Chapter 3
Ten days later, Kevin was still in a coma. His overall health had improved considerably. He was breathing on his own and his lungs seemed to be healing satisfactorily. The doctors were quite pleased overall, but still didn't know if there had been any brain damage. Pat and Glen had been by their son's side twenty-four hours a day, ever since he had been moved to a private room. They talked to him, read him books and did everything possible to try to stimulate him to a state of consciousness. However, nothing seemed to be helping.
It was Sunday and Paula, Brent and Alice had come to visit Kevin. Once they arrived, Pat and Glen left to go to mass in the hospital chapel. The threesome wandered around the room looking at the dozens of floral arrangements and stacks and stacks of cards from well-wishers.
"Look at this!" Paula said. "I couldn't have imagined anything so bizarre happening to Kevin."
"I know, I feel so guilty, the way we teased him," Alice added.
Paula walked over and sat on the side of Kevin's bed. She picked up his hand and began to play with it. Brent watched her with much amusement.
Paula continued. "Well, I think Kevin knew we were just giving him a bad time. We were all probably a little jealous, I guess, or feeling guilty that we didn’t have his moral resolve."
"Speak for yourself. I still think morality stinks," Brent said.
"Shut up, he might hear you," Paula said.
Brent laughed. "Look at him. He's out to lunch."
"Brent, you don't know. He might be hearing everything you're saying. So be nice."
“Nice? He wasn’t so nice to you the other night at the party.” Brent said. “What happened anyway? I never heard the whole story.”
Paula looked away. “Oh it was no big deal. We were dancing and I could tell he was getting a little excited. So I thought I’d be nice to him and take him up to my bedroom. . . . I thought he wanted me, like I wanted him.”
Brent stared at Paula incredulously. “You were going to go to bed with him? Holy shit! And he turned that down?”
Paula shrugged. “That’s about the size of it. He’s looking for his soul mate and whoever she is. I guess she’s gotta be a virgin. That kind of ruled me out.”
Brent shook his head. “What an arrogant bastard, not to mention being a fool. Why didn’t you come and get me?”
Alice kicked Brent in the ass. “Cause you were screwing me at the time you lousy piece of shit.”
Brent cracked a smile. “So what? We could have done a threesome.”
“In your dreams,” Paula said as she leaned down and kissed Kevin on the forehead. Brent shook his head and walked away. Paula smiled down at him and began caressing his face with her right hand.
Alice smiled at her, sat down and began looking through a magazine. "Look at this. Kevin's picture is on the cover of Time magazine."
"You've got to be kidding!" Brent said. He rushed over and pulled the magazine out of Alice's hand. "Can you believe this? ‘Kevin Wells, an American hero’," he said, looking at the cover and shaking his head.
"I wonder if he'll ever know how famous he's become," Paula said. "God, I hope he wakes up.”
"After he humiliated you in front of all your friends, you still have a thing for him," Brent said. “I can’t believe it.”
"I don't have a thing for him,” Paula said glaring at Brent. “He’s our friend. I just want to be here for him. Isn’t that why you two are here?"
Brent shrugged. “I’m here ‘cause Alice is here. Frankly I can’t stomach any of this. All of a sudden this sanctimonious jerk is a hero. It makes me sick. In fact, I’m out of here.”
Brent turned and left. Paula gave Alice a concerned look. Alice shook her head and said, “Don’t worry. He didn’t mean it.”
Brent walked down the corridor, past the nurse’s station and stopped in front of the elevator where another man was waiting. The man glanced over and smiled. Brent nodded and waited nervously for the elevator. Finally the door opened and they got in. The man kept looking at Brent until he finally said, “Aren’t you a friend of Kevin Wells?”
Brent frowned. “We went to school together. Who are you?”
“I’m a freelance reporter. I heard about what happened and thought I’d come on over and see if I could get the reaction of Kevin’s family and friends.”
“I don’t know any more than you do, actually.”
“Maybe so, but you know a lot about Kevin Wells, don’t you?”
“Yeah, I suppose.”
“Tell me about him.”
Brent sighed. “Tell you what? He’s a high school student. There’s really not much to tell.”
“How did you know him?”
“We’re on the debate team together. He’s my partner.”
“Is he a good debater?”
“Yeah, very good.”
“Do you spend a lot of time together?”
“Yeah, the debate team is a pretty close knit group. We spend a lot of time together practicing and then going to tournaments. So, you know, we’re all pretty close.”
“So tell me about Kevin. What kind of guy is he?”
Brent thought for a minute, wondering what he should say. “He’s kind of different.”
“Different?”
“Yeah, you know, old fashioned, patriotic, not a big drinker, never smokes weed and– “
“And what?”
“And . . . well,” Brent snickered. “He’s saving himself for his soul mate.”
“Seriously?”
“Cross my heart. He’s searching for a virgin. . . . Good luck!”
The reporter chuckled. “Okay, so he’s a clean-cut guy with old fashioned values. . . . Well, thank you Brent. That was very insightful.”
Paula took a deep breath and turned back to Kevin. She looked at him longingly and then lowered her head and rested it on his chest to listen to his heart beating. Suddenly she sat up and looked at his hand. "I felt his hand twitch.”
"What?" Alice said. "Are you sure?"
"Yes, it moved. I felt it. I really did."
Alice got up and moved to the side of the bed.
"Kevin. Kevin, can you hear me?" Paula said.
Not getting any response, Paula looked up at Alice and frowned. "He really did move his hand. I didn't make it up."
"It's all right, Paula," Alice said. "You want it to happen so badly you probably imagined it."
"No. It was real!"
"It was probably just a reflex."
Paula’s eyes lit up. "There it is again! His hand twitched!"
Kevin began to squirm in his bed. "No... no... no!” he moaned
"Kevin, wake up! You're dreaming," Paula said.
Kevin's eyes began to move slightly, as if he were trying to open them. Finally, one opened and then the other. Kevin looked up at Paula and squinted.”
"Kevin! You're awake," Paula said.
"Huh? . . . Where am I?"
"Get the nurse! Kevin's awake!" Paula screamed.
Paula leaned over and gave Kevin a passionate kiss. He gave her a confused look and then ran his finger over his lips.
"I'm so happy you're awake! You've been in a coma for ten days."
"Coma? . . . What happened?"
Kevin tried to sit up.
“No. Stay still, silly. You’ve been shot. Just lie back and relax.”
“Shot?”
"Yes. You saved the Prime Minister's life. You're a hero."
"Prime Minister?" he repeated and then began coughing and choking.
Suddenly, the door flew open and a nurse entered the room. When she saw Kevin wide awake she said, "Okay, we've got a live one in here after all. Hello, Kevin. Do you know where you are?"
He looked around. "A hospital?" he said.
"Good. Do you recognize the people in the room?"
He smiled. "Sure, they’r
e my friends."
"You're damn right. They've been sitting in here for hours praying you'd come out of your coma."
Paula began to cry. "I'm so happy you're okay, Kevin."
The door flew open again and Kevin's doctor rushed in.
"Well, Mr. Wells, it's so nice to see you awake." The doctor pulled out a small flashlight and began examining Kevin's eyes. "Your eyes look clear. How do you feel?"
"Just kind of tired, a little light headed and–"
The door opened again, and Glen and Pat rushed in.
"Kevin! Oh, Kevin! You're okay," Pat said rushing over to embrace him.
Kevin smiled as she kissed him on the head and gave him a hug. "Yes, Mom. I'm fine, relax.”
"Relax? We almost lost you, son," Glen reminded him.
"You scared the hell out of us," Pat sobbed.
"I'm okay, I feel fine, except I'm really tired and my chest and shoulder hurt like hell."
"It's no wonder. That's where the bullet hit you," Paula said.
"What bullet?"
"The assassin's bullet, silly," Paula replied.
"Didn't you know you'd be shot if you tried to stop an assassin."
Kevin squinted at Paula and then replied, "Assassin?"
"Yes, don't you remember the Prime Minister?"
"Ohhh. Yeah, right. . . . . It's kind of fuzzy, but it's coming back."
"Okay, let's clear the room so I can examine my patient,” the doctor said. “You all can come back later."
The news of Kevin's recovery spread fast. The President issued another statement, thanking God for saving Kevin Wells and renewing his resolve to find the people responsible for the attack. Hundreds of letters and cards arrived every day. Visitors flocked to the hospital to see him, as he had become an overnight celebrity.
After another week of convalescence, Kevin was ready to go home. It was Sunday afternoon. He was packing up his things when the nurse walked in to advise him he had visitors. The news didn’t please him as he was anxious to get home.
"Who is it this time?" he moaned.
"I think you'll want to see this visitor," the nurse said.
"I seriously doubt it, who is it?"
Just then a man in a blue coat walked in and quickly scanned the room. "It's okay, Mr. President."
The President walked in and smiled broadly at Kevin. Kevin froze, not quite sure how to react. He had been told the President wanted to see him but didn’t really believe it would actually happen.
"I've been very anxious to meet you, Kevin," the President said.
“Really? . . . Well, I've always wanted to meet you too, sir," Kevin replied.
"You're looking good. How do you feel?"
"I'm feeling fine. I'll feel a lot better when I get home. I'm so tired of being cooped up in a hospital room all day."
"I bet. Well, I guess you know you've really touched the hearts of the American people."
"That's what I've heard, but I really didn't do anything that extraordinary."
The President laughed. "Oh, really? Well, when you decide to do something extraordinary let me know, will you? I want to be there to see it."
Kevin shook his head and smiled. "I can't believe I'm talking to the President of the United States."
"It's me, in the flesh. So, what are you going to do when you get out of this place?"
"Get some decent food."
The President laughed, "Well, I wish I had time to buy you dinner, but I've got to get back to Washington by eight o'clock. Maybe I'll invite you to dinner at the White House. Would you like that?"
Kevin nodded enthusiastically. "Absolutely!"
"Well, I've got to go," the President said.
Kevin smiled. "Thank you, Mr. President. I'm honored that you came to visit me."
"The honor was all mine,” The President said and then turned to leave.
“What happened to the Prime Minister and his family? Are they okay?”
The President turned back and smiled at Kevin. “Yes, they are and they are very grateful for what you did.”
“Really? Did they catch the assassin?”
“No. I’m afraid they didn’t.”
“Hmm. I met one of the Prime Minister’s daughters, Kiran. She is so nice. I’ve been worried about her.”
“She’s fine. Her mother said you two met and quickly became friends.”
Kevin nodded. “Yeah. Too bad I’ll never see her again.”
The President smiled. “Oh, I have a feeling you two will meet again. The Prime Minister said he wanted to thank you in person one day. Maybe he’ll bring Kiran.”
Kevin’s eyes lit up. “Oh, I hope he does.”
The President laughed and made his exit.
The Prime Minister's Daughter Page 3