| Chapter 40 Evi and Serenity cautiously walked into Tara's room. It was late the next morning and they hadn't heard a peep from her. Tara was laying on the bed, staring out the window. Serenity walked over and looked down at her, "Nick wants you up." Tara gave no indication that she even heard her. Serenity looked back and Evi and shrugged her shoulders, then waved her hand in front of Tara's face. Still no reaction. Evi walked over, "Tara, you need to get up, or Nick's gonna come in here, and I don't think you want that." Tara sighed, and continued to look past her, out the window. "Unchain her," Serenity said. Evi looked at her, "You sure that's a good idea? I mean she almost killed the dynamic duo last night." "Do you want Nick being mad at us because we couldn't do what he sent us in here for?" Serenity asked. "Good point," Evi said, getting the key and unlocking Tara's arms and legs. Serenity took one of Tara's hands and pulled her up to a sitting position. "Tara, you need to get cleaned up and dressed," she told her. Tara just sat there, staring out into nothing. "Hell, she's gonna make us do this," Serenity said. Evi laughed at her, "Hey it could be worse." "Don't even say that. If I'd known it was gonna be like this, I would've killed Nick the first night and just been done with it," Serenity said. Both girls took one of Tara's arms and lifted her up, walking her into the bathroom. "Yeah, he scares the hell outta me," Evi said. "You aren't the only one, and I don't think the guys are to much into standing up to him either," Serenity said. "So, how we doing this? Shower?" Evi asked. Might as well, we're gonna get wet no matter what we do. Damn, her hair is gonna be a mess to wash and fix," Serenity commented. "I think her hair is pretty," Evi said, turning on the shower and getting the water the right temperature. "Yeah but why does she have to have so much of it? Dang near goes down to her waist, and it would have to be naturally curly, do you realize how long its gonna take us to brush that once we're done?" Serenity complained. "I'll do it, I like playing with people's hair anyway," Evi said, helping Serenity strip Tara of her clothes and get her in the shower. The two girls hurriedly washed Tara's body, then tackled her hair, washing it and getting it rinsed. Tara never made a sound, or a move on her own. She just stood where they put her, and only moved when they moved her. "You think she's completely lost it?" Evi asked, as she was drying Tara off. "Looks like it," Serenity said, looking into her eyes, "There's nothing there, no emotion whatsoever." "Yeah, this is worse than Nick when I took him. At least he cried, she's not doing anything," Evi said. "I dunno how Nick's gonna take this, there's no telling what he'll do to her," Serenity said. Evi laughed, "It sounds like you care." "If she's gonna be our �sister' we better both care. We don't want him to permanently damage her, that won't help us any," Serenity said. "True, I didn't think of that," Evi replied, pulling the shirt over Tara's head, and pulling her arms through the sleeves. "So what if he does do something to her? We gonna stand up to him?" she asked. Serenity shrugged her shoulders, "I dunno. I don't think we can without taking some wrath from him, but he can't damage her and expect us to like it." "Go on out and let him know how she is, I'll fix her hair and take her back to the bed," Evi said. Serenity laughed at her, "So that's why you wanted to fix her hair? Send me out there by myself to face him will ya?" Evi smiled at her, "You were the one bitching about her hair, I'm just helping ya out." "Yeah right, some help you are," Serenity said as she left the room. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Nick was sitting on the couch lost in his own thoughts. Ephah and Jered were still in bed, resting from their ordeal the night before. Nick didn't heal them completely. He wanted them to hurt for their mistakes. He was really getting tired of bailing them out, and had half a mind not to the next time they found themselves in a jam. He sighed, wondering what was taking the girls so long to get Tara up, when Serenity walked into the room. "So?" Nick asked, impatiently. "I think she's lost it," she said. "Lost it, how?" Nick asked. "She doesn't even acknowledge that we're there. She won't talk to us, nothing. She only moves when we move her. It's like she's retreated into her own world, and we can't get in," she answered. "Oh really?" Nick said, getting up, "Let's just see what we can do about that, shall we?" Serenity sighed, and followed him down the hall to Tara's room. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Brian slowly opened his eyes and looked around. It took him a moment to get everything in focus, but he knew instantly he was in a hospital. The familiar sound of the monitors beeps, telling him where he was before he could even see them. He looked over, seeing Lyn asleep in the chair next to the bed. He smiled, knowing she had to have been there all night. He turned his head and looked out the window into the small waiting area just outside his room. All three of the guys were there, sacked out in various positions on the chairs. Brian looked back over at Lyn, and realized she was holding his hand, he squeezed hers lightly. Lyn's eyes fluttered open and she smiled at him, "Hey, how long you been awake?" "Few minutes," Brian answered, weakly. "You had us scared for a while. You lost a lot of blood," she informed him. Brian just nodded at her, slowly closing his eyes. "Brian, can you stay awake for a little while?" she asked. He opened his eyes again, looking at her, "I'll try." Kevin walked into the room, having woken up and seeing Lyn and Brian talking. "Hey cuz, you bout scared the hell outta us," he said. Brain smiled, "Sorry." Kevin walked over to the side of the bed and put his hand on Brian's shoulder, "Can you tell me what happened? Who did this to you?" "Jered," Brian said. Lyn and Kevin both let out a breath they didn't know they were holding, relieved that it wasn't Nick. "What happened? Why'd he do it?" Kevin prompted. "Said he had message from Nick," Brian tiredly said, "Said my time was up, then stabbed me." Kevin and Lyn looked at each other, not sure exactly what that meant. "That's all he said?" Lyn asked. Brian nodded, then lifted his left hand up to rub his face. He looked at his hand for a moment, then to Lyn, "My ring?" She stared at him, not sure what he wanted for a second, then it hit her. "Your wedding ring?" she asked. He nodded. "I dunno Bri, I don't remember seeing it since you went for your walk," she answered. Tears started to form in his eyes, "Please find it," he asked. "We will Bri," Kevin assured him. Lyn wiped the tears from his face, "I promise, we'll find it." Brian nodded, "I'm so tired." "Go ahead and sleep, we'll be here when you wake up," Kevin told him. Brian closed his eyes and was instantly asleep. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Nick walked into Tara's room, just as Evi was finishing up an elaborate French braid in her hair. Nick stared at Tara, sitting in the chair, staring off into outer space. "She's been this way since you've been in here?" he asked. Both girls nodded. Nick walked over to her and took her chin in his hand, moving her head around to face him. He stared into her green eyes. They had once held such emotion, but now were void of any. "Tara, look at me," he said. Her eyes seemed to stare right through him, never focusing in on his face. "Nick, she's no good to us like this," Serenity said. He looked over at her, "Well no duh! She's no good to me like this either," he said, angrily. "What do you suggest we do?" Evi asked. Nick thought for a moment, then smiled. "Bring her out to the rack. If she won't willingly come back to reality, then I guess I'll have to beat her back into it," he said. Both girls glanced at one another, not happy with his idea. "Nick, if you permanently damage her...." Serenity started. Nick grabbed her by the throat and stared down at her, "You do as I tell you, or you may have some time on the rack yourself. I won't permanently hurt her, and what I do, I can fix. So, get with it!" Both girls took Tara by the arms and led her out of the room, regretting ever making the deal in the first place. Chapter 41 |