Love For Hire

Chapter 11: 11

Kinsley was on her knees next to Nicholas. He had fallen suddenly and hit his head pretty hard when he went down. She called to him, but he was unresponsive. Suddenly his eyes rolled back in his head, so all she could see was the white. His jaw locked, and Nicholas’ whole body began to convulse violently. She screamed as loud as she could for anyone to come help. His head slammed against the tile floor, and she did not know what to do. Kinsley moved so she could brace his head and stop him from hurting himself. White foam frothed from his locked jaw.

Scared, she screamed again, and seconds later, Octavius, Stephen, two maids, and another man appeared in the doorway. They all reacted when they saw Nicholas on the floor. Stephen was on his phone calling an ambulance while Octavius grabbed a rubber bite guard off the counter and dropped to his knees. He struggled to pry Nicholas’ mouth open enough to force the bite guard into his mouth to prevent him from breaking his teeth or biting his tongue.

“How long has he been like this?” Octavius asked.

“A few seconds.”

Octavius lifted his right wrist and pushed up his sleeve to expose a watch. He knelt next to Nicholas but never took his eyes off his watch. That was when she realized he was timing the episode. This must happen often.

“The ambulance will be here shortly,” Stephen said, hanging up. “Miss Potter, please go do to the door and let them in.

Kinsley held Nicholas’ head while they waited for the ambulance, which showed up in mere minutes, but each minute felt like an eternity. The seizure stopped just as the paramedics walked in with a stretcher. They asked what had happened as they moved him onto the stretcher.

“He had a grand mal seizure. Six minutes,” Octavius told them, and they lifted Nicholas.

“He hit his head when he fell,” Kinsley added as they all rushed out of the room and down the stairs. As they walked out the front door, Kinsley saw a STARS Helicopter. Air ambulance, so that was how they got to the middle of nowhere so quickly. They loaded him up into the helicopter, and Octavius climbed up with him. He gave the staff some orders and then looked at Kinsley, confused when she climbed in with them. “I want to come,” they did not have time to argue. The paramedic closed the door, and they took off.

They were flown into LA, and by air, it took mere minutes before they were landing on the roof of the best hospital in California. Nicholas was offloaded and rushed down into the building. The paramedics had radioed ahead, and a medical team was standing by, including one Dr. Robert Horton. Kinsley assumed this was the doctor Nicholas had moved to LA to be close to. Kinsley could hardly keep up as they rushed their patient into a CAT scan and then took blood for the lab.

Once that was finished, they put Nicholas in a private room and moved him to a bed. Since he came in by ambulance and his personal security was not with him, the hospital posted two security guards on his door. Octavius and Kinsley stayed in the room with him. Octavius sat in a chair in the corner while Kinsley paced the floor.

“Does this happen a lot?” She asked worriedly. She recalled Nicholas telling her he suffered seizures from time to time, but it had never registered in her brain as a reality until she saw him fall.

“More frequently lately,” Octavius admitted.

“But he was fine this morning.”

“They come on suddenly, with very little warning.”

“That is troubling.”

“Every time someone has a seizer brain actually die. Brief episodes are not too bad, but when they last longer than five minutes…” He sighed and shook his head. “It does far more damage.”

“Are you telling me while he was shaking on the bathroom floor, his brain was dying?”

“There is no telling what damage was done until he wakes, but the fact that he has not yet is concerning.”

“Do not write me off yet,” Nicholas’ weak voice drew their attention to the bed.

“You are awake,” Kinsley said, coming to the bed. Text © 2024 NôvelDrama.Org.

“How do you feel?” Octavius asked, coming to the bedside opposite of Kinsley.

“My head hurts, and I am having trouble seeing.”

“I will fetch the doctor,” Octavius said as he left the room.

“You scared me,” she said, stroking his hair and making him jump, and she wondered how she had startled him.

It was not long before Dr. Horton and Octavius returned. “Good to see you up, Nicholas,” the doctor said, standing by the bed, and Nicholas turned his head to look at the doctor. “How do you feel.”

“I am having trouble seeing,” he complained again.

Dr. Horton took out a penlight and flashed it in both of Nicholas’ eyes. He then held the pen un in front of him. “Can you see the pen?”

“Yes.”

“Clearly?”

“Yes.”

Do not move your head, just your eyes. Follow the pen,” he said, moving it up and down then side to side. “His eyes followed, but when it moved side to side, Nicholas seemed to lose it. “Can you see the pen?” He asked, holding it to the side of Nicholas' head.

“No.”

Dr. Horton sighed and tucked his pen in his jacket pocket. “I was afraid of that.”

“Afraid of what?” Nicholas demanded, turning his head to look at the doctor.

“Your CAT scan shows a growth in your brain.”

Oh, that sounded really bad, Kinsley thought and nervously bit her bottom lip. “A growth?” Nicholas repeated. “Cancerous?”

“It appears to be benign, but due to its location in the brain, we cannot operate. I am afraid we cannot remove it.”

“But it is not cancerous,” Kinsley said hopefully. “That is good, right?”

The doctor frowned. “It is not good,” Nicholas sighed as he studied the doctor’s face.

“The tumour is pressing on your optic nerve. It is impairing your peripheral vision. It would appear you are unable to see things in your peripherals. You can only see what is directly in front of you.”

“What does any of that mean?” Kinsley asked.

Nicholas stared at the doctor. “It means I am going blind,” Nicholas muttered, doing his best to keep the despair from his tone. “Is not that right, Dr. Horton?”

Kinsley looked at Nicholas and then the doctor. Dr. Horton sighed heavily. “Yes, Nicholas, you are going blind. Your vision will continue to deteriorate if I had to guess. You have a few months, maybe a year before you are completely blind. I am truly sorry. I wish I had better news,” the room was silent for a few minutes as everyone allowed the news to soak in. “As for the seizer, I can only assume the pressure on the nerve brought it on. I have to ask, are you taking your medication?”

Nicholas stared at his lap, clearly still adjusting to the fact that he was going blind. “Yes.”

“Really, because your blood work shows no trace of your medication, just high levels of painkillers.”

Nicholas sighed. “What does it matter, doctor? The medication will not cure me. We both know that. So why should I take it?”

“You will live longer.”

“I do not want to live longer!” He shouted at Dr. Horton and made Kinsley jump from the harshness in his voice. “I want to die!” He shook his head with disgust. “But no one will let me,” he whispered. “You think you are saving a life… but all you are doing is torturing me.”

The doctor was quiet for a moment. “Nicholas, I would like to keep you so we can….”

“I am leaving. I want to go home. Octavius, call an Uber.”

“Nicholas, I think you should let Dr….”

“Call a god damned Uber!” Nicholas screamed. “I want to go home… now.”

“Yes, Your Majesty,” Octavius said, taking out his cellphone to call for a ride.

“If you are insisting on leaving, then I wish to send you home with a support cane. It will help you get around, and you might as well get used to using one.”

“Fine.”

“I will have the nurse bring you one while you wait for your ride,” the doctor said as he left the room.

Kinsley put her hand on his shoulder. “Nicholas…”

“Do not,” he whispered, putting a stop to her attempt to comfort him. “Please do not.”

It was clear he did not want her words of sympathy. She retraced her hand and respected his wishes.