| Chapter 13 Leighanne banged on the door for the second time. It swung open, "Yeah, what the......Anne, what brings you here?" Gary asked surprised to see her. Leighanne said nothing but walked past Gary into his house. "Anne, what's wrong?" Gary asked, knowing something was. Leighanne turned around to face him, "I think Brian's having an affair," she said as a tear made it's way down her cheek. Gary motioned for her to have a seat. He reached over and grabbed a box of tissues and handed them to her, "What makes you think that?" "I don't know, little things really," Leighanne started. "Like what?" Gary asked, sitting across from her. "Well, he's keeping things from me, but he shares them with her." Leighanne said getting angry all over again. "OK, who's her?" Gary asked. "Tara, Nick's umm .... whatever you want to call her....girlfriend, live-in, I dunno," Leighanne said. "I see," Gary said, "So, what else?" "They have this weird, and I do mean weird bond between them. They share dreams and crap like that, I dunno, it's just to much to take anymore," Leighanne said wiping away her tears. Gary got up and sat next to Leighanne. He put his arm around her, "There, there now. I'm sure it's all just a misunderstanding." Leighanne leaned over and began to cry on Gary's shoulder. He let her for a few minutes. "Anne, is this what was bothering you today?" he asked. Leighanne looked up at him, "Some of it." "What else is bothering you?" he asked concerned. Leighanne looked at the floor, "I've been having mixed feelings about things, and I don't know what to do." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Tara sat next to the hospital bed and watched the nurse put an IV in Brian's arm. Nick was out in the hall talking to Kevin on his cell. The nurse finished and left the room. Nick walked back in, "Kev's on his way," he said. Tara just nodded her head. "I can't believe he's still out. How long has it been?" Nick asked, walking to the other side of the bed and having a seat. "Couple hours now," Tara answered. Nick looked at her, "Do you feel anything? Like maybe a hint as to what the hell is going on?" Tara just looked at him, he could see in her eyes that she didn't, and it was upsetting her. "Was Kevin angry that we didn't call him right away?" Tara asked. "Well, I didn't tell him how long we've been here," Nick answered, "Do you think we should call Howie?" Tara thought for a minute, "I hate to cut his date short when all he's gonna do is come up here and sit." "Yeah, me too," Nick said, "Let's wait and see what the doctor says first." Tara nodded her head in agreement. "Have you tried Lee yet?" Tara asked. "I've called her cell like five times now, she must have it turned off. I left a message at the house too, maybe she'll get it when she comes back," Nick said. If she comes back, Tara thought. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Mixed feelings about what?" Gary asked. Leighanne sat there for a moment contemplating on whether to tell him or not. Gary had always been a good friend, why couldn't she tell him? "About my life.......my marriage," Leighanne said softly. Gary looked at her intently, "What about it?" Leighanne took a deep breath, "About whether or not I want to be in it anymore," she said not looking at his eyes. "Are things that bad?" Gary asked. "Not really that bad, it's just that.......I'm not sure if........I'm not in love like I used to be," Leighanne finally got out. "And you're wondering if you ever really were in the first place?" Gary asked. Leighanne looked at him, "Exactly." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Kevin came flying down the hall and into Brian's room. Tara and Nick looked up when he came in. "Hey Kev," Nick said, getting up and letting Kevin sit next to Brian. "Has the doctor been in yet?" Kevin asked. "No, not yet," Tara answered. "How did this happen, what caused it? And where is Lee?" Kevin asked. Tara and Nick looked at each other, then at Kevin. "Kev, it's a long story," Nick started. Kevin looked at them both, afraid of what the story was, "Well, I'm not going anywhere," he said. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "So, what is there to do to figure it out?" Gary asked. "I don't know," Leighanne said, "I've been thinking about it for a long time, I just don't know how I feel anymore." Gary looked deep into her eyes, he could see the pain and confusion she was feeling. "Anne, I don't know what to tell you. Other than I'm here anytime you need me," Gary said. Leighanne leaned into his shoulder again as the tears resurfaced, "Thanks," she said. Gary said nothing, but just held her. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The doctor walked into the room. Kevin and Nick stood up to greet him. "What's going on, Doc?" Kevin asked. "Well, all the tests we've run so far have come back normal. I'd like to schedule him for a MRI in the morning," the doctor said. Kevin nodded his head. "Doc, he's been out for a long time, how come he's not waking up?" Nick asked. "We aren't sure. According to his tests, there's no reason he shouldn't already be conscious. We're keeping him monitored, and the test in the morning should shed some light on what's going on," the doctor answered. The doctor left the room. "Well that was a wealth of information," Kevin said frustrated. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Leighanne had been crying for a while when she finally looked up at Gary. His eyes were full of concern for her. "I'm sorry for barging in on you like this," she said. Gary smiled at her, "Don't think anything of it, what are friends for?" Leighanne managed a small smile. "Have you had anything to eat?" Gary asked. Leighanne shook her head, "I'm not hungry," she said. "Gary, do you mind if I stay here tonight?" Leighanne asked softly. Gary wiped the tears from her cheeks, "Anne, you don't have to ask. You can stay as long as you want," he answered. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A few hours later Brian slowly opened his eyes. He looked around, and realized he was in the hospital. He could see Kevin asleep in the chair next to the bed, and Nick had curled up in the floor next to Kevin. He turned his head to the other side of the room. Tara was sitting next to the bed, lost in her own thoughts. He reached over and touched her hand. "Hey, how you feeling?" she whispered. "Like someone hit me in the head with a baseball bat," Brian replied. "Well then you must be feeling better," Tara said with a smile. Brian looked at her, and she could see the sadness in his eyes. "Bri, what happened with you and Leighanne?" Tara asked. Brian looked down and then back up at her, "She thinks you and I are having an affair, and that we made up everything that's going on, just so we could spend time with each other." Tara's mouth dropped open, "How could she think that?" Brian shook his head, "I dunno, and no matter what I say, she twists it around to what she believes. I've never seen her like this." Tara reached over and took Brian's hand, "What should we do?" "I don't know," Brian said. Chapter 14 |