| Chapter 12 Nick sat in his room, holding his cell phone. He'd been there all day, thinking and praying. He never was one to pray much, but he found it gave him comfort, and hoped that it was helping Brian. He got up from the bed and walked over to the window seat, looking out. The sun was shining, although it was cold. He sighed, sitting down and pulling a pillow up between him and the window. Lyn had been out of her meetings for a few hours now, but he still hadn't called her. He wanted to collect his thoughts before he called. He stared at his phone then opened it up, dialing the number. "Hello," Lyn said. Nick smiled, he could hear loud music playing in the background, "Hey." "Hey! Let me turn this down," Lyn said. Nick waited a minute, until the music stopped. "What are you doing?" Nick asked. Lyn laughed, "Well, I was missing you, and I had a horrible day in the meetings, so I was playing one of your videos." "Oh," Nick said. Lyn waited for him to say something else, but he didn't. "Nick, you sound down. Are you alright?" she asked. "Not really. I had a dream last night that's really bothering me," he said. "About what?" Lyn asked. Nick took a deep breath, "Well, I found myself walking through the woods, then I came up to a burned field. I walked out in it, and Tracy appeared. She told me that I was in Brian's place, and that he'd burnt the field. Lyn, she said that he's stopped talking to God, and that he won't let them help him." "What else did she say?" Lyn asked, knowing that wasn't all of the dream. "She said that Brian was heading into trouble, and that when he comes back, I could help him, but that it might be to much for me. I don't know what she meant by that. Then she said that I'd have to make a choice," Nick said. Lyn thought for a few moments, "Nick honey, I don't know what she meant either." "Oh," Nick said, "I was kinda hoping that you'd pick up on something." Lyn smiled, "I know you were. Give me some time, maybe something will click." "OK," Nick said. "Hey, have you gotten any word on Brian?" she asked. Nick closed his eyes, fighting the tears that threatened to come, "No. Kev, called the game service today. They said they were doing all they could, but there was a winter storm heading in, and that when it hit, they'd have to call the search off." "For how long?" she asked. "Until it was over. Lyn, what if he's hurt out there? He might not make it through the storm," Nick said, his voice breaking. "Nick, you can't think like that. We have to be positive about this, Brian's coming home, Tracy already said it," Lyn said. Nick wiped his tears from his face, "You're right, she did. That didn't even hit me till now." "See, I told you to give me some time," Lyn said with a laugh. Nick sniffed, "Yeah. But she didn't say how he'd be when he did." "She said that he'd need your help, so just prepare yourself for the worse, and maybe it won't be that bad," Lyn said. Nick laughed, "OK, not sure how to do that, but OK." They sat in silence for a moment. "Nick, are you feeling better now?" she asked. He smiled, "Yeah, I always feel better when I talk to you." "Honey, I miss you so much," Lyn said. "I miss you too. Maybe I should come home," Nick said. Lyn desperately wanted him to, but she thought about it a minute. "No Nick, when they do find Brian, you'll be needed there. It's probably best if you stay," she said. "Yeah, I guess. I love you," Nick said. She smiled, "I love you too. I call you in a couple days, OK?" "OK, maybe we'll have better news to talk about then," Nick said. "I hope so," Lyn said. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Angel woke up to the sound of something outside the cave. She got up and stretched, looking down at Brian. She nudged him with her nose, and barked. He didn't respond. She turned her attention back to what was outside, standing in front of Brian, ready to protect him. She watched as someone walked into the cave, and stopped at the sight of her. "Jesus," the girl said, seeing Brian laying at the back of the cave, and the wolf standing between him and her. She put her hands up, "It's OK. I'm here to help." Angel stared at her and growled a little. The girl slowly walked up to Angel, and let her sniff her hands. "See, I'm a friend," the girl said, easing past Angel and kneeling next to Brian. She gently rolled him onto his back, grimacing at the sight of him. His skin was pale, and his fingers had the beginnings of frost bite. He was breathing, barely. "We gotta get you warm," she said, getting up and running out of the cave to gather some wood for a fire. Angel watched as the girl came back in, and got the fire started. She then walked back to Brian, taking his sleeping bag and coat off of him. "Holy shit, what the hell happened to you," she said, seeing his wounds. The girl thought the best way to get Brian warm would be to drag him closer to the fire. She looked down at his legs, seeing his predicament. "Oh that's not good," she said, moving closer to the rocks. "How the hell did you get stuck like this?" she said, as she was trying to free his ankle. Angel whined at her. The girl looked up, "I'm not hurting him, I'm trying to get him loose." Angel walked over and took Brian's pants leg in her mouth, helping the girl pull his leg free. The girl looked at Angel in amazement. "You really are a good pet," she said. Angel barked at her, wagging her tail. The girl went back to Brian, rolling him onto his sleeping bag, then dragging the bag over closer to the fire. She pulled her own sleeping bag from her pack, laying it over him. She knew his wounds needed treating, but she had to get him warm first. The girl added more wood to the fire, and settled in for the wait. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Nick walked downstairs and into the kitchen. Howie was there, looking at what they had to fix for supper. "Hey, you OK?" he asked. Nick stood in front of the patio doors, looking out at the gazebo, "I'm better." "Good, we were starting to wonder," Howie said. "Howie?" Nick said, still looking outside. "Yeah?" he said. Nick looked over at him, "You love Kira right?" Howie smiled, "With all my heart." "So, how come you guys aren't married yet?" Nick asked. Howie shifted from one foot to the other, "Um, well. We never have really agreed on a date yet, and then everything started happening again." Nick nodded his head, "Yeah." "I mean, we're really comfortable the way we are right now, so I don't see what the big rush is," Howie said, "Why are you asking me this?" "I dunno. I think about it sometimes," Nick said. "What about asking Lyn?" Howie asked, a smile running across his face. "Yeah, it's just that...... I dunno, something keeps holding me back," Nick said. "Like what?" Howie asked, sitting down at the table. "I wish I knew," Nick said. "Wish you knew what?" A.J. asked, walking into the room, followed by Kevin. Nick turned around and looked at them, "Nothing." "No, you were talking about something," Kevin said. "Yeah, what was it Howie?" A.J. asked. Howie looked at Nick, and got the �if you say anything I'm going to kick your ass' look. "Nothing, just something between us," Howie said. Kevin and A.J. looked from Howie to Nick. "OK, if that's how you're gonna be," A.J. said, plopping down in a chair, "What's for supper D? I'm starving." Howie went about naming off things he could fix, letting A.J. narrow the list for him. Kevin watched as Nick left the room, getting up and following him to the living room. "Nicky, you sure you're OK?" Kevin asked. Nick sat down on the couch, turning the TV on, "Yeah, I just wish that Bri were here." Kevin sat down next to him, "I know you do, we all do." "He always had the best advice on things," Nick said, "I really need that right now." Kevin raised an eyebrow and looked at Nick, "What about? Maybe I can help." Nick looked at his older �brother', "Naw, it's OK. Maybe some other time." "Well if you change your mind," Kevin said. "I know, it's just not the same, you know?" Nick said, getting up and knocking a candle stick off the table. He bent down picking it up, "Damn, what the hell is this thing made of? It's heavy." Kevin looked at it, "Oh, Bri got those when we were in Europe. He found them in some specialty store there and just had to have them. I think they're like solid lead or something." "They'd have to be," Nick said, putting it back on the table and going back upstairs. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The sun was starting to set, and the snow had just begun to fall. The girl sat there, watching Brian as he slept, hoping he would wake up soon. Angel paced the cave, restlessly. "Are you hungry?" the girl asked. Angel stopped and looked at her expectantly. The girl smiled, "Here," she said, handing the wolf some beef jerky from her pack. Angel quickly ate it, and sat down in front of the girl. "Oh no, I only have so much, and he's gotta eat too," she said. Angel looked down at Brian, then walked over and nudged him on the side of the face with her nose. Brian stirred, groaning. Angel whined at him. Brian's eyes slowly opened, "Angel?" he whispered. Angel whined and licked him on the face. Brian looked around, seeing someone sitting across from him. The girl got up and walked over to Brian, kneeling down beside him, "Mr. Littrell?" Brian looked up at her, his eyes taking a moment to focus. What he saw amazed him. The girl had short red hair, and blue/green eyes. She was fair skinned, and had to have been shorter than him. She was wearing a game service uniform. "Mr. Littrell?" she said again. "Brian," he whispered. She smiled, "Brian, my name is Aleisha Cline. I'm with the game service." "You're small," Brian said. Aleisha laughed, "Everyone thinks that when they see me, but trust me, I do my job very well." Brian smiled a little, then he closed his eyes. "Brian, wake up," Aleisha said, gently patting him on the cheek. He opened his eyes, looking up at her. "You need to stay awake," she said, "Brian, as soon as you think you can, we need to leave." "Why?" he asked. "There's a bad storm heading in, it's already starting. We can't stay here," she said. "I'm not sure I can leave," Brian said. "I'll help you, there's a med station a couple hours walk from here. We need to get there before the storm gets bad," Aleisha said. Brian nodded his head, "I'm thirsty." Aleisha went to her pack and pulled out her canteen and grabbed one of Brian's snack bars and brought them over. As she helped Brian up to a seated position, he screamed in pain. "Sorry," she said, "I think you have some broken ribs along with your other injuries." Brian just nodded his head, as she held the canteen for him. He took a few drinks, and managed to eat half of the bar before asking to lay back down. "Brian, what happened to you?" she asked. "Mountain lion," he said. Aleisha's eyes were wide in astonishment, "A mountain lion did this to you?" Brian nodded, "Angel saved me." "Angel?" Aleisha said, looking over at the wolf, "Is that your name?" Angel barked. "How long have you had Angel?" she asked. "She's not mine. When I got here, she started following me," Brian said. "Really? That's odd," Aleisha said. "She has a collar on," Brian pointed out. Aleisha held out her hand, "Come here girl." Angel walked over and sat down, letting Aleisha look at her collar. The wind howled outside the cave, and Aleisha looked up to see the snow falling harder. "Brian, we really need to be leaving," she said. "I can't feel my feet," he said. "I know, you've got frost bite, but Brian if we stay here, and the storm's as bad as their saying, neither one of us will make it," she said. Brian nodded his head, and asked to be helped back up. Aleisha pulled him into a seated position. "Stay here until I get everything packed up," she said. Brian watched as she broke camp, putting all the supplies she could into Brian's pack, leaving her own there. She dug in his pack and found another shirt, coming over and putting it on him over the tattered one he was still wearing. Then she got his coat, and helped him put it on. She packed up the sleeping bags, and pulled her flashlight out turning it on before putting the fire out. She walked back over, "OK, you ready?" "Yeah," Brian said. Aleisha helped him to his feet, and a wave of dizziness came over him. She stood there, steadying him until it passed. "You OK now?" she asked. Brian nodded his head, and with Aleisha's help, they walked out of the cave into the snow. Chapter 13 |