| Chapter 21 Nick woke up to the sound of his cell phone ringing. He reached over and grabbed it off the night stand, "Hello?" "Merry Christmas," Lyn said. "Hey, Merry Christmas to you too," Nick said smiling. "Nick, I don't know how you did it, but I love my present," she said. "Good, it's the right size and all?" he asked. "Yes, it's perfect," she said. "I'm glad you like it," Nick said, relieved that the jeweler could find the right size. "Nick, I have your present here," Lyn said. "That's OK. I'm probably not going to be staying to long after Brian comes back. I just wanna make sure everything is OK before I leave," he said. "OK, listen, I'm at the hospital and I've gotta run to the meeting, but Uncle Ted wants to talk with you," Lyn said. Nick sat up in bed, suddenly nervous, "OK, love you." "I love you too," she said, handing the phone over to Ted. "Morning Nick," Ted said. "Morning, Merry Christmas," Nick said. "Merry Christmas to you too," Ted said, "That's quite a bracelet you got Lyn." Nick laughed, "Well, the best for the best." "Nick, I got your results," he said. Nick took a deep breath, "And?" "And, I'm afraid that I agree with Dr. Spencer. You need to go back in for surgery," Ted said. Nick closed his eyes, putting his hand to his forehead, "I was afraid you were gonna say that." "Nick, we need to go back in and graft some bone so it will close properly. I don't think that waiting will do anything, except cause you to lose time recuperating, and I'm afraid that your headaches will progressively get worse the more we wait," Ted said. "When?" Nick asked. "As soon as possible. Nick, the longer you wait, the more risk you put yourself in," he said. "Risk? Like what?" he asked. "Well, if you were to hit your head in that spot, Nick there's nothing there protecting your brain. It could be fatal, and if it's not, you would at least have some brain damage," Ted said. Nick sighed heavily, "Brian is coming home tonight. I wanted to stay and make sure things were OK before I left." "How long were you planning on staying?" he asked. "I'm not sure, a few days maybe," Nick answered. "Don't make it long. We need to do this as soon as possible," Ted said. "OK, um Ted, does Lyn know?" Nick asked. "No, I haven't told her yet," he replied. "Could you wait to tell her until tomorrow? I don't wanna ruin her Christmas," Nick said. Ted laughed, "Yeah I can wait, unless you want to tell her yourself?" "I..um..I just can't," Nick said, his voice cracking. "It's OK, I'll tell her," Ted said, compassionately. "Thanks," Nick said. "OK, if you need anything call," Ted said. "I will. I'll call when I decide when I'm leaving," Nick said. "Alright, but don't wait to long," Ted reiterated. "I won't, bye," Nick said, hanging up the phone. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Aleisha looked over at Brian. He was asleep in the passengers seat. They had been driving all night. Angel paced from one window to the other in the back seat. "Angel, do you need out?" Aleisha asked. Angel looked at her and whined. "OK, let me find a place to pull over," Aleisha said, laughing at herself for talking to a wolf. Brian woke up just as Aleisha was pulling off the road, "What's wrong?" "Nothing, Angel needs a pit stop," Aleisha answered, getting out and letting the wolf out to do her business. When she was done, Aleisha let her back in, and jumped in herself. "Do you want me to drive?" Brian asked, sitting up. "No, I'm OK," she answered. "But, you've been driving all night," he said. "When I get tired I'll let you know," she said, pulling back onto the road. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Man, when are they gonna get here?" A.J. asked for the hundredth time that night. "I don't know, he just said sometime tonight," Kevin said, annoyed. "Well I'm starving," Howie said, "I say if they don't get here in the next ten minutes, we eat." "I'm for that," Kira said. Nick was sitting on the couch, drawing in his sketch pad, oblivious to the conversation around him. "Nick?" Kevin asked. He looked up, "Huh?" Kevin smiled, "You OK? You're being pretty quiet over there?" "Yeah, I'm just thinking," Nick said, turning his attention back to the drawing. Kristin looked at Kevin and shrugged her shoulders. A.J. was at the window, "He's here!" Everyone got up to look, seeing Brian's car coming up the drive. "Should we go out and meet him, or just let him come in?" Howie asked. "Let's let him come in. We don't need to seem to anxious that he's back," Kevin said. "Are you kidding?" A.J. asked, "He's been gone for what? Two weeks with no word. I'm excited as hell that he's back." Everyone laughed, going back to their seats. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Brian watched as they drove up the drive. He could see them looking out the window, and smiled. "Everyone's here," he said. Aleisha parked the car and turned it off, "You ready?" "Ready as I'll ever be," he said. They got out and went to the door. When they got in, Brian turned to Angel, "Wait here until I call you." Angel lay down and watched as Brian and Aleisha walked down the hall to the living room. Brian took Aleisha's hand in his before they rounded the corner. "Hey guys," he said. Kevin got up, seeing the bandage on Brian's face, "Bri, what happened?" "I'll tell you in a minute," he said, "First, I want everyone to meet Aleisha." Kevin walked up to her, smiling, "Nice to meet you. I'm Kevin, Brian's cousin." "Good to meet you," Aleisha said. "And this is my wife Kristin," Kevin said. Kristin shook Aleisha's hand. "Hi, I'm Howie, and this is my fiancee Kira," Howie said, smiling at her. Aleisha greeted them both. A.J. walked up and took her hand, "Nice to meet you, I'm A.J.," he said, bending down and kissing the back of her hand. Aleisha laughed, "Nice to meet you." Nick walked up, as he got closer his hearing aid started buzzing in his ear. The closer he got to her the louder the buzz. He reached up and pulled it out, cursing. "What's wrong?" Brian signed. "Oh, stupid thing is buzzing," Nick signed back. Aleisha looked at Nick, taken aback, "Brian, Nick's deaf?" "Yeah, without his aid he is," Brian said. Aleisha turned back to Nick, "Good to meet you," she signed. Nick smiled at her, "You know sign?" "Yes, a friend taught me a few years ago," she signed. "Cool," Nick signed, "Nice to meet you." Everyone sat down, waiting for Brian to tell them what happened. Nick played with his aid for a moment, putting it back in. It seemed to be working fine. Stupid thing, he thought. "Brian, I thought you said you were bringing two friends," Kevin asked. "I did, but I kinda need to prepare you before you meet her," he said. Everyone looked at him curiously. "Well, I went out to the cave, and while I was there, I got attacked by a mountain lion," Brian started. "Oh my God," Kristin said. "Brian, how bad are you hurt? All I see is the bandage on your face," Howie asked. Brian looked at Aleisha, "You wanna help?" She nodded her head, helping Brian take his shirt off. "Jesus," A.J. said, seeing Brian's bruised ribs, and bandaged chest and arms. "I'm OK, it's just gonna take a little time to heal," Brian said, "So, anyway. I was in the cave and Angel came in and ran the lion off and stayed with me until Aleisha found me." "Angel?" Nick asked. "Yeah, um, don't yell or anything when she comes in. I'm not sure how she'll react to this many people she doesn't know," Brian said. Everyone nodded their heads as Brian yelled for Angel. Everyone watched as Angel entered the room. "Holy shit!" A.J. said, "Brian, that's a wolf!" Everyone laughed. "Alex, you have an eye for the obvious," Howie said, not sure how close he wanted to be to the animal. "She's tame?" Kevin asked. "Yeah, she understands everything you say to her too," Brian said. Angel saw Nick sitting across the room and walked over to him. Nick's eyes were filled with fear as the wolf walked closer. He stared into her green eyes, his mouth dropping open a little. Angel jumped up, putting her front feet in Nick's lap and started licking the right side of his head. "Angel, get down," Brian said, seeing how uncomfortable Nick was. Angel looked back at Brian and whined, then turned back to Nick, licking his cheek, and whining at him. Nick reached up and ran his hand through her fur, staring into her eyes. "You know don't you?" he whispered. Angel looked at him, then licked the side of his head again and whined. Brian got up and walked over, "Angel, Nick doesn't want you on him." Angel got down and went to every person in the room, letting them pet her. Brian looked down at Nick, "She likes you." Nick was trembling, "Yeah." "Are you OK?" Aleisha asked, seeing how shaken Nick was. Nick took a deep breath, "Yeah, I'm fine. Just a little unnerved." Brian laughed, "Yeah, I guess it's not everyday a wolf licks you on the face." Nick laughed a little, "No, it's not." "Well, let's all go eat," Howie said. Everyone went into the kitchen and sat down. "What are we having?" Brian asked. "Home made soup," Howie said. Brian and Aleisha looked at each other and burst out laughing. The rest glanced at each other, not getting the joke. "Sorry," Brian said, "When we were stuck in the storm, all we had to eat was soup and rice." "I can make something else," Howie offered. "No, soup is fine," Brian said. Angel was sitting next to A.J. looking at him as he ate. A.J. picked out a piece of meat and started to give it to her. "A.J. don't hand that to her," Aleisha said. He looked up, "How come?" "Drop it, but don't hand it to her. If she misses she could snap your finger off," Brian said. "Damn," A.J. said, dropping the piece of meat on the floor. Angel quickly ate it, and looked at him for more. Nick ate quietly and watched. He couldn't believe that Kevin wasn't giving Aleisha the third degree by now about who she was and where she'd come from. Not to mention that he didn't even ask Brian any more details about his time away. Everyone just seemed to accept everything she said as the truth. And every time Aleisha got within two feet of him, his aid would go nuts. And damn it if he wasn't getting another headache. "Nick, your show was great," Brian was saying. Nick looked over, "What?" "I said your show, it was really good," Brian said. "Oh, thanks," he said. "I had no idea that you could act that well," Brian said. Nick smiled, "Yeah, who knew?" Brian laughed. Nick watched as everyone finished their meal and went into the living room. Brian seemed to be happy, darn near ecstatic. Nick was wondering what had changed so much in two weeks, and how well Brian really knew this girl. Angel walked over and sat down next to Nick, letting him pet her. Nick squinted his eyes and reached up to hold his head, as his headache grew worse. Kevin looked over, noticing. "Nick?" he said. Nick didn't say anything but just nodded his head, knowing what the question was going to be. Howie and A.J. got up and walked with Nick to his room. "What's going on? What's wrong?" Brian asked, following everyone. Kevin told Brian about Nick's tests and his headaches while A.J. and Howie put him in bed and got him his medicine. Brian walked in the room, sitting down on the side of the bed, "Nick, can I get you anything?" He just shook his head, the thought of talking hurt to much. "Brian, I might could help," Aleisha said. Brian moved as she sat down in his place. Aleisha picked Nick's hand up and started massaging the area between his thumb and forefinger. Nick looked at her. "It's a trick the Chinese use," she told him. Nick relaxed, feeling some of the pain ease. "That's it, just relax and go to sleep," she said, soothingly. Nick closed his eyes and in a few minutes he was sound asleep. Everyone filed out of the room. "You're gonna have to teach me how to do that," Brian said. Everyone else wanted to learn too. Aleisha smiled as they went back downstairs to the living room. No one noticed that Angel was still in Nick's room. She walked up to the bed, looking at Nick, and whined. She then jumped on the bed and crawled up next to him, sliding under his arm. She gently licked his face, and sighed as she closed her eyes and went to sleep. Chapter 22 |