Date: Tue, 2 Oct 2001 05:46:49 -0400 From: zmartin24 Subject: Change For The Better, Part 2 This story is intended for adult readers. If you cannot read this story because you are under the age of 18- 21, or not allowed because of country/state/local laws please visit another website. This story also contains a fictional plot between a fictional character and Brian Littrell. This story does not however intend to imply anything about the true sexuality or personal knowledge about the private life of any celebrity (or other person) mentioned in this story. Also, if you are expecting sex right away, find another story. This one is hopefully going to have a plot and long-term relationship. Now that the legal stuff is done with, lets get started! As you may recall from the last chapter we left off with Julie and I running to a Code Blue in the ICU. It really upset me that this happened while I was visiting Brian (after my shift nonetheless). When we arrived at the room we found two other nurses doing CPR on a 90 year old man who was in the ICU from a stroke. Julie and I hooked up the defibrillator to the man and told everybody to clear. "SHOCKING!" I said as I delivered the first shock to the man. Just then the doctor came into the room and asked what was happening. "90 year old male, victim of a stroke. He's in cardiopulmonary arrest. Shocked once, about to deliver second." I said. He nodded in approval as I said "CLEAR, SHOCKING 2!". The doctor then checked for a pulse and said "No pulse. Increase to 360 joules, and shock again." I nodded and made the adjustment to the defib. "CLEAR, SHOCKING 3!" I said before pushing the button. The doctor again checked for a pulse. "No pulse, administer 1 amp sodium bicarb. Continue CPR." he said. I nodded and prepared the medication. As I pushed in the medication through the patients IV the doctor said "One more shock at 360." Julie took my place at the defib and delivered the shock. I looked at the patient and saw that he had begun to turn blue. The doctor then decided to call it. "Note the time for the death certificate, call the family, and make him presentable for them." Julie and I left the room and left the other nurses with the patient. I looked at Julie and said "Is there anything else we could have done to save him?" "It was just his time, besides he had a long history of medical problems. He had a long life with a loving family." she said. I just nodded and clenched my teeth. I hate loosing patients, but it is part of the job and you have to get used to it. Just then the doctor came out of the room and looked at Julie and I and said "You two did a great job in there. There was nothing else we could have done, so don't let it get to you. This stuff happens." I nodded at the doctor and headed back to Brian's room. As soon as I entered his room he looked over to me and said "What was that all about?" I told him as much as I could without breaching patient confidentiality. "I'm so sorry that you have to go through all of that stuff." Brian said lovingly. I told him that it was a part of my job and I have to deal with it. "OH! I forgot to tell you, your family said that they would be on the next flight out, and the Firm is sending a representative. They should all be arriving a little later." I said. "Zach, you have been so helpful and caring I could kiss you." I gave him a very serious look and said "Why don't you?" I walked over to his bed and leaned into him. He reached around me with his good arm and drew me in closer. I looked into his eyes, and found that they were the deepest most caring eyes that I have ever seen in my 25 years. Then, we kissed. Not a simple peck, but a full passionate kiss. It lasted for about five minutes before we broke. "Brian, that was the best five minutes of my life." I said. Just as I stood up from his bedside there was a knock on Brian's door. "I'll get that." I said. I walked over to the door and opened it. There before me were two men and a woman. The older man spoke "We are the Littrell family, Is Brian OK?" "He's doing much better, right this way." I said as I fully opened the door to allow them access to the room. As they entered they each said thank you. I looked at Brian and told him that I would leave him to be with his family. Brian and his family all asked me to stay, but I thought that they needed time to themselves. Just as they began to protest, Julie called my name from the nursing station. I told the Littrell family that I had to go. They nodded and I closed the door as I left the room. I met with Julie at the nursing station and she told me that she had just gotten off of the phone with Brian's doctor. "Brian's doctor says he can go home in about three days if he keeps improving like he is." Julie said. "Great news, I love it when we kick my patients out of this damn place." I said sarcastically. we both laughed over my stupid reply. "So you really like him don't you?" she said. "What do you mean?" I replied. "You never visit your patients that long. And besides, on our way to the Code Blue you said you were visiting someone special." she concluded. I stood in front of her not knowing what to say when she broke my silence. "Relax, it's OK. I won't tell anyone. You two look good together. But don't think that you can get rid of me that easy" I gave her an awkward look and thanked her before saying "I'd better get home, Midnight is probably going nuts trying to get out of the house by now.". I excused myself and headed for the hospital doors. Arriving at home I was again greeted by Midnight. I let him outside to do his business while I made myself a quick dinner. After dinner I let midnight back in and decided to go to the mall to look around. I went into a department store and an idea struck me. I'll buy Brian a gift. But what? I looked around for a while and found a pair of Tommy pants and a Nautica shirt. I had the clerk ring them up and I put them on my plastic. As I was driving home I decided not to give Brian his gift until the day he was to be discharged. The next couple of days were hell. Turns out Brian's family had flown in on September 10th, the day before the tragic events in New York City and Washington DC Every day after work I would go up and visit Brian. Oh, I forgot to tell you that the day after Brian's family came to see him they upgraded his condition from serious to good and moved him out of the ICU and to a regular bed. But anyway, today is Brian's discharge day, and my day off. Go figure. I went up to the 4th floor with his present in hand to see Brian. I knocked on the door of his private room. I heard him say come in so I pushed the door open. Entering the room I found that the whole room was filled with flowers, balloons and stuffed animals. I had never seen so many things that said Get Well Soon on them. His family all sitting in chairs in the room. I greeted everybody. This was the first time I had seen his parents since the other day in the ICU. As I finished greeting the Littrells I heard Brian say "Is that for me?" I looked over at him and said "It was until you decided to be so forward and ask." as I handed the box to him. He had a little trouble opening the box because of his left arm, but he managed to open it quickly. His family looked on anxiously to see what I had gotten him. He pulled out the shirt and pants and said "thank you, you didn't have to get me anything. "Well I just figured that I would replace the clothes we had to cut off down in the ER when you came in." "Thank you" he said. "Aren't you even going to read the card?" I said. "Oh yeah, I forgot." he said as he opened the envelope. Little did everyone know that in the card was something that I not only wrote for Brian, but for the whole family. I couldn't say aloud what was written, so I figured that he could say for me what I wanted to say so bad. He opened the card and read it aloud. "Brian, I hope you like your gift. Now you have a decent outfit to walk out of the hospital with. I have never cared for a patient like I have cared for you. As soon as I saw the flight nurse bring you off of the helicopter I felt a connection with you, even though I had never met you before. I hope that what I have done along with the rest of the staff will help you make a change for the better and continue with life, never looking back at the pain that this accident has caused you. I take joy in knowing that I have been a part of your life. Even if it was one of the worst parts. I just want you to know that without doing anything you have made my life better. I am no longer afraid of who I am, and I don't intend to hide that anymore. Thank you for being you and encouraging me to be just that, ME. Love Zach" I looked over to Brian from across the room. I guess I kinda backed myself into the corner next to the door in fear of an outrage from his family, but instead, his mother Jackie came over to me and gave me a hug. "thank you for saving my baby." she said with a tear in her eye. Harrold and Harrold Jr were smiling in their seats but didn't come up to me. I knew that they had appreciated what I had done for Brian, but were unsure as to my intentions. I looked over to Brian so see his reaction. He had a smile that stretched from ear to ear and had a stream of tears that came from both eyes. I knew that the letter in the card had gotten to him. "Anyway, when are you all headed home? I asked to Harrold Sr. He said that the rep from the Firm had stopped by and was currently trying to arrange transportation back home, but was having difficulty due to all flights being canceled. But the family had decided not to fly anyway because of possible security risks with the airlines. We thought we could take the BSB bus back. The rep doesn't want Brian to ride a regular bus home because of his current health and the possibility of being recognized. I looked at Harrold Sr. and said "Well then, I insist that you stay at my house. I live alone in a three bedroom house and there will be plenty of room there for all of you. Besides, that way Brian will have a private nurse for the next few days." "We wouldn't want to impose." Jackie said. "What else are you going to do, get a hotel room? Let me tell you that there isn't a decent hotel around here. Believe me, I had my house fumigated last year. I insist that you all stay at my house and thats final." I said. I got a couple of sighs from around the room, but Brian was excited at the idea. "OK, but on one condition. I get to cook." Jackie said. Everyone agreed and I excused myself to get a wheelchair for Brain. On my way back to the room I stopped at the nursing station and asked for the discharge papers for Brian. Brian's nurse, Cindy asked me why I wanted to discharge him. I told her that Brian and his family were close friends of mine. She said "Must be very close" as she handed me the papers and gave me a wink. I winked back at her and took the papers and the wheelchair back to his room. Brian signed the papers with the excitement of being able to leave the hospital. After I had returned the signed papers to the nurses station I returned to the room to help Brian into the wheelchair. He had some difficulty getting in the chair due to the cast on his left leg but managed to do it. Exiting the hospital, Brian knew full well that he still had 2 months until he had to return to the tour with the rest of the guys. I managed to fit the whole family in my truck (its a quad cab). It was a tight fit but it was a short drive. On the way to my house Jackie was looking at the hills surrounding the valley that we were in and commented on how beautiful the scenery was with the changing color of the leaves on the hills. I told her that I would get some pictures from the lookout on top of the east hill, that way she could have pictures of the whole valley in the beginning of the fall. We arrived at my house at about 1:00pm and everyone piled out of the truck except for Brian. I had to help him out. Inside the house the first thing that everyone saw was my dog, midnight. he was always excited to see visitors. Everyone loved him. I helped Brian to the couch and gave him the remote for the TV. He immediately turned it on and began surfing channels, eventually landing on MTV, where "Show Me The Meaning" was playing. He sat there perfectly content. I asked everyone if they would like a tour of my house. They all nodded except for Brian. He said that he wanted to sit and watch TV for a while. I agreed with him and began the tour for the rest of the family. I began of course in the living room where we were standing. we then moved to the dining room and kitchen where Jackie said "Nice kitchen, I could definitely cook in here." "I'm looking forward to it!" I said. Next was the den, also used as my office. Then the downstairs guest room. Upstairs were two more bed rooms, one was mine. The basement was converted into my bar/game room with a home theater which had a pull out couch that could serve as a fourth bedroom if necessary. Harrold Jr called that room as his while they were here. I just laughed. Just as I finished the tour my fire pager went off dispatching my department to a motor vehicle accident on the highway about two miles from my house. I excused myself and began gathering my stuff to respond. As I headed out the front door Brian stopped me and asked where I was going. I told him that I had to go to a motor vehicle accident on the highway. He told me to come closer to him. He drew me in for a quick kiss and said "Stay safe." "Thanks" I said. Exiting the door I heard Harrold Jr yell my name. I looked back and he said "Mind if I tag along." I looked over to his parents and they nodded. "Hurry up, just stay in my truck and out of the way." I replied. I started my truck and picked up the mic for my fire radio and advised dispatch that I was responding. I turned on my red lights and sped down the road with the siren blaring. Harrold Jr was excited, he'd never been in a vehicle with red lights and siren, and was amazed with the whole situation. All of the cars in front of us were pulling off to the right and I sped by them. It only took about 4 minutes to get to the accident scene. It wasn't that bad, I mean the cars were totaled and there was gas all over the road, but the drivers and their passengers were not that seriously hurt. After we cleared the scene I took Harrold Jr back to my fire station. He'd never been around fire trucks and had many questions about them and the fire service. He told me that he had always wanted to join the volunteer fire department in his home town but never got around to doing it. I introduced Harrold Jr to all of the guys around the station, everyone was nice to him and tried to make him feel at home. I didn't tell everyone that he was the brother of a superstar. But I don't think the guys would have cared, while he was there he was just one of the guys. I hadn't realized it but we were there for almost two hours without calling everyone at home to let them know what was going on. I picked up the station phone and called my house. No one answered, until the answering machine picked up. "Hey, this is Zach is anybody home?" Harrold Sr. picked up an extension and greeted me. I apologized for not calling sooner but told him that Harrold Jr got the dime tour of my station. I then told him that we would be home in about 10 minutes. With that I hung up the phone and walked back out to the day room, where Harrold Jr was talking with the guys. "Come on Harrold it's time to go home. See you later guys" I said. "Oh come on chief we were talking to the boy." said Dirk, one of the firefighters. "I'll bring him back later, I promise. But I have to get home. In the truck headed home Harrold thanked me for letting him tag along. I told him that he was more than welcome. We pulled back into the driveway at my house at about 5:00pm and I was getting hungry. We walked into the house to a beautiful aroma. Someone had been cooking. "I smell Steak!" I yelled. Jackie walked out of the kitchen to greet us. "Wait." I said as I took another sniff. "Roasted garlic mashed potatoes, Onion & mushroom saut‚, and `sniff' asparagus. Right?" "You can smell all of that?" Jackie said amazed. "Hey, I'm a fireman, I know how to cook, and I know how to eat. Besides, I know what was in my refrigerator." I replied. Everyone laughed. Soon we were all sitting down around the dining room table. I sat next to Brian at the table. I leaned over to him and gave him a peck on the cheek and asked him how he was feeling. He said that he was OK but I didn't quite believe him. Dinner went well, and I helped Jackie clean up our messes. We all met in the living room after dinner. I suggested that we all go downstairs and watch a movie in my home theater. Everyone agreed and I helped Brian down the steps. Everyone got comfortable, Jackie and Harrold Sr. sat on the love seat, Harrold Jr laid on the floor with a pillow supporting his head. Brian and I sat on the couch. I was on the end and Brian was laying with his legs up on the armrest, and his head in my lap. With that all arranged we began to watch Hannibal. Jackie had to look away when Hannibal was cooking the piece of brain toward the end. I just looked over at her and smirked. Brian got a little giggle out of it too. After the movie it was time for bed. I was tired. and I knew that Brian was too. Harrold Jr said that he wanted to sleep on the pullout in the basement. Probably because of the home theater, but I told him that it would be fine. Jackie and Harrold Sr. took the guest room on the first floor. What Brian said next kinda supprised me. "Can I sleep in your room?" "I guess, but I usually sleep naked." I replied. "Doesn't bother me." he stated plainly giving me the elevator eyes. "You're pathetic." I said laughing. I helped Brian upstairs and helped him get out of his clothes down to his boxer-briefs and laid him down on my bed. I then stripped down to my boxers to be fair and got into the other side of my bed. Of course, just as I got comfortable, Midnight scratched at my door. I got up and let him in. He was going to jump up on the bed but saw Brian, so he just laid on the floor at the foot of the bed. I returned to the bed and got comfortable again. Brian told me that he usually sleeps on his side but couldn't because of the cast on his left leg. we talked about little stuff for a few minutes. He asked me if I would give him a tour at my station when he got the cast off. I told him with a smile that I might be able to arrange it. I rolled onto my left side and put my arm over his chest. I could feel his heart beating. It just felt good. Just having someone special in my life now. We both drifted off to sleep soon. The next morning I helped Brian out of bed and freshened him up a little before dressing him and taking him downstairs. Jackie already had breakfast ready for us. After breakfast I had to get ready for work. I had another 12 hour shift in the ER starting at 8am. The day was progressing at an incredibly slow rate. When lunch finally came I decided to arrange a little supprise for Brian. I still had the phone number for the Firm and called them. I arranged for the rest of the BSB to come to my house for a visit to Brian. The rep on the phone said that he had already been planning a visit and the guys would be there tomorrow by 6:00pm. Which works out perfect because I had a short shift the next day and would be home by 5:00pm. When I got home I told Jackie and Harrold Sr. about the little supprise. They agreed that it would be good for Brian, since he can't really go anywhere. The rest of the night everyone just kinda lounged around the house. Brian and I just cuddled the whole time, with a little kiss here and a little squeeze there. "Brian, I spoke with your orthopedic doctor today, he said that your casts should be able to come off in the next couple of weeks. then I promise I will show you around and we can do whatever you want. I have a couple of weeks coming to me for vacation anyway." I said to him. He looked at me and his whole face just lit up like someone had shined a spotlight on it. "You'd take your vacation to spend it with me?" he said. "And you're asking like there's any question about it?" he leaned into me and kissed me with so much passion that I thought that I would go into sensory overload. The kissing lasted for at least 10 minutes. I reminded Brian that he had some more healing to do and he shouldn't get too excited. I then suggested to Brian that we go to bed. He agreed and we started what was beginning to become a nightly routine of helping him get ready for bed. Again, Midnight slept on the floor and I had my arm around Brian in bed. I was beginning to like having someone in bed with me. It wasn't long before Brian was asleep. I just stared at him. The glow was still on his face as well as a big smile. After a while I too drifted into sleep. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Well what do you think of part 2. Let me know. "zmartin24@hotmail.com." You can also look for me on Aol "zmartin24" All comments are welcome.