| Chapter 68 Nick slowly opened his eyes and looked around. He was back in his room, but he didn't remember how he got there. From the sun shining through the window it had to be mid-afternoon. He looked over and saw Kevin and Brian looking through some brochures. Lyn and Tara were also looking at some. Howie noticed that Nick was awake and walked over to the bed, "Hey how you feeling?" Nick looked at him, "My head hurts." Howie laughed, "I imagine it does. You passed out and hit your head. You've got two stitches." Nick lifted his hand up and felt his forehead where the stitches were, it was really sore. "What are they looking at?" Nick asked. Howie looked over, then back to him, "Um, some brochures for schools." "Schools? What kind of schools?" Nick asked. "Sign language schools," Howie answered. Nick stared at him for a moment, not sure if he understood him right. "Did you say sign language schools?" he asked. Howie nodded his head. "So I guess you got the test results?" Nick asked. Howie looked away from him and nodded his head again. Everyone noticed that Nick was awake and walked over. Nick could tell by the look on their faces that the tests were the same. "Guys, don't look at me like that," Nick said. "Like what?" Kevin asked. "Like you feel sorry for me, you know I can't stand that," Nick said. They all exchanged glances, then looked back to Nick. "Can I see those?" he asked, pointing to the brochures in Kevin's hand. "Sure," Kevin said handing them to him. Nick looked through them, reading the services they offered, and looking at where each one was located. Then he looked up at them, "Are there any more?" "Yeah, here," Brian said, gathering the rest from Tara and handing them to him. Nick took his time looking through them. Everyone sat down and watched him, not sure what he was thinking about as he looked them over. After several minutes he held one of the brochures up, "This one." Lyn took it from him, "It's the one here." "Nick, are you sure that's the one you want? You'll have to stay here for a while," Kevin said. Nick looked over at Lyn, "Do you mind if I stay with you?" She smiled, "Nick, you know you don't even have to ask. Of course you can stay." He smiled at her, "Yeah, that's the one." "OK, we'll tell the Doc, and he can get things started," Brian said. Brian and Kevin headed out the door, looking for Ted. Tara looked down at Nick. He noticed her looking at him, "What?" "I think there's another reason you picked that one," she said smiling. Lyn laughed, and Nick just grinned at her. "Yep, just what I thought," Tara said. Howie laughed and went back to watching TV. Nick looked around, "Where's A.J.?" Tara and Lyn exchanged glances. "Um, we're not sure," Lyn said. Nick looked at her confused. "After we got the test results, he stormed out, and we haven't seen him since," Tara said. "I tried to stop him, but I lost him going into the elevators," Howie said. "I hope he doesn't destroy something," Nick said. "Yeah, we do too," Tara said. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A.J. sat on a bench in Stanley Park. He'd been there for hours, watching the people go by and the squirrels. He was so angry he wanted to hit something, but he knew it wouldn't help anything. So he just sat there, not knowing what to do. He knew he should be back at the hospital, but he couldn't go just yet. Why did this have to happen to Nicky? he asked himself. There really was no reason, that he could see anyway, other than God playing a horrible joke. "This isn't funny!" he yelled. Some people walking by looked at him funny, but kept going. Oh great Alex, now people think you're nuts, he thought. He moved from the bench to sit under a huge tree. It was a bit more secluded, and it was nice sitting in the grass. His mind wondered to so many things. What was going to happen to the group? Oh now that's just selfish, he told himself after he thought it. He wondered what it was like for Nick, not to be able to hear anything. He looked around to make sure no one was looking at him, then he put his hands over his ears. He sat that way for a few minutes. It didn't really work though, he could still hear some things. He put his hands down in his lap and leaned his head back against the tree, staring at the sky. God, why did you do this? Haven't we all been through enough? Do you have to keep piling things on us? I mean really, how much are we suppose to just sit here and take anyway? A.J. looked back down at the ground around him. A black squirrel had wondered up, and was sitting not three feet from him. He stared at it, not wanting to scare it away. The squirrel didn't even seem to notice he was there. It rummaged around, eventually stopping at A.J. shoes. It took a shoe lace in its mouth and started to naw on it. "Hey!" A.J. said. The squirrel jumped and ran to the nearest tree. "Sorry," A.J. said. Oh great, now I'm talkin to the damn squirrels, he thought. He heard someone laughing, and turned around. His mouth dropped open, Tracy was sitting on the bench he had vacated. "Alex, you might want to close your mouth before you catch a bug," she said. He got up looking embarrassed and walked over to sit next to her. "It is Tracy right?" he asked. She nodded her head. "Why are you here?" he asked her. "I think you called," she said smiling. A.J. sat there, not knowing what to say, or to ask. "Alex, I can't tell you that things will be OK. I know that's what you want to hear," Tracy said. "Just answer me this, why Nick? Why not someone else? Why not me?" A.J. said. Her eyes filled with compassion for him, "Alex, I know you would take this from Nick without a thought, but there is a reason that Nick is going through this. And no, I don't know exactly what it is, but in time, Nick will understand it, and so will the rest of you." "It's just not fair, you know. I mean we've all been through so much lately, how come we just keep getting pelted?" A.J. said. "Alex, no one ever said that life was going to be easy. But if it makes you feel better, you guys aren't being singled out or anything. God's not picking you guys out to make examples of, it's just that in each person's life there are things they must go through," Tracy said. "Yeah, but do we have to go through them all at once?" he said, half smiling. Tracy laughed. "You might want to be getting back," she said. A.J. looked concerned, "Why is something happening?" "No, it's just that you're the only one that can see me, and I think some people just went to find someone to help you," she said smiling. "Oh geeze," A.J. said getting up and heading down the path. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Nick was picking at his supper when A.J. walked through the door. "Where the hell have you been?" Kevin asked, glaring at him for leaving. "Talking to Tracy," A.J. answered. Everyone looked shocked, especially Lyn. "What about?" Brian asked. "Just stuff, nothing really. I think she just showed up to keep me from going nuts," A.J. said smiling to himself. "Ohhh Kayyy," Tara said, looking at A.J skeptically. "Hey, what are you guys talking about?" Nick asked, not wanting to feel left out. A.J. walked over to the bed and smiled at him, "You know the usual, angels to the rescue, stuff like that." Nick looked at him like he'd lost his marbles, "What the hell are you talking about?" They all laughed. "Nothin man, I'll tell ya later," A.J. said, "You gonna eat that?" he asked pointing to the fries laying on Nick's food tray. "Um, no," Nick said. "Good," A.J. said grabbing a handful and wondering off to eat them. "You're welcome," Nick said with a confused smile. Ted came in to check on Nick before he left for the evening. "Nick, I got everything set up for the school. Whenever you're strong enough, all we have to do is call and they'll get you started," he said. "Why not now?" Nick asked. "Nick, you're not strong enough. When you get out of the hospital and recuperate, then you can start," Ted said. "But why can't someone come here? It's not like I'm really doing anything anyway," Nick said. "Nick, it's really expensive to have a private tutor come in," Ted said. "I'll take care of it," Lyn said, "If that's what he wants, then set it up." Lyn was standing out of Nick's line of vision, and he didn't catch what she said. "Lyn, you don't have to do that," Kevin said. "Do what?" Nick asked. "Lyn said she'd pay for the tutor," Brian told him. Nick reached over and took her hand, "I can pay for the tutor you know. I'm not broke or anything." She laughed, "I know, I just want to do that for you." "I get the feeling you're not gonna let me say no are you?" Nick said. Lyn shook her head and smiled at him. "OK, whatever," Nick reluctantly agreed. "We all might as well take advantage of it," Kevin said. "Yeah, we can all be here and learn it together," Howie said. Ted laughed and shook his head, "OK, I'll go see when they can send someone." Ted left the room. Nick looked over at Lyn, "Can I ask a favor?" "Anything," she said. "The next time you go home, can you bring your laptop back with you?" Nick asked. "Sure, what do you want it for?" Lyn asked. "Well, I kinda have this idea about what I want to do, and I want to look some stuff up," Nick said. Brian and Kevin exchanged hopeful glances. It was a good thing that Nick was looking to the future. "OK, I'll go home tonight and get it," Lyn said. "Thanks," Nick told her. After several minutes, Ted came back into the room. "OK, how does every morning at 10:00 am sound?" he asked. "Sounds good to me," Nick said, "For how long?" "Starting off, only two hours. When you're feeling better, the lessons can be longer," Ted answered. "Doc, when does this start?" Brian asked. "In the morning," Ted said. "Good, I want to get started as soon as possible," Nick said. "Alright, I'll see you in the morning then," Ted said. He walked over to Lyn, "Honey, you should really try and rest some, you look exhausted." "I will," she said hugging him, "See ya tomorrow." Ted smiled at her and left the room. "Guys, if we're coming back in the morning, we should probably go," Kevin said. "I'll stay with Nick," A.J. said. They all looked at him shocked, A.J. had never volunteered to stay. "What? You guys look tired, and I'm not, so go," A.J. said. "Nick, we're gonna go, but we'll be back in the morning," Brian said. "OK," Nick said. "A.J.'s gonna stay with you tonight," Tara said. Nick looked surprised, "Really?" He looked over at A.J., "You know you don't have to baby sit me." A.J. laughed, "No, I want to." Nick held Lyn's hand and looked at her, "Why am I suddenly scared?" She laughed and kissed him goodnight. "I'll see you in the morning," she said. Nick watched everyone file out, then looked at A.J. "OK Alex, what gives?" he asked. A.J. flashed his most innocent look, "What? I can't stay with my friend without having some anterior motive?" "No, now spit it out?" Nick said smiling. "Geeze, you try to be a friend and see what it gets ya," A.J. mumbled. "A.J. I can't read your lips when your mumbling," Nick said. He looked at him, "Oh, damn, sorry. I forgot." "It's OK, now what was all this talk about angels earlier?" Nick asked. A.J. sat down on the edge of the bed, "Well I went to the park and stayed there for hours. I couldn't figure out why all this shit has been happening to us." "Yeah," Nick said. "Well, I was thinking about things when Tracy showed up," A.J. said. "Tracy? What'd she say?" Nick asked intrigued. "Well nothing really. She said that things happened for a reason, but she didn't know what it was. She's an angel for God's sake, why doesn't she know these things?" A.J. said. Nick laughed, "I think they work on a need to know basis. Maybe she doesn't need to know." A.J. burst out laughing. "I guess not," he said, still laughing. "So, did you get some things figured out?" Nick asked. A.J. shrugged his shoulders, "I dunno. Can I ask you something?" "Yeah man, what?" Nick said. "What's it like? Do your ears hurt, or is it just quiet?" A.J. asked. Nick smiled, "No, my ears don't hurt. It's kinda like when you watch TV and put it on mute. Only it's that way with everything, it's just quiet." "Isn't it driving you nuts?" A.J. asked. "Some. I don't catch everything you guys say, and that bugs me. But on the other hand, it's kinda eye opening. Now that I have to pay attention to everything, I see more. I was missing a lot before," Nick said. "I can't believe you have such a positive attitude about this," A.J. said. "Well, I might as well have. It looks like it's gonna be this way from now on, so there's no use getting upset about it. I might as well embrace it and see where it takes me," Nick said. A.J. smiled and shook his head, obviously thinking something. "What?" Nick asked. "I was just thinking how much you've grown up since we all started out together," A.J. answered. "Yeah, that seems like forever ago doesn't it?" Nick said. "Who would've thought that we'd end up here," A.J. said. Nick nodded his head, "Yeah, but here's not so bad. It could be worse." "Damn Nicky, don't say that," A.J. said looking around, "The walls may have ears." Nick laughed and yawned at the same time. "You tired?" A.J. asked. "Yeah, I just can't seem to get enough sleep," Nick said. "Well, I'll shut up and let you rest," A.J. said. Nick settled in and looked over at A.J. "Bone, thanks for staying with me." "No prob man, I'm not going anywhere," A.J. said. Nick smiled and closed his eyes. A.J. watched him until he was sure he was asleep, then settled into the chair and soon drifted off himself. Chapter 69 |