| Chapter 80 Lyn set the glass down on the counter, "I'm calling Uncle Ted." Nick grabbed her arm, "No don't." She looked at him, "Nick, if you did hear this you need to have tests done. You need to see if your hearing really is coming back." "Lyn, I'm not even sure if I really heard it or not," Nick signed. "All the more reason to have the tests done," she replied. Nick took her hands in his and stared into her eyes, "Lyn please not tonight. I'll go in the morning but not now," he said. She looked at him, that was the first time in days he had actually spoken. "OK, I'll wait until morning," she said. A look of relief came over his face, "Thank you." Just then the phone rang, and they both jumped. Lyn stared at Nick as she reached for the phone, "Hello." "Hey Lyn," Tara said. "Who is it?" Nick signed. "It's Tara," Lyn replied. Nick got a panicked look on his face, "Don't tell her anything!" "I won't," Lyn signed to him. "Lyn?" Tara said. "Yeah, sorry, Nick's talking to me," she said. "Oh, how's he doing?" Tara asked. "Good, we were just about to make some supper," Lyn said. "Lyn is everything OK?" Tara asked. Lyn closed her eyes, and Nick knew that Tara had already noticed something was off. "Yeah, things are fine. We're both kinda tired though," Lyn said. "Oh, then I won't keep you long. I need to ask a favor," Tara said. "What's that?" Lyn asked. "Well, remember what we talked about the other day?" Tara asked. "Yeah," Lyn said. "Can you send me some designs?" Tara asked. Lyn's mouth dropped open, "Um, yeah I guess so." "It would really be great if you could. Brian is absolutely no help whatsoever in this category," Tara said laughing. Lyn could hear Brian protest in the background. "Sure, are you guys on your way home?" Lyn asked. "Yeah, we should be there in about an hour or so," Tara said. "OK, check your fax when you get home," Lyn said. "Great, Lyn you are a life saver," Tara said. Lyn laughed, "That's what friends are for right?" "Absolutely, I'll call you tomorrow OK?" Tara said. "OK. Oh, we're going out in the morning, but leave a message and I'll call you back when we get in," Lyn said. "OK, talk to you then," Tara said. "K, night," Lyn said and hung up. "Please tell me she didn't pick up anything," Nick signed. "No, we changed the subject," Lyn said. "Thank God," Nick said. "Nick, when the phone rang, you jumped. Did you hear it?" Lyn asked. Nick looked down at the floor and nodded his head, "I heard something." She walked over and pulled Nick into a hug. They held each other for a long time before they parted. "Nick, whatever is going on, we'll get through it together," Lyn said. He smiled at her, then turned and went back to the living room and laid down on the couch. Lyn watched him for a few minutes, then went back to preparing their supper. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "So, did she say she had anything to send?" Brian asked. "She said to check the fax when we got home," Tara said, looking out the window. Brian reached over and touched her hand, "Something wrong?" She looked over at him, "I don't know. I got the feeling that Lyn was hiding something from me, but I'm not exactly sure what." "Did she say how Nick was?" Brian asked. "Yeah, she said he was fine. She said they were both tired," Tara replied. "Um, maybe we called at a bad time," Brian said smiling. Tara laughed and slapped his arm, "Brian Thomas! Is that all you think about?" Brian got a thoughtful look on his face, "Um, yeah most of the time," he said smiling. "Good lord," Tara said, "What am I suppose to do with you?" Brian grinned even wider, "I have some suggestions." Tara burst out laughing and put her hands over her face, "You just wait until we get off this plane mister." "What? You asked," he said, trying to look innocent. She looked at him and shook her head. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Lyn had finished supper and walked into the living room. Nick was asleep again. She looked at him with concern. Something was going on with him, and she didn't know what. She did know that he wasn't thrilled about hearing again, that much she could tell. She was about to wake him up when she remembered that she hadn't sent Tara what she had asked for yet. Lyn turned and went upstairs to her office. She rummaged through some files until she found what she was looking for and placed it in the fax and dialed the number. She stood their waiting for it to finish. Finally the last page went through, and Lyn put the papers back in the file, and headed back downstairs. She walked back over to Nick, and tapped him on the shoulder. He slowly opened his eyes and looked at her. "Do you want to eat?" she asked. He shook his head no. Lyn sat down on the edge of the couch and felt his forehead. "I'm not sick," he signed. She looked at him and he could see the concern in her eyes, "Nick you said you were hungry before." "I know, but I don't feel like eating now," he said. "Are you upset about what's going on?" Lyn asked. Nick sat up and looked at her, "Some." "Why?" she asked. "I don't want to go back to the way things were before," he signed. "Nick, even if you miraculously get 100% of your hearing back, things will never be like they were before. You've changed, I've changed, we are different people than we were before," Lyn said. Nick sighed and looked past her out the windows. The sun had just gone below the horizon, and the sky was a beautiful shade of purple and orange. Lyn reached over and pulled his chin around so he was looking at her again. "Nickolas, don't shut me out. Tell me what you're feeling," she said. "I'm scared. I'm scared that I'll be able to hear again, and that things will go back to the way they were before," he signed. "What do you mean the way they were before?" she asked. "Just that, when I could hear, I took alot of things for granted. I didn't see everything that I see now, and I was more guarded with my feelings. I don't want to fall back into that. I know now that I wasn't truly happy then, not like I am now. Lyn, I don't want to lose what I have now...I don't want to lose you," Nick signed. "Oh Nick," Lyn said through her tears, "You couldn't lose me if you tried." "But you didn't..." Nick started to sign. Lyn grabbed his hands, "Nick, I love you whether you can or can't hear. I love you, and I'm going to stay with you no matter what. So get the idea that if you can hear again that I'll leave outta your head, cause it ain't gonna happen." Nick gently wiped the tears from Lyn's cheeks, "I love you so much." She smiled, "I love you too. Now will you please eat something?" Nick laughed, "OK, for you." She got up and went to the kitchen, coming back a few minutes later with their plates. Nick took his and together they ate their meal. When they had finished, Lyn took the dishes back into the kitchen, while Nick again lay down on the couch. She came back out and sat in the floor next to him. "Are you sure you're OK?" she asked. "Yeah, I'm just really tired for some reason," Nick replied. "Well, why don't you go to bed and I'll come lay down with you," Lyn said. Nick sat up and started to walk to the bedroom when he stopped, putting his hand up to his ear. Lyn walked up to him, "Nick what's wrong?" "It hurts," he signed. "What hurts? Your ears?" she asked. He nodded his head, just as a wave of pain hit him. Lyn could see the pain in his face, "I'm calling Uncle Ted." She started to head for the phone, when Nick grabbed her, turning her around. "Don't, I'll be OK," he signed. "Nick, you're shaking. I'm calling him," Lyn said, pulling away from his grasp and dialing the number. Nick felt as if someone has sucked all the energy out of him, and his ears were on fire. He tried to make it back to the couch, but couldn't. He sat down in the floor, holding his ears and praying that the pain would stop. Lyn came over and sat down next to him, "Uncle Ted is on his way." Nick just nodded his head, not able to do anything else. Lyn pulled him to her and held him, not knowing anything else to do. He was shaking and she knew it was from the pain he was in. "Please God, make his pain stop," she prayed. She looked down into Nick's face. He had tears in his eyes. "Hang on," she told him. Nick looked towards the painting he had finished, "Tracy," he whispered. Lyn looked up, just as Tracy appeared in front of them. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Brian and Tara walked into the dark house, glad to be home. Brian flipped on the lights, and dropped their bags next to the door. "Man I'm glad to be home," he said. "Yeah, me too," Tara said, heading into Brian's office. He followed her in, watching as she pulled the paper from the fax and looked over them. "Well?" he asked. Tara flipped through the pages stopping on one as a smile crossed her face. "I think I found it," she said. "Really? Let me see," Brian said, reaching for the papers. Tara pulled them away, "Oh no. You have to wait like everyone else." "Aww, come on," Brian whined. "Nope. You can't see it yet," she said, walking out of the office and down the hall to the kitchen. Brian trailed behind her, watching as she got a glass out of the cabinet and headed for the frig. "Not even a hint?" he asked. She laughed at him, "Not even." She got her drink and leaned against the cabinet, "You want something?" Brian smiled at her, "Uh huh." "Well, what do you want and I'll get it for you," she said. Brian walked up to her and pinned her against the cabinet, taking her glass away from her. She arched her eyebrows, "Oh, that's what you want." He reached up and ran his fingers through her hair, and cupped her chin with his hand, leaning in and gently kissing her. Tara kissed him for a moment before she gently pushed him away. "What?" Brian asked. She smiled, "Show me your hands." "Why?" he asked, slowly backing away. She started to follow him, "Do it." He showed her his right hand, still backing away. "What's in the other hand Brian?" she asked. "Nothing," he said smiling. She grabbed his left hand and pulled it around from behind him, revealing the pages of the fax. "You sneak!" she said, pulling the pages from his hand. "Aww come on, just one look," he said. "You have to catch me first," she said, turning and running up the stairs. Brian laughed as he ran after her. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Oh my God," Lyn said. Tracy smiled at her and knelt down next to Nick. "Tracy, are you doing this?" Lyn asked. "No, I'm not," she said. "What's going on?" Lyn asked. "That's what I'm here to find out," Tracy said. She reached over and touched Nick's cheek, feeling the pain he was in. "Lyn, lay him down," Tracy instructed. Lyn did as she was told, watching as Tracy put both her hands over Nick's ears. "What are you doing?" Lyn asked. "I'm helping with the pain," she replied. Nick seemed to relax a little as he lay there looking from one to the other. Lyn held his hand, watching her sister in awe. "Tracy, are you going to heal him?" she asked. Tracy looked up at her, "No I'm not." "Why not?" Lyn asked. "Because that wasn't what I was sent here for," Tracy answered. Nick reached up and took Tracy's hands off his ears, and placed them in Lyn's hands. "You two need to talk," he signed. They both looked at him, knowing his pain was back full force. "I'll be OK," he signed, not wanting Lyn to miss this chance with her sister. Lyn looked at Tracy, "I've missed you so much." "I've been here, watching. Lyn, I want you to know that I'm proud of the person you've become," Tracy said. Lyn wiped away the tears that had sprung up, "You don't know how much that means to me." Tracy smiled at her, "Lyn, whatever happens, I am always with you. I love you." Tracy pulled Lyn into a hug. Lyn closed her eyes, and reveled in the feeling of being held by her sister again. Nick touched her arm, and she opened her eyes to see that Tracy was gone. She smiled at him, and he half smiled back. He was shaking again with the pain. Ted let himself in and ran over to them, kneeling down beside Nick. "When did this start?" he asked. "I don't know, right before I called you," Lyn said. "Ask him where and how it's hurting," Ted said. Lyn signed to Nick, and he tried signing back to her. "His hands are shaking so bad I don't know if I'm getting it right, but he said that his ears are on fire and that he feels like someone sucked all the energy from him," she said. "OK, that's enough for me," Ted said, getting up and dialing the phone. "Yes, this is Dr. Jackson, I need an ambulance." Chapter 81 |