| Chapter 83 Tara and Lyn waited until the nurse had finished her hourly check of Nick to go in. They each sat down in a chair on opposite sides of the bed and each held Nick's hands. "So she's with him?" Tara asked. "Yeah, she showed up right when he began hurting. She was trying to help him, but he took her hands off him and told us to talk instead," Lyn said. Tara smiled, "That sounds like something he would do." "Yeah, anyway she disappeared right before Uncle Ted got there, but I could still feel her, I still do," Lyn said. "So do I," Tara said, looking around the room, "She's definitely here." Lyn looked over at her, "Tara, if she's here, and he's not in his body so to speak, what does that mean? Are they waiting for something?" "Yes, they are. Either he will get better, and she'll bring him back, or he...um..," Tara started. "Or he'll die, and she'll take him home," Lyn finished for her. Tara nodded her head. A tear made it's way down Lyn's cheek, "I don't know what I'll do if he dies. He's so much of my life now, I don't think I could handle it if he left." "Lyn, we don't need to think about that. We need to be positive, for him as well as for ourselves. He will get better, and be the same Nick we all know and love when he does," Tara said. "I hope you're right," Lyn said. "I do too," Tara said, reaching across Nick and taking Lyn's hand in hers. "You ready?" she asked. "Yeah," Lyn said. Together they started praying. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Nick had tears in his eyes watching Tara and Lyn. Tracy held his hand, giving him support. "Tracy, I have to get better," he said. "I know," she replied. Nick walked over and stood next to Lyn, hearing her prayers for his recovery. He looked back up at Tracy, "I feel weird." She walked over to him and grabbed his hand again. "You're feeling their prayers," she said. Nick smiled, "It feels good, warm kinda." Tracy took him into her arms as he closed his eyes and let the feelings overtake him. She held him for the rest of the night, as Lyn and Tara prayed. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Everyone walked down the hall toward Nick's room. A nurse stopped them, telling them that they had moved Nick to a regular room during the night, and told them where it was. They headed down the hall in that direction. "I told Tara to call if anything changed. I wonder why she didn't?" Brian said. They found the room and stopped, seeing Lyn and Tara through the window. They both looked exhausted, but were diligently praying, holding Nick's hands and each others. Brian and Kevin looked at each other before they entered the room. The girls didn't even look up. Brian walked over to Tara, touching her shoulder. She jumped, and looked up at him, "Hey." Lyn opened her eyes, seeing the guys, "Is it morning?" "Yes, you guys been doing this all night?" Kevin asked. "Yeah, the only time we stopped was when they moved him here," Tara said. "Well, why don't you two take a break and we'll take over," Brian said. Tara and Lyn got up and slowly walked out of the room. Brian and Kevin took their places. They each took Nick's hands, and then each others and began to pray. Throughout the day and into the night they all took turns. Going in pairs and staying for a couple hours each. Lyn and Tara had crashed on the couches in the waiting room, while the rest watched TV, waiting for their turn. The nurses had stopped asking them to leave when they checked Nick, instead working around whoever happened to be in the room at the time. Nick's vitals seemed to improve throughout the day, giving them all a ray of hope to cling to. It was dark outside, but a furious storm lit up the sky. Lyn looked out the window. The weather reminded her so much of the storm on the night she pulled Nick from the water. The lightening lit up the sky, and she closed her eyes to the brightness. "Lyn," Brian said. She turned around, seeing they were the only two left in the waiting room. "Where's everybody?" she asked. "A.J. and Sarah are in with Nick, the rest went down to the cafeteria to get something to eat," he answered. "Oh," she said, turning back to the window. Brian walked up to her and put his hand on her shoulder, "I know this is hard for you." She nodded her head. "Have you eaten anything today?" he asked. "No, I'm not hungry," she replied. "Lyn, it won't help him if you get sick too. You need to eat something," Brian said. Lyn turned and looked at him, "Brian, I can't be without him, I don't know what I'll do if he......" Brian pulled her into a hug, holding her as she cried. "I know," he said, "I know exactly how you feel. Tara and I feel the same way about each other." Brian let her cry on his shoulder for a long time. She finally pulled away and wiped her face. She looked over at him, seeing his tear stained shirt, "I'm sorry." He laughed, "It's OK. You wanna go get something to eat now?" She looked out the window, then back to him, "Yeah." Brian smiled at her as he held out his hand for her to take. She took it and together they headed toward the cafeteria. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Tracy had held Nick all day. He seemed to be asleep, but she knew he was engulfed by the prayers of his friends. She smiled down at him, the peaceful look on his face. "It's time," she whispered. She gently laid him in the bed, and kissed his cheek as she let him go. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Sarah stopped praying and looked over at A.J. "Alex," she said. He looked up at her, "Yeah?" "I just felt his hand move," she told him. A.J. looked over at Nick's face, he was still asleep, but there was something different about him. Nick moved his head and groaned a little. "Holy shit," A.J. said, "I'll go get the nurse." He got up and ran out of the room, leaving Sarah there with Nick. She was scared to be there by herself, as Nick moved a little, trying to wake up. A.J. returned with the nurse. She check on him, then headed out the door to call the doctor. Everyone was returning from the cafeteria, when they saw the nurse run out of the room. They all went in, seeing A.J. and Sarah looking shocked. "What is it? What's going on?" Lyn asked. "We think he's trying to wake up," A.J. said. Tara walked over and put her hand on Nick's cheek, and smiled. "He's back?" Lyn asked. Tara nodded her head. Lyn walked over and grabbed his hand, "Nick it's time to wake up." Nick's eyes fluttered a few times, then opened. He looked around the room, focusing on Lyn. She smiled at him through her tears and signed hi to him. He smiled and squeezed her hand. Ted came in the room with the nurse. He made his way up to Nick, seeing he was awake. "How long has he been awake," he asked. "Just now," Lyn said. Everyone watched as Ted examined him. He had Lyn sign to Nick, and he seemed to understand what was going on. Though he was to weak to sign back. "Nick, do you know where you are?" Lyn signed. He nodded his head. "Ask him if he recognizes everyone?" Ted instructed. Lyn signed to him, and Nick looked around the room at everyone, then nodded his head. "Tell him I want to do some strength tests. I want him to push against my hands with everything he has," Ted said. Lyn signed to him, as Ted picked up Nick's right hand. "Did you tell him?" Ted asked. "Yeah," Lyn answered. Ted let go of Nick's hand and it fell back to the bed. They looked at Nick, and he shook his head no. Tara walked over, "Let me see if he can tell me what's going on." She took his hand in hers, "He says he can't. That he doesn't have any strength." "Well that's understandable," Ted said. Tara looked at Nick then back to Ted, "He wants everyone to leave except you and Lyn." Ted looked at him, "You do?" Nick nodded his head. "OK guys, step out for a minute," Ted said. Everyone filed out of the room, wondering what was going on. "OK, everyone is out," Lyn signed. Tara looked down at him, "I promise I won't." Lyn and Ted watched as Tara listened. She got a shocked look on her face, and was holding back tears. "He says that he can hear sounds, but he can't recognize what they are," she said. Ted looked shocked, and Lyn smiled at him. "But he doesn't want us to tell the others. He says if it turns out to be nothing, he doesn't want to get their hopes up," Tara said. "I'll schedule some tests for the morning, and get Dr. Jansen in to look at them," Ted said. Lyn signed to him, and he nodded his head. "Doc, one more thing," Tara said. "Yeah?" Ted asked. "He wants something for pain, he says his head hurts," she said. Ted smiled, "I imagine so. I'll order something for him." Ted left the room, as Lyn sat down on the edge of the bed. Nick looked from her to Tara and back. "Thanks," he whispered. "For what?" Lyn asked. "Praying," he said. Tara and Lyn looked at each other, "You saw?" Tara asked. Nick nodded his head. Everyone watched as Ted left the room and gave a nurse instructions. He then walked over to them. "Doc, is he really gonna be OK?" Brian asked. "We'll see. I'm gonna run some tests in the morning that should give us some answers," Ted said. "Can we go back in?" Kevin asked. "Yes, but don't tire him out," Ted said, "I've ordered some pain medication for him, and it will probably make him sleep, so don't worry if he does go back to sleep." "OK, thanks," Howie said. Ted headed down the hall, as everyone filed back into the room. They all one at a time walked up and signed to him that they loved him and were glad to see him awake. The guys had taught Kira, Sarah, and Kristin some basic words, and they too signed to him. Nick had tears in his eyes, seeing how much his friends loved and cared about him. The nurse came in and added the pain medicine to Nick's IV. Lyn held Nick's hand as he slowly drifted off to sleep. She watched him sleep for several minutes. She gently touched his cheek, Thank you God for helping him. Chapter 84 |