| Chapter 14 The storm raged on through the night. Aleisha stayed up, keeping the fire going, and checking on Brian every so often. She had just fallen asleep when Brian screamed. She jumped up and was at his side in an instant. "Brian, what's wrong?" she asked. He was breathing heavily and had tears running down his face. He hurriedly wiped them away, "Nothing." Aleisha reached up and wiped a stray tear, "It's not nothing. Tell me, maybe it'll make you feel better." He looked into her eyes, seeing the genuine concern. "I just had a bad dream, that's all," he said. "What about?" she asked. He hesitated for a moment. He felt like he could tell her anything, but wasn't sure if she'd want to hear it. "About my wife," he finally said, looking down at his hands. Aleisha reached out and gently touched his hands, "I'm sorry Brian. Do you want to talk about it?" "I don't know if talking about it will make any difference," Brian said. "Brian, you can't keep things bottled up inside. If you do they tend to eat at you," Aleisha said. Brian laughed, "That's exactly what Tara would say." "Tara? Was that your wife?" she asked. He nodded his head, and pointed to his coat, "There's a picture of her in the pocket." Aleisha walked over and pulled the picture out, bringing it back over to Brian. "She was beautiful," she said. Brian stared at the picture, "Yeah, in every way too. Not just her looks. She had the most awesome personality...." Aleisha smiled at him as he looked up, "Oh, I'm sure you don't want to hear this," he said. "Of course I do. She obviously meant the world to you, and if you want to talk about her, who am I to say no?" Aleisha said. Brian just looked back down at the picture in his hands. "Brian, how did she die?" Aleisha asked. He looked up at her, all the pain and loss back in his eyes. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked that," she said, starting to get up. Brian put his hand on hers, stopping her, "No, it's OK." Aleisha sat back down. "She, um.... well, she died saving someone's life," he said. "Oh Brian, I'm so sorry. Did you know the person?" Aleisha asked. He laughed a little, "Yeah. She saved my ex-wife and her baby." Aleisha's mouth dropped open, "Your ex-wife?" Brian nodded his head, "Uh huh. She saved them both before..." He couldn't finish the sentence, instead looking down at the picture again. Aleisha didn't know what to say to him. Is there ever the right words to say to someone who'd experienced such loss? She did the only thing she knew to do, she reached out to him. Brian fell into her arms, sobbing. She held him as he cried, rubbing his back, and telling him it would be OK. Brian cried for a long time, until the tears wouldn't come anymore. He slowly pulled away from her embrace, wiping his face with the back of his hands. "Here," she said, handing him a cloth that was nearby. He took it, "I'm sorry." "Brian, you have nothing to be sorry about. It's good to let your feelings out like that," she said. "I know, but we haven't known each other very long, and here I go breaking down on you. I'm sure you probably think I'm a nut," he said, sniffing. Aleisha laughed, "No, I don't think you're a nut. I think you are a man who loved his wife dearly, and is really missing her." Brian looked into her eyes, getting lost in them. She smiled at him, and he broke his stare. "I, uh, I should probably go back to sleep," he said, laying back down. "OK," she said, getting up and going back to her own cot. Brian watched as she lay down, and was soon asleep. He looked at the ceiling, What am I doing? I can't be having these feelings, not yet. Angel whined at him. He looked over and smiled at her. She seemed satisfied with that, and put her head down and went back to sleep. Brian soon followed. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Howie, is Nick still upset?" Kira asked. Howie crawled into bed, pulling the covers over him, "I don't think so." Howie and Kevin had gone home, leaving Nick and A.J. at Brian's. "Good, he really looked awful after he had that dream," Kira said, "What'd he do after I left?" "He stayed in his room most of the day. Came down right before supper. He asked me about getting married," Howie said. Kira looked at him, "About us, or about him?" "Both," Howie said, "I think he really want's to ask Lyn, but something is keeping him from doing it." "And that would be?" she asked. "He didn't know, and before I could ask him anything else, A.J. and Kevin came in, and he shut up about it," he said. Kira lay there, thinking. "Well, I really don't know why he hasn't asked her by now. I mean they are just so cute together, and so made for each other," she said. Howie laughed, "Yeah, like Brian and ...." Kira looked at him, "Yeah," she said softly. "You know, I don't think I'll ever get used to her being gone," Howie said. Kira nodded, "She was such a big part of everyone's lives. Even mine....I miss her." Howie reached out and pulled her to him, snuggling up next to her, "Yeah, it's gonna take a long time before we all get over it." "God, I can't imagine what Brian's going through. I just wish he would've stayed here, maybe we could've helped him somehow," Kira said. Howie sighed. Brian had been gone a week now, with no word at all. For all anyone knew he was dead somewhere. "Yeah, Brian just...well, he's always been like this. I mean he was always strong in his faith, but when things got bad, he'd go away somewhere to work them out," Howie said. "Really? He just never struck me as that kind of person," Kira said. Howie nodded, "Yeah, when he found out he was gonna have to have heart surgery, we didn't see him for three days." "Oh, well, maybe he'll get things worked out and come home soon then," Kira said. "I don't know. He always held on to his faith for strength. Nick said Tracy told him he wasn't talking to God now. I just don't know what he'll find without that strength he's always had before," he said. Kira looked at him, seeing his concern. "Well, when he does come back, you guys will be there for him. Maybe he'll find his way again," she said. "I hope so," Howie said, "I hope so." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Jesus A.J., it's four in the morning. I want to go to sleep," Nick whined. "No, no, no. Not until I win," A.J. said, pointing the controller at him. "Listen, I can't help it that you completely suck at this game, but I'm dying here man," Nick said. "You know, I think living with Lyn has turned you into an old married man," A.J. said, smiling. Nick looked at him, "I don't think so." "Oh yeah. I remember the time that you would stay up for days at a time, bugging the hell out of all of us to do this, do that with you," A.J. said. "I'm not that person anymore, and I'm definitely not that young anymore. I need my sleep man," Nick said. A.J. laughed, "You sound like you're eighty. You're twenty-two for God's sake." Nick got up and walked in the direction of the stairs, "Well, this twenty-two year old is going to bed. Night." Nick was on the second step when A.J threw the game disk holder at him, striking him on the side of the head. "Damn!" Nick said, holding his head and glaring at A.J. "Oh come on man, that didn't hurt," A.J. said smiling. Nick sat down on the steps, still holding his head, "Alex, what side of my head did you just hit me on?" A.J walked over, and as he did, he realized he'd just hit Nick where his scar was. "Oh damn man, that thing still hurts?" he asked. "Only when I get hit there," Nick said sarcastically, looking up at him. "I'm sorry man, I didn't know," A.J. said. "It's Ok," Nick said, getting up and blinking his eyes a few times, "I'm just gonna go take some headache medicine and go to bed." "You got a headache from that little hit?" A.J. asked. "Yeah, a pretty good one," Nick said, climbing the stairs. "What does Ted say about that? I mean, it's suppose to be healed by now right?" A.J. asked. Nick turned around and looked at him, "I haven't talked to him about it yet." "Well don't you think you should?" A.J. asked. "I'm gonna, I just haven't gotten around to it," Nick said. "Well, you could call and ......" A.J. started. "A.J.!" Nick yelled, "I'll get to it, but if I don't get that medicine and go to bed right now, you're gonna be carrying me to the bed, and I don't think you want to do that." Nick turned and made his way upstairs and into his room, leaving A.J. standing at the bottom of the stairs, more worried than he had been in a long time. Chapter 15 |