the hospital
"Roger" he muttered and rushed out of the room. He ran out of the ward and down the manyflights of stairs to the reception. There he came face to face with an extremely tired looking and petrified Roger. "Roger it's ok, she's ok now. She's been critical for 24 hours but she's getting through it. I'm so glad you're here" Mark reassured him and Roger pulled his best friend into a hug
"I came as fast as I could but my flight got delayed ... Is it ...?" he asked as they parted and Mark nodded and Roger felt tears fill his eyes
"She's at stage one but she's ok she has an infection and a fever which is breaking. Come on the doctor will explain all"
"Thank you so much Mark for all of this, I'm sorry you had to deal with my stuff" Roger explained and Mark shook his head
"Don't focus on it, it is ok now. Come on everyone is waiting for you" Mark said and took him up to the ward where everyone was relieved to see him