Donna Pappas had to put me on hold Sunday. And who could blame her? Turns out her son, Nick Williams, was expecting some more visitors.
Williams, the 16-year-old Cardinal Gibbons junior injured in a one-car wreck May 4, still is in the hospital, still heavily sedated and still on a respirator, according to Pappas. He has a fever and contracted pneumonia -- that's upsetting, Pappas said, but normal for a person in his condition -- but is showing some positive signs.
In fact, he even threw a pillow.
"He was going to kill a volleyball one way or another," Pappas joked.
More positives: Pappas said doctors hope to have Williams off the respirator in "a couple days," although they're not committing to anything just yet. Plus, there's still a ton of support, everything from flower bouquets to those visitors who keep flowing in -- everyone from Williams' chemistry teacher to his uncle, who Pappas said came in this weekend from Marin County, Calif.
And the word continues to spread about Williams, Pappas said, who wore No. 2 on the court this year.
"God willing, if he's able to play next year," she said, "I can assure you, it won't be like, 'Who's that No. 2, anyway?'"
--Patrick Dorsey (e-mail)
