The Castaway Hotel - 2 - 13. Chapter 13 - A Time Of Mixed Emotions

By the time Kevin and I arrived home, all of the boys were up and had a zillion questions about Dustin. I answered them as well as I could, before informing them that Kevin and I were going to my room to get a little sleep. The two of us then went upstairs, got undressed and crawled into my bed. We were both exhausted, so I wrapped my arms around Kevin, to help ease his concerns, and we soon drifted off to sleep. We awoke a few hours later and showered, dressed and grabbed a bite to eat, before leaving for the hospital again.

We drove there in absolute silence. I was hoping Kevin might initiate a discussion about what was troubling him the most, but he didn’t and I didn’t feel it would be wise for me to push him in that direction, so I also said nothing. When we arrived at the front lobby, I inquired as to Dustin’s room number. The volunteer manning the desk took forever to retrieve that information and then stopped to question us, before giving it to us.

“And you are?” the elderly volunteered screeched.

“I am Dustin’s father and this is his brother,” I responded, only slightly irritated. I understood they needed to take such precautions, but I was also in a hurry to see how my son was doing. “May we please have his room number now?”

“Just one second, while I check with his floor nurse,” she parroted, afterward.

“For what reason?” I insisted. “We are family and want to find out how he’s doing. Dustin’s doctor told us we could come back after we got some sleep, seeing we’d been here with him most of the night.”

She just held up her finger to shush me, while she chatted with the nurses’ station. “I have Dustin Currie’s father and brother here at the front desk,” she whined. “May I send them up to see him?”

It seemed as if it took an eternity to get a response, but she finally hung up the phone and looked at us. “He’s in room 247. Take the second elevator to the second floor and then turn left, as you exit from it. The nurse at the nurses’ station will direct you from there.”

“Thank you,” I mumbled, as we rushed off. I was beginning to wonder if there had been a note attached to his information, due to something else happening while we were gone. I didn’t have to rush Kevin in order to find out, as he wanted to get to Dustin’s room as badly as I did.

When we arrived at the nurses’ station, I quickly asked if there had been any improvement and they informed me there had been little change in his situation. Dustin was still unconscious, but his vital signs were stable, and they were currently giving him medications to counteract the effect of the drug. Kevin and I went to his room and I sat down in the chair beside Dustin’s bed. Kevin apparently felt more comfortable sitting on my lap, but I didn’t mind. We just sat there and touched Dustin’s arm, while speaking to him softly.

“Dusty, I’m here now,” Kevin told him, he voice choked with emotion. “You’ve got to snap out of this soon, because I’m very worried about you. You know I love you.”

“I’m here too, Dustin,” I added. “We’re both here for you and want you to get well as quickly as possible. The rest of the boys send their love and will come to see you, once you wake up.”

We continued to talk to him, as he lay there motionless on the bed. It was a mind-numbing vigil at his bedside, only made worse by seeing all the tubes that were sticking out of him. We sat there for hours with him, but nothing was happening. We kept touching him and trying to do little things to make him more comfortable, while encouraging him to try to pull himself out of his stupor, as we watched for any sign of improvement.

As dinnertime approached, I finally decided that Kevin and I needed to eat. “Why don’t you come with me?” I pleaded. “We’ll come back after we eat and stay with him as long as the hospital allows.”

“No, you go and you can just bring something back for me,” Kevin replied, while his eyes pleaded with me to let him stay there. “I’ll be all right, but I can’t leave Dusty again.”

I finally gave in and left him by Dustin’s side, while I went down to the cafeteria. I didn’t eat much, not because it wasn’t good, but because I had no appetite. I brought some things back for Kevin too, but worried he’d suffer from the same problem I did – a lack of hunger from too much worrying.

After Kevin picked at his meal, we ended up staying with Dustin until nearly midnight. That’s when the nurses urged us to go home again, for a few more hours. “Nothing is going to change before the doctor arrives in the morning,” the nurse informed us. “He’ll be kept him sedated over night, and then the doctor will let us know how things will go from there. You won’t do him any good by staying awake and jeopardizing your own health, so go home and get some sleep.” After agreeing with the logic of her argument, we left and headed home.

By the time we arrived there, it was already Sunday and I suddenly remember we had Cole’s party ahead of us. I didn’t want to ruin his special day, so the party would go on as planned. I wasn’t certain as to how I was going to pull everything off, but I’d worry about that, after we got a little more rest.

Kevin slept with me again that night, but he had a very restless slumber. Even though I held him against me as much as I could, he tossed and turned the whole evening, even waking up screaming on a couple of occasions. We did manage to get six or seven hours of interrupted sleep, before planning another quick trip to the hospital.

While Kevin was cleaning up, I talked to Danny and asked him to call Aunt Sally. I hope she would be willing to pick up the cake from the bakery for me and bring it to the house, while Kevin and I took Cole with us to the hospital. That would give the rest of them time to get things ready before we got back. Danny asked me how I was going to pull that off without making Cole suspicious, so I told him I had worked it all out in my head earlier.

As usual, Danny agreed to do everything I asked, so I went off to find Cole. While looking around, I also ran into Brandon and Jay. I had forgotten they had stayed over, but they both gave me a hug and a kiss and told me how sorry they were about what happened to Dustin. I thanked them, told them I loved them too and then continued my search for Cole. He was in the family room with Ricky and Graham. Surprise.

“Cole, may I see you for a minute?” I asked. My voice startled all three of them, since no one saw me enter the room.

“Sure, Dad. What’s up?” he wanted to know.

“Cole, I need a favor from you,” I told him. “I want you to go with Kevin and me to the hospital for a while. Kevin gets bored with just me there and I think you could help him more than I could at this point. I need Danny and Ricky to stay and take care of things, here and Pat and Trey are too new to be able to relate to Kevin. I would ask Graham, but I think he’s just too young for such a responsibility. Do you think I can count on you to do this for me?”

Cole looked surprised, but pleased that I had singled him out to perform such an important duty. “Sure, Dad. Anything,” he agreed. “I was already thinking I’d kind of like to see Dustin, too.”

“Great. Go get cleaned up and changed and I’ll do the same,” I advised him. “We’ll leave the house within the hour.”

As soon as Cole raced upstairs to get ready, I informed Danny that everything was set. I also told him to explain everything to Ricky and Graham too, but not until after Cole and I left. I was afraid they’d give it away by their actions, if they were informed before then. Danny said something like, ‘he shouldn’t have doubted my ability to get one of them to do something like that,’ before telling me to let Dustin know they were all praying for him. I told him I’d do that and then went up to my room to get ready. I passed Kevin on the way and told him that Cole would be joining us, but I’m not sure if it registered with him. He was moving around the house like a zombie, making all the motions without any conscious thought.

I joined my two companions downstairs and we said our good-byes to the others, before leaving for the hospital. When we got up to the floor where Dustin’s room was located, I sent the boys on ahead, while I stopped at the nurses’ station to see if there was any news. While I was chatting with the nurses, the doctor came by to make his rounds. He told me we could go down to the room together, he’d check Dustin over and then we could slip out for some privacy, so he could interpret the information for me. He was well aware of Kevin’s attachment to Dustin and didn’t want to say anything in front of him that might make it more difficult for him to continue to deal with the situation.

When we walked into the room, the boys were on opposite sides of the bed, holding Dustin’s hands and talking to him. The doctor smiled at both boys, before asking them to kindly step outside for a few minutes, so he could examine their brother. After he pulled the curtain around the bed, the doctor checked Dustin’s heart, lungs, pupils and other vital signs, and then signaled me to follow him. We sent the boys back in with their brother, while we walked down to a small conference area, where we could discuss Dustin’s condition.

“Mr. Currie, Dustin did have an allergic reaction to the drug,” the doctor informed me. “It caused his heart to palpitate and his brain to swell. We were able to get his heartbeat under control almost immediately and performed several other procedures to relieve the pressure on his brain. I believe he’ll regain consciousness once the swelling goes down more, but I can’t guarantee this is what will happen. We’re not sure if his allergic reaction caused other problems that we couldn’t detect or if there will be any lasting effects from this incident.”

“Lasting effects such as?” I lead him.

“Brain damage would be one,” the doctor stated quickly. The swelling in his brain would have restricted the flow of blood, which is responsible for carrying oxygen to the brain cells. We’re not sure how much deprivation there might have been, nor for how long.”

“He’s going to live, though? Isn’t he?” I pressed.

“He should, but I can’t give you a definite response about that, either,” he warned me. “There are still too many other variables that could still come into play concerning his condition. Let’s just say I’m cautiously optimistic about his chances.”

“Please don’t tell the boys that,” I begged him. “I don’t want them to get any more upset over their brother’s situation than they already are.”

“I understand, and this is just between you and I,” he assured me. “I promise I will do everything I can to give him back to you in good condition, as quickly as I can.”

I thanked him, shook his hand and then went back to Dustin’s room. The boys quizzed me on what the doctor had said, so I told them what I could without alarming them. We stayed in Dustin’s room through lunchtime, but I suggested it was time to leave, around twenty minutes of two. Although Kevin wanted to stay, I insisted we all leave for now, but promised him we’d return again later. Disappointed, he walked between Cole and me, as walked back to the van.

We drove home in silence, and I was surprised when Cole didn’t even notice Sally’s car parked along the street as we arrived. I grabbed Kevin’s shoulder to slow him down as we headed for the door, because I wanted Cole to enter first, by himself. We were about two steps behind him when he opened the door and went inside, followed by shouts of ‘surprise’ and ‘happy birthday,’ as he entered the foyer. Cole lit up like the red bulb on a string of Christmas lights, as he was swarmed by his well-wishers.

When I walked into the house, I was impressed with what the others had done to prepare for this. The house was decorated nicely, the table was set, with the cake placed at the center, and Danny and Pat had even started barbequing the food.

Cole’s two friends from school, whom I had made sure to invite again, were on either side of Cole, giving him their own special birthday greeting. We were soon sitting down to eat and Cole was beaming from all of the attention. At one point his smile began to fade and I asked him what was wrong.

“I feel guilty about having such a good time while Dustin’s in the hospital,” he admitted.

“Well, you shouldn’t,” I countered. “I’m sure everyone would agree that Dustin would be among the first to insist you have a good time and enjoy your birthday. You shouldn’t have to feel guilty or lose out because something like this happened at nearly the same time as your party. You spend this time enjoying yourself and forget about everything else for the time being. We all need a mental break from the emotional stress we’ve been under.”

“He’s right Cole,” Kevin added. “I think I know Dusty better than any of you and he’d want you to enjoy your party and have fun. I’m sure his only problem with this would be that he wasn’t here to help you celebrate.”

That seemed to alleviate Cole’s concerns, so for the next couple of hours he let himself go and got into the festivities. After we ate, we sang to Cole, had cake and ice cream and then Cole opened his presents. When the party had ended, Sally offered to take Brandon and Jay home, so Kevin and I could go straight to the hospital. I took her up on her offer and thanked her from the bottom of my heart for being so thoughtful and such a good friend. It’s at the lowest points in your life that you discover who your most loyal friends are.

When Kevin and I arrived at Dustin’s room, we discovered there was no still no change in his condition. Undaunted, we sat by his bed and talked to him until it was nearly 10:00 p.m. Seeing there was school tomorrow and we both needed our sleep, I insisted it was time for us to go home. Kevin wasn’t happy about leaving and argued with me briefly about letting him spend the night there. When I wouldn’t give in, he gave me the cold shoulder as we walked to the van.

On the way home, Kevin came up with a new tactic. “Dad, can I take tomorrow off from school and stay with Dusty?”

“No, Kevin, I don’t think that would be wise,” I informed him, drawing an immediate scowl in return. “This could take days or even weeks until Dustin is back with us and you can’t afford that much time off from your studies. I want all of you boys to attend classes and I’ll stay with Dustin. I’ll have someone pick you up and bring you to the hospital if there is any change.”

“But, Dad, I won’t be able to concentrate on what we’re doing anyway,” he pleaded. “I’ll be thinking of Dusty no matter where I am, so why can’t I just be with him?”

“Kevin, you’ll have to force yourself to concentrate on school during the day,” I responded, “but I will allow you to go to the hospital after classes are over and you can do your homework there.”

“But, Dad…”

I cut him off. “Kevin, you’re not going to win this one,” I informed him, showing him I could be just as stubborn. “Just accept it, because that’s the best offer you’re going to get. I know you love Dustin and want to be with him, but that is only going to be after school and on the weekend, if it takes that long.”

Kevin jerked his body around, so he wasn’t facing me, to let me know how upset he was. He continued to pout throughout the ride and I knew he was probably cursing me under his breath. By the time we got home, most of the boys were already in bed, but Danny was waiting up for us. He wanted to know how Dustin was, so we talked about the whole situation. Kevin even interrupted our conversation to try to get Danny on his side, hoping he could still talk me into letting him spend the whole day with Dustin tomorrow. Fortunately, Danny was smart enough not to get involved.

Finding no help there, Kevin continued to plead with me, but I ignored his mild protest and headed to bed. Kevin stormed off in the other direction, announcing he was going to sleep in his own room tonight, which mildly surprised me.

“Are you sure you want to do that?” I asked him, thinking a simple question might be enough to make him see the absurdity of his actions. Maybe I could hint that he might sleep with one of the other boys instead. “It’s hard enough to deal with what’s happened, without isolating yourself from the rest of us. Danny might let you bunk in with him, if that would help.”

“Nah, I’ll be fine,” he snapped, before heading down the hallway.

As I watched him leave, I wondered if he was going to be able to handle being alone in the room he shared with Dustin. He had been sleeping with me since before this whole thing began, but I was determined to let him do it, if only to prove he wasn’t going to get his way. I knew this was his form of protest and done solely out of spite, but I was willing to wait and see if he could actually last out the night on his own.

After we all turned in, the house seemed unusually quiet – unnaturally so. I wasn’t sure if it was just my imagination or if there truly was a difference. I lay there for quite some time, thinking about it, listening to the unusual calm and doing some serious tossing and turning, before I finally fell asleep. However, it was not a good night’s rest. My sleep was troubled and Dustin’s situation never left my thoughts.

Sometime during the night I felt my bed jiggle and opened my eyes slightly, only to discover Kevin crawling in beside me. In the faint glow of the moonlight filtering into the room, I could see him smile, when he saw me lift my head slightly.

“As always, you were right,” he informed me. “I just can’t sleep in there without Dusty. You don’t mind if I come in here, do you?”

“You know I don’t,” I assured him. “Come here and I’ll see if I can’t make you feel a little better,” I added, while reaching out my arms toward him, so I could hug him.

“I’m sorry about earlier too, Dad,” he added, before allowing himself to cuddle against me.

“It’s forgotten,” I told him. “I understand how hard this is for you, so we don’t need to discuss it any further. In fact, we’d both better get some sleep, if we’re going to function tomorrow.”

“Thanks, Dad,” he whispered, as he hugged me. Good night and I love you.”

“I love you too, you little monkey,” I replied. “Even if sometimes you are more than a little stubborn.” I heard him giggle in response to my comment and then we snuggled together, until we drifted off.