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.