| Chapter 75 After supper the girls had helped Lyn clear the dishes and clean the kitchen, while the guys watched TV and talked. Nick seemed to be OK with them leaving, but Tara kept watching him, to see if he really was. She couldn't see anything hidden in his actions or when she said good-night to him. Everyone had made their way back over to the house, and were getting ready for bed. Tara sat down on the edge of the bed, staring out the windows. "Something wrong?" Brian asked, sitting next to her. "No, I don't think so," she said, "It's just that I was expecting a different reaction from Nick." "I thought he took it well," Brian said. "Yeah, that's the problem. I think he took it a little to well," she said, looking at him. Brian studied her eyes, looking for what was behind them, "So you think he's just telling us what we want to hear?" "I don't know, something just feels off, but I can't determine who or what it is," she said. Brian took her hand in his, and could feel the sense of dread and uncertainty that plagued her. "Brian, Lyn's on the phone," Kevin said, standing in the door. Brian got up to answer the phone, Tara following him. "Is something wrong?" Kevin asked on the way down the hall. "I don't know yet," Tara said. Brian picked up the phone, "Hey Lyn." "Bri, sorry to call so late, but umm Nick wouldn't happen to be over there would he?" she asked. "No, he's not," Brian said. Tara could see the concern in his eyes. "Well, after you guys left he told me he was gonna be in his room. So I went up to the office for a little while, and when I came back down, he wasn't there. Brian, I've looked all over the house, he's not here," Lyn said. "What's going on?" Kevin asked. Brian put his hand over the phone, "Nick's not over there." "What? Where else is he gonna be?" Kevin said. "Brian, you're cars are still there aren't they?" Lyn asked, as she walked over to the windows. "Umm, hang on," he said, "The cars are still here right?" Tara walked over to the windows, looking out at the beach. "Yeah, they are," Kevin said. "Oh God!" Lyn said, then hung up. "Lyn?" Brian said turning around, "She just hung up." "Oh no," Tara said. "What?" Kevin asked. She pointed down at the beach. Brian and Kevin looked out to see Nick standing ankle deep in the water. Brian started to turn and go out, but Tara grabbed his arm stopping him. "This isn't for us to deal with," she said. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Lyn ran out to Nick and grabbed his arm, swinging him around to face her. "What do you think you're doing?" she asked, frightened. Nick looked at her, confused as to why she was so upset. "I'm just looking at the water," he signed. "Nick, you're standing in it. This is what got you sick in the first place," Lyn said, pulling him back to the sandy beach. "Lyn, I'm fine," Nick signed. "Nick, you just got out of the hospital a few days ago. You are not fine!" she yelled. "Lyn, please don't be upset. I didn't mean to frighten you. I just wanted to get out of the house for a little bit, and look at the water," Nick said. Lyn stared at him for a long time, trying to calm herself. "Nick, I don't mean to be upset with you, but what was I suppose to think? The last time I saw you standing here was when you .... you," she started. Nick pulled her to him, holding her tight. He spoke into her ear, "I'm sorry, I didn't even think about that when I came out here. I'm sorry I scared you. You know I would never do that now, I love you to much to leave you." He let her go and wiped the tears from her eyes. She looked at him, "Why did you come out here?" "I saw something swimming not far from shore, I wanted to see what it was," he said. Lyn looked out, not seeing anything. "It must be gone," she signed. Nick looked out and shook his head, "No it's still here." He took her hand and walked back out into the water. "Stay still, and look over there," he said, pointing in the direction he wanted her to look. She did what he told her, and for a few minutes she saw nothing. She was about to drag Nick back to the house, when out of the corner of her eye she saw it. Nick's grip on her hand tightened as he saw it too. She carefully signed to him, asking what it was. "Dolphin," he signed. As they stood there, the dolphin swam closer to them. It seemed as curious about them as they were about it. Nick slowly walked out further, pulling Lyn with him, until the water was up to their waist. Nick outstretched his hand in the water. The dolphin cautiously swam closer, until the tip of its nose was inches from Nick's hand. Lyn watched as the dolphin made the last effort and let Nick touch its side. Nick smiled as the dolphin stayed still while he ran his hand down its back to its tail. Lyn slowly reached over and began petting it too. The dolphin seemed excited, splashing the water with its nose and tail. Lyn's ears were ringing with its high pitched calls. Nick stopped petting the dolphin and took both Lyn's hands in his and mouthed the word Look. She looked around them to see several more dolphins. They were completely surrounded, and Lyn didn't know whether to be scared or excited. They watched as the dolphins swam around them for several minutes, then as quickly as they arrived, they left. Lyn could feel Nick's hands shaking, and knew they shouldn't have been out there. "Come on, you're gonna be sick again," she signed, pulling him toward the shore. Nick followed her, "That was incredible." Lyn turned and looked at him, "Nick, please. You're hands are so cold." "Lyn, I could feel them when they talked to each other. It was the most incredible feeling," Nick signed. "Nickolas, please," she said, pulling him toward the house. Nick reluctantly followed her in. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "What the hell was that?" A.J. asked, staring out the windows. "I've never seen anything like it," Kevin said. "Those were wild dolphins right?" Howie asked. "Yeah," Brian said. Tara had left the window as was putting her shoes on. "Where are you going?" Leighanne asked. "I'm going over," she answered. "Do you think we should?" Gary asked. "Yeah, Lyn may need some help," Brian said, retrieving his own shoes. "Do you guys know something?" Kevin asked. Tara looked over at Brian, then back to Kevin. "No, but Nick was shaking pretty bad. He may have made himself sick again," she said. "Oh man, I didn't even think about that," Howie said. "OK, we're coming too," Kevin said for all of them. They all hurriedly put their shoes on and ran over. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Lyn answered the door, "I thought you guys would be over." They all filed in. "Where's Nick?" Brian asked. "I made him get in the shower to warm up. He's getting dressed," she said, "I called uncle Ted and he's coming over to check on him." "Good idea," Kevin said. Nick came out of his room, still drying his hair with the towel. He looked up and noticed everyone. "You saw?" he asked. They all nodded their heads. Nick sat down on the couch and pulled the afghan around him. Lyn and Tara walked over to him. "You still cold?" Lyn asked. "Yeah," he said. Tara sat down next to him and took his hands in hers, staring at him. "I'm OK," Nick told her. She smiled at him, and Nick could feel his hands getting warmer. Lyn watched, knowing Tara was doing something to help him. After a few minutes, Tara let go and stood up. "Lay down," she told him. Nick did as he was told, feeling sleepier by the minute. Lyn covered him with a blanket and sat in the floor next to him. "I'm sleepy," Nick signed to her. "Don't go to sleep until uncle Ted gets here and checks on you," Lyn said. "You called him?" he asked. "Yes. We don't want you getting sick again," she said with a smile. Just then Ted pulled into the driveway and let himself in. He walked into the living room and over to the couch. "So what's this I hear about you going for a late night swim?" he asked. Nick laughed, "I wasn't swimming. I was just standing there." "Which you shouldn't have been doing either," Ted said. Everyone watched as Ted examined Nick. Nick was fighting sleep, trying to do what Ted asked him to. Finally Ted motioned for him to lay back down, which he did gladly. Ted turned to everyone, "I think he'll be OK. I don't see anything that alarms me. Just keep an eye on him. If he starts running a fever, or coughing, get him to the hospital." Lyn looked over at Nick, he was already sound asleep. "Should we wake him up?" she asked. "No, let him sleep. He's still weak, and this was just enough to tire him out," Ted said. "I'll come by in the morning for another look," Ted said, heading to the door. Lyn walked him out, "Thanks for coming." Ted smiled at her and kissed her goodnight, then left. Lyn walked back into the living room. "Do you think we should move him to his bed?" Howie asked. "Yeah, he'd be more comfortable I'm sure," Kevin said. "Tara honey, go turn down his bed," Brian said, as he A.J., Howie and Kevin got up and walked over to Nick. "What are you guys doing?" Lyn asked. "We're gonna put him in bed," Kevin said. "But won't you wake him up?" Gary asked. "No, we used to do this all the time on the road," Howie said. "Yeah, you never knew where you were gonna find him asleep at," A.J. said. Gary, Leighanne, Lyn and Tara watched as the guys got into position. Howie was at Nick's head, Kevin and A.J. in the middle and Brian at his feet. They each gently slid their arms underneath Nick, then looked at each other. "OK, one, two, three," Brian said. They picked Nick up and headed to the bedroom, laying him down just as they had picked him up. Tara covered him with the covers. They all stood there watching him sleep for a few minutes. "OK, the doc said to watch him right?" Kevin asked. "Yeah," Lyn said. "Who's got first shift?" Leighanne asked. "I will," Brain said. "OK, number off," Kevin said. When they had picked the order they were gonna watch in, Brian sat down, and the rest filed into the living room to get some sleep. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Tracy, are you here?" Nick called. He was standing on the beach, and he knew he had to be dreaming. There was no way Lyn and the others were gonna let him be on the beach by himself again. Tracy appeared next to him. "There you are," Nick said. She smiled at him, "Did you have fun with the dolphins?" "Oh it was the most incredible thing," Nick started, "Hey, wait a minute? I can hear you." "Of course you can," Tracy said. Nick looked at her, "This doesn't mean anything, right?" "Nick, we are messengers. The blind see us and the deaf hear us," she said. "Oh OK, I just wanted to clear that up," he said. "Tracy, the dolphins, was that you making them do that?" Nick asked. She smiled, but didn't say anything. "I thought so, I could almost feel it," he said. Tracy took his hand in hers, "Nick, I wanted to tell you that I'm impressed with the way you are approaching life now." He smiled, "Well, what else is there to do? And besides, I have Lyn now. She makes all the difference in the world to me." "I'm glad that you two are together," Tracy said. Nick laughed, "Well you had a hand in that, and don't tell me you didn't." "I knew you two needed each other," she said, smiling. Nick looked at her, and his face got serious, "Tracy, I need to ask you a question." "OK," she said. "Why haven't you shown yourself to Lyn?" he asked. "Nick, I...," she started. "I mean we've all seen you from time to time, but she's your sister. How come you've never let her see you? Especially when your parents died and she was on the verge of taking her life, why not then?" he asked. "Nick, it's complicated. Letting her see me wasn't what needed to be done then," Tracy said. "What about now?" he asked, "I know she wants to see you, and it upsets her that we've all seen you and she hasn't." Tracy looked at him for a long time, "Nick, I can't. Maybe someday, but not now." Nick looked disappointed, "Tracy, she can feel when you're there. Just like Tara can. It breaks her heart that you don't wanna see her." "It's not that I don't wanna see her. I'd love nothing else than to give her a hug and tell her how proud I am of who she's become, but I can't. I could spend eternity explaining the reasons why to you, but just know that I love her and I do watch her. I know what she's going through, and I look out for her, just like I do for you guys. There will be a time when I will let her see me, but I don't even know when that is," Tracy said. "You want me to tell her something?" Nick asked. "Tell her I love her, and I'm watching," she said. "I will," Nick said, "Tracy? One more thing." "Yeah?" she asked. "This path that I'm on, it's not gonna change is it?" he asked. She smiled at him and placed her hands on his ears. "Nick, just because someone has the ability to hear, doesn't mean that they listen. And those that don't have that ability, sometimes hear more. Your path in life isn't set in stone. I can't tell you what will happen, but take advantage of this. Not many people get to step out of their life and see it in a totally new way. You've been given that chance and it has changed who you are." He smiled at her, "Yeah it has, and I think for the better." Chapter 76 |