| Chapter 27 Brian stood outside the ICU, looking at Lyn sitting with Nick. He was torn between his anger and his love for Nick. He could see that Lyn was praying, she had been since she walked in the room. Brian closed his eyes and leaned against the wall, He's my best friend, why can't I do this for him? Aleisha walked over and took his hand, "You OK?" He shook his head, "No, I'm not." She looked at him concerned, "What's wrong?" Brian took a deep breath, "I..just the one thing I should be doing for him I can't." Aleisha smiled at him, "Bri, you can't be someone you're not anymore. Don't agonize over it." He just nodded his head. Kevin walked around the corner, "Morning guys." "Hey Kev," Brian said. Kevin looked in the room, "She hasn't left since she got here has she?" "No, you know she won't," Brian said, "Not until Nick leaves with her." Kevin looked at him, his eyes full of sadness, "Bri, it's been a week now. He hasn't even moved." "I know," Brian said, looking into the room. "Did the cops let you back in your house yet?" Kevin asked. "Not yet," Aleisha answered. "Yeah, I think they're going over everything in every room. The detective said he'd call me today sometime with what they've found so far," Brian said. Ted walked over, "Morning guys." "Hey Ted," Kevin said. Ted looked in the room at Lyn, his heart breaking for her. "Guys, I'm gonna try and get Lyn out of that room for a while. Take her down to get something to eat. Can one of you stay with him?" Ted asked. "I'll stay," Brian said. Ted smiled at him, "Thanks. You doing alright after I took your stitches out?" "Yeah, they still itch, but it's much better. Thanks for doing that," Brian said. Ted smiled, "Well, you guys are like family now. Plus I don't trust that doctor that was on duty the night they brought Nick in to treat my dog, let alone a human." Everyone laughed. "Well, Dr. Spencer should be back from vacation tomorrow," Kevin said. "Yeah, it's a good thing they let you take Nick's case over," Brian said, looking at Ted. "There was no letting. I demanded it, and wasn't gonna take no for an answer," Ted said, smiling, "Well lets see if I can get her to leave." Ted walked in the room as the others watched. "Lyn, honey," Ted said walking in the room. Lyn looked up, exhaustion filling her face, "Morning." "Lyn, why don't you come down and get some breakfast with me," he said. She shook her head, "I can't." Ted walked over and put his hand on her shoulder, "Honey, Brian will stay with him. He won't be alone." "It's not that. What if he wakes up for two seconds and I'm not here? I have to be here for him," she said, wiping away a stray tear. Ted sat down next to her, "Honey, you can't stay here 24/7. Look at what it's doing to you. You're completely exhausted, you're not eating, Lyn you need to rest and get something to eat. You don't want Nick seeing you like this when he wakes up do you?" Lyn looked down at the floor, "Do you really think he's gonna wake up?" she whispered. Ted stared at her, "I have to believe that he will." She sat there not wanting to leave, but knowing what Ted said was true. She looked out, seeing Brian talking with Kevin and Aleisha. "OK, but not for to long," she said. Ted smiled at her, "We won't be." Lyn got up and leaned over, kissing Nick on the forehead, "I won't be gone long. Brian's going to come sit with you. Who knows maybe this will do him some good, you think? I love you," she whispered, kissing him again before turning to Ted. Ted took her hand and together they left the room. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "A.J. over here!" Howie yelled. A.J. threw the ball, just as Angel jumped up on him. "Sorry girl I don't have it," A.J. said, smiling. Angel turned around and went after Howie. Leighanne and Kira were sitting on the couch watching them, laughing. It was amusing watching two grown men play keep away with a wolf. Finally Angel sat down, and sighed heavily. "Oh I think she's getting tired of this game," Howie said, finally handing her the ball. Angel took it and walked over to the girls, dropping it at their feet. "Or maybe not," Kira said, picking the ball up and throwing it across the room. "We gonna go down to the hospital this afternoon?" Leighanne asked. "Yeah," A.J. said, his voice becoming serious. Howie sat down next to Kira, "I still can't believe someone did that to him." "And the police don't have any leads," A.J. said. "Weren't the cameras working?" Leighanne asked. Howie shook his head, "I don't know. Surely they weren't, otherwise the cops would've already arrested whoever it was." "I'm gonna take some things for Lyn when we go," Kira said, "Some books and things." "Yeah, poor girl. She hasn't left his side," Leighanne said. "How could she? I know I couldn't, not if something like that happened to Howie," Kira said. Howie leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. Angel walked up to everyone with something in her mouth. Howie reached down and took it. It was a book on mythology. "Where'd you find this?" he asked her. Kira looked at it, "Oh, I brought that home from the store the other day." Angel whined at them. Everyone looked at one another. "What do you think she wants?" Kira asked. "You want us to read it to you?" A.J. asked. Howie reached across the couch, hitting A.J. in the head with the book. "No she doesn't want us to read it to her, God. She's a wolf, not a little kid." Leighanne was staring at Angel, "You want us to take it to Lyn?" Angel stood up and barked, wagging her tail. "Bingo, we got an answer," A.J. said, smiling. "OK, we can do that," Kira said, taking the book from Howie. Angel watched as Kira placed the book with her purse so she wouldn't forget it. "See, I won't forget," she said, seeing the wolf watch her. "I swear Angel, if you could talk, I think we'd all be in trouble," A.J. said. Everyone laughed, not noticing that Angel whined. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Brian was sitting with Nick. He really wasn't sure what to do. He couldn't watch TV, no TV's in ICU. He thought about telling Nick jokes, but that didn't seem appropriate. He reached over and gently took Nick's hand in his, "Nicky, hey it's me. Listen man, you need to wake up OK? I know you want to sleep. I've been there, it's great to just sleep and let the world go by, but Nick you really need to come back to us now. Lyn's been with you since she got here. Nick if you can't wake up for yourself, do it for her. Man, everyday that goes by, it's killing her. It's killing all of us. Please Nick, just open your eyes." Brian watched as nothing happened. The only movement in the room was the ventilator. He listened to the various monitors, finding a rhythm in their beeps. "This is hopeless," he said to himself. "No it's not," Tracy said from behind him. Brian didn't turn around, "How could you let this happen?" Tracy walked around to the other side of the bed, staring at Brian, "We didn't have a choice." "What do you mean you didn't have a choice? You're a freakin angel for God's sake. You could've stopped this!" Brian said, shock and anger in his voice. Tracy shook her head, "No Brian we couldn't. Angels don't have the blessing of free will like humans do. We are messengers of God, we do what He asks us to." "So you're saying He asked you not to help?" he asked. "Brian, what happened, happened for a reason," Tracy said. "Look at him Tracy! What reason is worth this?" Brian yelled. "You," she said. He looked up at her, tears in his eyes, "This happened because of me?" "Not because of you, for you," she said. "I don't understand," Brian said. "I know, but in time you will," she said, "Brian, pray for him." Brian felt the tears running down his face, "You don't understand." "I may not, but God does Brian. He knows exactly how you feel, He knows what's in your heart. He knows that you're angry with Him. He knows you blame yourself for what happened to Nick..." Tracy started. "Well, that parts true now isn't it," Brian said sarcastically. Tracy took a deep breath and looked down at Nick, "He's waiting for you to." Brian looked at her, then down to Nick's face, "What do you mean he's waiting for me to? He waiting for me to pray before he wakes up?" She nodded her head. He looked down at Nick, "Why? He knows I can't." "He believes in you Brian. He knows you can, and he has faith that you will," Tracy said. "But I..." Brian looked up, Tracy was gone. Brian sat there completely shaken. He let his tears flow freely. As he cried his mind replayed the conversation Nick had with him just weeks ago. "Brian, don't you understand that I need you to? I'm scared as hell about having this surgery.....Don't you see that I need that reassurance from you that you'll pray for me? Brian wiped his tears, "Nick, you don't understand." Again the memory was playing in his mind. "Brian, I'd be dead right now if it wasn't for you guys praying for me. Brian please. It was because of you that I found God. Because of your faith through the years that I realized I was missing something. Brain please." Brian stared at Nick's face, realizing that he'd been an idiot. God had always gotten him through before, and when he needed that strength he'd turned his back on it. He looked down at Nick's hands, comparing the bandages to the ones he'd just recently stopped wearing. He looked at his hands, scared from the scratches inflicted by the cat, then imagined what Nick's scars were going to look like. "We've been through a lot, you and me," he said, "To much for me to be an ass any longer. I'm sorry Nick, I'm sorry I didn't realize this sooner, then maybe you wouldn't have had to go through this. I'll make it up to you, I don't know how, but I will." Brain took a deep breath and closed his eyes, God, it's me........ Chapter 28 |