| Chapter 68 "Stay what way?" Kevin asked, turning in his seat as the two sat down. Nick grinned, "Why, good looking, of course." Everyone at the table laughed as the servants started placing the first course on the table. Nick noticed Mason and Anthony were eating with them. For some reason that brought a smile to his face. The only ones missing where Brian and Marie. Nick dug into his soup, listening to the small talk. Everyone seemed relaxed. He wished he could feel that. Even in the daytime his dreams haunted him. A vision here and there, just a second of one, would unnerve him completely. He put his elbow on the table and leaned into his hand, holding his spoon with the other. LaDonna noticed his posture and leaned closer to him, "Something wrong?" He looked up at her and smiled, "No, I'm just tired." His mother studied him for a moment. Nick shook his head, "Don't worry, I'm fine. Just got a lot on my mind." She grinned back at him, "Don't lie to me Nickolas. Rowland came to see me today." Nick bit his lip and sighed, "Ohhh." "Yes, you want to talk about the dreams?" she asked. He shook his head, "Not here. Maybe later, K?" "Alright," she said, going back to her own meal. Nick went on automatic pilot. He listened as Ana and A.J. were talking to Anthony about a new club in the city. Howie was listening intently to that conversation as well. Kevin was talking to Mason about the council sessions, his mother chiming in every so often. Nick sighed taking another bite of his soup. He had to get some rest, he was starting to feel overworked, exhausted. And come to think of it, a bit nauseous too. He put his spoon down and sat up a little as a wave of nausea came over him. He closed his eyes for a moment, trying to will the sickness away. Opening them back up he blinked a few times, staring down at his half eaten bowl of soup. Something caught his eye and he picked his spoon back up and began digging through the bowl until he got the object on the spoon. The nausea was getting worse, as he finally realized what it was he was looking at. A piece of asparagus. "Oh God," he said, looking up at everyone, "Stop eating!" Everyone stopped their conversations in mid sentence and looked up at him. "What is it?" Kevin asked, seeing the beads of sweat appearing on his forehead. "There's asparagus in this," he announced, biting his lip as the nausea grew worse. "So," A.J. said. Howie clamped his hand over his mouth, reaching over and slapping A.J. on the side of the arm, "It's poison to them you idiot!" A.J. looked back at Nick, fear on his face, "Oh fuck. How much did you eat?" Nick shook his head, already standing up to leave the room, "I-I don't ......make sure no one else has any ...." he blurted before darting out of the room. Immediately LaDonna, Mason, Kevin and Ana all got up to go after him. "Ana, come with me," LaDonna instructed, leaving the men at the table. Ana quickly followed her out of the room. "You guys aren't feeling sick are you?" Kevin asked. Both Mason and Anthony shook their heads, as they looked through their soup for the offending vegetable. "D, you were working in the kitchen, you didn't put that in there did you?" A.J. asked. Howie furiously shook his head, "No. I never even saw any the whole time I was in there." "Then how did it just get in Nick's and no one else's?" Kevin asked, having dug through his own bowl and Ana's, not finding any. Mason closed his eyes, thinking of the surprise Interstellar was cooking up. It couldn't be this could it? To poison the king? He stood up, "I'm going to go see how Nickolas is doing." Kevin watched him go, a little suspicious, "Anthony, how are Nick and Mason getting along these days?" "Well, why do you ask?" the young man replied. Kevin shrugged, "No reason." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Mason walked down the hall. He didn't have to look far for Nick. He had found the closest facility and was hunched over the toilet, Ana on one side of him and the queen on the other. Mason cringed as Nick wretched violently. A servant came in carrying a wet cloth and handed it to Ana. She took it and proceeded to wipe Nick's face with it as soon as he had stopped emptying his guts into the bowl. "Is he alright?" Mason asked. LaDonna looked up and half smiled, "He'll be alright. I think he got rid of what he'd eaten." Mason grimaced at the thought, not one to handle being around sick people very well, "OK, if you need me I'll be in the hall," he said, leaving the room. The queen turned back to Ana and smiled, "Men." Ana laughed, as Nick leaned over and started getting sick again, "This is why women are the caretakers." "Very true," LaDonna replied, rubbing her son's back as he heaved. Nick leaned his head on the cool toilet seat, having heaved until there was nothing left. He was freezing, and wanted nothing more than to just go to sleep right there. "Nick, are you done?" Ana asked. "I think," he replied hoarsely. "When you feel like it, we'll take you to your room," she said. Nick nodded, as his mother knelt down next to him, gently brushing a few sweaty strands of hair from his forehead, "We'll find out who did this." "I think I know," he said, pushing himself up, just to lean on the nearest wall. Ana and the queen exchanged glances, "Interstellar?" Ana asked. Nick nodded, closing his eyes. "Nickolas, you can't go to sleep here," his mother said. He groaned, holding his hand out for them to help him up. He got to his feet and walked slowly out of the room, meeting Mason in the hall. The older man's face was full of worry, "Here, let me help you," he offered. Nick was so tired, he didn't care. He leaned on Mason as they entered the elevator to go up to his room. Closing his eyes, he sighed. Mason looked over at LaDonna as he held onto Nick. "He's going to sleep," he whispered, as Nick leaned more heavily on him. The queen nodded as the elevator opened to their floor. "Nickolas, you have to walk," she coaxed, as they stepped off. Half asleep, Nick walked down the hall, Mason supporting most of his weight. They entered his room, and got him settled in his bed. "Ana, can you stay with him?" LaDonna asked. "Yes, your highness," Ana answered, sitting on the edge of the bed, facing a sleeping Nick. "Good, I'll have one of the servants bring up your meal," the queen said as she pulled Mason from the room. Once out in the hall, Mason stopped her, "Why did you ask her to stay? I could've stayed with him." LaDonna smiled, "She is his friend Mason. He feels comfortable with her. He'll tell her if he's not feeling well, whereas with you, he might not just yet." Mason considered her answer, still feeling like there was something more. LaDonna took his hand in hers and squeezed it, causing him to look up at her, "Come, let's go finish our meal. He'll be fine." Mason didn't protest, letting her lead him down the hall, her hand in his. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Brian sat in his bed, rocking back and forth. He tried to concentrate on the vid, but couldn't. One of the nurses had brought his and Marie's supper in, but the smell of the food just triggered a craving for Krystal. The taste was in his mouth, his stomach churning. He took a shaky breath, looking over at Marie. She had fallen asleep a while ago, and he didn't have the heart to wake her. She'd been so tired, he wanted her to sleep for as long as she could. He rubbed his face, still rocking back and forth. Why was the craving so bad? He'd just had a dose not that long ago. He shouldn't be feeling this. His eyes darted around the room, looking for something to take his mind off the constant need. He found nothing. Biting his lip, he pushed the button for the nurse, hoping they weren't to loud when they answered. "Can I help you?" a voice came over the speaker. "Yeah, um, can you send Cameron in here please," Brian said, steeling a glance at Marie. She stirred, but didn't wake up. "Yes sir, right away," the nurse replied. Brian pulled his pillow over and hugged it as he rocked. "Come on Cameron," he muttered, as he broke out into a cold sweat. He gripped the pillow tighter, trying to keep his hands from shaking. A wave of pain shot through his stomach, eliciting a whimper from him. Cameron walked in, hearing it. "Are you alright Brian?" he asked. Brian shook his head, still rocking back and forth, "I-I dunno why, but I'm craving it so bad. Please Cameron, I can't take this." The doctor frowned, pulling Brian's chart from the end of the bed, looking at how long it'd been since his last dose. "You got the full dose didn't you?" he asked. "Y-yes," Brian managed. Cameron sighed, causing Brian to look at him. "I don't like the sound of that. What's going on?" he asked. "Your addiction seems to be escalating. You're craving more to do what the lesser doses did. You're building up a tolerance for the drug," he explained. Brian winced as another wave of piercing pain shot through him, "I don't care what I'm building Cameron, you gotta give me some more. I can't take this." "It will be harder to pull you off the drug," the doctor said. Brian closed his eyes, trying to find some source of strength to help him. He swallowed hard, glancing over at Marie. Cameron touched his shoulder, bringing his attention back to him. "Try and lay back," he instructed. Brian did as he was told, still squirming around in the bed. He couldn't lay still. He felt like his heart was going to burst out of his chest at any second. Cameron ran a scanner over Brian, seeing his heart rate was increasing with every passing moment. As much as he didn't want to give Brian anymore, he was still to weak. His body was drained of any resources to fight the withdrawals. Brian stifled a moan, looking up at the doctor, "Please Cameron." "Alright, I'll be back in a minute," the doctor relented, quickly leaving the room. Brian sat back up and commenced rocking again, "Hurry, hurry," he muttered over and over. He'd never felt so much like dying than he did at this very moment. His skin was crawling, the taste so strong in his mouth. "Baby?" Marie said, sitting up and noticing Brian's situation. He cringed, not wanting her to see him like this. "Honey, what's wrong?" she asked, moving next to him. "Craving. It's really bad," he replied, not looking at her, "Cam-cameron went to get some more." Marie was worried. It was still another hour before his scheduled dose. She knew what was happening, she'd seen it before. Cameron came back into the room and quickly injected the blue liquid into Brian's IV. Instantly he could feel the drug, and began to calm down, "Thank you," he said, ashamed. Marie pulled her husband into her arms and took up his slow rocking. She could feel his tears on her shoulder, knowing he hated this. "It's alright baby, try and rest," she murmured. Cameron stayed with them, keeping an eye on Brian's heart rate. As Brian drifted to sleep, it returned to normal. Marie gently lay him back in the bed, and situated the blanket before looking up at the doctor, "This isn't good." Cameron shook his head, "He was already on a high dose. This makes his detox that much more difficult." "I know," she said, her heart dropping, "If he can detox at all." Cameron put his hand on her shoulder, not knowing what to say. Finally he shook his head and moved toward the door, "I'll reschedule his dosage. Call me if you need anything." Marie nodded, staring at her husbands sleeping face, willing the tears not to come. Chapter 69 |