Chapter 12- Can you see me now?
Old Skating Rink-
After Jack and his brothers left the hospital that afternoon they drove by the old skating rink. When they found out that Troy and his crew hung out there from Jared the day before, they decided to check it out.
"No one's here," Jack said sitting in the back of Bobby's car.
"It must be a late night spot," said Angel.
"Well it's only six. We'll come back later," Bobby said driving off.
Mercer House-
The guys arrived home at six thirty. Sophie and Camille had dinner waiting on the table. They all sat down and said grace.
"Can I say grace?' Amelia, Jerry's youngest daughter asked raising her hand.
"Go ahead baby," Jerry told her.
"Dear God. Bless da food dat you have gave us, and bless cousin Nikki to get better because she really likes Cracker Jack very much," Amelia said smiling.
The whole room erupted in laughter.
"I told you not to teach them that," Jack said looking over at Bobby cheerfully.
Bobby didn't say anything he just smiled back.
"So Amelia, did Nikki really say that?" Jack asked her playfully.
Amelia and her older sister Daniela giggled at Jack as he blushed.
"Leave him alone girls," Camille said and she heard the phone ring, "Hello? Yes, ok we'll be there."
"Who was that?" Jerry asked her shoving large amounts of food in his mouth.
"It was the hospital. They want us over there right now," Camille said clutching the phone.
"What for?" Bobby asked because Jack suspected something was wrong and he couldn't speak.
"They're taking Nicole off the ventilator. They need to see if she can breathe on her own," Camille said almost in tears.
Jerry held Camille as everyone one else grabbed their coats and Bobby went to warm up the car.
Hospital-
They all rushed to Nikki's room which was filled with five nurses, an attending, and a med student.
"Are you ready?" the attending asked Jerry and Camille.
Two of the nurses worked on her. One of them turned off the ventilator while the other checked her pulse manually. They all watched as Nikki's chest caved in.
"Her stats are dropping," the first nurse by the ventilator said.
"She's not breathing on her own," the second nurse told the attending.
"Turn it back on," the attending replied.
Jack let out a distressed sigh and turned around facing the door.
"It's ok bro," Angel said comforting his brother.
The nurse by the ventilator was about to turn it back on until she heard the heart monitor start beeping.
"Oh God. What's happening?" Jack asked as he twirled back around to face Nikki's bed.
The nurse with the stethoscope checked her pulse and said, "She breathing."
Everyone burst into tears and hugged each other.
"Is she going to be ok?" Camille asked the attending.
"She's not out of the woods yet, but she's stable," he said as he grabbed Nikki's chart and walked out of the room with the med student.
"You see Jacky, she's tough just like you," Bobby said reassuring Jack that everything was good and he has nothing to worry about.
They all spent one more hour with her then they decided to go home. Jack wanted to stay with her again and talk. The doctors told him it was unlikely that she'd be awake anytime soon but he didn't care, he just wanted to be there for her. He said goodbye to his brothers, Camille, Sophie and the girls then he headed back into Nikki's room.
"Hey," he said, looking for words to say.
"Congratulations," he said to her, thinking that sounded stupid.
"You made it through, again. I wish I were as strong as you," he said regretting what he almost did in the parking lot.
"Nikki, I'm afraid to tell you this," he paused, "I tried to," he stopped this time.
He couldn't figure out why he couldn't say it. She couldn't hear him but like before, for some reason he knew she was listening. Now he thought he'd tell her when she woke up. He was afraid she might think he was weak, but he wanted her to know. Nurses and doctors checked in on her every couple of hours and Jack just sat there waiting. Jerry had called Jack around nine because he wanted him to go home and get some rest. Bobby and Angel were going to take a ride with him.
"How's baby girl doin?" Jerry asked Jack.
"She's hanging in there," Jack said with a slight smile.
"Ok man, we'll let's get you home," Angel said as he backed into a tray with a bunch of metal medical equipment on it causing a loud clinging sound.
"Shit," Angel said picking up the instruments.
"Who was that?" Nikki asked softly sitting up in her bed.
Jack watched as Nikki began to wake up.
"It was me Angel, Sorry," he said happy to she her awake.
"I can't see you," she replied plainly.
"Good one Nikki, did you hear Bobby say that yesterday?" Jack asked as he and his brothers laughed.
She sat up and reached for Jack's arm.
"No I really can't see him. I can't see anything," Nikki said as she began to panic.
"What do you mean you can't see anything," Bobby asked her as she blankly looked over in his direction.
"I can't see," she shrieked in horror.
"Calm down, I'm gunna go get the doctor," Jerry said sprinting out of the room.
"Jack?" she called waving her arms around wildly trying to find him.
"I'm right here," he said grabbing her and holding her tightly.
Seconds later the doctor emerged into the room with Jerry.
"What seems to be the problem?" the doctor asked scooting a stool up to her bed and taking a look in her eyes.
"I can't see," she wailed as she began to cry in frustration and then she let go of Jack.
"Can you see this?" the doctor asked shining a light in her eyes.
"No! I can't see anything!" she said grabbing tightly back on to Jack.
The doctor put the stool back in its place and asked Jerry to step out of the room with him for a minute.
"What's going on," Nikki asked.
"We don't know," Jack said as he kissed her on his forehead and rubbed her on the back.
Meanwhile Jerry and the doctor were outside talking.
"Why can't she see? Can you fix it?" Jerry asked the doctor impatiently.
"The time she spent not breathing when you rushed her here, caused her to lose a lot of oxygen to her brain, like I told you this morning. Because of this, I'm afraid she has lost her sight, probably for good," the doctor told Jerry.
"So she won't be able to see again?" Jerry asked worriedly.
"I'm pretty sure she's suffered irreversible brain damage to her optic nerves," the doctor told him and then he said, "Nicole came to us not breathing the other day. She's lucky to still have her life."
Jerry gave the doctor a firm hand shake and a thank you. He walked back in the room to tell Nikki that bad news.
"What is it?" Nikki asked as she heard the door open then close.
Angel, Jack, and Bobby looked at Jerry and already knew the answer. Jerry explained what happened to her that morning and told her what the doctor said.
"Is he one hundred percent sure?" Nikki asked him, she was still crying on Jack's sleeve.
"He said, he thinks it's irreversible," Jerry told her.
"So, I'm blind?" Nikki asked then she continued to cry.
She asked for everyone to leave. She wanted to be alone.
"Are you sure?" Jack asked her.
"I want to be alone right now," she said with her head down facing the pillow in her lap.
"I actually wanted to talk to you," Jack said.
"Ok," she said as she slid back down and rested her head on the pillow as Bobby, Angel, and Jerry left.
Jack was standing up over Nikki. He looked into her eyes which still look as beautiful just like the day he met her. The difference was not that she wasn't looking back at him but because it looked like her soul had been taken from her.
"Jack?" she asked because she thought he had left the room.
"I'm still here," he said.
"Jack I don't want this," Nikki said to him with her head facing the ceiling.
"I know you don't, but you have to adjust," Jack said trying to sound supportive.
"Adjust? Adjust?" Nikki asked him sitting up and looking past him. "You expect me to just be fine with this?" she said slamming her arms down the bed.
"I don't know what to tell you, but you can't give up like I almost did," Jack said lowering his head to the floor.
"What do you mean?" Nikki asked him thinking he was talking about his accident a few months back.
"This morning after we brought you in," Jack said as he watched her blank stare become concerned.
"What you can tell me," Nikki told him.
"I don't know why but when I stepped outside I grabbed Bobby's gun and I…" Jack started to spill out until Nikki grabbed the railing on her bed to catch his attention.
"I understand," she said smiley sweetly as she held her arms out for him.
He began to cry in her arms.
"Jack," she said stroking his medium length brown-blonde hair with her hands, "You have to stay with me, I need you."
"I know, that's why I don't know why I almost did it," he said still sobbing tears onto her hospital gown.
"I won't give up on you, don't give up on me," she said.
"I won't," he said.
"Jack, I'm here. Can't you see me? I'm still here," she said placing her hands on each side of his face so he could look into her eyes.