| Chapter 82 Brian, Kevin, and Howie ran ahead of the girls down the hall. They could see Lyn, Leighanne, and Gary standing in front of one of the ICU rooms. "How is he?" Brian asked. "The same," Lyn said. The girls caught up, and they all looked through the window. A.J. was sitting with Nick, talking to him. Kristin and Kira immediately burst into tears at the sight of the huge scar on Nick's head. Tara reached over and grabbed Brian's hand. "Lyn, how did this happen?" Kevin asked, trying to hold back his own tears. "I don't know. He'd been working on a painting all day, and I went up to the office to get some work done. When I came back down, he was asleep. For the rest of the day, he was tired, he didn't want to eat or anything. He was going to bed when he just stopped and grabbed his head. I went to call Uncle Ted and when I turned back around he was on the floor," she said, tears streaming down her face. Gary and Leighanne both put their hands on Lyn's shoulders to comfort her. "Can we go in and see him?" Howie asked. "They only want two at a time, and only for a few minutes," Leighanne answered. Gary knocked on the window and motioned to A.J. to come out. A.J. got up and came out into the hall, greeting everyone, and trying desperately to stop crying. "Where did Sarah go?" he asked Lyn. "She went down to the cafeteria," she answered. "OK, anyone want anything while I'm down there?" he asked. "We'll go with you," Leighanne said, taking Gary's hand and walking down the hall with A.J. "Bri, you and Tara go in first," Kevin said. Brian nodded his head, and together he and Tara walked into the room. The room was eerily quiet, except for the occasional beep from one of the monitors. Tara walked to one side of the bed, while Brian was on the other. It was shocking to see Nick lying there, his head shaved, and the scar running across it. Tara reached down and touched his cheek. Brian sat down in the chair and held Nick's hand, "Hey man, you know we gotta quit doing this." Brian looked over at Tara, "I'm not sure I can do this." "Do what?" she asked. "Be strong for him. It's killing me to see him like this, and to imagine what pain he must be going through," Brian said. "Brian, he's not in any pain," Tara said. "Honey, how can you look at him and say that?" Brian asked. "Because I can feel him, and he's not here," she said. "What do you mean he's not here?" Brian asked, confused, "Where else is he gonna be?" "He's in the room, he's just not here," she said pointing down at Nick, "And someone is with him." "Tracy?" Brian asked. She smiled, "Yeah, I think so." "So what does that mean?" Brian asked, looking over at his friend. "I don't know," she said, "Let's hope something good." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "How is it that she always knows?" Nick asked. Tracy laughed, "She still carries alot of insight into the spiritual world. More than any normal person would, and you two still share somewhat of a bond." "Tracy, how long am I gonna be here? I can't stand seeing them all like this," Nick said. "I know it's hard, seeing them all upset. When the time comes we will both know," she said. "Sarah couldn't even look at me," he said. "Nick, they each have to deal with this in their own way. Some will cry, others will hold it in, and some will leave, hoping that if they don't see it, it makes it not true," she said. "So what is my life gonna be like now? If I live through this, am I gonna be normal?" Nick asked. "I don't know. The future is never set in stone, and it's not my job to predict it. I'm here to help you through this, however it ends up," Tracy said. Nick squeezed her hand, "I'm glad you are." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A.J. found Sarah sitting at a table in the corner of the cafeteria. "Hey baby," he said as he sat down next to her. Gary and Leighanne got a cup of coffee and joined them. "I'm sorry I left," Sarah said, "I just couldn't handle seeing him like that." A.J. put his arm around her shoulders, "It's OK. I'm sure he'd understand." They sat in silence for a few moments. "Did you see the look on Tara's face when she saw him?" Leighanne asked. "Yeah, weird," Gary said. "What? I was in the room, what'd she do?" A.J. asked. "Well it wasn't so much what she did, it's just the look she had," Gary said. "Yeah, like she knew something," Leighanne said, "And come to think of it Lyn kinda had that same look when we got here." "Well they both kinda have that extra freaky sixth sense thing goin on, you think they're picking something up?" A.J. said. "I don't know, but they're both acting like it," Gary said. "Well, why don't we get everyone some coffee and head back up?" Leighanne suggested. "OK," Sarah said getting up and heading toward the counter. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Kevin and Kristin were just coming out of the room when A.J. and the rest came down the hall. Kristin was crying uncontrollably and Kevin was doing his best not to. They walked down to the waiting area, where everyone else had gathered. A.J. and Gary set the boxes filled with coffee cups on the table, and sat down. Tara and Lyn were in the corner talking, while Brian, Howie and Kira were trying to watch TV. "Guys, we brought up some coffee," Leighanne said. "Thanks," Kevin said, reaching for a cup and handing it to Kristin, then getting his own. "I have a feeling it's gonna be a long night," Howie said. "Yeah, me too," Brian replied. Tara and Lyn came over and joined the rest. "Guys, there's no need for all of us to stay here. Why don't you all go to the house and get some rest," Lyn said. Everyone looked from one to the other, not wanting to leave, but also knowing there wasn't much they could do there. "Lyn and I will stay here, and we'll call if anything changes," Tara said. Brian looked at them suspiciously, "Why do I get the feeling you two have something planned?" The girls looked at each other, then flashed their innocent looks at him. "Why would you say something like that?" Lyn asked. "Because I know you two a little to well," he said. "Well, what do you guys say?" Tara asked, ignoring Brian's comment. "Yeah, I guess we could," Kevin said. Lyn walked over to the phone and made a call, then came back. "A car will be here in five minutes to take you guys over," she said. They all said their good nights and headed down the hall. Brian stayed behind to talk to Tara. "Honey, what are you two up to?" he asked. "Nothing," she said. "Now I know better than that," he said. "Bri, we just want to stay with him together, maybe we can do something, but we don't know," she replied. Brian looked at her and sighed heavily, "OK, I'll see you in the morning." "OK," she said, gently kissing him. "Call me if anything, and I mean anything changes," he said as he walked down the hall. "We will," Lyn called. Brian turned into the elevator and punched the button, God, whatever they're planning, please let it work. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The car dropped them off at Lyn's. Everyone made their way inside the house. The lights were still on, and so was the TV. The paramedics had left some packages around, where they had hurriedly opened things. "Let's clean this up so Lyn doesn't have to see it," Kira said. She, Sarah, Leighanne, and Kristin went to cleaning up the mess. Brian wondered over to the drawing table, looking at the portrait Nick had finished. Kevin walked up behind him. "Damn that's good," Kevin said. "Yeah, it looks just like her," Brian added. Howie sat down on the couch, stepping on Nick's notebook. He picked it up and read the lyrics Nick had been working on. "What's that?" A.J. asked. "It's lyrics, and their really good," Howie said. A.J. pulled the notebook over to read them as Brian and Kevin walked over to see. "These are the lyrics he was talking to me about," Brian said. "The one's he wanted us to work on?" Kevin asked. "Yeah, he wants us to do them for Lyn," Brian said. "Well I don't know about you guys, but I'm wide awake," Howie said. They laughed, "That's a first D," A.J. said. Kevin took the notebook and stared at it, "I got an idea." "What?" Brian asked. "Let's go up to the music room," Kevin said, "I wanna get this down before I forget it." The guys looked at each other and smiled, as they followed Kevin upstairs. "What are they doing?" Kira asked. "What they do best," Leighanne said. Kristin laughed, "Yeah, when things get rough, write a song." "Girls, is there anything in there that will take a blood stain out?" Gary asked. Sarah looked over, "Oh my." Gary was standing in front of a large blood stain on the floor. Leighanne grabbed some cleaner and walked over, spraying it. "I hope this comes out," she said. "Yeah, I'm sure Lyn's not gonna want to see that when she comes home," Kristin said. "She won't come home until Nick does," Leighanne said. Sarah looked at them, "What if Nick doesn't come home?" "We have to pray that he does," Leighanne said. Chapter 83 |