A Simple Act of Kindness

"Hey, now," I tried soothing her, "Come on, Sis, there's no need to cry, sweetie. I'm alright, and I'm getting better every day."

"I know," she sniffled, "But I was really scared there for a while...really scared...you don't know how much."

"There's nothing to be afraid of anymore," I gently told her, "Absolutely nothing..."

~~~~~~

Laura had finished feeding me my lunch, and not less than two minutes after she wiped my mouth and washed my face, Ms. Caufield came in with a syringe in her left hand and a smile on her face, telling me, "I'm going to give you something a little different than what Doctor Lerner ordered me to give; but I was told that it will make you rest really well after the busy day you've had today."

"First of all, what're you giving me," I apprehensively asked, "And who told you to give me something different than what my doctor ordered you to give me?"

"Doctor Niles did," she said, "He said it would really make you rest extremely well."

"Who's Doctor Niles?" I asked, not allowing her to inject anything into my I.V. port just yet, "I'm sorry, Ma'am; but I'm not going to let anyone give me anything unless the order comes from Doctor Lerner. Please believe me when I tell you that I'm not trying to be rude, honestly, I'm not. But who in the hell is Doctor Niles to prescribe me any kind of medication; especially when I'm not his patient, nor is he my doctor?"

"Doctor Lawrence Niles is the Chief of Surgery here," Ms. Caufield uncomfortably explained, "And because of his years of experience; he'll sometimes give a patient a certain type of medication which he feels might be good for that particular patient."

"Like I've already said, I mean no disrespect, but I don't care who he is," I replied, "And while I'm' thinking about it, would you please page or call Doctor Lerner and tell him that I would like to see him immediately?"

"No problem," she smiled, placing the sterile cover back onto the needle and then putting it her pocket, "I'll be right back," and then she turned and walked away.

"Kyle Thomas Hendrickson," Laura scolded me, "You're not a doctor, and you don't know one medication from the other. You shouldn't have been so mean to that lady. She was just doing what the doctor ordered her to do."

"I wasn't trying to be mean to her at all, and I understand that she was following the doctor's orders," I plainly replied, "But it wasn't my doctor whose orders she was following so; quit giving me shit."

"I don't care," Laura replied, trying to keep from laughing, "I just think that you could've been a whole lot nicer than you were."

~~~~~~

"My name is Doctor Lawrence Niles," announced, or should I say "bellowed", a rather large, fat, pompous, asinine acting man, looking down his nose at me as he arrogantly strode into my room, "Nurse Caufield here has informed me that you seem to think you know more than I do when it comes to medicine, young man."

"I'm afraid you have your facts mixed up," I told him, "That's not what I said at all."

"Then either you don't remember what you said," he spat, "Or you're calling me a liar, which is it?"

This man had been in my presence for no more than a few seconds and I already couldn't stand his stupid ass. However, in order to shut him up, I glared at him and said, "I didn't call you anything; and I certainly didn't claim to know better than you, but..."

"Then why did you refuse the medication that I prescribed for you?" he snottily and arrogantly spouted, "I'll have you know that I've got over thirty years of experience treating cases just like yours, young man; hence the reason that I'm the Chief of Surgery here."

"I don't really care who you are, nor does it matter to me either," I told him, "But if..."

"Listen to me, young man," he harshly interrupted,, "I'm going to..."

"NO," I said, raising my voice, and then becoming quiet again, "If you're half the physician that you claim to be, then you'll listen to what I've got to say; especially because that I'm the patient whose insurance is paying your fucking salary."

"Excuse me," he softly replied, knowing that he was in the wrong, "Please," he continued, taking a seat across the room, "You're right, and what you have to say is very important."

"Good, I want to say something to you," I firmly replied, "And don't interrupt me anymore either, dammit."

"Kyle," Laura began to scold me again, until I gave her the look that I always did that meant for her to leave me alone; and she did.

"Doctor Niles, I'm not about to try and tell you how to be a doctor, because I don't know the first thing about medicine," I began, "But I do know my own body, sir, and I also know that I trust Doctor Lerner implicitly, and I'm of the opinion right now, that until I can leave this hospital on my own two legs; I'm going to continue to trust him, and only him until he, and only he tells me otherwise. Now, about the matter at hand; I called neither you, nor Nurse Caufield a liar. What I said was that I wasn't going to take any medication that had not been prescribed to me by someone other than my own Doctor, and as a professional, and the Chief of Surgery; you, of all people, should respect that. If not, I can always call the Hospital Administrator, as well as The American Medical Association, and let's see what they have to say about this. What do you think, Doctor?"

However, before Dr. Niles could reply, Dr. Lerner walked into my room with a knowing smirk on his face, and then grinning from ear-to-ear, he looked at me and said, "Hey Kyle, did I miss anything?"

"No, not really," I proudly chuckled, "I was just telling Doctor Niles here, what a great Neurosurgeon I thought you were, and that I was about to call the Hospital Administrator, as well as the American Medical Association to tell them what an asset you were to this hospital."

"If you gentleman will excuse me," Dr. Niles interjected, quickly standing up, preparing to leave my room, "Great job, Doctor Lerner," and then he made an abrupt exit, closing the door behind him.

"Has anyone ever told you what a sneaky little shit you can be?" Dr. Lerner laughed, "I was standing out in the hall while you were lighting that arrogant peacock up; and I have to tell you, Kyle, thank you for finally putting that fat bastard in his place."

"He sent Nurse Caufield in here to give me something that he had prescribed for me, and not you," I told him, "And I wasn't about to let that asshole get away with it. Besides; it doesn't seem right that he can just do that, Chief of Surgery, or not."

"Oh, really," Dr. Lerner asked, a surprised look on his face, and then after looking over at Mrs. Caufield, who'd been standing there the whole time; he asked her, "What did he order you to give my patient, Nurse Caufield?"

"Fentanyl," she replied, pulling the unused needle and syringe still containing the drug from her dress pocket, and then after handing it to Dr. Lerner, she told him, "He ordered me to administer fifteen c.c.'s of Fentanyl into the bifurcation portal of his IV line, Doctor."

"Did he even read the patient's chart before ordering you to administer the medication to my patient, Nurse?" Dr. Lerner asked, clearly upset at where the conversation seemed to be heading.

"No, Doctor," she told him, "He overheard me telling another nurse about, how after having had the M.R.I. done, Mister Hendrickson was exhibiting signs of acute apprehension."

"That's correct," Dr. Lerner, resolutely replied, "So, tell me; what did Doctor Niles say after that?"

"Well," she stuttered, "He...um...he then ordered me to give Mister Hendrickson the Fentanyl after that. He said, and I quote "Give the patient fifteen c.c.'s of Fentanyl and not only will his apprehension disappear, but he will also sleep like a baby, too,"."

"That careless bastard, just who in the hell does he think he is to attend to my patient without first consulting with me?" Dr. Lerner angrily snapped, "Aside of that, he could've killed this kid. I've already got him on a Demerol regimen for pain." Then he looked at me, and as his angry glare melted into a smile, he kindly told me, "Thanks for standing up to him, Kyle. Believe it or not, but you saved both of us by doing that."

"What do you mean, Doc?" I worriedly asked, "I don't understand."

"You would think that as Chief of Surgery, that that idiot would've known that mixing Fentanyl with Demerol can make for a very lethal combination," he informed us, "But by refusing to take Fentanyl, Kyle, not only did you save my career, but more importantly, you saved your own life."

"As soon as I'm able to walk again, I'm going to kick that fat fucker's ass," I spat, now pissed off because of what Dr. Lerner had just told me, "Doctor Niles better give his soul to Jesus Christ, because his fat ass belongs to me as soon as I get out of this place."

"Take it easy, Kyle," Dr. Lerner smiled, "If you want to really hang his ass, then I've got a better idea."

"Hell, yes," I replied, "I'm all ears, Doc."

"Me too," Laura said, "But in the mean time, we're going to have to find a way to keep him away from my brother; because I've got a feeling the Doctor Niles is not going to be a happy camper once the word gets out that you guys are looking to hang his ass."

"Don't you worry your pretty little head one bit," Dr. Lerner grinned, making Laura smile as her face turned bright red, "I've got Kyle covered, okay?"

"Okay, Doctor Lerner," Laura replied, "I trust you, but I still want to make sure that my brother's life is in no way at risk from anyone; can you guarantee that?"

"I most certainly can," Doctor Lerner strongly assured her in no uncertain terms, "That means that if I personally have to stand guard over him, I will....does that suit you well enough?"

"Perfectly," Laura said, "Kyle's safety is paramount where all of this is concerned...especially since he's in a weakened state right now and unable to defend himself; otherwise, I wouldn't worry about it so much."

"I'm asking you to blindly trust me, Laura," he told her smiling, "I can call you Laura, can't I?"

"Of course you can," Laura shyly replied, slightly flirting, "It is my name."

"Alright then, Laura," Doctor Lerner smiled in return, "Like I said earlier, your brother is as safe as he would be if he was in his mother's arms."

"While I'm sure that he is safe here," Laura said, "I would prefer that Doctor Niles not have any access to him whatsoever, if you know what I mean."

"I understand perfectly," Doctor Lerner knowingly grinned, "And I think that I might have solution to your dilemma, but I need to make a couple of phone calls first, okay?"

"Okay," Laura said, "But what about around the clock nursing care, what're we going to do about that?"

"That's where I come in," said Julie, who, unbeknownst to us, had heard the whole conversation right before she walked into my room, "Isn't that right, Doctor Lerner?"

"I think that would be perfect," he knowingly smiled, "Especially since you're so familiar with Kyle's case. What do you think, Kyle?"

At this point I would've walked barefoot on broken glass just to be around Julie if I could've walked back then, so; of course I simply grinned and said, "I think that would be great," which made Julie warmly smile at me, and gently pat me on the arm with her soft, pretty hand.

~~~~~~

After Doctor Lerner left, Laura went home not too long after that, leaving only me and Julie alone in my room. And right after she'd finished feeding me my dinner, she reached into her pocket, and with a gentle tone of voice, told me, "I brought you something that I want you to start using from now on, okay?"

"Of course," I replied smiling, "What is it?"

She gently placed a small rubber ball, specifically used for rehabilitative purposes, into the palm of my right hand and told me, "I want you to start using this three times a day, Kyle. Try squeezing it with your right hand; and then when that hand gets tired, repeat the same process with your left hand."

"Okay," I said, "I'll start right now," and then I began doing the exercise right then and there.

It was slow going at first, but as I progressed, I noticed a definite change in how my hands worked, and it was only the first day. However, while I knew that it was going to take me some time for my body to return to the same state and shape I was in before the accident, I still had a lot of faith in myself and knew that I could accomplish the tasks that had not only been set before me, but the ones that lay ahead in front of me.

~~~~~~

Chapter Five

I used the rubber ball for another hour before Julie let me know that I'd done enough for that evening, and then after gently removing the ball from my hand, she looked into my eyes and softly told me, "That's enough for now, sweetie. You don't want to overdo it the first time, do you?"

"No," I grinned, "I guess not."

"I'm still proud of the progress that you've made so far though," she grinned, "You should be proud, too."

"Maybe," I distractedly replied, "But I'm kind of worried about what Doctor Niles is going to do."

"Tom Lerner is pretty smart," Julie confidently told me, "If I were you, and he told me that I didn't have anything to worry about; then I wouldn't lose any sleep over it."

"Why not," I worriedly asked, "I mean, are we, or are we not about to destroy Niles' life?"

"Jeez, Kyle," she replied, "Did he or did he not almost kill you?"

"I don't know," I said, "I don't think he was going to intentionally kill me; I think he just used bad judgment; that's all."

"You have a very forgiving heart, Kyle," she softly told me, "But in this case, his bad judgment could've killed you, sweetie."

"Maybe so, maybe not, that doesn't matter anymore" I said, "But now that I know what almost and/or could've happened, I'm not going to give him the chance to do it to anyone else, that's for damn sure."

"Good for you," Julie happily smiled, "You're doing the right thing, Kyle, I promise."

"Oh, I know," I replied, "I just feel bad about destroying the man's life."

"Let me ask you something, Kyle," she said, "What would be worse, Doctor Niles losing his license, or some innocent person losing their life?"

"Believe me, I understand what you're saying," I told her, "But I don't have to like it, do I?"

"No, you don't," she kindly replied, "But that's only because you're such a sweet guy."

"Thanks, Julie," I smiled, "I'm glad that somebody understands how I feel."

"I do understand," she said, leaning down and gently taking both of my hands into hers, "I've always understood."

"Always?" I asked, "What is that supposed to mean?"

"Oh, nothing," she replied, quickly but gently releasing my hands, acting rather strangely, "I only meant that I understood you because..."

"Don't worry about it," I softly replied, quickly interrupting her. I detected something extraordinarily different about her just then, but for the life of me, I didn't know what it was. The only thing I did know was that I didn't want to...no...make that; couldn't stand to be away from her. There was something very special about Julie, and although I didn't know what it was, I could only pray that one day I would find out.

~~~~~~

Even though I knew that there was nothing to worry about and that I was not in any kind of immediate danger, I still felt a foreboding sense of something on the not too distant horizon none-the-less. However, there was also that voice inside my head that told me that regardless of what happened, no harm would come to me, my family, or anyone else that mattered to me; and that I should just simply concentrate on getting well for the time being.

But then there was Julie, and the feelings that I was beginning to develop for her. Could these feelings I was having for her be simply because I was in weakened state of existence and she was the one who was taking care of me; or did it stem from something much deeper? I guess that only time would tell...

~~~~~~

It was nearing nine-thirty in the evening, and while I should've been getting sleepy, I laid in my bed as wide awake as a tree full of owls. I was sitting up with my head raised and was watching the television, bored out of my mind.

"It's getting late," Julie smiled, sitting next to my bed and keeping a close watch on me, "You're supposed to be asleep, Kyle."

"I know," I replied, "But I'm not sleepy, not in the least."

"I've got an idea," she grinned, standing up, "Would you like to go for a walk?"

"Come on," I laughed, "You know that I can't walk yet."

"No shit, Sherlock," she cutely giggled, "I was talking about putting you in a wheelchair and taking a stroll around the hospital campus...Are you up for it?"

"Are you kidding me?" I excitedly asked, "Hell yes, when do we leave?"

"You sit tight for a minute," she impishly grinned, "I'll go get a wheelchair," and then she was out of the door in a flash...

~~~~~~

Before getting me situated into the wheelchair, Julie saw to it that I was dressed in a pair of surgical scrub pants, accompanied by a pair of socks and house shoes. But the icing on the proverbial cake was the fact that I was also able to wear my football jersey that had my name and number on it. Hell, she even wheeled me across not only the hospital compound, but across the Vanderbilt campus to a small bar on the southern campus border named, "Pettigrew's Pub," where I was met by several of my old buddies from the football team.

~~~~~~

The moment I appeared inside of the pub, one of my closest friends in college, a guy named, William James "B.J." Hanlon, who just happened to be seated at a table with several females, immediately spotted me, and then after rising to his feet, loudly announced, "Holy Shit! Look everybody; it's Kyle Hendrickson, back from the dead."

He hastily made his way toward me, and with happy tears pouring down his face, he hugged me and said, "It's so good to see you, man...please, come have a beer with me."

I looked back at Julie as if to ask her if it was alright, and she sweetly smiled and said, "I don't see where one beer would hurt you; but no more that that, okay?"

"Thank you, so much," I gratefully smiled," You don't know how much this means to me."

"Yes, I think I do," she giggled, and then quickly kissed me on the cheek, making me squirm because of the chills, which, the moment she kissed me, began to run down my spine, "But you can't let anybody know that I brought you here, okay?"

"Are you kidding me?" I smiled, "My lips are sealed..."

~~~~~~

When we sat at B.J.'s table, the first thing he wanted to talk about was, of course, how thankful he was to see me, especially because I'd been in a coma for six months. He also told me that he'd tried to come and see me once, but because he wasn't a member of my immediate family; they weren't going to let him in. However, what I didn't know until then was that my sister, Laura, just happened to be at the hospital at that time. And with, or should I say, because of, her help, the staff ended up relenting and let him in for a few brief moments to see me.

"I'll tell you, Kyle," he smiled, his eyes beginning to fill with tears, "I was really afraid that I'd never see you again; and I wouldn't have been able to handle that, brother," as he began to silently weep.

"It's okay now, B.J.," I gently soothed him, "I'm going to be alright...I promise."

"You'd better be alright, okay?" he chuckled, wiping the tears from his face, "You don't realize how bad you scared me, asshole."

"I promise not to ever let something like this happen again," I told him, "It's not like I did it on purpose the first time though."

"Don't worry about it," he smiled, "I'm just happy to see you up and running again."

"I'm awake alright," I smiled, as Julie held a straw to my mouth so that I could sip my beer, "But I'm not going to be up and running for a little while yet."