Date: Mon, 20 Feb 2012 19:41:10 -0700
From: Pete McDonald <bajabudfan@hotmail.com>
Subject: TIME-TO-SEE-45-

TIME-TO-SEE-45

Nicky had fallen asleep in the Recovery Room even before everyone left. He
felt especially exhausted.  Now he awoke in a private room where Dr. Gilmer
was standing beside his hospital bed.

"Well, hello, Nicky.  How're you feelin?" Dr, Gilmer asked.

"Really, Dr. Gilmer, I don't feel very good at all; my left side is killing
me, but I hope maybe that's gonna be temporary, ya think?" He asked in
return.

"Yes, Nicky.  You'll recover nicely; although this time you might feel
soreness under the arms even more persistently than you did before,"
Dr. Gilmer answered.

"You see, when your chest hit the tile deck with the full force of your
body weight, that popped the steel retainer out of place, and the bar was
then pressing directly on your heart preventing it from moving the volume
of blood your body needed.  You experienced that as losing consciousness,"
Dr. Gilmer explained.

"You would have suffered permanent brain damage if there hadn't been
fast-thinking and fast-acting people to get you here to the hospital; so
I could go in and reposition the bar."

"Yeah.  I owe a lotta people. I gotta go tell each one in person that I
appreciate all they did for me, and I'll promise them I won't do anything
stupid like that again..." Nicky volunteered.

Dr. Gilmer smiled and rubbed Nicky's ever billowing red mop then said, "I
know they'd appreciate that, Nicky.  But what I find interesting is how you
are completely aware now of the unnecessary risk you took, and how that's
not the way to go about getting something important done.... I'd have
thought you would be months learning that...," Dr. Gilmer said.

"Well, I would of, but while you were working on my chest in the operating
room, I went to visit my Grandpa, and he talked to me about what I did,"
Nicky confided matter of fact.

"Your Grandpa?" Dr. Gilmer exclaimed.

"Yeah.  He's Kevin's papa; so that makes him MY Grandpa. Anyhow, he helped
me to see why I done that crazy stunt, when I shoulda let God help that
little kid, and maybe I coulda helped God, but I didn't need to nearly kill
myself tryin to save him all by myself, Grandpa told me." Nicky shared his
view of things quite comfortably with Dr. Gilmer.

Dr. Gilmer stood there dumbfounded, not expecting this insightful if
metaphysical explanation of things from an eleven-year old...

"Ah, so you think you won't be trying to be everybody's savior anymore,
right?" Dr. Gilmer asked.

"Nope.  I know God is taking care of things, and that I just need to find
out where I fit in... You know, like maybe I could a got his mama or
somebody else to get the kid before he got so close to the pool...," Nicky
said.

"I don't know.  I just DO know it feels good to realize I won't be hurting
myself deliberately again.  Grandpa said I was valuable, and now I think
he's right; although I know I want Kevin and Hugo to tell me that from time
to time; so's I don't forget...," Nicky said. "I forget things like that
sometimes..."Nicky confessed.

"Well let me be the first to remind you, Nicky, that you are indeed a VERY,
VERY valuable person, and we all love you very much, especially Kevin and
Hugo." Dr. Gilmer said.

"Thanks.  You really think so?" Nicky asked as a genuine query.

"I REALLY think so, Nicky." Dr. Gilmer replied suppressing the urge to
smile at Nicky's simplicity.

"Okay."

*****

Nicky lay there ruminating, "Here I am in the hospital again... Darn!  I
was really gettin used to being out.  Oh, well, I gotta make sure I do it
right this time.  No problem..."

The sun was streaming brightly into Nicky's hospital room where dust
particles floated all about like tiny balloons at a birthday party.

A gentle knock sounded against his door.

"Yeah?" Nicky called out to welcome the unidentified visitor.

The door creaked open and Jake poked his head around the edge and looked
in.  "Is it okay if we come in?" Jake asked Nicky.

"Oh, sure, Jake.  I'm really glad you came," Nicky answered.

The door pushed open a little further, and in walked Jake holding the
little boy who nearly fell in the Killer Whale pool. Craig was right behind
them.

"Nicky, look who we brought to see you," Jake said smiling down at a very
shy little boy who put his fingers in his mouth and his head on Jake's
chest, where he nestled it into Jake's neck, hiding there to conceal his
eyes.

Nicky felt a surge of energy as he spoke: "Hi! There.  What's your name?"

There was a pause while the little boy squirmed even deeper into Jake's
neck feeling especially self-conscious.  Jake looked over at Nicky and
said, "This is Dillon, Nicky!  You remember him, don't you?"

"Oooooooh, yeah! I remember him alright!" Nicky said rolling his eyes and
smiling broadly.

"Dillon." Nicky called out to the boy.  "Thanks for coming to see me."

Dillon kept his head buried in Jake's neck but he swiveled it a bit when he
heard his name, until he could see Nicky in the bed.  Dillon took his wet
fingers from his mouth and wiped them on Jake's cheek.

"Uh?  Dillon, how 'bout we dry the fingers before you pat my face," Jake
said with a loving, indulgent voice.

"Here, Hon, let me help," Craig said as he stepped around Jake with a fresh
diaper to dry things off.

"Hi, Craig. What's goin on with the kid?" Nicky asked.

"It's a very long story that we'll tell you some Sunday afternoon when
you're interested, but for now it amounts to Jake and me being appointed
Foster Parents for Dillon.  It's so sad. His mom and dad are both meth and
rock cocaine users--those two are really bad into drugs--and now Dillon
needs a home.  Do you think you could be his big brother every now and
then?" Craig asked?

"Oh, yeah... But it'll have to wait till I get out of here.  He can come to
visit me though, if you want to bring him," Nicky said.

"That's very nice of you, Nicky!" Jake said.

"Now Dillon doesn't understand who you are or what you did for him yet, but
Craig and I and Jilder know, and we all think you were amazing...  I want
to give you a SUPER THANK YOU, NICKY for saving Dillon's life...God, you
were fantastic..." Jake said.

"Well, I'm glad he's okay, 'cause I ain't gonna be doing that stunt
again. It took too much outta me, but I'm really glad you brought Dillon to
see me.  Yeah. He don't know it, but he's a pretty important little guy to
me... You might say, I think he's veeeery valuable," Nicky said.

"But no more valuable a guy than YOU ARE, Nicky!" Craig added quite
spontaneously.

He walked over to Nicky's bed, put his arms around Nicky and gave him a
hug.

"Easy, easy," Nicky said with an uncomfortable smile on his face.

"Ooops! Sorry.  Just trying to give you a smooch!" Craig said.

Jake had walked over to Nicky's bed and lowered Dillon down onto the
mattress.

"Watch him, Hon! Don't let him punch Nicky." Craig said.

"Sure, sure..." Jake said grabbing Dillon around the midsection and pulling
him out of arm's reach of Nicky.

"Here, let me shake your hand, Dillon," Nick said, more as a request of
Jake than of Dillon.

Jake let Dillon crawl closer to Nicky where Nicky reached out and took
Dillon's hand and shook it.  "You're a terrific little guy, Dillon.  I
wanna play with you when I'm feeling better.  And I wanna take you to meet
our dogs too... " Nicky said to Dillon.

"Doggie?" Dillon said.

"Well, he knows what you're talkin about, Nicky" Jake said with a smile.

Dillon turned his face to look up at Jake questioningly and asked again,
"Doggie?"

It was clear he knew what the topic of conversation was, and he was ready
to find the doggies.

"Yeah! Dillion, I got FOUR doggies and they would all just love to lick
your face.  They're BIG doggies," Nicky said.

"Big doggie!" Dillon replied with a broad smile on his face. This kid was
up to speed on doggies.

Then Nicky asked Dillon, "Dillon, do you remember the Big fish that
splashed water on you?"

Dillon looked around at everyone, his eyes questioning them one by one.  He
seemed to be saying "Big Fish? What's this guy talkin about??"

"You remember? Shamoo" Nicky said.

With that, a broad smile broke across Dillon's face as he repeated,
"Sha-noo".

"Good Grief! The kid remembers..." Nicky said smiling... "Can you believe
that..."

*****

The morning passed very quickly, Nicky thoroughly enjoying his visitors.

In fact, it was growing very, very late, Nicky knew, but although he was
tired and sore and generally felt lousy, he still wanted to see his dads
and Jilder.  He didn't care when it was that they came.

Jake and Craig were preparing to leave when Hugo and Kevin arrived with
Jilder in tow.

Jilder made a bee line to Nicky's bed and threw his arms around Nicky and
planted a big smooch on his forehead... "Hey, Nicky.  Wanna go for a swim?"
Jilder said.

"Wise ass," Nicky replied hugging Jilder in return.  As Jilder started to
rise, Nicky pulled him back close to him and just when Jilder was
vulnerable Nicky tickled him in the stomach, where he knew Jilder was
vulnerable...  At the same time Nicky said with a big smile, "You can't hit
me, I'm wounded, I'm wounded..."

"Jilder recoiled to cover his stomach and get out of Nicky's reach...."Oh,
you turkey... You just wait until you're better...." Jilder threatened,
which was the best response he could make under the circumstances. "YOU
JUST WAIT,'Mr. Nickolas T. Wiseass' (the T stands for TURKEY!)..."

Nicky responded, "But I love you anyhow, Jilder..."

Kevin bent over Nicky, pushed his wild hair back out of his eyes a bit and
said, "We're so happy to see you in good spirits. We talked about how your
having to go through your recovery again might be a bummer, but you seem up
to the job... "

"Oh, yeah, Nicky," Hugo said, "We spoke with Dr. Gilmer for a few minutes
in the hall on the way up to your room.  He seemed pleased too with your
response to his repositioning your retainer.  He also said that you were in
a remarkably peaceful frame of mind, but he wanted to remind us that every
now and then we needed to remind you how valuable you are... "

Hugo reached down to the bed and took Nicky's hand in his: "Nicky, you
cannot begin to know how MUCH you mean to me... You are so valuable that I
don't know what I'd do without you."

And Hugo continued to stroke Nicky's hand as he spoke: "Our family would
never be the same without you... Don't ever forget that we love you very
much and that you are VERY VALUABLE, not just to me, but to each one of
us...."

Jilder taunted from across the room, "Yeah! Turkey... I love your
ass... That's the only thing that's savin you!"

Nicky started to tear up.  He was hearing the very things he longed to
hear, and that made all the difference in the world to him... Whatever
discomfort he may encounter in this latest detour in convalescence would
mean nothing to him.

"Nicky, Hugo, Kev, Jilder, we gotta be going.  Dillon is up way past his
nap time.  Tomorrow evening we'll probably be bringing Dillon back over to
visit with Nicky."

"Oh, great," Kevin said.  "Maybe we can meet you guys for dinner at Coco's
sometime before that?"

"Let's keep in touch.  Give either Craig or me a call tomorrow when you
know what you're gonna be doing." Jake said.

"And, Kevin..." Jake added, "Do you think you could bring YOUR little dog,
Pepe, when we meet.  Dillon has been talking about "doggie" all day. I'd
really love for him to meet Pepe, if you can do it"

"Oh, sure, Jake.  That wouldn't be any problem at all," Kevin answered

"And Hugo, I damn near forgot," Craig said.  "We've just got to sit down
together and discuss a new business project that's come up, to decide
whether we think we wanna try for it."

"Whoa! That's good news.  When you have a kid who keeps runnin up hospital
bills like ours does, you need all the cash you can find..." Hugo joked.

"Oh, Dad. I'm so sorry I cost you all that money.  I promise when I grow
up, I'll help you buy something special... I'm gonna be a doctor!" Nicky
announced.

Kevin said, "Oh, my goodness! Nicky.  That's the first I've heard about
that aspiration.  You know you'll need to go to school for a long time, and
it takes a lot of work, but we'll be here to help you... And if you decide
to do something different in the meantime, well that'll be okay with us
too.  We just want you boys to find your way to where ever life leads
you... Don't worry, Nicky.  Remember, like you said, God will help you
decide what you ought to do with your life... Take your time.  You needn't
rush... Good grief, you're not even a teenager yet..."

"Yeah! But I'll BE 13 in just a little over a year," Nicky pointed out.

"Well, yeah! Goodness time passes fast when you're having fun..." Hugo
said.

*****

"Nicky. I don't want you to think twice about my bad joke about hospital
bills.  That was not a nice thing for me to say, and I regret that I
planted the seed that I'm anything but grateful to be able to help you heal
just by helping to provide the medical care. Remember, Nicky, you are too
valuable to lose! You know that Kevin and I both will be seeing to your
care... And you must not worry about anything except getting well... Hum?
And maybe avoiding Jilder's tickling you in revenge..." Hugo said.

*****

Everyone had gone and the room was quiet.  Nicky was alone for the first
time, he realized.

"Tap, tap, tap" on the door.

Without his even saying anything the door opened and the nurse came
in. "Are you doing okay, Mr. Nicky?" she said.

"Yeah! But I could sure use a pain pill to help me go to sleep.  I know I
have to be careful not to use too many of them, but I remember from last
time I was in the hospital, Dr. Gilmer said he wanted me to sleep, and that
using one pill at night and maybe one in the morning wouldn't be too much,"
Nicky said.

"My goodness, Nick.  It sounds like I'm talkin to Dr. Gilmer himself.  You
sure are up on this medical stuff," the nurse said.

"I hope I can study and get to be a doctor," Nicky said.  "I think they
really help people, and especially people like me who do dumb things to get
sick... And maybe I can even help alcoholics..."

"Oh, Nick!  You just had to learn the best way to do what you wanted.  Next
time you'll understand, and you won't hurt yourself," the nurse said.

"Yeah!" Nicky said.

"How's about me gettin you that pain pill right now. I think you'd probably
do best too if you get plenty of sleep.  The more rest you get, I'll bet
the faster you'll heal, and then the faster you can go home..." the nurse
reminded Nicky.

"I think you're right," Nicky answered.


"And I want you to know that I appreciate your helping me while I'm
sick. You are valuable," Nicky said.

Apparently Nick realized that EVERYONE needs to feel valuable.  And when
you SEE that someone is valuable, it's good to tell them...

The nurse was back in a jiffy with a pain pill.

"Well, Thank You, Nicky... That is very nice of you..." and handing him the
pill and a cup of water the nurse waited for him to take it.  "Just call me
if you need anything, Nicky."

"G'nite" Nicky replied. And he nestled his head in the pillow that the
nurse had fluffing up for him.  He knew that he needed to lie there
straight, and that he wouldn't be doing much squirming in the bed until he
had healed some more.

Nicky smiled to himself as he drifted off to sleep thinking: "It sure feels
good to know that your dads and everybody say you're valuable..."