Chapter Five

Surgery or Transplant

Kevin moaned as he came too, he felt really weak, why was he weak? Then he remembered, Joe, the shooting, his blood loss, Kevin forced his eyes open to come face to face with his father who was leaning over him.

"Hey, welcome back Kevin," Paul said with a smile.

Kevin blinked trying to focus his eyes, his contacts were starting to bother him, "What happened?"

"You passed out," Nick said as he sat up and looked over at his brother.

"Nick!" Kevin said his head moving from one side of the bed to the other so he could see Nick, he couldn't sit up because of the tube that connected him to Joe, "Nick, you're awake, how are you feeling?"

"Better," Nick said with a small nod, "But you scared me when I first saw you."

Kevin blushed, "Yeah sorry about that, I didn't mean to scare you-I didn't mean to pass out."

Nick laughed as he threw off the blanket that Kevin had put on him and got out of the bed, and then he walked over to Kevin and sat down beside him where their parents had come too. Nick sighed and reached out and patted Kevin on the shoulder just as the doctor walked in.

"Hey Nick, its good to see you up," the doctor said with a smile, "Are you feeling alright?"

Nick looked up and nodded, "Yeah, I'm feeling a lot better."

"Good," the doctor said and then turned to Kevin, "Well Kevin lets get you and Joe unhooked shall we?"

Kevin nodded, "I'm feeling really weak and tired, is that normal?"

The doctor smiled and nodded, "Yes, you are going to feel weak for a while, you gave Joe a lot of blood, its going to take you a while to build it back up."

"Is Joe going to be alright now?" Nick asked as he stood up, he suddenly felt very uneasy and had to walk around.

The doctor didn't answer right away as he gently took out the needles in Kevin's arm and then worked his way over to Joe and took those out too. Then he looked at Nick again, "He's stronger now, but I'm afraid he's not out of the woods yet, the bullet is still in there and it damaged his kidneys. There's a chance I can repair them but there is also a chance he may need a kidney transplant."

Kevin's eyes widened, "How big of chance is that?"

"Right now, it's 50/50 at best," the doctor said grimly.

"When will you do the surgery?" Paul asked as he put his arm around his wife's shoulders.

"Tomorrow morning, I'll remove the bullet and repair his kidneys if I can," the doctor said seriously.

"What if you can't repair his kidneys?" Denise asked looking worried.

"We would have to find a kidney donor," the doctor said grimly.

"Well Kevin gave him blood, maybe I could give him a kidney if he needs it," Nick said looking up as he absentmindedly started playing with his diabetes dog tag that hung around his neck.

The doctor sighed, "Nick-you can't give Joe a kidney even if he does need one."

Nick looked hurt, "Why not?"

"Because of your diabetes, anyone who has diabetes can't donate kidneys, I'm sorry Nick," the doctor said as he put a hand on the thirteen year olds shoulder.

Nick looked sad, he lowered his head and slowly nodded, saying that he understood.

"Then I could if he needs it," Kevin said as he slowly pushed himself up.

The doctor looked over at Kevin in surprise, "Kevin, you can't donate anything now for at least a week until you're blood supply adds up again."

"Oh," Kevin said sinking into the bed again.

"Would Joe be able to wait that long?" Paul asked looking at he doctor.

The doctor shrugged, "There's really no way to know, until after the first surgery tomorrow."

"Is it okay if I stay here with them tonight?" Nick asked as he sat down in between Kevin and Joe.

"Of course," the doctor said with a small smile.

"Boys we have to go home and take Frankie off Miley and Lilly's hands so the poor girls can go home, will you be okay here?" Paul asked as he handed Denise her coat.

Nick nodded, "Yeah, don't worry dad, we'll be fine."

"Alright then goodnight babies," Denise said as she kissed Kevin and Nick on their foreheads and then kissed Joe on his cheek.

"Goodnight mom," Nick and Kevin said together.

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Later that night found Nick the only one awake in the room; Kevin had fallen asleep not long after their parents had left, and now Nick was alone in the dark room. He was thinking about going back over to his bed to get some sleep when he saw Joe move.

"Joe?" Nick asked as he bent down closer to his brother.

"Nick?" Joe said, his voice barely above a whisper, he sounded so tired.

"Yeah Joe, I'm here," Nick said getting even closer to his brother so that his head was almost on Joe's pillow.

"The man in the car, tell Kevin-," Joe paused his eyes closing again.

"What Joe-tell Kevin what?" Nick asked pushing for Joe to finish the sentence.

"Dr. Harvey-Nick-tell Kevin-Dr. Harvey," Joe managed before once again falling into unconsciousness.