| Chapter 6 Kevin pulled down the driveway of the lodge, parked the car, and just sat there. He knew he had left to find Brian, but couldn't remember where he had gone, or how he got back. He was still sitting in the car when Nick and A.J. came out of the house. "Kev, any luck?" A.J. asked as he reached the driver's side window. "No, I lost him, and I think I've been driving around in circles ever since." Kevin said trying to hide his confusion. "Kev, you've been gone so long we were fixin to send out a search party for you," Nick said. "Really? How long have I been gone?" Kevin asked. "Kev, its been five hours." A.J. said noticing the shock on Kevin's face when he answered him. "Kev, are you all right? Your acting kinda funny," A.J. asked. "Yeah, I'm OK. I'm just worried about Brian, it's not like him to do this sort of thing," Kevin answered as he got out of the car and headed into the house. As Kevin walked through the door of the house, he could see Howie and Mark pacing the floor in the living room, and a couple of the security on the phone. Howie saw Kevin walk in and gave him an �any luck' look. Kevin just shook his head no and headed toward his bedroom. When he reached his room, he shut the door and locked it. Kevin sat down on the bed and pulled his cell out. As he dialed the number he was trying to think how he was going to say what he needed to say without sounding crazy. "Hello." Kristin said. "Hey baby, its me. I need to talk to you." Kevin said. "What's wrong? And don't tell me nothing, I can hear it in your voice," Kristin said, knowing that Kevin never liked to admit when something was wrong. "Kris, I'm really having a problem......"' "Kev, just say it please, your starting to scare me," Kristin said. "Kris, I can't remember things. I have whole blocks of time that I can't remember where I was or what I did. I just drove all over the country for five hours and I can't remember a minute of it!" Kevin said noticeably upset. "Kev, how long has this been going on?" Kristin asked, a little frightened of what her husband had just told her. "Maybe a couple of months, but lately it's happening more often. Kris, I don't know what to do." "Have you seen a doctor?" Kristin asked. "No, with everything that is going on with Brian, I just chalked it up as stress, but now I'm not so sure." Kevin answered. "Kev, I want you to see a doctor in the morning OK?" Kristin insisted. "I'll try, I'm not sure though. Has anyone called you about Bri?" "What about Brian?" Kristin asked even more concerned than she already was. "He's missing. He decided to go off by himself, and no one's seen him in five hours." Kevin said. "Kevin did you just say no one's seen him in five hours? Isn't that how long you were gone driving?" Kristin asked. Kevin just sat there not wanting to explore that possibility. "Kev, are you still there?" "Yeah baby, I just didn't put those two together until you said it," Kevin's voice began to break, "Kris, what if I have something to do with Brian's disappearance?!" ~~~~~~~~~~~~ Brian slowly opened his eyes, his vision was blurry at first, but then it cleared enough for him to see where he was. He had landed on a ledge about fifty feet below the highway. Brian laid there trying to assess how bad he was hurt. His right shoulder hurt like hell, he tried to raise his head to see what could be causing so much pain, but as he did his vision blurred and he felt very nauseous. Brian closed his eyes and laid his head back down. God, help me please. Brian opened his eyes again and decided to work up from his feet. He wiggled his toes, then worked his way up to his hips. Doesn't feel like anything's broken there, he thought. He then moved to his arms, he wiggled his fingers of his left arm, then the elbow, then the shoulder. So far so good. Brian tried to wiggle the fingers on his right arm, nothing. Brian raised his head, ignoring the nausea, and looked at his arm, it was covered in blood. Oh God! Brian thought as he laid his head back down. God, please help me! Brian decided to try and sit up. He took every move very slow so as to not loose his balance on the ledge. As he sat up, a wash of nausea overtook him. He sat as still as he could until it passed, then he began to look around and see if it was possible to get back up to the highway. There is no way I can climb that with one arm. Brian thought as he looked above him. Brian grabbed onto the side of the ledge and leaned over to look down. It was a pretty steep slope, but if he took it really slow, he might could get to the bottom. Brian sat there for a moment contemplating his options. He could stay were he was and hope that someone finds him, or he could take his chances of getting to the bottom and finding a way back up to the highway. He looked across the valley, and could see an approaching storm. He really didn't want to be on the ledge when it hit. He made up his mind. Brian took his jacket off, ignoring the searing pain from his shoulder, and tried to make a sling for his arm. It's not the best in the world, but it's gonna have to do, he thought as he slipped it on and pulled his arm through it. Brian took a deep breath and eased himself off the ledge. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Nick sat on the couch with his face in his hands. He was trying not to think the worst, but as the sun began to rise he was losing hope. Howie sat down next to Nick, "It's not your fault Nick." Nick looked at Howie with tired eyes, "How can you say that? I'm the one that could've stopped him and I didn't!" "Nick, you know Brian, when he makes his mind up on something there's no stopping him," Howie said trying to reassure Nick. "Howie, as weak as he is right now I could've picked him up and made him stay, and he couldn't have done a thing about it. But instead I let him talk me into letting him leave. If anything happens to him I'll never forgive myself!" Nick said as a tear made its way down his cheek. Howie knew his friend was hurting, but he didn't know what to do for him. "Nick, just know that we don't blame you for this, it just happened." "Speak for yourself Howie." Kevin said as he came down the stairs. Both Nick and Howie turned and looked at Kevin in disbelief. "Kevin." Howie said sternly. "It IS his fault Howie," Kevin said, "if he'd stopped Brian, we wouldn't be in this place now!" "Kev, that's not true," Howie said. "All right! I screwed up! Is that what you want to hear Kev? Well there I said it! And if I say it a hundred times it'll never be enough!" Nick yelled, tears flowing down his face. A.J. walked into the room, "Guys! That's enough!" Everyone stopped and looked at A.J. "Listen, I don't give a damn about who blames who here, but fighting between us is not going to help us find Brian any faster, so Shut the Hell Up!!" They all sat there in silence for a moment, then a knock came at the door. All four ran to the door. "Yes?" Kevin said as he opened the door and saw that it was the state police. "Mr. Richardson?" said the officer. "Yes." Kevin said, afraid to hear what the officer was going to say. "Sir, we found Mr. Littrell's car abandoned at a scenic overlook about 20 miles from here." "What about Brian?!" Nick asked. The officer looked at Nick, "Son, I'm sorry but it looks like he went over the railing, as soon as the storm lets up, we're gonna send a search team down." Nick's heart sank, he took a step backward, "God, what have I done?" Chapter 7 |