| Chapter 52 Tara sat watching Nick sleep, trying to decide what to do. He was really sick, his fever was up and his breathing was becoming labored. She knew he should be taken to the hospital, but she also knew if he was and the media found out it'd be a circus. There was only one other option, and she wasn't to thrilled about it either. Her Uncle Ted was a doctor, but she hadn't talked to him since the death of her parents almost three months ago. She still blamed him because he was the doctor on duty when they where brought to the hospital, and he couldn't save them. Nick started coughing in his sleep. She got up from the chair she was sitting in and walked over to the bed. She took the thermometer from the nitestand and checked Nick's temperature. She almost dropped it when she saw what it was, 103.4. "Oh my God," she said grabbing the phone and dialing the number. Tara waited impatiently as the phone rang. "Hello," came a very sleepy voice. "Uncle Ted," she said. "Tara Lyn is that you?" he asked. "Yes, I um I need your help," she said reluctantly. "What's wrong, are you sick?" he asked concerned. "No, not me. A friend of mine is, and I can't take him to the hospital, can you come over?" she asked. "Honey, why can't you take him to the hospital?" Ted asked. "It's a really long story, but it'd be best if he could stay here and be treated," she said. Nick started coughing again. "Is that him?" Ted asked. "Yes, he's got a fever of 103.4 and his breathing isn't good," Lyn said. "OK honey, I'll be there as soon as I can, I'm gonna stop by the office and grab some things on the way," Ted said. "Please hurry," she said and hung up. She set the phone down and picked up the wash clothe she had next to the bed and began wiping Nick's forehead, "Help's on the way." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Brian was pacing the floor with his cell in his hand. He'd been trying to call Nick's phone ever since Tara had the dream. Nick wasn't answering and he'd left at least forty messages. Tara walked up behind him and grabbed his arm. Brian turned around and looked at her, "I don't understand why he won't answer the phone." Tara handed him a cup of coffee, "I don't know. He wanted to get away from everyone, maybe he just has it turned off." Brian looked at her shocked, "Honey, you of all people should know he never turns that thing off." Tara took a deep breath and tried to fight the tears from coming, "I know, I'm just hoping......." "That he hasn't gone and done something stupid," Brian finished for her. She nodded her head. Brian set his coffee on the table and put his arms around her. "Well the only thing I know to do now is pray, there's nothing else we can do," he said. Tara nodded her head, and together they started to pray for their friend. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ There was a knock at the door, and Lyn ran to answer it. She opened the door to find Ted standing there with his arms full of supplies. "Where is he?" Ted asked. "In my room," Lyn answered taking some of the supplies from him. "Tell me what's been going on with him," Ted said entering the room and putting the supplies down in the chair. He turned around and saw Nick lying there, "Wait a minute, isn't he one of those guys in that boy band you like?" Lyn blushed a little, "Yeah he is, his name is Nick Carter." Ted sat down on the edge of the bed and began examining him, "So how did he get here?" "He rented the house next door. He's been here for a couple of days." she said. "And," Ted said, knowing there was more. "Well I think he was sick when he got here, but he would go and sit on the beach all day. He never moved, and he seemed like he was really upset. Something kept telling me to watch him, and well, he tried to drown himself in the ocean. I ran out and got him, I had to do CPR on him for a really long time before he came around," she said. Ted looked up at her, "When he came to, was he responsive, did he understand what you were saying to him?" "No, not for a while. Somehow I managed to get him up here, and I put him in the shower to warm him up. I got him out, got him dressed, and put him in here. The whole time he didn't seem like he knew what was going on, but when I came back in to check on him, he kinda snapped out of it," Lyn said. "Lyn, help me set him up, I need to listen to his lungs from the back," Ted said. She walked around to the other side of the bed and held Nick up while Ted listened. "OK, you can put him down now," he said. She carefully lowered him down to the bed. "So, how do you two know each other?" Ted asked. Lyn looked down at her feet, "We don't really. For some reason we both kinda watched each other, but we never talked until I was checking on him." "What'd he say?" he asked. "Well, he asked me if I knew who he was, then he asked me my name, and I made the mistake of telling him," she said. Ted looked at her confused, "What's wrong with that?" "Well, the girl he was with until just recently is named Tara, and when I said it, he passed out," Lyn said. "Oh," Ted said, standing up and facing her. "Do you know what's wrong?" she asked. "Yes, he's got a bad case of pneumonia. Lyn he really needs to go to the hospital," Ted said. "Uncle Ted, he can't," she pleaded, "His group just came out with an interview saying that the girl he was with for over a year and another of the guys from the band had gotten together. And in it, Nick said he was fine with it. Well obviously he's not, or he wouldn't be here. If the media find out, it'll ruin everything with their fans. They'll feel like they'd been lied to, and it could ruin the groups career." "Lyn, his career isn't worth losing his life over. He's really sick, and he needs to be in the hospital," Ted said. "Uncle Ted, can't you get the equipment he needs from the hospital and bring it here?" she asked. He looked at her, "Well I suppose I could, but are you willing to devote yourself to taking care of him 24/7 until he's better?" "I'm here 24/7 anyway, please Uncle Ted, you don't know what the media would do with this, especially if they found out about him doing what he did," she begged. He looked at her, "Alright, we'll try this, but if he doesn't start improving soon, I will admit him to the hospital, understood?" "Yes, completely," she said. Ted pulled a needle out of his bag and pulled Nick's arm from under the covers. "I'm gonna take some blood, and have some tests run to see exactly what kind of pneumonia we're dealing with here, then I'll know how best to treat him," he said. Lyn watched as he drew the blood, Nick didn't even flinch. "Do you know if he's allergic to any medications?" Ted asked. "No I don't, I've never read anything that said he was," she answered. "OK, we'll just have to take the chance I guess," he said pulling a bottle of medicine from his bag, and preparing a shot. "I'm going to give him this, if he shows any sign of reacting to it, call me on my cell." "OK," Lyn said. Ted gave him the shot, and got up to leave. "I'll be back as soon as I get the test results," he said. She followed him to the door, "Uncle Ted." He turned around, "Yes?" "Thanks for doing this," she said. He smiled, "I'm glad you called, I'll be back soon." She watched as he backed out of the drive and left, praying it wouldn't take him too long to get what Nick needed and come back. Chapter 53 |