| Chapter 56 Nick stared at Lyn for a few minutes, not knowing where he wanted to start. "I thought you wanted to ask me some questions?" she said. "I do, I just can't decide which one to ask," Nick said. Lyn laughed, "Well, why don't I tell you some stuff and you can go from there." "OK," Nick said. "I'm 22 and I run my own business on the internet. I graduated college a year and a half early with a bachelor's degree in business, and I'm single," she said. "What kind of internet business do you have?" Nick asked. "It's a clothing line that I started. You're actually wearing some of them," she answered. Nick looked down at the sweats he had on, "Cool, I knew these weren't mine." They both laughed. "When's your birthday?" Nick asked. "It's in January," she said. "Really? So is mine," he said. Lyn smiled, "Yeah, I knew that." "So what do you do for fun?" Nick asked. She thought for a minute, "Well, lately nothing. But I like to walk on the beach and look at the ocean. I like to go dancing, although I haven't been in a long time," she said. "How come?" he asked. She looked away from him. "Oh, I'm getting into the family thing aren't I?" he said. "Yeah, but it's OK. Lately I've just been working, nothing else," she said. "Oh, you're that busy?" Nick asked. "No, but I make myself be," she said. "Oh, I see," Nick said. They sat in silence for a few minutes. "Nick, do you feel like getting up and going into the living room?" Lyn asked. "Yeah, sure," he said swinging his legs over the side of the bed. Lyn reached down and unplugged his IV so she could move it. She offered her hand to Nick, who took it and stood up. He was a little unsteady, so Lyn held on to him as they slowly made their way to the couch. She got Nick settled on the couch and plugged his IV into the wall. She handed him the remote to the TV, "I'm gonna make some dinner, any requests?" "No, not really," he said. Food still didn't sound good to him. "OK, I'll surprise you then," she said and went into the kitchen. Nick turned the TV on and flipped through the channels. He finally settled on an old Fred and Ginger movie. "Man, nobody dances like that anymore," he said. He laid his head down on the pillow and watched as they moved gracefully over the dance floor. Lyn came back with a glass of water, "I thought you might be thirsty." Nick looked up at her, "Thanks, just set it down." She set the glass down on the end table and started to go back to the kitchen. "Lyn," Nick said, stopping her. She turned around and faced him, "Yeah?" "What made you do this?" he asked. "Do what?" she said, not understanding. "Take care of me, you could've just taken me to a hospital, but instead you stop your life to take care of me, why?" Nick said looking deep into her eyes. Lyn bent down, so she was eye level with him, "Because I understand the pain you were going through, and I knew the hospital was the last place you would want to be." "You understand?" Nick asked. Lyn nodded her head, "Let me go finish dinner, and we'll talk, OK?" Nick saw the sorrow in her eyes, "OK." She smiled at him and went back to the kitchen. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Oh guys, I forgot to tell you, we heard from Nick," Brian said. "Well it's about time, where is he?" Kevin said. "Well we don't know, we actually didn't talk directly to him," Tara said. Everyone looked at them confused. "What do you mean?" Howie asked. "Well, we had been trying to call his cell, and this girl answered," Brian said. "And?" Kevin said. "She said that Nick was sick, and she was taking care of him," Tara said. "Who is this girl, and how does Nick know her?" Kira asked. Brian and Tara looked at each other. "Her name is Tara Lyn Jackson, and she said she was Nick's neighbor," Brian said. Everyone's mouths dropped open. "OK, her name is Tara?" Kevin said. "Yep," Brian said smiling. "So, what's wrong with him?" Kristin asked. "She said he had pneumonia," Tara said. "Is he in the hospital?" Howie asked. "No, she's taking care of him at her house, she said her uncle was a doctor and he was treating him," Brian said. "And you aren't worried?" Kira asked. "Yeah, I mean who knows if this girl is telling you the truth, Nick could be in trouble," Kevin said. "I know she's telling the truth," Tara said, "I can feel it. She really does care for him." Everyone looked at her. "Tara, you're sure about this?" Howie asked. "Yes," Tara said. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Lyn carried the two plates into the living room and set them down on the coffee table. She looked over to see that Nick had fallen asleep. She smiled, he looked so peaceful when he slept, and she hated to wake him up. He had been hiding his feelings, but she had seen when he thought she wasn't looking. He was still depressed, and she knew it. She reached over and touched Nick's forehead, "Nick." His eyes slowly opened and focused on her. "Hey, you feel like eating?" she asked with a smile. Nick sat up and rubbed his eyes. Lyn handed him a plate and sat down next to him. Nick ate a few bites then set the plate on the coffee table and leaned into the back of the couch. "You don't like it?" Lyn asked. He looked at her, "No, it was good, I'm just not that hungry," he said. "Oh, well I'm sure it'll take some time before you get your appetite back," she said. Nick nodded his head, and stared at the TV. Lyn finished eating, and got up to take the plates back to the kitchen. "You want anything else?" she asked. "No thanks," he said, "Are we gonna talk now?" "Yeah, let me put these up," she said, and walked into the kitchen. She came back and sat in the floor in front of the couch. Nick had laid back down, and was on his side facing her. He could tell she really didn't want to have this conversation. "Lyn, you don't have to tell me if you don't wanna," he said. "No, I do wanna tell you, it's just hard," she said. Nick took her hand in his, "Just start from the beginning." She took a deep breath and looked into his eyes, "Well it all started about three months ago. I had been having nightmares for a couple of days, God they were awful. Anyway, my parents wanted to go to the mountains for the weekend. I begged them not to go, cause that was what my dreams were about." "What happened in your dreams?" Nick asked. "They were in a car accident, and I could hear them screaming, and feel the pain they were going through. I'd always wake up screaming," she said. Nick was afraid to ask, "So did they go?" "Yes," she said looking at the floor, fighting tears. "What happened?" he asked. "They were killed, just like in my dreams. Some drunk idiot crossed the center line and hit them head on," she said. "God Lyn, I'm sorry," Nick said. She looked up at him, tears streaming down her face, "My uncle was the doctor on duty when they brought them to the hospital. I couldn't understand why he couldn't save them. All my life all I ever heard was how great a doctor he was, and he couldn't even save my parents!" Nick sat up and pulled her into a hug, "Lyn, I'm sure he tried his best." She pulled away and looked at him, "But his best wasn't good enough." "So this is why things are awkward with you two," Nick said. She nodded her head, "I hadn't talked to him since that day, until I needed help with you." Nick looked at her, "Lyn, I'm sorry no one should have to go through that." She wiped away her tears and got up to sit on the couch. "This is how I know what you're going through," she said, "It's a different kind of loss, but it's still a loss." Nick looked down, not wanting to see the pain in her eyes that reflected his own. "Nick, what you tried to do, I thought about doing a hundred times. I locked myself away, I didn't talk to my family or my friends for a long time. I just stayed here and watched the ocean. I couldn't understand how a person could hurt so bad, and all I wanted to do was make it stop," she said. Nick looked up at her, she was describing exactly how he felt. "So how did you make it through?" he asked. "I don't know, something just snapped inside me. Life was gonna go on with me or without me, it didn't matter. I just had to choose which it was gonna be. I still find myself wanting to hide away from the rest of the world, but then I think about what I might be missing. For some reason that keeps me going. But you're gonna have to find you're own reason to stay, no one else can," she said. Nick looked back down at his hands. He knew what she was saying was true, he was gonna have to figure it out on his own. Lyn reached over and held his hand, "If you ever wanna talk about how you're feeling I'm here, and I understand." Nick looked at her, "I don't know what to do." "I know you don't, sometimes I still don't. Talk to God, it can't hurt," she said. "You don't understand, God's the reason I'm in this mess," Nick said. Lyn looked deep into his eyes, "Then He can help you get out of it." Chapter 57 |