Hi everyone...
In order to accommodate people who are asking me about notification lists, I've finally created an YahooGroup (Gods, Yahoo is like the Borg!) to do so: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Dale_writings
As always, Gabriella is my main cheerleader. Mark has also been great. I've even inspired him! Check out his story "Blind Date", it's also here in the Boyband section.
I'm a bit nervous--so if people could please e-mail me at bwicub@hotmail.com--I'd really appreciate it. I love e-mail!!
My story is hosted on another website. Here's it is: http://railwayshoes.net/hosted
It's partway down the site, just look for "Lottery Winner". There's lots of other great stories there so check them out.
DISCLAIMER: The names of the people are fictional (well, except for the members of the group). This is a fictional story that came right out of my own mind. I have no knowledge if any member of N Sync are gay or whatever. That being said, please enjoy the story and remember-- write me!!! (Especially write me if you're a member of the group! GRIN)
Thanks guys and gals, Hope you like it.
Dale
--THE LOTTERY WINNER...Ch 45--
Mark and Joey just sat there staring at each other for awhile. Hearing the door to the Emergency Room open, Mark looked around and saw Lance walk out. He headed over to where the men were sitting.
"Okay, we need to go back to the hotel. Mark, can you take us?"
Joey glared at Lance for a minute, then got up. "No way Lance... not going. I need to be here for Dale." He tried walking past Lance to the door, but Lance moved to block the way.
"Get out of the way Lance... please." Joey sounded like he was going to start crying again.
"Joey, I'm sorry. I know you want to be here, but we have obligations right now. There's nothing we can do by staying here except to piss off people for being in the way. The doctors have said that Dale isn't going to wake up in the next few hours. Once Mark picks up Dale's mom, he'll call me and we'll see about coming back over to meet them here."
Joey looked sadly at Lance. "Okay Scoop, you win." He turned and slowly walked to Mark's jeep. He looked so defeated. He quietly got in the backseat of the jeep, and curled up on the seat, holding himself tightly.
Mark turned on Lance. "Do you honestly think he's going to be any good to you for anything group related? He's a wreck Lance!"
Lance let out a snort. "Gee, ya think? He'll get the job done, if for no other reason than we need him to. We can't dwell on things right now. Can we go now?"
Mark didn't say a word, just got behind the wheel of the jeep and started the engine. The ride back to the group's hotel was silent.
"Joey?"
"Shut up please Mark." Joey was staring out the passenger side window at the cars going by.
"Hrmph. Okay, fine." Mark fiddled with the tuner on the radio and found one playing an N'Sync song. It took him a few seconds to realize that it wasn't probably the best idea. The station was playing "This I Promise You", and Joey promptly fell apart. Lance reached up from the back seat and turned the radio off.
Before Mark's jeep had even come to a complete stop at the hotel, Joey had opened the door and stormed inside. Lance let out a sigh as his friend ran inside.
"Mark. I'm worried."
Mark laughed. "Given the past few hours I need a little more to go on. Joey? Dale? Me? Chris?"
"Joey. And Dale. This is bad. I didn't tell you guys just how bad. The doctors aren't even sure if Dale's going to wake up."
Mark closed his eyes. "Dammit Lance don't you dare do that to me. I can't think of not having Dale around anymore. If I start thinking about that then I'm gonna be a fucking basket case the rest of the night and get no sleep then look like shit when I pick up his mom at the airport."
Mark turned around and glared at Lance. "You're going to go in there and spend time with Joey. He's going to push you away but I don't care, you'll stay with him and make sure that he's okay. I'll go play nice with his mom and take her to the hospital. Do you want me to call you when she gets in or when we get to Dale?"
Lance thought for a minute. "We have some interviews to do at six in the morning for the East Coast, then a couple at ten to do press for the charities. We should be done by noon. Chris' plane touches down at nine so why don't we just head to the hospital and meet you guys when we're done. That way Chris gets some time alone with the doctors so she can find out what in the world is going on." He suddenly yawned. "Shit. Okay, I'm going in. Call me when you get Dale's mom so we know she got in okay." Lance got out of the jeep and headed in without a backwards glance.
Mark tried sleeping after he got home, but it was a long time coming. He finally gave in to his concerns and cried. His sleep was fitful at best, and full of weird dreams. He was up about twenty minutes before the alarm went off at seven. He showered and headed to the airport. It took him extra time to get to there because of a wreck, so he couldn't grab a coffee like he had originally planned. He staked out a spot at the entrance to the terminal and held up a sign that said "Dale's mom" so she'd know that he was there.
After about twenty minutes he got to finally meet his friend's mom. A slightly disheveled woman came up to him and said "So since I don't recognize you I guess you're Mark right?"
"Yes ma'am."
She slung a gym bag over her shoulder. "I don't have any checked stuff, so let's get going." They started walking to the car. "Where's Joey and the rest of them?"
"They have interviews and stuff they're trying to get through. Don't know how worthwhile Joey's gonna be though. Between you and me he was a wreck last night."
She snorted. "Well duh. Love does that to you. Those two are definitely in love." She pulled out a cell phone and began making a round of phone calls as they left the parking garage.
Mark was driving slow, trying to not scare Dale's mom. She hung up the phone and finally looked around at the scenery.
"Mark, is there some reason you're driving Miss Daisy?"
"Huh?"
"You're driving like an old lady! I want to get to the hospital before I age another year. If you get a speeding ticket I'll pay it. Now drive dammit!"
Mark laughed and sped up. They got to the hospital. As Mark shut off the jeep he told her that he had to call Lance.
"Okay, I'll be inside." She headed in to find out what was going on with Dale, and left Mark to his own devices. Mark shook his head as he dialed Lance.
"Hello?"
"It's Mark. We're at the hospital."
He heard Lance cover the phone and say something to someone. "Is Chris meeting with the doctors yet?"
"Yeah she's already inside. She seemed to understand when I told her where you guys are. Call me when you get ready to come here and I'll get you the room number where we'll be."
"Sounds like a plan. Hang on a second, Joey wants to ask you something." There was a clatter or two, then Joey got on the phone.
"Hi Mark."
"Joey, you sound like shit. Did you get any sleep?"
Joey softly said no he hadn't. "Have you seen Dale yet?"
"No Joe. As soon as I do I'll call you. I'm going to go catch up to Chris.
Want me to tell her anything?"
Joey sniffed. "Tell her I'm sorry. Tell her I love him." He broke off and Mark heard another clattering of noise.
"Hello?"
"Mark we'll talk to you later. We have to get ready for our next interview after we calm Joey down." Lance hung up, leaving Mark standing there.
"Shit." He trotted to the hospital entrance. The old lady behind the counter of the information desk glared at him as he walked through the door. "Hi. Dale Wright's room please."
She consulted a list. "I'm sorry sir, he's an ICU patient. No visitors allowed."
What the hell???
"His mom walked through here a few minutes ago. I'm here with her. Where is she?"
She glared at him some more. "I only have a list of patients, not people who walk through the door."
"Fine, you're no help then." He went to the phone on the wall and dialed the operator. "Please overhead page Chris Wright for me. Okay I'll hold." Mark waited for a few seconds and the operator came back on.
"Hold sir I'll connect you."
"Mark? Where are you?"
"I'm in the lobby, the old bat in information wouldn't let me go to where Dale is, and she had no clue who you were." The lady behind the desk snapped her head up as soon as he said it. Mark just smiled and waved to her.
"The doctor is taking me to Dale now, I'll make sure we swing by the lobby. Be there in a minute."
Mark threw himself into the chairs and thumbed through a beat-up copy of People. He grinned as there was a couple of pages in the back devoted to N'Sync and a show they did on Good Morning America. He was nearly done with the article when Chris came around the corner with the doctor trailing.
"Mark. Come on we're going this way." He got up and followed them through a maze of corridors, ending up outside a door that had the words "ICU Visitor's Lounge" painted on it. They went through that door and a connecting door on the far wall and came out in a suite of private rooms. The doctor went through the door marked "3-C" so Chris and Mark followed.
There, with tubes and monitors everywhere, was Dale.
Mark felt tears threaten to fall, but he bit them back. He didn't think Dale's mom would appreciate him crying right now. Dale looked so pale. He noticed the doctor was saying something.
"... as you can see we have Dale hooked up to a respirator. He began having difficulties breathing on his own last night, so we put him on it so he wouldn't have any problems. We have stopped the seizures through medication. We're also keeping him sedated. We can't have him fighting to take out the tubes."
He led the two of them out of Dale's room, and into a private consultation area. "Now Miss Wright, we need to talk about Dale's prognosis." The doctor looked pointedly at Mark for a second, and didn't stop until Chris told him that Mark was okay to be there.
"Very well ma'am. Our tests show that what we're dealing with is a tumor that has impinged the right temporal lobe of Dale's brain. This has probably impacted Dale's mood as well as motor skills the past few months. Now, at this time my honest recommendation is surgical excision. It's in a good location for removal, and if it's encapsulated we should be able to get the entire thing the first time."
He sat back and stared at her. "What are your thoughts Miss Wright?"
"What're the risks?"
"Well... as with any surgery there is some risk. This procedure is getting performed more and more, we've reached the point technologically where it's not entirely impossible to operate intercranially. If we can get in and out quickly, and the tumor is encapsulated we should be done in two hours. I can tell you that I've performed this procedure several dozen times, and I've only had one problem and that was an allergy to the medication used for anesthesia."
"Dale had allergies when he was younger. He's never had a problem with anesthesia though." Chris looked at Mark. "Dale had his tonsils taken out when he was a kid, also had ear surgery."
The doctor cleared his throat. "I can schedule Dale to go into surgery at two o'clock this afternoon. Given the history of the case I definitely advise that we go in as soon as possible and remove the tumor."
Chris didn't even hesitate. "Do it. What do I have to sign?"
Chris signed the papers that he produced authorizing the procedure. When she was done she thanked the doctor, then told him she was going to go back to Dale's room.
"Mark, do me a favor and call the guys."
Mark went to the ICU waiting room and called Lance's cell.
"Hello?"
"It's me. Dale's having surgery today at two."
"WHAT?"
Suddenly JC was on the phone. "Hello???"
"JC, it's Mark. Where's Lance?"
"He's hyperventilating. What'd you say to him?" Suddenly Lance was back on the phone.
"Chris okayed surgery? Okay, Joey and I are coming there. The guys will do the interviews without us. OH FUCK OFF JUSTIN! Joey and I are needed there right now. No Joey, you can talk to him when we get to the hospital. Mark, let Chris know we're on our way. You can fill us in when we get there. What's the room number?"
Mark filled them in on where the room was.
"Great."
CLICK
Mark quietly headed back to Dale's room. He walked in and noticed Dale's mom sitting at the head of the bed, holding Dale's hand.
"Joey and Lance are coming. They'll be here in about twenty to thirty minutes."
Chris thanked him, and didn't say anything else as Mark sat. Suddenly she began talking about something that Dale did back when he was a kid. She kept telling Mark about Dale's antics and things that he did growing up. Suddenly in the middle of one story, she stopped.
"I miss Debbie. She couldn't get time off work to come with me." She looked into Mark's eyes. "Ever feel like you're on candid camera? I keep expecting Dale to sit up and tell me April Fool's or Candid Camera or some silly shit."
She repositioned herself. "Did Dale ever tell you that he was a preemie? He came out almost two months early. He nearly died, so I took to calling him my miracle kid. He always had such a thirst for knowledge, and a love of life." Mark noticed a trail of tears down her face, but didn't say anything.
The door to the room opened, and Joey walked in with Lance right behind him.
Joey walked right up to her and hugged Dale's mom tightly. They both were crying. Lance came up to Mark and pulled him aside. After Mark brought him up to speed they hugged.
"Chris are you hungry? We haven't eaten lunch yet." Lance got permission for the four of them to eat in the doctor's cafeteria since it's closed off to the public. They spent the next few hours with Dale's mom telling the three men all about Dale and them telling her about their lives and their connections to her son.
Joey broke in abruptly. "The surgery's started." They cleaned up their table and went to find the surgery waiting area.
Time dragged on. At five o'clock Justin, JC and Chris showed up to lend support to Joey and Lance and to Dale's mom. They were all gathered in one section of the waiting room, talking softly. Finally someone came through the door from surgery.
It wasn't the doctor.
"Miss Wright?"
Dale's mom stood up. "That's me. Who are you?"
"I'm one of the OR Techs. We've had some complications, so things are running longer than expected. The doctor will be out shortly to talk to you."
"Complications? What kind of complications?"
"I'm sorry, the doctor will be able to give you more information." She turned around and went back through the doors.
Dale's mom looked around at the group. "What the hell is going wrong?"
It was almost seven o'clock before someone came through the doors again. It was the doctor! Chris was out of her seat like a shot.
"What's going on? What kind of complications?"
"Miss Wright, we had a problem. Dale's heart stopped beating on the table for awhile." There were a couple of gasps from where the rest of the group was sitting before the doctor continued. "We appear to have been successful removing the tumor, the problem with Dale's heart happened just as we were starting to close up the head. We were able to get his heart going again relatively quickly. We have a battery of tests that we'll be running once he goes into recovery. The good news is he's breathing on his own, and we're hopeful that he'll wake up in a few hours."
He stood and stretched. "I should warn you. There are some patients who have experienced temporary short-term memory loss after the procedure. The memories have come back relatively quickly."
"Um, okay. Thank you doctor."
"He'll be in recovery room Twelve in about twenty minutes." The doctor left the room, and the group was alone again."
Chris turned to look at her son's friends. "If you guys want to go do your own thing I'll understand. I'm just going to go straight to Dale's room and wait for him to wake up."
A few hours later Dale's recovery room looked like a flophouse. His mom was asleep in one chair, Mark in another. Three of the N'Syncers were asleep sitting on the floor and leaning against the wall. The only two people who were awake were Joey and Lance.
"hrmp"
"I think Dale's waking up." Lance gently shook the shoulders of Mark and Dale's mom. "Hey, I think Dale's waking up."
They all stood around staring expectantly down at the bed.
Dale slowly opened his eyes. After a few minutes of looking vacantly around the room he finally locked eyes with his mom.
"Mom? What're you doing here?"
"Oh thank god. Baby are you okay?"
"What am I doing in this bed mom?"
Dale's mom felt the bottom drop out of her stomach. "Dale, don't you remember? You got sick and you were brought here last night."
"Oh." Dale reached up and felt the bandage around his head. He finally looked at the group of six guys standing there.
"Hi."
"How're you feeling Dale?"
"Like I got hit by a Mack Truck." Dale then looked at his mom. "Mom, are these friends of yours?"