Jealousy (37 page)

“
I know.  He’s wonderful.  So are you.  Thank you for everything today.  I love you, Kenny.”

“
I love you too, honey.”

One of the nurses smiled from behind her surgical mask. 
“There’s a lot of love in here today,” she proclaimed, in a sing-song voice.

The anesthesiologist held a syringe in the air. 
“Are you ready, Miss Drakos?” he asked.

This was it.  Surgery would begin in a matter of moments.  She was in a full panic and her entire body convulsed with a heavy gasp.  She grabbed onto
Kenny’s arm with both of her hands.  “No! I’m scared!”

The anesthesiologist tried to calm her. 
“There’s nothing to be afraid of,” he said.  “Take a minute or two to relax.  We won’t proceed until you’re ready.”

“
Listen to me,” Kenny said.  “You’re gonna go to sleep, and when you wake up this is all gonna be over, and then you can see Justin.  You’re gonna get better and finish making your wedding plans and marry Nick.”  He let out a deep breath.  “Let’s get this over with, honey.”

Kenny was right.  The sooner her surgery was over, the sooner she could see Justin.  She pressed her lips together and nodded.  Kenny left a gentle kiss on her forehead, and she told the anesthesiologist that she was ready.  As she drifted off to sleep, her last thoughts were of Justin.

C
hapter Eighty-Four:

Kenny took one last look at Heather on the operating table before he left the O.R.  The day was beginning to take its toll on him.
Thank God it was almost over.

Nick waited for him on a narrow bench in the hallway.  Physically and mentally extinguished, he plopped down next to Nick and let his arms hang lifelessly by his side.  Kenny wanted to be with Justin, but he was too tired to move, and he needed a minute to rest.

“Thanks, man.”  Nick slung his arm around Kenny’s shoulder.  “I don’t know how any of us would have made it through the day without you.  You’re aces, buddy.  Rock solid.”

Kenny
’s only response was a massive sigh.  He leaned forward, placed his elbows on his knees and covered his face with his hands.  He knew everyone looked to him for support and reassurance today.  He was the glue that held them all together, but now he fell apart.  He suppressed his emotions for as long as he could.  They suddenly washed over him like a tidal wave.  It drowned him, and he burst into tears.

#

Consciousness slowly invaded Justin’s body.  His lids were heavy.  They opened ever so slightly, and bright light peeked in.  His mind was fuzzy, and his vision was blurred.  He began to fall back to sleep, but Kenny’s voice, far off in the distance, called him back.  This time his eyes opened wider.  He tried to focus and find Kenny’s voice.

“
Justin, honey, I’m here.  Wake up, honey.  Wake up.  Look at me.  Open your eyes.”

Justin’s
first clear vision was of Kenny’s intense green eyes.  “Is it over?” Justin tried to clear his sore, scratchy throat.  “Are they done with the surgery?”

“
Yes.”  Kenny gave him a bright smile.  “I’ve never been so happy to see those big brown eyes in my life!  I love you, honey.”

“
I love you, too.”  He cleared his throat again.  “Where’s Heather?”

“
She’s in surgery.  She’ll be there for a couple more hours, but don’t worry, she’s fine.  How do you feel?  Do you have any pain?”

“
My throat.”

“
That’s from the tube.  You can have some water in a little while.”

“
I feel nauseous.”

Kenny bellowed out an order for medication.  A nurse quickly administered it and the queasiness disappeared almost instantly.
Justin was surprised at how good he felt.  He thought he would be in a lot of pain, but he only felt minimal discomfort.  “Why doesn’t it hurt?” he asked.

“
Why doesn’t what hurt, honey?”

“
The surgery.”  His hands went to his waist and searched for an incision, over his gown.

“
Don’t touch it,” Kenny said.  “They were able to do the laparoscopy.  You have several very tiny incisions.  They’re gonna move you to the I.C.U. in little while.”  Kenny patted his arm.  “Get some rest, honey.”

#

Kenny stayed with Justin until he drifted back to sleep.  He wanted to check on Heather, but he couldn’t bring himself to leave Justin’s bedside.

Kenny felt bad that he lied to Heather before, when he told her that she wasn
’t allowed in the recovery room.  Technically, she
wasn’t
allowed in Recovery, but he could have finagled her way in to see Justin for a brief minute.  He didn’t, because he knew that the sight of Justin, still unconscious and attached to machines, would have been too much for her to handle. It was almost too much for Kenny to handle.

He gently
stroked Justin’s arm, and Justin opened his eyes.

“
I’m sorry, honey.  I didn’t mean to wake you.”

Justin looked around the room. 
“Where’s Heather?”

“
She’s still in surgery.  You’ve only been asleep for about fifteen minutes, silly.”

“
That’s it?”  Justin rubbed one eye.  “It feels like a lot longer.”

“
I’m gonna go, so you can get some sleep.”

“
No.  Stay and talk to me.  I wannna stay awake.”

Kenny knew it was best for him to leave, but he wanted to stay with Justin.
“Are you feeling OK, honey?  Any more nausea?”

“
No.  Not really.”

Justin started to pull up his hospital gown to look at the incisions
, but Kenny stopped him.

“
I just wanna see what it looks like,” Justin said.  “I’m not gonna touch it.”

Kenny was still apprehensive about the scars, however tiny, on Justin
’s perfect body, but his concern over the cleanliness of the incisions outweighed his fears, and he released Justin’s hand.

Justin carefully lifted his hospital gown and exposed the four small incisions on his abdomen. 
“I can’t believe they took out my kidney through these tiny holes.”

Kenny meticulously inspected each one.  They weren
’t red or swollen.  They looked good.  He sat back and stared at them.  Good?  They were slices made by a scalpel where surgical instrument penetrated the firm skin of Justin’s beautiful tanned body.  Kenny bore a poignant frown and he averted his gaze away from Justin’s marred flesh.

“
What’s wrong?” Justin asked. “Don’t they look OK?”

“
Yeah,” Kenny answered, in a quiet voice.  “They’re small and clean and will be barely noticeable once they’re healed.”

“
So, what is it, then?”

Kenny
’s throat tightened with emotion.  He pressed his lips together and his nostrils flared.  It didn’t matter that there would be minimal scarring, if at all.  Right now, all he saw was his precious Justin with holes punctuating his pristine torso.  Tears brimmed heavy on Kenny’s lower lids and his voice waivered.  “You look like a piece of fucking Swiss cheese.”

Justin tilted his head with a soft smile, and invited Kenny
into his open arms.

Kenny carefully snuggled in Justin
’s embrace and gently buried his face in the crook of Justin’s neck.  It was the best place in the world, and he never wanted to leave.  “Am I hurting you?” he asked, softly.

“
No.  You’re not hurting me,” Justin whispered.

“
I’m sorry I said you looked like Swiss cheese.”  He sniffled.  “You’re still beautiful.”

Justin smiled. 
“You are
soooo
cute.

Chapter Eighty-Five:

With Justin out of Recovery and settled in the I.C.U., Kenny thought he would finally get a chance to relax a little, but Justin refused to rest until Heather wa
s out of surgery.  Nick, who had been calm and steady all day, was nervous and jittery while he waited for Heather’s surgery to be over, and it added to Justin’s anxiety.  The I.C.U. was on a different floor from the O.R., so now Kenny had twice the distance to cover in order to check on Heather and return to Justin’s side.

Today was a brutal whirlwind.  They were already at the hospital for
ten hours and Kenny was exhausted, but he still planned to work his twelve hour shift tonight, in order to take care of Justin and Heather.  When he finally got the page that Heather was out of surgery, he jumped to attention.  He got impatient while he waited for the elevator and raced up the stairs to Recovery.

He checked Heather
’s vitals.  They were good, but she looked like hell.  Her eyes were swollen from crying all day, and the dark circles underneath them indicated that she probably didn’t sleep at all last night.  A traech tube still breathed oxygen into her lungs, and a central line attached to a vein in her neck jumped out at him.

Heather, usually so polished and beautiful, was almost unrecognizable.  He kissed her forehead and returned
to Justin and Nick.  The sight of Heather upset Kenny.  He tried to sound positive and shed the somber look from his face, but it wasn’t easy, especially after the day he had.  “The surgery went well,” he said.  “Everything’s fine, but she’s gonna be in Recovery for a few hours.”

“
Can I see her?” Nick asked.

Kenny wished Nick didn
’t ask, but he couldn’t say no.  He brought Nick to Recovery and paused outside the door.  “I just wanna warn you that she doesn’t look good.  She’s on a ventilator, and she’s hooked up to an IV and an EKG.  I don’t want you to be overwhelmed.  She’s very stable.”

Nick almost walked right past her bed.  It was understandable.  The surgical cap hid her beautiful long dark hair and th
e sheet was up to her neck.

Kenny took off the surgical cap, smoothed her hair back and f
olded the sheet down to her waist.  He explained the readings displayed on the monitors to Nick, who studied them closely.

“
They’re all within the normal range,” Kenny said.  He took Nick’s arm and escorted him to the other side of the bed.  “I want you to look at this.”  Kenny pointed to the collection of bright yellow urine in her colostomy bag.  “The kidney is already working.”

“
It is?”  For the first time since Heather went into surgery, Nick’s face brightened.

“
Uh-huh.  It’s doing exactly what it’s supposed to be doing.”

Nick looked worried again
.  He was pensive, and he rubbed his hand across his chin.

“
I know she seems so fragile all the time,” Kenny said, “but she’s a fighter.  She’s a lot tougher than anyone gives her credit for.  She’s gonna be OK.”

#

Kenny managed to get thirty minutes of sleep in a chair next to Justin’s bed before his shift started, and it renewed him.  He ran around the I.C.U. with his usual energy.  When he was satisfied that all his nurses were set for the evening, he concentrated on Justin.  His original plan was to have Heather and Justin in adjacent rooms so they could see each other through the glass walls of their I.C.U. suites, but he quickly realized he would have a hard time keeping them apart.  His new plan was to have them share a suite.  He didn’t care that it was against hospital policy.  He would deal with administration later.  He was in charge tonight.

“
You run this place?” Nick asked.

“
Yep.  This is my I.C.U. three nights a week.”

“
How can you work tonight after running around the way you did today?  You barely had any sleep in the last 24 hours.”

“
You didn’t think I was gonna let anyone else take care of my Justin, did you?”

Justin smiled at him. 
“Thank you, baby.  When’s Heather gonna get out of Recovery?”

Kenny waited until the last possible second to tell him. 
“She’s on her way down now.  She’s off the ventilator, but she’s still sedated.”

Chapter Eighty-Six:

Two nurses wheeled Heather
’s bed into Justin’s suite.  He strained at the edge of his bed to get a better look at her.  He flinched and grimaced at the pain in his gut, but he pushed through it until he could see her face.  It was pale and swollen.

“
Why does she look like that?”  His voice cracked.  “What’s wrong with her?”

“
Nothing’s wrong with her, honey.”  Kenny fussed over Heather.  “Trust me.  She’s fine.”

Justin wished Heather was awake so he could hear her voice.  That
’s the only way he would know that she was OK.  He remembered the emotion and turmoil he went through when he waited for her to wake up the last time she was in the hospital, after the accident.  He felt like he was reliving it all over again.  He continued to lean over the edge of his bed so he could watch Heather, even though a nagging pain in his gut caused him to moan and grunt out loud.