| Chapter 36 The next morning they had come and got Brian for some tests while Tara was still sleeping. When she woke up, Nick was sitting there with her, no one else was in the room. Tara wished she had the ventilator off so she could talk to him, he looked at her with loving eyes, but there was emince sadness in them too. She looked around the room and saw Brian's paper and pen and pointed to it. "You want to write?" Nick asked. Tara nodded her head, and Nick got up and handed them to her. She still had an IV, so it took her some time to write. When she finished she handed the paper to Nick. He smiled, "I'm OK, you didn't hurt me that bad. Although I do still kinda have a headache." She took the paper back and wrote I'M SORRY. Nick laughed, "It's OK." Tara looked at him for a long time before she wrote again. He watched her as she wrote, Why did you? He knew what she meant. "Because I love you. I heard you and Brian that night, and I saw you kiss. I wanted to be angry, but after I heard your conversation, I couldn't be. I know what I did was the right thing to do," Nick said staring deep into her eyes. She looked at him as the tears threatened to overflow. "Tara don't cry. I'm OK really," Nick said lying through his teeth. No you're not, you're just pretending to be for everyone's sake, she wrote. Nick looked at her but didn't say anything. I don't want things to be awkward with us, or with you and Brian, she wrote. "They won't be," Nick said. They already are, she penned. He took her hand and looked at her, "I promise they won't be. I'm gonna wait until I know you're gonna be OK, then I'm gonna leave for a while. You know, let things kinda settle down," he said. Leave? she asked. Nick nodded his head, "I've got to go on a promotion thing for the label, they called this morning. I'll be gone for like a month or so." I don't want you to leave, she wrote. He smiled at her, "I think it'll be a good thing. It'll let you and Brian have time to settle in, maybe the media stuff will blow over by then, then we can all start fresh." Tara looked at him for a long time, silently thanking him, and admiring just how much he had matured since they'd met. You sure? she asked. "I'm very sure," Nick replied. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Howie lay in bed watching Kira sleep. He loved doing that, wondering were she was in her dreams. He welcomed the refuge from the hospital. Sleeping in those chairs just wasn't as appealing after Kira asked him to stay at her place. She really didn't live very far from the hospital, and he would be back to stay with Brian later that morning after they'd finished with his tests. As he lay there watching her, he just couldn't help but think about his life before he met her. And how he never wanted to know that life again. She somehow had filled a part of him he never knew was missing, and he never wanted to be without her. He knew it sounded crazy, they'd only known each other a short time, but in that time they had become each others soul mates. Even the most boring of tasks was fun and exciting when she was there. Howie smiled, lost in his thoughts, I really do love her. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ An orderly wheeled Brian in and helped him get back in bed. Brian was completely exhausted from all the tests, and his head was starting to hurt again. Tara was asleep, and Nick had dozed off sitting in the chair next to her. Brian looked over at them, wondering how on earth they were gonna make things work. Just then Kevin came in the room. Brian held his finger to his mouth to let Kevin know to be quiet. Kevin walked around the side of the bed and sat down leaning in to whisper to Brian. "They done with all your tests?" he asked. "I think so," Brian replied. "How you feeling?" Kevin asked. "OK," Brian lied. Brian looked at Kevin, he was worried about something. "What's bothering you?" Brian asked. Kevin smiled, "Already picking up some of Tara's traits huh?" "Yep, so let's have it cuz," Brian said. Kevin took a deep breath, "Bri, they let him go." Brian looked at him confused, "Let who go?" "Gary, or whatever the hell his name is," Kevin said, "on some technicality, they didn't read him his rights right or something." "What?!" Brian almost yelled. "Bri, it's gonna be OK. We've got security coming in to stay with you," Kevin said reassuringly. "It's not me I'm worried about. What about Lee, you gotta have some for her too," Brian said. "We will, I promise you, somehow we'll get him back behind bars," Kevin said. Brian leaned back and let his head sink into his pillow, now his head really was hurting. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Kira opened her eyes to see Howie staring at her. She smiled, "How long you been awake?" "For a while," Howie answered. "You could've woke me up, ya know," Kira said. "I know, I just like watching you sleep," Howie said. Kira looked at him skeptically, "Oh really." "Yeah, you look so peaceful," Howie said blushing a little. Kira rolled over on her back and turned her head to look at him, "You going back to the hospital soon?" "Yeah, in a little while. They're running more tests on Brian this morning," he answered. "You're worried aren't you?" she asked. Howie nodded his head, "Very much. This isn't like last time." Kira sat up in bed facing him, "What do you mean like last time?" "Well, last year alot of bad things happened, but Brian snapped back. He's not doing that this time, he's still having headaches," Howie said. Kira looked at him confused, "This was when you all met Tara right?" "Yeah," he said, "Oh I keep forgetting you don't know the whole story." "I was wondering when you were gonna tell me," Kira said with a smile. Howie looked deep into her eyes, "You have to promise me that everything I tell you stays here. There's alot that the public doesn't know, and it's best it stay that way." Kira took his hand in hers, "I promise on all that we are to each other, I won't tell anyone." He looked at her for a moment, "Alright. Well it all started last year when we were on tour......" Chapter 37 |