Post by khardaway on Oct 21, 2009 2:10:01 GMT -5
Why did I come here tonight
With all these feelings inside
You're much too good for this life
And all the pain that you hide
I want to take you away
Wipe the tears from your eyes
But all that stands in the way is
That you don't realize why I
I am addicted, addicted to you
like a bad pill, like a sick thrill
I can't get enough of you
With all these feelings inside
You're much too good for this life
And all the pain that you hide
I want to take you away
Wipe the tears from your eyes
But all that stands in the way is
That you don't realize why I
I am addicted, addicted to you
like a bad pill, like a sick thrill
I can't get enough of you
(Age of Daze; 2007)
===================================================================================
"5 Years Later -- 8 Hours After Midnight"
Back into the cold orange halls of the hospital we are, where he hasn't left since he was restrained and taken here by the doctor after the car accident. Only this time out, Kevin has a little company by his side, in Angie's good friend, Hayley. Angie and Hayley have known each other throughout college and still keep in touch to this day. Her and Kevin know each other a little bit, but that's all in part thanks to Angie herself. But then again, as he told Hayley, "Misery loves company." as she gave him a stern look. Don't worry, she knew it was a figure of speech.
Angie's door keeps closed however as Hayley and Kevin try to share a little small talk, but to no avail. It's not working. It's better to just wait it out and see how it ends up turning out. He can't though because all that comes up in his mind is Angie and her accident. How in the hell did this happen? How did he let himself become nothing but a fool? It's insane, tell you what.
Kevin rests back into his chair though and tries to calm himself down by clearing his mind, however after few seconds passing, the sound of Angie’s room door opening can be heard. In hearing this, Kevin looks over to see a nurse gradually making her way out of the room and slowly past Kevin. In seeing the nurse, Kevin tries to make his way towards the nurse. With a couple of jogs, Kevin catches up to the nurse and manages to get her attention. Upon the nurse turning around it can be seen that she lost the color in her face and in need of a break.
"Excuse me there; you just came out of that room there didn’t you?"
In saying this, he points towards her room.
"Yes I did, are you family?"
"Yes, I'm her freakin' husband for crying out loud."
"Ok then, well have you been told anything within the last few hours?"
"No, I was only informed when I arrived here 12 hours ago and heard nothing since."
"Well I guess you want to hear an update then?"
"YES PLEASE, ANYTHING!"
"Well since bringing her here, her state has declined somewhat, the doctor recons that he now has what looks to be a collapsing liver, which is turning her skin into a yellow colour and probably leaving the rest of his body in a stale state. I think that they said that they were going to rush her into surgery sometime soon, however nothing else is known so far, but they are conducting more tests to find out exactly what’s happening. The only thing we really know is that she has a broken leg due to the crash."
"Oh god. And what is your honest opinion on her state? Will she be all right?"
"Well it all depends on if the doctors can find out what’s wrong; Is there any more family or friends for her?"
He pauses for a couple seconds.
"Not from what I know. Her friend, Hayley, who is sitting over there. That's about it."
"Hmm, ok. Well don't get your hopes up about anything I’ve said, remember I’m just a nurse not a doctor, because anything could happen soon."
At this point he is in a state of withdrawal, with his face going pale and clammy. He just throws his hands over his face in a state of denial. He can't believe what the hell happened, he couldn't believe what happened talking to the doctor, he couldn't believe what was going on now.
"So is there anything that we can do for the time being?"
"Well, you can sign these forms for us since you are her husband and pretty much, her only family right now. When you're done with those, give them to the receptionist and we'll take care of the rest, ok."
In saying this, the nurse passes a clipboard with an operation recommendation form attached to it.
"Ok, I’ll do that then. Thank you."
"Your welcome, stay strong."
With that the nurse gives a courteous smile and a pat on the shoulder and turns away from him, walking around the corner leaving Kevin standing alone with the clipboard hanging from his right hand and his facial expression being one of fear and worry as he looks up.
I don't talk to you that much, but WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS? What is there to gain from it? Please give us an insight into your work here and give us time to deal with this circumstance if it is to turn south.
As Kevin recovers from his worried state he makes his way back to Hayley and placing himself one seat down from where he sat before, making sure he didn’t wake Hayley in her peaceful state.
===================================================================================
"5 Years Later -- 11 Hours After Midnight"
Three hours has passed since. Kevin has all of his forms filled out and given to the nurse. He gets up for a few seconds and starts to stretch out, accidentally waking up Hayley in the process.
"What’s the time, Kevin?"
Kevin quickly looks down the hallway to catch another glimpse of the blue clock.
"It's 11:42."
In hearing this, Hayley builds up the energy to find her handbag and reach into it, removing her silver flip phone.
"I’ll need to call my boss and tell him I’m not coming in today and probably the rest of the week as well. You mind getting me a coffee then, while I make this call?"
"Sure."
"Two sugars please?"
"Gotcha."
With that, he struggles to lift himself from the chair and performs a few quick stretches and eventually heads down the hallway to find a coffee machine, however just before he turns the corner he turns around to peek at Hayley, who now had her mobile phone against her ear seaming to be crying as she tells her boss the gravity of this situation. He starts to talk to himself.
"This must be hard for her, no other family either, Angie is everything in her life, surely somebody can see this."
With that quick glimpse Kevin continues to walk down the endless hallways in search of a coffee machine. With this thought he makes his way to the front entrance of the hospital and slowly makes his way outside getting some fresh air.
After minutes of roaming the hallways Kevin finally comes across a coffee vending machine. As he puts in his selections and places the coins in he waits for the coffee to be poured, however in this time rather than diving into deep thought, he just listens. The sounds of the hospital machines working endlessly, the conversations of different people near him, kids crying because of their injuries and of course the vending machine, but the one thing that he wanted to hear wasn’t there.
"I’m listening now. Talk to me; tell me my purpose through this hard time."
In keeping an open mind and still listening to all the noises around him he waits, wanting to hear or see anything that could be a sign, however the only sign that he got was the small beep from the vending machine as it had finished making the first coffee. As Kevin continued the process for the second coffee he looked around more, paying special attention to the colours of the hospital and the amount of plants in the hospital. It seamed to be a calming place with the walls coloured by a pale pink paint and the plants as green as they could be, it seamed to be a relaxing place. As the vending machine beeped again Kevin removed the two coffees and headed off again trying to navigate through the hallways.
As Kevin finally reached Angie’s room he saw that Hayley was talking to an elderly grey haired man dressed in a orange coat and black pants, no doubt a doctor. In seeing this Kevin slowly approached looking for any sign from Hayley to whether he should give them time or listen in, in not receiving anything he made his way to her and was greeted by a forced smile and an outstretched hand.
"Thanks."
As he passes the coffee to her and stands in between her and the doctor, completing the triangle. After taking one sip of her coffee, Hayley looks up to Kevin.
"This is Doctor Anderson, he is Angie’s head doctor."
"How are you Mr…"
The doctor pauses as if to ask for his name.
"Kevin, remember? We spoke eariler."
"How are you holding up?"
"Yeah, keeping it together one step at a time."
"He’s been great, keeping me from breaking down."
"Good to hear. So, Kevin I’ve just been telling Hayley about the latest news."
"Oh yeah, what’s happened now?"
"Well she hasn’t improved too much, her liver is still in its withdrawal stage and the rest of the organs are starting to react as well. It is getting quite serious now."
In hearing this, Hayley bows her head and withdraws from the conversation, while Kevin stays fixed on the doctor's face, eagerly waiting for any more information.
"So what steps can be taken to fix this then?"
"Well, we have found a suitable donor for the liver so that will be the main focus of the surgery, hopefully if that goes without a hitch then we might be able to solve the problem."
"Fantastic, and what’s the risk in this operation?"
"Well we have the best transplant team in this state alone so they should perform it without a problem, however there is always a risk."
By this time, Kevin is showing more of a positive expression and Hayley is wiping the tears out of her eyes and focusing on the conversation.
"So what is the best result from this surgery?"
"Well, best case scenario is that the transplant goes well and we see Angie gain her normal color and hopefully be close to normal in a couple of days."
"Ok. So when is the operation going to happen?"
"Well we are still waiting for the liver to arrive, so anytime within the hour."
"That's good to know."
The doctor takes a look at the forms that Kevin filled out for Angie as they wait for a response from the doctor.
"Looks good here. So with this I’ll schedule an operation room."
"So, does this operation room have a viewing platform?"
"No, but we will tell you as soon as possible when anything happens. Is there any more questions?"
"None from me."
"No. Thank you very much, sir."
With that the doctor gives an over exaggerated smile and leaves Kevin and Hayley to dwell on the circumstance.
"You think Angie will be all right?"
"I’m sure she will pull through it. I know her, she's a trooper."
"…I hope so."
With the end of this conversation both Kevin and Hayley go dead quiet as they both stare endlessly at nearby items, focusing all of their thoughts on the situation and nothing else.
===================================================================================
"After the Operation"
Upon entering the room Kevin instantly notices both a young blonde haired nurse checking Angie’s vitals, and of course Angie in her new state. The difference between what she looks like now compared to 15 hours ago was tremendous. Angie’s skin still has a slight yellow tan and her mouth and nostrils are covered by an oxygen mask, however that isn’t what catches most of Kevin’s attention. As the surgery had just recently finished, Angie is laying on her bed without a shirt on showing the huge incision in her chest, which is sowed up with roughly 30 stitches.
"Whoa, what has happened? Her skin, her chest? Baby, what is wrong with you?"
In staring at this, Hayley starts to cry again but rather than just crying on the spot she hurriedly leaves the room with the doctor signalling for the young nurse to follow her. Yet at the same time Kevin can no longer hold back his tears as one slips past his eyelashes and falls down his right cheek. In letting Kevin observe Angie a bit longer, the doctor grabs a bandage and starts to wrap over Angie’s stitches.
"Well there you have it, the operation itself was a success. No problems with the transplant or the incision, so there's no need to worry about this, but like I said before just got to wait and hold off until the other organs have been found."
Kevin wipes the tears off his face and out of his eyes as he now stares down the doctor again as he finishes wrapping the bandages around her and abruptly directs a question to the doctor.
"Listen doctor, be honest with me. What is your honest opinion on Angie's situation?"
The doctor gives a brief look at Angie and then reconnects with Kevin’s solid glare.
"Well I wouldn’t hold my breath. We don’t know what has caused her organs to shut down. There will be a gap in between now and when we can give her the other organs, so if this illness was to advance further, it could kill her."
Kevin now starts to lose the color in his face, as he fully understands the severity of the situation. Just as the doctor pats down the bandage, he goes over Angie’s vitals, however his reaction was different from the nurse who just checked on her. All of a sudden, Angie starts twitching around like the hell below them possessed her with the devil's spirit. The doctor pushes the red button near her bed as three nurses rush in and start prepping Angie as Kevin looks on in utter horror.
"SHE IS CRASHING. SOMEONE GET THE DEFRIBULATOR AND GIVE HER 20 MILLIGRAMS OF ADRENALINE! STAT! Sorry, but we need to take care of this Mr. Hardaway."
The doctor pushes Kevin away and shuts the door immediately as he stands outside, in what feels like himself, as Hayley comes back with the nurse and sees Kevin standing there. He turns his head to her to see Hayley rush over, what appears to be slowly.
It all has to be some kind of bad dream. It has to be.
Back into the cold orange halls of the hospital we are, where he hasn't left since he was restrained and taken here by the doctor after the car accident. Only this time out, Kevin has a little company by his side, in Angie's good friend, Hayley. Angie and Hayley have known each other throughout college and still keep in touch to this day. Her and Kevin know each other a little bit, but that's all in part thanks to Angie herself. But then again, as he told Hayley, "Misery loves company." as she gave him a stern look. Don't worry, she knew it was a figure of speech.
Angie's door keeps closed however as Hayley and Kevin try to share a little small talk, but to no avail. It's not working. It's better to just wait it out and see how it ends up turning out. He can't though because all that comes up in his mind is Angie and her accident. How in the hell did this happen? How did he let himself become nothing but a fool? It's insane, tell you what.
Kevin rests back into his chair though and tries to calm himself down by clearing his mind, however after few seconds passing, the sound of Angie’s room door opening can be heard. In hearing this, Kevin looks over to see a nurse gradually making her way out of the room and slowly past Kevin. In seeing the nurse, Kevin tries to make his way towards the nurse. With a couple of jogs, Kevin catches up to the nurse and manages to get her attention. Upon the nurse turning around it can be seen that she lost the color in her face and in need of a break.
"Excuse me there; you just came out of that room there didn’t you?"
In saying this, he points towards her room.
"Yes I did, are you family?"
"Yes, I'm her freakin' husband for crying out loud."
"Ok then, well have you been told anything within the last few hours?"
"No, I was only informed when I arrived here 12 hours ago and heard nothing since."
"Well I guess you want to hear an update then?"
"YES PLEASE, ANYTHING!"
"Well since bringing her here, her state has declined somewhat, the doctor recons that he now has what looks to be a collapsing liver, which is turning her skin into a yellow colour and probably leaving the rest of his body in a stale state. I think that they said that they were going to rush her into surgery sometime soon, however nothing else is known so far, but they are conducting more tests to find out exactly what’s happening. The only thing we really know is that she has a broken leg due to the crash."
"Oh god. And what is your honest opinion on her state? Will she be all right?"
"Well it all depends on if the doctors can find out what’s wrong; Is there any more family or friends for her?"
He pauses for a couple seconds.
"Not from what I know. Her friend, Hayley, who is sitting over there. That's about it."
"Hmm, ok. Well don't get your hopes up about anything I’ve said, remember I’m just a nurse not a doctor, because anything could happen soon."
At this point he is in a state of withdrawal, with his face going pale and clammy. He just throws his hands over his face in a state of denial. He can't believe what the hell happened, he couldn't believe what happened talking to the doctor, he couldn't believe what was going on now.
"So is there anything that we can do for the time being?"
"Well, you can sign these forms for us since you are her husband and pretty much, her only family right now. When you're done with those, give them to the receptionist and we'll take care of the rest, ok."
In saying this, the nurse passes a clipboard with an operation recommendation form attached to it.
"Ok, I’ll do that then. Thank you."
"Your welcome, stay strong."
With that the nurse gives a courteous smile and a pat on the shoulder and turns away from him, walking around the corner leaving Kevin standing alone with the clipboard hanging from his right hand and his facial expression being one of fear and worry as he looks up.
I don't talk to you that much, but WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS? What is there to gain from it? Please give us an insight into your work here and give us time to deal with this circumstance if it is to turn south.
As Kevin recovers from his worried state he makes his way back to Hayley and placing himself one seat down from where he sat before, making sure he didn’t wake Hayley in her peaceful state.
===================================================================================
"5 Years Later -- 11 Hours After Midnight"
Three hours has passed since. Kevin has all of his forms filled out and given to the nurse. He gets up for a few seconds and starts to stretch out, accidentally waking up Hayley in the process.
"What’s the time, Kevin?"
Kevin quickly looks down the hallway to catch another glimpse of the blue clock.
"It's 11:42."
In hearing this, Hayley builds up the energy to find her handbag and reach into it, removing her silver flip phone.
"I’ll need to call my boss and tell him I’m not coming in today and probably the rest of the week as well. You mind getting me a coffee then, while I make this call?"
"Sure."
"Two sugars please?"
"Gotcha."
With that, he struggles to lift himself from the chair and performs a few quick stretches and eventually heads down the hallway to find a coffee machine, however just before he turns the corner he turns around to peek at Hayley, who now had her mobile phone against her ear seaming to be crying as she tells her boss the gravity of this situation. He starts to talk to himself.
"This must be hard for her, no other family either, Angie is everything in her life, surely somebody can see this."
With that quick glimpse Kevin continues to walk down the endless hallways in search of a coffee machine. With this thought he makes his way to the front entrance of the hospital and slowly makes his way outside getting some fresh air.
After minutes of roaming the hallways Kevin finally comes across a coffee vending machine. As he puts in his selections and places the coins in he waits for the coffee to be poured, however in this time rather than diving into deep thought, he just listens. The sounds of the hospital machines working endlessly, the conversations of different people near him, kids crying because of their injuries and of course the vending machine, but the one thing that he wanted to hear wasn’t there.
"I’m listening now. Talk to me; tell me my purpose through this hard time."
In keeping an open mind and still listening to all the noises around him he waits, wanting to hear or see anything that could be a sign, however the only sign that he got was the small beep from the vending machine as it had finished making the first coffee. As Kevin continued the process for the second coffee he looked around more, paying special attention to the colours of the hospital and the amount of plants in the hospital. It seamed to be a calming place with the walls coloured by a pale pink paint and the plants as green as they could be, it seamed to be a relaxing place. As the vending machine beeped again Kevin removed the two coffees and headed off again trying to navigate through the hallways.
As Kevin finally reached Angie’s room he saw that Hayley was talking to an elderly grey haired man dressed in a orange coat and black pants, no doubt a doctor. In seeing this Kevin slowly approached looking for any sign from Hayley to whether he should give them time or listen in, in not receiving anything he made his way to her and was greeted by a forced smile and an outstretched hand.
"Thanks."
As he passes the coffee to her and stands in between her and the doctor, completing the triangle. After taking one sip of her coffee, Hayley looks up to Kevin.
"This is Doctor Anderson, he is Angie’s head doctor."
"How are you Mr…"
The doctor pauses as if to ask for his name.
"Kevin, remember? We spoke eariler."
"How are you holding up?"
"Yeah, keeping it together one step at a time."
"He’s been great, keeping me from breaking down."
"Good to hear. So, Kevin I’ve just been telling Hayley about the latest news."
"Oh yeah, what’s happened now?"
"Well she hasn’t improved too much, her liver is still in its withdrawal stage and the rest of the organs are starting to react as well. It is getting quite serious now."
In hearing this, Hayley bows her head and withdraws from the conversation, while Kevin stays fixed on the doctor's face, eagerly waiting for any more information.
"So what steps can be taken to fix this then?"
"Well, we have found a suitable donor for the liver so that will be the main focus of the surgery, hopefully if that goes without a hitch then we might be able to solve the problem."
"Fantastic, and what’s the risk in this operation?"
"Well we have the best transplant team in this state alone so they should perform it without a problem, however there is always a risk."
By this time, Kevin is showing more of a positive expression and Hayley is wiping the tears out of her eyes and focusing on the conversation.
"So what is the best result from this surgery?"
"Well, best case scenario is that the transplant goes well and we see Angie gain her normal color and hopefully be close to normal in a couple of days."
"Ok. So when is the operation going to happen?"
"Well we are still waiting for the liver to arrive, so anytime within the hour."
"That's good to know."
The doctor takes a look at the forms that Kevin filled out for Angie as they wait for a response from the doctor.
"Looks good here. So with this I’ll schedule an operation room."
"So, does this operation room have a viewing platform?"
"No, but we will tell you as soon as possible when anything happens. Is there any more questions?"
"None from me."
"No. Thank you very much, sir."
With that the doctor gives an over exaggerated smile and leaves Kevin and Hayley to dwell on the circumstance.
"You think Angie will be all right?"
"I’m sure she will pull through it. I know her, she's a trooper."
"…I hope so."
With the end of this conversation both Kevin and Hayley go dead quiet as they both stare endlessly at nearby items, focusing all of their thoughts on the situation and nothing else.
===================================================================================
"After the Operation"
Upon entering the room Kevin instantly notices both a young blonde haired nurse checking Angie’s vitals, and of course Angie in her new state. The difference between what she looks like now compared to 15 hours ago was tremendous. Angie’s skin still has a slight yellow tan and her mouth and nostrils are covered by an oxygen mask, however that isn’t what catches most of Kevin’s attention. As the surgery had just recently finished, Angie is laying on her bed without a shirt on showing the huge incision in her chest, which is sowed up with roughly 30 stitches.
"Whoa, what has happened? Her skin, her chest? Baby, what is wrong with you?"
In staring at this, Hayley starts to cry again but rather than just crying on the spot she hurriedly leaves the room with the doctor signalling for the young nurse to follow her. Yet at the same time Kevin can no longer hold back his tears as one slips past his eyelashes and falls down his right cheek. In letting Kevin observe Angie a bit longer, the doctor grabs a bandage and starts to wrap over Angie’s stitches.
"Well there you have it, the operation itself was a success. No problems with the transplant or the incision, so there's no need to worry about this, but like I said before just got to wait and hold off until the other organs have been found."
Kevin wipes the tears off his face and out of his eyes as he now stares down the doctor again as he finishes wrapping the bandages around her and abruptly directs a question to the doctor.
"Listen doctor, be honest with me. What is your honest opinion on Angie's situation?"
The doctor gives a brief look at Angie and then reconnects with Kevin’s solid glare.
"Well I wouldn’t hold my breath. We don’t know what has caused her organs to shut down. There will be a gap in between now and when we can give her the other organs, so if this illness was to advance further, it could kill her."
Kevin now starts to lose the color in his face, as he fully understands the severity of the situation. Just as the doctor pats down the bandage, he goes over Angie’s vitals, however his reaction was different from the nurse who just checked on her. All of a sudden, Angie starts twitching around like the hell below them possessed her with the devil's spirit. The doctor pushes the red button near her bed as three nurses rush in and start prepping Angie as Kevin looks on in utter horror.
"SHE IS CRASHING. SOMEONE GET THE DEFRIBULATOR AND GIVE HER 20 MILLIGRAMS OF ADRENALINE! STAT! Sorry, but we need to take care of this Mr. Hardaway."
The doctor pushes Kevin away and shuts the door immediately as he stands outside, in what feels like himself, as Hayley comes back with the nurse and sees Kevin standing there. He turns his head to her to see Hayley rush over, what appears to be slowly.
It all has to be some kind of bad dream. It has to be.
