Jealousy (38 page)

“
Oh, Justin, honey, she’s fine.”  Kenny continued to carefully check Heather’s vitals.  “I’ll be right there.  Lie back down.”

Nick went to him. 
“Take it easy, buddy.  You just had major surgery.”

Justin ignored them both.  He needed to watch Kenny check on Heather
’s condition. He didn’t want to miss any reaction in Kenny’s face that might indicate something wasn’t quite right.

After Kenny finished recording Heather
’s vitals in her chart, he came and sat on the edge of Justin’s bed and took him into his arms.  It immediately calmed Justin, but he was still riddled with anxiety about Heather.

“
You need to calm down and get some rest, honey.  Do you want me to get you something to help you sleep?”

“
No. I wanna be awake when she wakes up.”

“
OK, but listen to me.”  Kenny held Justin’s face in his hands and looked him in the eye.  “You need to relax, or else I’m gonna give you a sedative, whether you want one or not.  Do you understand me?”

Justin nodded.  He was sure Kenny had other responsibilities to tend to, but Kenny stayed anchored to his bedside.  Kenny held his hand, stroked hi
s cheek and comforted him until Heather finally woke up.

Chapter Eighty-Seven:

Heather slowly began to regain consciousness.  She heard voices.  It was Kenny.  And Justin.  They sounded a million miles away, but she focused on them and forced her eyes to open.  She was disoriented and confused.  She tried to move, but the pain in her abdomen stopped her, and she remembered
her surgery.  When she finally opened her eyes, Nick and Kenny hovered over her.

“
Hello, beautiful.”

“
Nick.”  She smiled at him.

Kenny patted her leg. 
“You’re OK, honey.  It’s all over.”

Justin called her name frantically from his bed several feet away.  She tried to turn toward him, but it was too painful and she winced. 
She tried again, and this time she was able to turn just enough to see him.  He was OK!  They both made it through surgery.  She was overwhelmed with relief and started to whimper.

“
I’m here, sweetie.  I’m coming.”  Justin threw his legs over the side of his bed.  Kenny and another nurse tried to stop him, but they had a hard time holding him back.

“
OK, OK, wait!” Kenny yelled.  “You’re gonna hurt yourself!”

“
I have to go to her, Kenny.  I have to.”

Kenny held Justin
’s face in his hands and leaned close to him, so their noses were almost touching.  “Listen to me.  You have a lot of internal sutures, and you’re hooked up to an IV and a catheter.  We need to help you.  And I want you to walk
very
slowly.”  Kenny huffed.  “I can get in so much fuckin’ trouble for this.”

Justin hobbled toward Heather, supported by Kenny and another nurse.  He threw his arms around Heather
, and they both burst into tears.  They held onto one another, oblivious to the people around them, and cried in each other’s arms.

“
You two need to calm down,” Kenny said, as he rubbed his hand on Justin’s back.  “C’mon, honey.  That’s enough.”

Heather didn
’t want to let go of Justin, but she needed to look into his eyes.  “Are you OK?  I could never forgive myself if anything happened to you.”

“
I’m fine.”  Justin wiped the tears from her cheek.  “I’ve just been worried to death about you.”

“
Thank you for saving my life.”

“
Don’t thank me.  I was meant to do this . . . it was my destiny.”

She placed the palm of her hand tenderly on his cheek and gazed deep into his eyes. 
“You’re part of me now.”

“
I was always part of you,” he whispered.

He graced her lips with a gentle kiss and held her in his arms again.  She didn
’t think the connection they shared could possibly get any stronger, but it did.  Their love was so pure, so raw.  It was a moment that touched everyone’s heart.  Even the nurse who helped Justin get out of bed had a tear in her eye.

“
You have to go back to bed now, Justin, honey,” Kenny said in a soft voice.  “She needs to rest.”

Heather made Kenny move her bed closer to Justin.  She wanted to be able to reach out and hold his hand if she needed to, and it comforted her
.

Nick kissed her softly. 
“I love you, beautiful.  I’ve been sitting by your bed all night.  I promised myself I wouldn’t sleep a wink until you woke up.”

She smiled at him. 
“I love you, too.”  Her speech was slurred, and she fought slumber once again.

Kenny patted her ankle. 
“I want you to get some sleep now, honey.  Nick, there’s an empty room down the hall when you’re ready to crash.”

Her eyes bolted wide open. 
“What?  No!  Nick, you have to stay with me!”

“
Heather, relax,” Kenny said.  “It’s just down the hall, and I’m right here if you need anything.”

“
But I need him here . . .”

“
I’m not leaving,” Nick said.  “I’m staying with you.  Right here.  Justin on one side, me on the other.”

“
Thank you,” she whispered.  She didn’t know why she was so needy.  She hated it, and she wished could stand on her own two feet and be independent.  Maybe they spoiled her too much, but she didn’t care.  She needed Justin, Nick
and
Kenny.  She needed all three of them.

Chapter Eighty-Eight:

It was 4:00 a.m. and Kenny started to doze off.  His lids seemed incapable of staying open any longer.  With the exception of the
thirty minute nap he had the previous afternoon, he had been up for 24 hours.  He poured himself a cup of black coffee in the nurse’s lounge and the couch beckoned to him.  He wanted to rest his eyes for fifteen minutes, but he knew that if he did, he would never wake up.  Instead, he downed the hot black coffee in his hand and took another cup back to his station in the I.C.U. and finished his shift.

#

Vitals checked, bloods drawn, patients sound asleep.  Kenny’s shift was over an hour and a half ago, but he took the extra time to communicate every detail of Justin’s and Heather’s care to the day nurses, and emphasized how important they were to him.

Weary and exhausted, Kenny retreated to the empty room down the hall that would serve as his temporary sleeping quarters.  As long as Justin was in the hospital, he wasn
’t leaving.  He was dead on his feet.  It was the most grueling day of his life.  His head barely hit the pillow when sleep carried him far away.

#

He was barely asleep for two hours before he was awakened by Fiona, one of the day nurses.

“
Kenny, I’ve been trying to wake you up for ten minutes!” she exclaimed.

He jumped up to a sitting position. 
“What’s wrong?  Is it Justin?”

“
No.  It’s Heather.  She won’t let us touch her. She doesn’t want anyone but you to take care of her.  She won’t even let us take her temperature.  She was getting hysterical.  Luckily, Justin was able to calm her down a little.  I’m sure she’s a nice girl,” Fiona smirked and waved her hand with annoyance, “but you got your hands full with that one.”

Her tone irritated him, and he glared up at her through narrowed eyes. 
“I know, Fiona, but she’s family.  And I love her.”  He threw his legs over the side of the bed and his feet hit the floor like two lead weights.  His body creaked when he stood up, but he pushed through the stiffness and walked as fast as he could down the hall to the I.C.U.

Heather
was sitting up in bed and frowning, while Nick rubbed her shoulders.  “Kenny, where did you go?” she cried.  “You said you were gonna be here to take care of me!  I need you!”

“
Honey, calm down.”  He sat on the edge of her bed and patted her hand.  “I need to get some sleep.  I can’t work 24 hours a day.”

Heather stared down at the sheet. 
“I know.  I’m sorry, but I need you.  I don’t trust anyone else.”

“
Oh, honey,” he sighed and slouched his shoulders, “I’m so tired.”

She looked back at him
with big round eyes.  She looked vulnerable, with a doe-eyed innocence, and he wished she had more self-confidence.  He sighed again.  She was on the verge of tears, and he stroked her arm.  “None of that, honey.  We’ll figure something out.  Don’t get upset.”

Kenny found Aiden, the nurse who assisted Heather in pre-op yesterday morning, and brought him to her room.  She seemed to trust him, and Kenny knew her affection for gay men.  If anyone had a chance with Heather, it would be Aiden.  Besides, he wanted Fiona the hell out of there anyway, after the remark she made about Heather being a handful.

“Oh, I remember you from yesterday,” Heather said, as soon as she saw Aiden.  “You’re sweet.”

Aiden smiled warmly. 
“How are you feeling today?  Can I get you anything?  Some juice?”

“
No, thank you.”

Aiden folded his arms across his chest. 
“You don’t look very comfy.”  He got a fresh pillow from the closet and fluffed it up.  He helped her lean forward while he gently placed the pillow behind her back.  “Is that better?”

Kenny knew it was Aiden
’s little test to see if she trusted him.

She nodded. 
“Yes.  Thank you.”

He passed the test. 
“So it’s settled, then?” Kenny asked.  “It’s OK if Aiden takes care of you for a few hours while I get my beauty sleep?”

She nodded and smiled.

“Good.”

Justin had watched Heather
’s interaction with Aiden without saying anything, but now he interrupted them.  “Wait a minute.” Justin tilted his head and gave a sly smile.  “How come I don’t get the cute boy nurse?”

Kenny widened his eyes, pressed his lips together and feigned jealousy. 
“
I’m
the cute boy nurse!”

Justin giggled and held his abdomen. 
“Stop!  Don’t make me laugh!  It hurts!”

Kenny took Justin
’s face in his hands and planted a loud, firm kiss on his lips.  “I’m glad you’re in a good mood this morning, honey.”  He threw his head back and his hands in the air, “Now,
please
, just let me get some sleep!”

Chapter Eighty-Nine:

Kenny woke around 3:00 in the afternoon, showered and returned to Justin an
d Heather, coffee cup in hand.  He read Heather’s chart.  “How are you feeling, honey?”

“
It doesn’t hurt as much as last time.”

He couldn
’t help but smile at her naivete.  “That’s because you were hit by a car last time.”

He checked her vitals, and her eyes followed him.

“Is everything OK?” she asked.  She sounded like a scared little girl.

“
So far, so good.”  He pointed to the monitors and explained the information they displayed, just as he did with Nick when she was in Recovery.  Lastly, he held up her colostomy bag for her to see for herself.  It collected a generous amount of urine.  He flashed her a broad smile.  “Liquid gold!”

He sat down on the edge of her bed, and his demeanor grew serious. 
“I want to talk to you about something.  It’s been bothering me, and I need to get it off my chest.”  He paused.  “I want you to know that I would have offered you my kidney.  The only reason I didn’t was because I knew that if Nick wasn’t a match, Justin was going to do it, but I would have stepped up.  I don’t want you to think I wouldn’t have helped you.”  He took her hand.  “I would do anything for you, honey . . . and the way I reacted when Justin first offered,” he shook his head, “I feel terrible about that.  I was so afraid of losing him, that I couldn’t think about anything else.”

“
Thank you, Kenny.”  Her throat moved, as she swallowed hard. “I couldn’t get through this without you.”

Kenny patted her hand again and kissed her cheek.  He knew she needed attention.  Her surgery was the more complicated of the two,
and that’s why he checked on her first, but his heart wanted him to go straight to Justin’s bedside.  Kenny checked Justin’s vitals and studied the results of his blood work meticulously.  They were perfect.  Justin’s body handled the extraction without any signs of trouble – so far.  Kenny pushed the thought out of his head.  He couldn’t comprehend any sort of negative outcome, or he would have a meltdown.  Justin was going to be fine.  And so was Heather.  Kenny sat on the side of Justin’s bed and gazed at him with a loving smile.

Justin smiled back.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“
I keep thinking about the first night we met, right here in this I.C.U.”  He squinted one eye as he searched his memory.  “Only . . . I think Heather’s bed was in the suite two doors away.  Do you remember that?”