Chapter 11: 11
Kinsley was on her knees next to Nichs. 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 Nichs’ whole body began to convulse
violently. She screamed as loud as she could for anyone toe help. His head mmed 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 secondster, Octavius, Stephen, two maids, and another man
appeared in the doorway. They all reacted when they saw Nichs on the floor. Stephen was on his
phone calling an ambnce while Octavius grabbed a rubber bite guard off the counter and dropped to
his knees. He struggled to pry Nichs’ 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 Nichs but
never took his eyes off his watch. That was when she realized he was timing the episode. This must
happen often.
“The ambnce will be here shortly,” Stephen said, hanging up. “Miss Potter, please go do to the door
and let them in.
Kinsley held Nichs’ head while they waited for the ambnce, 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 Nichs.
“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 ambnce, 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 toe,” 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 werending on the roof of the
best hospital in California. Nichs 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 Nichs 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 theb.
Once that was finished, they put Nichs in a private room and moved him to a bed. Since he came in
by ambnce 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 Nichs 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 frequentlytely,” Octavius admitted.
“But he was fine this morning.”
“Theye 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 theyst
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,” Nichs’ weak voice drew their attention to the bed.
“You are awake,” Kinsley said,ing to the bed.
“How do you feel?” Octavius asked,ing 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, Nichs,” the doctor
said, standing by the bed, and Nichs turned his head to look at the doctor. “How do you feel.”
“I am having trouble seeing,” heined again.
Dr. Horton took out a penlight and shed it in both of Nichs’ 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, Nichs seemed to lose it. “Can you see the
pen?” He asked, holding it to the side of Nichs'' head.
“No.”
Dr. Horton sighed and tucked his pen in his jacket pocket. “I was afraid of that.”
“Afraid of what?” Nichs 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?” Nichs
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,” Nichs 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.
Nichs stared at the doctor. “It means I am going blind,” Nichs muttered, doing his best to keep the
despair from his tone. “Is not that right, Dr. Horton?”
Kinsley looked at Nichs and then the doctor. Dr. Horton sighed heavily. “Yes, Nichs, 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 arepletely 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?”
Nichs stared at hisp, 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.”
Nichs 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.”
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“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. “Nichs, I would like to keep you so we can….”
“I am leaving. I want to go home. Octavius, call an Uber.”
“Nichs, I think you should let Dr….”
“Call a god damned Uber!” Nichs 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. “Nichs…”
“Do not,” he whispered, putting a stop to her attempt tofort him. “Please do not.”
It was clear he did not want her words of sympathy. She retraced her hand and respected his
wishes.