Love Speaks Through: Chapter 1
Kris thought he would have more time to prepare. He and Katy were expecting their first child, a boy, in early September, and it was currently early June. He had thought he would have plenty of time to travel to Costa Rica and fulfill an Idol Gives Back obligation in time to return home and take care of his wife in her final months of pregnancy.
But Katy woke him two nights prior, panic edging her voice, and as sleep slipped away, Kris was aware of blood soaking the sheets. Katy was hemorrhaging, and it was too soon. Those were the only thoughts Kris had before he grabbed his phone and called for an ambulance.
At the hospital, nothing worked, as they tried slow down the bleeding. Katy was pale and losing consciousness even after the transfusion. On top of the emergency caesarean section, they asked Kris for permission to do an emergency hysterectomy. The bleeding couldn’t be controlled. Something was wrong with her placenta. Kris didn’t even let himself think of what it would mean for their future. If it would save Katy’s life, he wanted it done.
But now his wife was recovering from surgery and blood loss, and his newborn son was so early, Kris didn’t know how he had managed to survive two days in the outside world. He only weighed two and a half pounds, and Kris swore he had never seen a baby that small. He was sure he could cup his baby in one hand with no problem. Except that he was too sick to be held.
Kaleb’s lungs hadn’t yet developed, and it was clear that the rest of him wasn’t done growing either. He looked more like a little creature than a baby, with reddish purple translucent skin and tubes and wires everywhere. He couldn’t even breathe or maintain his body temperature on his own. Still, Kris felt an instant connection and love for him.
Life went on, though, as Kris would discover. He tried to call and pull out of his Idol responsibilities. As far as he was concerned, family came first. But even his insistence that he had a family emergency didn’t outweigh the fact that he had a contractual obligation to fulfill as the winner of a reality television show.
Producers wanted to bring back Idol Gives Back, the fundraiser previously done to raise money for the impoverished in the United States and Africa. For reasons outside Kris’ knowledge, they decided this year to go smaller-scale at an alternate location, and chose an unknown children’s home in Costa Rica to film television spots while he and Adam helped out there. They had wanted Danny, too, but he was stuck in the studio with his album. In true teenage fashion, Allison had done some checking on her own and ended up pretty much inviting herself along in Danny’s place. She was eighteen now, so Kris supposed she could make her own choices. It was still hard to shake the need to look out for her.
He knew that tonight, as he sat in the rocking chair in the NICU, staring at Kaleb in his isolette and listened to the monitors beeping and the ventilators breathing, that his friends had no idea his wife had even given birth. It was Kris’ plan that his family’s situation be kept as quiet as possible. He wanted to give Katy and Kaleb every chance to improve, without his parents or hers, or his wife having to worry about media attention. Especially while he was gone.
Kris had gotten a text from Adam, explaining that he would be staying at Allison’s and the two of them would be up all night, before catching the 4 AM flight to San Jose. Kris would catch two flights in order to arrive at the desired time. Adam admitted that he hadn’t read over the guidelines for the trip, but he planned to on the flight over, when he was good and bored.
--
“So what else do you think I should pack?” Allison wondered. She was in her bedroom, surrounded by clothes and shoes, classic Aerosmith blaring from the speakers. For the record, she loved having her own place. It was so much nicer than having her parents over her shoulder all the time, telling her what she should do and not do. She loved them, but it was definitely time to get out on her own. And her apartment was like, the cutest ever.
Adam flipped around, so that he hung off the foot of her bed rather than lounging on the pillows. “I don’t know, but I think you’re supposed to pack light. Oh, and I checked that weird packet we got from the higher-ups? No shorts.”
“What?!” Allison exclaimed. “Central America is like, a billion degrees! How are we supposed to survive?”
“And no tank tops,” Adam added, wrinkling his nose.
“Whatever! That’s like, all I wear in the summer!” she scoffed angrily, tossing out the shirts she had just packed. "I mean, I’m all for helping out. But a dress-code? I thought where we’re going was a Christian place not Mormon.”
“Kris said it’s common for these places to have expectations for dress, so no one will stumble or something,” Adam recalled, pausing to consider something. “…But what if I want to stumble?” he asked, grinning.
"Beats me. I think you probably still have to wear stuff, out of respect for the other people there. …Does it bug you going to a Christian place when you’re Jewish?” she wondered.
He shook his head. “No. Why should it? Ken and Nigel said we aren’t required to participate in any of the religious stuff. Devotionals or whatever. Kris probably will, though. And do you think it’s still within the dress code if I wear capris?”
“Why not? They’re forcing the girls to,” Allison reasoned. “Well, enough of this,” she kicked her suitcase out of the way. “I’m hungry. Want some Hamburger Helper?” she asked, walking in the kitchen and opening her refrigerator to take out leftovers.
Adam wrinkled his nose. “Do you even know what’s in Hamburger Helper?”
Shrugging, Allison spooned some on a plate and stuck it in the microwave. “Hamburger and…Helper, I guess.”
“Disgusting. Please tell me you have ice cream,” he begged and then opened the freezer himself to investigate.
“Ooh, get me some!”
“Cappuccino truffle?” Adam asked, incredulous. “Alli, are you trying to kill me here? “
“Just bring over the whole thing,” she mumbled around a bite of noodles. “Grab some spoons.”
--
Kris had not slept in more than 48 hours. He had serious plans to catch up on his two flights, but wasn’t sure he’d even be able to manage it. Kaleb had already endured several crises and it wasn’t looking good. Katy was still so dopey from the anesthetic and morphine that she rarely said anything to him except to ask about the baby.
Praying, Kris held his wife’s hand. It felt cold and small.
“Where’s Kaleb?” she asked coming awake suddenly.
“He’s being looked after. He’s in the NICU and he even has his own nurse.” Kris said, trying to reassure her.
Her eyes flashed with something he couldn’t place. “Why aren’t you with him?”
“My parents are down there. I just wanted to come check on you. See how you’re doing.” He stroked the back of her hand where an IV was taped into place. A red light was on her finger, reminding him of ET.
“Ouch?” he questioned, touching his own pointer finger to the light, trying to make her smile.
“I’m fine, Kris,” she complained. “Now stop messing around and go see about Kaleb!” she winced, crying out a little as her muscles contracted.
“I want to stay with you. ’Cause I gotta go soon,” he said apologetically, pressing a kiss to her brow.
“No,” she whimpered. “You can’t go. Not when we need you.”
“I’m sorry. I wish I didn’t have to. But I’ll be back as soon as I can to be with you again, I promise.” Emotion closed his throat and he stopped talking.
Kris purposely didn’t say that he was going to be out of the country for nine days. The last two seemed interminable, and so much had happened. He couldn’t be sure Kaleb and Katy would be here when he returned. All he could do was pray, and thank his parents and hers for volunteering to stay at the Ronald McDonald House nearby, to look after them in his absence.
“I have to get going,” he whispered. “You and Kaleb stay strong, okay. I love you both.”
He kissed Katy’s tears off her cheeks, hoping to absorb some of her pain, so she would be able to heal faster.
“Say goodbye to him,” she said fiercely. “And tell him I love him.”
“I will,” Kris promised, before ducking out of the room.
He found her parents in the hallway, and made sure to pass along the number to where he would be. He asked them to please call if there was an emergency with Katy or the baby. Then, he hurried up to the NICU to see his little bird of a son.
--
“Hey, buddy,” Kris said, biting his own lip to keep from crying. He just couldn’t get over how tiny Kaleb was. He couldn’t even be touched right now, he was so fragile. “Daddy has to go for a few days okay, but you be strong. Mama loves you, okay? I love you, too.” Leaning down, Kris pressed a kiss to the outside of the isolette, willing it to go through the mask he wore, and through the plastic, all the way inside where his baby boy was fighting for his life. Kris hoped it would sustain him.
Outside, he shrugged out of the gown and mask, hugging both his parents, and fighting tears. “Please take care of him for me,” he begged. “I would get out of this if I could, but there’s just no way…”
“We got your CD. Your old one,” Kim said, as Neil cried on Kris’ shoulder. “We’re putting it with Katy, and if they let us, we’ll play it for him, so he can hear your voice.”
He nodded, and then forced himself to walk away, knowing he had to get home, pack, and leave. And pray that his life didn’t change for the worse before he returned.
--
The flight was long, and Adam got absolutely no sleep. He couldn’t get comfortable at all. And the plane was the temperature of an icebox. He and Allison didn’t even have seats with one another.
--
They arrived hours later, cameras in their faces, trying to smile. Kris had taken two flights and several calls about Kaleb’s rough morning. Katy was having lots of pain, too. It was all Kris could do to keep praying, and not demand to get on a return-flight home.
“Rough flight?” the producers asked him as he walked toward baggage claim.
“It was fine,” Kris allowed. “Just haven’t gotten much sleep.”
“I know what you mean,” a voice behind Kris agreed knowingly, and slowly he turned.
Adam stood behind him. An admirable single bag and a single carry-on with him.
“Hey, man. I missed you,” Kris told him honestly, pulling him in for a hug, knowing that the cameras were zooming in, and not caring. They wouldn’t use half the stuff they shot.
Adam took in Kris' pale face and bloodshot eyes. He looked like he hadn't slept in days. Like he had been through hell. But Adam knew better than to ask him about it now.
Kris hoped there would be time, away from the cameras - away from everything - for him to explain the turns his life had taken. He shared everything with Adam. Best friends were like that.
“Ah, Costa Rica!” Allison sighed grandly. “Closer to my homeland! Hey, Kris!” she bounded up, embracing him.
“Your homeland…” he scoffed good-naturedly, lifting her off the ground. “How are you? Legal and everything now, huh? How’s it feel?”
“Not as good as being twenty-one,” she confided in a whisper. And then at regular volume. “You guys should be glad I came. I am so fluent, I even told the guy who tried to take me and Adam to some special transportation that we had to stay and wait for Kris, because he’s so slow that he takes forever to get through customs.”
Kris pulled down the bill of her Angels cap. “Enough out of you,” he chastised.
“Iraheta, where’s your damn bags?” Adam asked, irritably. “I’ve watched this carousel go around fifteen times and your bags aren’t on it.”
“Yeah, they are,” Allison dismissed. “You’re probably just so senile in your old age that you missed them.”
But two hours later, there was still no sign of the bags or the extra ones she had brought containing cereal and other food for the house, to help cover cost of living while they stayed there.
They were told by airport staff that they would be notified when, or if, they found the bags, and then got on a bus and bumped along a dirt road for an hour until they reached the children’s home.
Arriving with nothing but the clothes on her back, Allison felt a sudden kinship with these kids. Their eyes dark with pain barely masked by the hope they seemed to feel inherently. It wasn’t long before Allison felt an unease among them and wondered if she should even be there at all.