| Chapter 57 Leighanne woke up to the sound of the phone ringing. She picked it up, "Hello?" "Mrs. Littrell, this is your 6:30 wake up call," said the voice on the other end. "Oh, thanks," she said and hung up. She sat up and looked around. She was still on the couch, and Gary was asleep on the other side. "Oh right, the movie," she said. Leighanne reached over and shook Gary, "Hey, it's morning already." He opened his eyes and looked at her, "What? Oh damn, we must've fallen asleep." "Yeah, I guess we did," she said, "Well, we gotta be at the interview in two hours." Gary got up and ran his fingers through his hair, "OK, I'll go get ready and meet you in an hour." "Sounds good," Leighanne said making her way to the bathroom. Gary left the room and Leighanne closed the door to the bathroom. She looked in the mirror, "Well that's just attractive." She had popcorn stuck to the side of her face. She picked it off, and got in the shower. "Last day of interviews, then it's home. Thank God!" she said laughing. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Nick sat by the windows watching Lyn sleep. They had talked most of the night, but he wasn't sleepy. When she had drifted off to sleep, he made his way to the windows and watched the ocean. It was almost a full moon, and it shown an errie glow over the waves. He thought about what Lyn had said, to talk to God. It seemed that was all he'd been doing, and he was getting nowhere. He felt like his cries weren't getting past the ceiling. He'd felt like this before, when Brian was missing last year. Leighanne had helped him through that, more than she would ever know. He leaned his head against the window, it felt cool on his face. God, what is it you want me to do here? I'm still confused, why would you send someone to save me? What purpose do I still have here? he thought. He looked down at his hands and played with the IV. His hand was bruised around the needle, and it was starting to hurt. He quit messing with it and stared out at the ocean again. He could see a ship in the distance. It looked so small compared to the endless water surrounding it. That's how he felt, like a small meaningless ship surrounded by the sea, lost and alone. But he wasn't alone, Lyn was there. She had experienced the same feelings as he was, she had gotten through them somehow. If she could get through, then so could he. He started coughing. He tried to muffle the sound so he wouldn't wake Lyn up, that just made it worse. "Nick?" Lyn said, looking around. She finally saw him sitting by the windows. She got his glass of water off the end table and walked over to join him. Nick took the water from her and took a couple sips, "Thanks." She sat down next to him, "Are you OK?" He looked out at the water, "I'm not sure yet." Lyn looked at him with concern, "Do you wanna talk?" Nick looked over at her, "No, not really. I just wanna sit here for a while." "Do you want me to leave you alone?" Lyn asked. He stared at her for a moment, "No you can stay if you want." Lyn settled in next to Nick and stared out at the sea. She moved from watching the water to watching Nick. She could tell he was torn, and confused. He looked a million miles away, and she knew the questions he was asking himself. Maybe having her there next to him helped some, she didn't know, but the fact that he let her stay was some progress. The sun would be coming up soon, and Ted would be by to check on him. She looked down at his IV and almost gasped. "Nick, when did this start?" she asked. He looked at her, then down to what she was looking at, "Oh, I'm not sure." "Does it hurt?" she asked. "Yeah, some," he said, half paying attention to her. She reached over and took his hand to get a better look, his skin was hot to the touch. She felt his forehead, his fever was back. "Nick, maybe we should get you back in bed," she said. "Lyn, I'm fine here," he said not looking at her. She pulled his face around so he was looking at her, "Nick, your fever is back, you're not fine." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Gary knocked on Leighanne's door and opened it, "Anne, are you ready?" She was rushing around the room gathering her things, and trying to finish getting dressed at the same time. "Almost," she said, trying to pull her shoes on while walking across the room. She lost her balance, and started to fall. Gary ran over and caught her, just before she hit the floor. "Anne, you OK?" he asked still holding her inches from the ground. She looked into his eyes, "Um, yeah, I'm fine. Thanks." Gary smiled at her. "Gary," she said. "Yes?" "You can let me up now," Leighanne said with a smile. "What? Oh,...sorry," he said pulling her to her feet. He was blushing, and Leighanne caught herself smiling at him. She grabbed the last of her things and shoved them in her bag. "I think I've been living with Brian too long, his messy habits kinda rubbed off," she said. Gary half laughed, "Yeah I see that." "OK, I'm ready," she said reaching for her bag at the same time Gary reached for it. Their hands met, and lingered for a second before they both pulled them away. "I'll get it," Gary said, picking the bag up and heading for the door. Leighanne followed behind him. Don't even think about it, she told herself, but it was to late. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Lyn, please just let me sit here," Nick begged. Lyn stared at him, worry in her eyes, "OK, but when uncle Ted gets here, you're gonna have to cooperate." Nick didn't say anything, but stared back out the window. Lyn got up and grabbed the blanket off the couch and draped it over Nick's shoulders and sat back down next to him. The sun was coming up over the horizon. It awakened the sky with every color in the rainbow. "Isn't that beautiful," Nick said. Lyn took her eyes off Nick and looked out the window, it had to be the most beautiful sunrise she'd seen in a very long time. It was almost as if the darkness that surrounded their lives had been lifted. She looked back over at Nick, he was staring at her. She didn't say anything, but looked deep into his eyes. There was still some pain there, but mixed in with it was something Lyn hadn't seen before---Hope. Nick reached over and tucked her hair behind her ear, caressing her face with his hand. Just then the sun rose high enough to break through the windows. They were both immersed in sunlight. Lyn closed her eyes, just as Nick leaned in and kissed her. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Brian walked downstairs. He had slept later than he had intended to, and when he woke up Tara wasn't there. He walked into the kitchen, and living room, still no Tara. He passed by the room that Nick and Leighanne had set up as Tara's exercise room, and stopped. There she was, gloves on, and punching away at the bag. Brian walked in, "Just what do you think you're doing?" She turned around, obviously startled, "Um, what does it look like I'm doing?" Brian smiled, "You know what the doctor said, no exercising for a while." "I know, but I feel alot better now. A little bit can't hurt," she said. Brian walked up to her and took one of her gloves off her hand, "Well I think that's enough for today." "Awww come on, I was just gettin started," she said, punching him lightly on the arm. He looked up at her, surprise on his face, "You did not just do that." Tara smiled, "Yeah I did, so what you gonna do about it?" He smiled, and pulled the remaining glove off and tossed it over his shoulder. "Now, you have to get through me to get them back," he said crossing his arms in front of him. She stared at him for a moment, then shrugged her shoulders, "If that's how it's gonna be?" Brian's smile turned into surprise when she tackled him, and dropped him to the ground, landing on top. She looked down at him smiling, "Give up yet?" Brian laughed, "I think you broke something." Tara sat up a little, concern on her face, "Bri, I'm sorry..." He reached up, grabbed her arm, and rolled over--now he was on top. "Now, this is better," he said grinning. "You sneak," Tara said laughing. He leaned down and kissed her, quieting her laughter. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Lyn didn't know how long she and Nick had been kissing, but the sound of the door opening pulled her out of it. Ted walked in the living room, "Lyn?" "Over here," she said. Ted walked over to find them both sitting in the floor, and looking guilty. "Um, so is everything alright this morning?" he asked. Lyn looked up at him, "No, his fever's back, and his IV looks bad." "I'm fine," Nick protested. "Well, Nick let's get you over here on the couch, and let me take a look," Ted said, offering Nick his hand. Nick took it and got up, and was immediately dizzy. Ted steadied him and helped him to the couch. "I'm OK, I just got up a little fast," Nick said. Ted looked at the IV, "This is gonna have to come out." "What's wrong with it?" Lyn asked. "It looks like the vein has burst, the medicine's not making it into the blood stream," he answered. Nick leaned against the back of the couch, feeling sicker by the minute. He watched as Ted took the needle out of his hand, and bandaged it. "Lyn, I'm not feeling to good," Nick said. Ted looked up at him, "Tell me how you're feeling." "I'm cold, and I'm so tired. I feel like I'm gonna pass out," Nick said. Ted and Lyn looked at each other. "Nick, why don't you lay down for a minute," Ted said. Lyn helped Nick get settled, while Ted checked his temperature, and listened to his lungs. His fever was back up to 102. "Lyn, come in the kitchen and help me with something," Ted said. She looked down at Nick, "We'll be right back." She followed Ted into the kitchen. "What's wrong?" she asked. Ted looked at her, "Honey we're gonna have to take him to the hospital." "Why, because of his IV?" she asked. "No, because his lungs are filling up with fluid, and I don't have the equipment here to treat him," Ted said. "Uncle Ted, he doesn't want to be in the hospital," she said. "Right now he doesn't have a choice. If he doesn't go, his lungs will eventually fill full of fluid and he'll suffocate," he said. Lyn looked like she was gonna fight him on this. "Lyn, when we started this, you agreed that if I said he needed to go that he would," Ted said. "I know, but as soon as we get him there someone will recognize him, the media will find out, and it'll be a circus," Lyn said. They stood there staring at each other for a moment. "OK, I'll call the hospital and tell them we're coming in with a quarantine. They'll clear the part of the hospital we'll go in, and only a few staff will be allowed access. That will cut down on anyone seeing him," Ted said. "Can you admit him under a false name, and have the staff that does have contact with him sign confidentiality agreements?" Lyn asked. "Yes, I can. Now let's get this going," Ted said. They walked back into the living room. Nick was asleep. "Nick?" Lyn said, shaking him. He slowly opened his eyes. "Nick, we're gonna take you to the hospital," she said. "Lyn please, I don't wanna go," Nick pleaded. "We don't have a choice. You're to sick to stay here," she said. "But....I..," Nick started. "Nick, we'll make sure the media doesn't find out. But Lyn's right, you don't have a choice right now," Ted said, "Lyn, get some of his things together, and I'll pull the car around." Lyn ran into the bedroom and grabbed a small bag from the closet. She put in a change of clothes, his toothbrush, wallet and cell, and ran back into the living room. Nick was sitting up with his head in his hands. She walked over to him, and offered him her hand. He took hold of it and looked up at her, "Don't leave me there by myself." She smiled down at him, "I won't leave you, I promise." Ted came back in and helped Nick to his feet and out to the car. Nick laid down in the back seat, resting his head on Lyn's lap. Ted pulled out of the driveway and dialed a number on his cell, "Yes this is Doctor Jackson, I need you to get some things ready......" Chapter 58 |