I rolled over to the sound of my cell phone ringing. What a way to be pulled out of a nice dream' I thought to myself. Ugh, damn ringer! I need to change it to something less annoying.' I answered my phone with a groggy "Hello?" It was Rose Morgan, a friend from my college years. "Rose, its 1:30 in the morning, I swear if you're drunk dialing me I'm going to hunt you down and hurt you." Her response made me sit up in the bed. "Ok Rose, I need you to calm down, and talk a little slower. What do you mean there was an accident? Who was involved? Are you ok?" By this point I was out of bed and fumbling for a light switch. Giving up on finding the wall switch I pulled open the curtain of my Hotel room and started looking for clothes to pull on in my dark room.
"Chris! Did you hear a word I was saying?" I heard Rose screaming through the phone. Her yelling snapped me back to the matters at hand.
"Huh? Oh I'm here; I was pulling on a shirt." I replied.
"It's Aleck." She said. Hearing those two words I froze where I was standing. She continued "His vehicle went off the road sometime late this afternoon, he was found by a passerby about two hours ago. He was flown to the University Hospital, Regional Trauma Center. The most I could get out of any doctor so far was that his status is critical and they're not even sure if he is going to make it." Having heard that reality came crashing down. The phone fell from my hand and landed on the bed. I was in shock, there was absolutely no way this could be true.
I wasn't sure what I was going to do. I just immediately went into my emergency mode. "Ok Rose, I'm down in Connecticut right now but I think I can be up there in only a couple hours. Can you call the jet service for me and get me on a charter plane from Hartford Airport to the closest airport to the hospital he's at. However you pay for it let me know and I'll call my accountant in the morning to transfer the money." Before I could start speaking again she cut me off.
"Christian, this may be an emergency but I'm not stupid. I have a jet waiting at Hartford Airport waiting for you, don't worry about the cost. You know our family will have no problem covering the expenses to get you up here. You'll be flying into Syracuse Airport, and from there either I will be there to pick you up or a car will be waiting to bring you to the hospital where I'll meet you. The only thing you need to do is call your assistant while you're on the plane and make sure she gets a hold of someone here at the hospital to let them know you're coming."
"Rose you're a life saver. Always on top of things; are you sure there is no way I can convince you to come work for me?"
"Sorry Chris, but my top priorities are Aleck and the Charity." She laughed. She continued in a more serious tone. "Aleck would feel better if he knew you'd be here to take care of him. I know it's not my place to say anything but he's always liked you Chris, since the two of you met when I dragged you home for Christmas break 10 years ago."
"I remember Rose, and thanks for calling me. If you want me to get up there though I need to hang up now so I can throw my stuff together and go."
We exchanged our goodbyes and ended the call. This was too much to try and absorb in such a short time. Aleck, the man I often would dream of as my own, was lying in a coma in Central NY. I started to cry but had to pull myself together. I finally managed to finish getting dressed somewhat decently, although I had been sleeping in a pair of shorts I had pulled on a pair of khakis and a button up short sleeved shirt. All in all I didn't look too impressive, then again it was 2 a.m. and I had only managed to grab a few hours of sleep before Rose's emergency phone call came in. I was still having a problem comprehending the fact that I may lose one of my close friends before the night was over.
As I left the hotel and got a ride to the airport to catch my charter flight, I got out my cell phone and called my assistant Susan.
I knew it was early but when I explained to her what had happened, she had no problem with my calling so early and agreed to call the hospital and make the necessary arrangements for my arrival. Normally I wouldn't need to have to do paperwork when going to a hospital but the person I was going to see was not only a friend he was a patient, so I needed Susan to get the necessary clearances for me to be one of the doctors to direct his treatment.
On the plane I really had nothing to think of other than Aleck, and the last 10 years of my life. Since I had met him it had been an experience to say the least. It was hard for me to believe it had really been 10 years we'd known each other. I met him over winter break the year his mother had passed away. I didn't really get much time to talk to Aleck that break; he wasn't really personable at the time. Rose had explained to me late one night to not take Aleck's attitude personally because he had just had a huge falling out with his Father and was a real emotional wreck. Still the first time I had seen him I remember feeling like I had been hit with a bolt of lightning. I started to smile as I thought about some of the time I had spent with him over the last 10 years. We had gotten close, but I never let anything develop beyond friendship. I had always wanted more, but didn't want to lose what I had been given.
Finally the plane landed in the Syracuse Airport, and I got into the town car that was waiting to take me to the Trauma Center where Aleck was lying in a coma. Rose was waiting for me in the lobby of the hospital with the Doctor who was following Aleck's case. Before anyone could say anything to me, I turned to Rose. "Just take me to him; we can catch up over his condition in his room." I said. "Alright Christian, but you're not going to like it. He's looking like hell that's been frozen, and left out to thaw." Was all she could say as we made our way to their Critical Care Unit, and Aleck. Rose's comment about how Aleck would look rang true as could be. When I finally got to his room I still wasn't completely prepared for the scene that was before me. Aleck was lying in that bed looking more like a dead man than the lively person I would go out to bars with. His forehead and upper arms were heavily bandaged, and there were several IV's and sensors attached to him. I knew that due to the sheer amount of trauma he would have suffered from his accident that most if not all of his beautiful sandy blonde hair would have been shaved off to treat all of the injuries to his head. Compared to the other possible result of the accident, I knew that Aleck would have no problem losing most of his hair, after all like he would say "It'll grow back and be good as new." I frowned as that thought crossed my mind.
`All of these feelings I have for you Aleck and yet I'm terrified that by telling you, you'd just run away. Well as long as you're in a hospital I'll be able to treat you like you should always be treated.' I thought to myself as I let my hand brush his arm.
I turned my attention back to Rose and the Doctor. "How long has he been stable like this?" I asked immediately.
"I'd have to say since about 2:30 or so, but as you can see Dr. Andersen ..."
"Just call me Christian please, you only need to worry about calling me Dr. Andersen when I give you new instructions in caring for Aleck here. And should you have a problem with accepting my final say in decisions that pertain to this particular patient then you can take it up with the Director of the hospital who I believe by now, completely understands the scope of the situation." I interrupted.
"I'm sorry. As I was saying I'm sure you can see Christian, that although Aleck is stable, his core body temperature is still below normal but is slowly beginning to climb, I'm sure that by tonight or early tomorrow his core temperature will be back to normal." He finished.
I turned to Rose, "Can I get a few minutes alone with Aleck?"
It looked like the young doctor wanted to protest but Rose whispered something in his ear and he quickly conceded. "Certainly Chris, When you're ready I'll be out in the hall and we'll be able to track down Dr. Marks here" with that they turned around and Rose ushered the ICU doctor from the room.
I ran my hand lightly along Aleck's bruised jaw. Tears started running down my face, and I could no longer hold back the flood of emotions. I leaned over the side of his bed and cried on the chest of the man I loved so deeply. "Don't you dare leave me, Aleck." I cried, barely audibly. "Don't you dare leave me!"