Title: First Times - Chapter 4 Author: JD Kinder Keywords: mb, nosex, medical All comments are welcome at defibkids@gmail.com. JD and Pope thank you for reading. First Times - Chapter 4 by JD Kinder, Pope Solomon, and The King Prior to being admitted to the children's hospitals oncology unit under the care of Dr. David, little 8-year-old Nate had been the picture of perfect health: a ginger-haired boy with brownish skin, bright blue eyes, a bunch of freckles, and a chest with two dime-sized nipples and belly button like no other. Unfortunately little Nate wasn't doing so well now. He had an inoperable brain tumor and the chemo and radiation treatment had ravaged his little body to the breaking point. He was basically spending every last moment waiting to die. It was a death he freely accepted and begged for in his nightly prayers to God and his dead parents, whom he missed dearly. Sadly, unlike the other sick kids, the only visitors he ever got to his bedside was the occasional doting grandma of another patient across the room or Dr. Dave, Dr. Dave's boyfriend Nurse Cole, and his favorite nurse, Joey. Oh how Nate wished he had a "boyfriend" and the extra-special prayer he asked every night to his mommy and daddy in heaven was that it was Joey. He adored the nice man who had shown him more kindness and love in his short life than he could ever remember. When he was lying there sick as a dog from the treatments it was Joey that held up his weakened body while he puked anything and everything into the metal bedpan. Joey had ditched the small emission basin on day one when Nate had covered himself in puke without even trying. Unlike the big ward nurse, who looked and acted like a female Rambo, this little 4'11" man didn't balk away in disgust when it happened. He just gently pulled the curtain around the bed and quietly helped Nate out of his pj's while whispering soft words of encouragement to him. Then he gave him a wonderful spongebath before getting him into a nice clean set of dinosaur pj's. Nate was lying in bed trying desperately to hold up the comic book he's been unable to read for over a week when an orderly wheels in Devon followed by Dr. Dave, Bill, and little Joey. The orderly gently lifts Devon up and placed him on the bed next to Nate's before departing. "It'll be some time before he wakes up from the coma. The blood loss was very severe." Dr. Dave says to Bill. "It's highly possible he might even code again." Joey, who was standing next to Devon's bed holding his hand, just sulks even more when he hears this. He notices Nate in the next bed trying to read his comic book and walks over. "Hi! I'm Joey. What's your name?" "Nate" "Whatcha reading?" "Captain Marvel," Nate replied. Nate had noticed the tear stains all over Joey's face so he asked, "Why were you crying?" "My best friend Devon got hurt really bad," Joey said. Then in a small whisper, "Dr. Dave says he died but they brought him back to life using those heart paddle thingies." Nate's eyes got wide! "Maybe he saw my mommy and daddy!" Nate blurted out before realizing what he said and a tear suddenly ran down his face. His tear was quickly matched by one from Joey when the older boy heard this and realized the little boy he'd just made friends with was all alone in the world. "Would you like me to read it to you?" Joey said pointing to the comic book. "Yes please," said Nate after looking up at Joey and smiling when he saw the spark of friendship in the boys eyes. For some reason deep down he knew this time it would be a lasting one. After the first couple times he had stopped trying to make friends with the other sick kids because it was too painful when they'd leave after getting better, but there was something about Joey that he liked very much. Joey sat down and started reading the comic book to Nate. Dr. Dave and Uncle Bill were watching this unfold when Nurse Joey walked in to check on Nate. "You're looking good today Nate." said Nurse Joey. "Who is your friend?" "His name is Joey too." squealed Nate in a voice that wasn't as loud as he was excited. Nurse Joey smiled. He hadn't seen Nate this happy in forever. "It's nice to meet you Joey Too." This put both boys in giggles. "Would you like to join me and Nate for ice cream down in the cafeteria?" he asked, after catching Dr. Dave's signal to keep the boys occupied for awhile. Seeing this as his queue Bill asked, "Dave I have to run an errand. Can Joey stay here with you guys for awhile?" "I'm sure little Nate and Nurse Joey here can keep him occupied." said Dr. Dave with a quick nod, knowing full well what Bill's errand probably was. "You go ahead Joey, I'll stay here and keep an eye on Devon for you." "OK thank you Dr. Dave," said little Joey as he ran to follow Nurse Joey and Nate out the door. The two Joey's then pushed Nate in his wheelchair down to the cafeteria for soft serve. Little Joey had a cone of vanilla while Nate had a dish of pistachio ice cream. Nurse Joey had to spoon it into his mouth and wipe the corners with a napkin as he had no strength to do it himself. When they finished their treat they headed back up to the room where they found Dr. Dave and Nurse Cole sitting there at the end of Devon's bed while he slept soundly. Both boys were quick to notice the grownups where holding hands like boyfriends sometimes do. Little Joey was also quick to notice the look in Nate's eyes when the younger boy looked up at Nurse Joey at that moment. It was the same look he gave his Uncle Bill from time to time. He wondered if Nurse Joey knew Nate wanted to be his boyfriend. "Dr. Dave can Joey spend the night so he can be here with me and Devon?" Nate asked the doctor. "That sounds like a great idea," said Dr. Dave. He didn't let on that Bill and him had already planned for this "sleepover" earlier when the boys had left to get ice cream and he'd had a chance to quickly tell Bill about Nate's situation before he left to deal with Devon's Uncle Chris. They hoped this sleepover would make both boys feel better and sleep easier tonight. After a cot was placed in between Nate and Devon's beds for Joey to sleep on the boys started getting ready for sponge-baths. Nate had insisted Joey had to get one too as Nurse Joey gave the best sponge-baths in the whole world. "It'll be easier if I do Devon first, then Nate, then you Joey" said Nurse Joey. "OK" said little Joey as he stripped from his street clothes down to a pair of green dinosaur boxers, then helped Nate strip from his pj's down to an identical pair of blue dinosaur boxers while they waited for their turns to be washed. "We've got matching dinosaurs!" exclaimed Joey. This raised a giggle from Nate, who beamed at his new friend. "Yes they're my favorites" he said. Nurse Joey lovingly cleaned Devon up, which didn't take long as the boy had been freshly washed after his operation earlier in the day and was lying there in nothing but a hospital gown. He did notice the boys gown had tented after he washed him all over with the sponge. He found that kind of strange considering the boy was in a coma. Nate had noticed this to, as it was his turn next and he had been watching, to see when nurse Joey would move on to him. He hoped that nurse Joey wouldn't notice that there was a tent forming in his boxers as well. He was relieved when Nurse Joey simply carried on as if nothing had happened. Nurse Joey next cleaned up Nate, starting from the top, down and put his favorite camouflage pj's on him before gently tucking him in bed and then lovingly turning his attention to his namesake Joey. After reading Devon's chart earlier and seeing the tear stains still on his face he knew Joey would need this form of relaxation the most. Just like with Nate, he had little Joey lie on his back on the cot while he washed him from head to toe. He had started off with the tear stains on the boys face and after gently washing them all away he noticed the boy had started to relax. By the time he got down to his belly Joey had even pulled his boxers off so the nurse could wash his privates before moving onto his legs and feet. "Nurse Joey do you have any dinosaur pj's I could wear? I don't have anything with me and I don't want to sleep in just my boxers." Joey said after he was all dried off and had put his boxers back on. "Yes we do. The hospital keeps those in stock in all sizes. Even older kids like them because they make them feel safe and warm when they are here" said Nurse Joey. Little Joey nodded back in understanding, remembering when his gramps had bought him his last pair of dino pj's. Even though he was now 11 he hugged his gramps a lot for them. After he said his prayers for Devon and Nate to get well, Joey put his head down on his pillow. He could hear Nate saying his prayers quietly to himself under the covers but it was what the younger boy was saying that surprised him. "Dear God. Thank you for the wonderful day. I know you just sent me Joey and Devon, when he wakes up that is, but the pain is so bad now. Please say yes and bring me home to Mommy and Daddy. I really miss them." Joey heard a muffled cry then Nate continued: "Mommy and Daddy. I love my nurse Joey very much. He takes such good care of me, especially when I'm not well. He's so kind and gentle. He was so good with Joey during his sponge-bath. He made him smile lots. Please let him be my boyfriend like Uncle Bill and Joey are. And please take care of Devon and let him know that his Uncle Chris really didn't mean to hurt him." This last part shocked Joey as he hadn't told Nate any of that. He lied there looking up at the ceiling listening to Nate fitfully fall asleep until the sandman overtook them both. During the night Joey awoke to the sound air makes coming out of a balloon when you pinch the end. He looked over to find his new friend Nate lying there with his mouth ajar and his eyes wide open with this fixed blank stare. Joey hit the big red button on the wall and started screaming for help. Dr. David, Nurse Cole, and Nurse Joey come running in from the on-call room where they had been resting. Nurse Joey ripped open Nate's pajama top and lovingly attached ekg electrodes to his chest. The EKG monitor showed flatline. Cole grabbed the ambu bag and starts squeezing oxygen back into Nate's lungs, Dr. Dave pushed epi through the IV he inserted to stimulate the boys heart while Nurse Joey places both hands on the center of Nate's chest and started pushing hard and fast. All little Joey could do was sit there on his cot looking at the scene before him with tears streaming down his face. After a few minutes the EKG still shows asystole. Dr. Dave now started injecting lidocaine and any other drug he could think of in the hopes of getting the boy into a shockable rhythm. "Joey get out of the way so I can stick him directly." Dr. Dave tells Nurse Joey as he sticks a needle directly into Nate's heart. After another couple rounds of CPR they look at the EKG monitor and finally see vfib on it. "Ok he's in fib now. Joey gel him up and charge the paddles to 100." Dr. Dave instructs. Joey gels up Nate's tiny chest and places the paddles and gets ready to shock him. "Ok everybody stand clear" Joey says. He then pushes the buttons on the paddles and little Nate's body jerks up off the bed only to fall back down motionless. The EKG monitor still showing vfib. It didn't work. "Charge to 200" instructs Dr. Dave "Charged." "Clear!" shouts Nurse Joey. Nate's body jumps off the bed again. When he lands this time his heart starts to make a couple beats before flatlining again. Suddenly Devon sits bolt upright in the bed next to them. "NATE DON'T GO!" Devon screams, scaring little Joey, and them half to death. Little Joey climbs onto his bed and they both start hugging each other and crying as they watch the doctor and nurses continue to work on Nate. Over the next 30 minutes they continue to do the same steps over and over on little Nate even though it looks hopeless they will ever get him back. "After one more shock I'm going to call time of death." Dr. Dave declares to Nurse Cole and Nurse Joey. "The boy would've wanted it that way and you know it." Nurse Joey looked stunned at his friend but nods in agreement. He knew it was the truth. He had cared for Nate through the good and bad times and knew this was the end. Fighting back a choking sob little Joey shouts at Nurse Joey "He loves you. He wanted you to be his boyfriend. Save him dammit! Dr. Dave and Cole brought Devon back. Save Nate too!" Devon sits there nodding his head in agreement with tears streaming down his face as well. Nurse Joey looked at his namesake, digesting his words, and knew he was right. He didn't want this little boy to die, he wanted him to live and spend the rest of his life with him. "Come on Nate! You've got to come back! I love you." Nurse Joey shouts as he charges the paddles for what seems like the hundredth time, and places them on the boys gelled chest for what will be the last time. He pushes the buttons. This time little Nate's body seems like it's stopped in slow motion as his chest arches up off the bed before falling back still. After a few seconds the EKG monitor starts slowly beeping: 1 beep - 2 beeps - 3 beeps, until the boys heart starts going faster and faster. Just as it reaches a normal rate for a boy his age Nate's eyes slowly flutter open and he looks around at Cole, Dr. Dave, little Joey and Devon before fixing his eyes on Nurse Joey. Nate reaches out and grabs Joey -(TM)s hand. He turns his head and looks into his eyes, weakly smiles and whispers, "Joey, it, it doesn't hurt any more. Mommy and Daddy took the pain away. Did you really mean it when you said you loved me? Mommy and Daddy said you did." Stunned, Joey smiles back cupping Nate's hand. "Of course I did Nate. I love you with all my heart." He bends down and kisses him on the forehead. Nate smiles and a single tear rolls down his face. His tiny hand relaxes in Joey's hand. With tears in his eyes, Joey lifts Nate off the bed and into his arms hugging and kissing him.