More Nights With Kate (Jack Ryker) (10 page)

“Actually, I’m going to stay here, just in case I get sick
again.” 

“There are toilets you know, but you do what you want. 
Good night, Brandon,” I said giving him a pat on the shoulder.

“Good night, Dad.  You behave now,” he said giving me
that smartass look again.

“Don’t worry, Brandon.  I’m through embarrassing you
and your sister for now.  I don’t want to have to send you guys to
counseling.”

“Too late, the damage is done.”

I smiled as I turned to go back up the stairs. 
The
damage is done… isn’t that the truth.

~~~

Saturday was another beautiful day on the water and everyone was much more
subdued and relaxed.  After finishing our business in the morning, we
spent the rest of the day by the pool enjoying the sunshine and the
views.  The biggest surprise of the day was how much we all liked Ellie
and Sasha.  Ellie was a fun-loving, free-spirited girl who kept Brandon on
his toes.  Despite the fact that Sasha resembled Jackie, she had a much
more pleasant demeanor. 

By the time we reached Nassau, I actually suggested to Brandon
and Kate that they consider hiring both girls to start working on promotional
shots.  Brandon wasn’t ready to hire anyone at that point.  I figured
that he was taking his time to figure out whether or not he had a personal
interest in Ellie.  As long as Sasha was a model, she wouldn’t stand a
chance with Brandon.  He had already dated a model and put up with all of
the eccentricities.  He was also the type who wanted to have someone who
would be there at the end of the day.  Sasha was rarely home and had a
career that would be pretty hard to give up. 
Ellie is a better match
for Brandon anyway in this father’s opinion.

Sunday was bitter sweet as everyone headed back to the
city.  Kate seemed a bit relieved that we no longer had the pressure of
having Jayne and Brandon around
.  It will take her a while to adapt and
be totally comfortable around them. 
As soon as everyone was safely
aboard the jet, my thoughts turned to my appointment for stem cell
therapy.  Monday was the day I had been looking forward to since my first
discussion with Peter.  As I had told Jayne, I was fully expecting a
miracle.  If this didn’t turn out to be it, I would simply continue to
search until I found it. 
I’m going to live to be 93 one way or
another.

~~~

Monday morning - February 6, 2012

Jack

After a 45 minute briefing with my new cardiologist, Dr.
Salvatore, I signed the consent form to begin my treatments.  I excused
myself for a few minutes to give Jayne and Brandon a call.  They wanted me
to call them prior to going ahead with it because Jayne wanted one more chance
to talk some sense into me.

“Where did he go to medical school?” was her first question.

“He’s a Duke graduate,” I replied knowing it would put her
at ease.  She had been a Blue Devils fan since she was old enough to
understand basketball.

“Okay, but give me a call after your treatment so I don’t
have to worry.”

“I will, honey… everything is going to be fine.  I’ll
send you a text from the recovery room in a couple of hours.  Then I’ll
give you a call later tonight when I’m back on the ship.”

As soon as I hung up my phone, the nurse was ready to take
me back to start my treatment. 
I’ve never liked these sterile looking
white hallways flooded with florescent lights.  It always smells funny,
too.
  As I sat down on the table, the nurse explained once again that
they first would be collecting about a cup of fat from my body using
liposuction.  They would collect the fat from my abdomen, since that’s the
only area where I carry fat.

“They will take a little from each side to keep it even,
right?” was the only concern I expressed. 
Don’t want to walk around
with a lopsided stomach for god sake.

“Yes, sir.  He’s a plastic surgeon, so everything will
be uniform,” she replied with a warm smile.

After collecting the fat, there would be an hour wait while
they extracted the viable stem cells and concentrated them.  Then a
cardiologist would use a catheter to place the stem cells directly into my
heart. 

“They introduce the cells into a low blood flow area to
minimize complications,” the nurse assured.

Next, the anesthesiologist came in to ask if I would prefer
to use local or general anesthesia.  “We normally use local, unless you
have issues with the sight of blood,” he explained.

“Local is fine,” I assured him.  The sight of blood had
never bothered me.

Once the procedure began, however, the sucking sound made my
stomach turn.  I also had to close my eyes instead of watching whatever
that was coming up through the extraction tube. 
I really don’t need to
see this.  What can I think about?  I’m going to think about sitting
on the Lido deck with Kate and watching the waves go by.  There that’s
better.

Ten minutes later, I was resting comfortably.  I had
another hour to kill before the cardiologist injected the stem cells.  It
would’ve been nice if Kate could’ve come back, but since it was a sterile
environment I was on my own.  I wanted to send Jayne a text, but they made
me leave my phone with Kate
. 
With nothing else to do, I laid back
and focused on my heart.  I pictured myself running effortlessly on a
beach, windsurfing in the waves, and skydiving from an airplane. 

Once my heart is strong, I want to do all the things that
I haven’t done yet.  That’s another reason I wanted to be free from
corporate life.  I want to be able to do anything and everything.  I
hope Kate is up for an adventure because that’s what I am looking forward
to.  I want to do a few crazy things like Richard Branson.  He’s
always been an inspiration to me.

“Are you ready to get started?” Dr. Salvatore asked, as he
re-entered the room.

“I’m definitely ready,” I responded a little too
enthusiastically.

“Alright, I’m going to just use a little lidocaine before I
insert the atrial catheter,” he explained.

The familiar smell permeated the air as he swabbed it onto
my skin.  I felt a couple of sharp pains as he positioned the catheter and
secured it with tape.  Then everything seemed to be normal as he told me
they were going to start introducing the stem cells into the area of my heart
that had the most damage.  I felt a warm sensation, but it could’ve easily
been my imagination.  He kept reassuring me that everything was going as
planned as the stem cells were released into my blood stream.

The first spasm in my throat was something I had experienced
hundreds of times in the past ten years.  It was nothing more than a
pre-ventricular contraction according to my personal cardiologist.  What
happened in the ensuing moments however was something completely new to
me.  It felt as if a wild beast had been turned loose inside of my
chest.  The soothing voice of the cardiologist was suddenly replaced by
one of overt panic as he called out, “He’s coding!” 
This isn’t good
…
was my only thought as I began to fade into the soft white light.

Kate

“Code Blue Level 3, Room 318!”  When those words
blasted through the intercom it sent a dagger through my heart.  318 was
Jack’s room, and I had watched enough episodes of
ER, Grey’s Anatomy
,
and
House
to know that code blue most likely meant that Jack had gone
into cardiac arrest.  I jumped from my seat and tried to look down the
hallway.  Two guys who looked like paramedics and a nurse were running
down the hallway toward Jack’s room.

“He’s in full arrest,” I overheard someone say as they
entered the room.

“He’s in good hands,” a nurse assured me.  “Please take
a seat.  We’ll keep you posted on his condition.”

I literally burst into tears as I sat back down. 
Everyone had assured Jack that there was very little risk involved with this
procedure. 
Had his heart been too weak?  Will it have further
damage?  Will he even make it through this? 
Question after
question kept flooding through my mind. 
Brandon and Jayne should’ve
stayed a couple more days. 
I had been relieved to see them go back to
the city, but it would’ve been nice to have them around for moral
support. 
I should really call them.  I have to wait a few minutes
though, so I can pull myself together.

The next several minutes were absolutely excruciating as
waves of tears poured down my cheeks. 
I know that Jack wants to be
well, but he should’ve stuck to traditional treatments in the United
States.  Obviously, they aren’t as careful here as they are at home. 
This never would’ve happened at Johns Hopkins or Mayo. 
I wanted to
sneak down the hall to see what was going on, but the head nurse was keeping
watch.  I knew why they kept family away from patients during a time of
crisis, but unless you’ve been there, you have no idea how it feels. 
Please
pull through, Jack!
 

Feeling completely helpless, I resorted to something Jack
had told me.  I began to picture myself doing fun things with him.  I
saw him as being healthy and vibrant, no longer suffering from any sort of
ailment.  He was happy and full of energy like someone half his age
. 
I’m going to focus on that until it comes true.
  After only a few
minutes of concentrating, the doors to the corridor swung open and I was
relieved to see Dr. Salvatore.

“Jack went into full cardiac arrest during the initial stage
of the injection, but we’ve got him stabilized,” he said much to my relief.

“Can I see him?”

“No.  We are keeping him under sedation.  Due to
his history with tachycardia, our chief surgeon is going to implant a
pacemaker.  After that, we can finish injecting the stem cells.”

“A pacemaker?  How bad was his heart attack?”

“Since it happened here, the damage should be minimal. 
After witnessing the extreme level of atrial fibrillation, however, there is no
doubt that he needs a pacemaker.  He would be at great risk without it.”

“Alright, how long will he be under?”

“It will only be a couple of hours until we are done. 
He will need another hour or two in recovery,” he informed me.  “I’ll be
back when he’s out of surgery.”

I looked through the small window in the door as they
wheeled Jack out of the treatment room and down the hall to the surgical
unit. 
I should probably call Jayne.

~~~

It was a long, arduous wait.  I tried to remain focused
on Jack being completely healthy.  I found out how hard it is to focus on
one thing for more than a few minutes.  My mind constantly wandered off in
seemingly random directions.  Each time I would catch myself and return my
focus to Jack having a completely healthy heart.  As the two-hour mark
approached, I once again began to contemplate calling Jayne.  Luckily, the
surgeon emerged with good news, just as I was scrolling through my contacts
looking for her number.

“The surgery was a success and we just finished delivering
the stem cells.  We used mild sedation, so he should come around shortly,”
he explained.

After the surgeon left the waiting room, I picked up my
phone and sent Jayne a text:

Me:  Jack is in the recovery room.  I’ll have him
touch base with you asap.

Jayne:  Thanks.  Why is he in recovery?

After a moment of hesitation, I replied:

Me:  They implanted a pacemaker because his heart
fluttered while they were doing the stem cell injection.

Upon pressing send, I began counting to ten.  I knew
that my phone was going to ring before I got there.  It actually rang
before I reached the number four.  Needless to say, Jayne was concerned,
but I told her that the surgeon had assured me that the implant had few risks.

“That’s what they said about the stem cell injections,” she
countered.  “Obviously, that didn’t go exactly as planned.”

“I agree, but Jack admitted that he has been having these
episodes for the past ten years.  Apparently, your mom and his
cardiologist in New York were the only two who knew about them,” I explained so
she would understand that this wasn’t an isolated event.

“He’s so damn secretive about his health.  That’s what
makes me nervous,” Jayne replied with a sigh.

“I know.  He thinks by not saying anything we won’t
worry about him.  He doesn’t realize that it makes us worry more because
we don’t know exactly what’s going on.”

“Well, at least you’re there to keep an eye on him.  If
you weren’t, I would already be on a plane.”

“I know. That’s why I wanted to keep you in the loop. 
I’ll let you know if anything else comes up.  According to Dr. Salvatore,
though, he should be healed up within a few days.”

“Alright, thanks, Kate.”

I felt as if a bond was beginning to form between us as I
hung up the phone. 
That went well.  Jayne has so much going on in
the city.  I’m glad that she can trust me to keep her informed.  I
think it was a good idea to wait until he was out of surgery before contacting
her.  Jack will have to give her a call later and then everything will be
cool.
 

Jack

Upon coming out of sedation, I immediately knew that my life
would never be the same. 
Holy shit that was wild.  I have heard
stories of people seeing the other side, but I never would’ve believed how real
it is.  I can’t believe the pain I’ve caused.  I’ve got some making
up to do.
 

“Hi, are you feeling alright?” I heard Kate ask as she saw
me beginning to show signs of life.

“I think so, but you aren’t going to believe what I’ve
seen.”

“Did you get to see the light?”

“Yeah, have you heard about it before?”

“I was in the room when my grandmother passed and she was
telling me what she was seeing as she was dying.  It was really strange
because she sounded so excited about what was waiting on the other side.”

“I know exactly what she was seeing.  It’s amazing!” I
completely understood what her grandmother had witnessed. 

“After her funeral, I started reading about near death
experiences.  Apparently everything they talk about is true, huh?”

“You have no idea.  I not only saw my life pass before
my eyes, but saw all of the consequences that were caused by my
actions.   There was plenty of good and bad, some really bad,” I
admitted.

“Really?  What have you done that’s so terrible?”

“Most of it has to do with off shore factories that we
recommended to designers over the past 20 years.  I knew they weren’t the
best places for workers, but I had no idea how bad they really were.”  I
could feel tears forming as I recalled the faces I had seen.

“Maybe that’s why you were so excited about my idea to
manufacture my line in the U.S.,” she said with a supportive look in her eyes.

“I’m sure that was part of it.  We’ve got so much to
do.  I don’t even know where to begin.”

“Relax, Jack, you just got out of surgery.  You have to
start by recovering,” she replied running her fingers through my hair.

“I’m fine.  I’m ready to get out of here.”

“You better just chill for a few more minutes.  The
cardiologist will let us know when it’s safe for you to get up.”

I knew she was right, but I was so energized by the
experience that I just wanted to jump out of bed and get on with my life. 
My eyes had been opened for the first time and I realized how many lives were
impacted by each decision I had made.  I always knew that most of the
things we spend our life worrying about were futile, but suddenly I realized
exactly what was most important in this world. 
I’ve got so much to do.

“I love you. Kate,” I said, being met with a stabbing pain
as I attempted to lift my arm.

“I love you, too, but you need stay still.  They just
cut you open, you know.”

“I know.  I’m still not thinking too clearly.”

Even though my head was still fuzzy, I could see the concern
in Kate’s eyes.  After losing Eva, I had become increasingly focused on my
declining health and myself.  Having the kids to look out for kept me from
becoming completely self-absorbed, but now they were grown up.  As I gazed
into Kate’s loving eyes, I was glad to have a new focal point.