| Chapter 37 The next few days passed by rather uneventfully. Leighanne was working on getting the things that Nick asked for. It was hard for her to do, A.J. seemed to always be hanging around. She loved him, but he was starting to worry her. She thought that Nick was probably right about him spying on her. Nick had also noticed that Aleisha seemed more interested in him. She had engaged him in conversation more than once, and the questions were reaching for information. Nick had to watch himself, being careful not to let anything slip out. He and Lyn were getting along famously. They hadn't slept alone since the shopping day. Nick still hated not being able to tell her, but with them being in the same house, it just wasn't safe. Nick walked downstairs. He'd had a headache earlier, and was just getting up from sleeping it off. He went into the kitchen to get something to drink. Aleisha was there, cooking lunch. "Hey Nick, you feeling better?" she asked. "Some," he said, walking over to the frig. "Can I get you anything?" she asked. "Naw, I can get it," he said, reaching in and pulling out the tea jug. She handed him a glass out of the cabinet and he poured the tea, putting the jug back into the frig. "Where's Brian and Lyn?" he asked, realizing he hadn't seen them on the trek into the kitchen. "Oh, Lyn went over to Kristin's for a little while, and Brian's in the office," she answered. "Oh," Nick said, feeling relieved that he wasn't there alone with her. Angel walked into the kitchen and over to her bowls. She drank for a few minutes and then walked back out. Nick watched her leave, wondering where she was hanging out at. Aleisha walked around Nick, "Excuse me," she said. He moved and she got into the drawer he was standing in front of, taking out a spoon. "You need some help?" Nick asked, trying to be civil. "Um, if you want," she said, "You could stir this for a minute." Nick walked over to the stove and took the spoon from her, stirring the gravy she was cooking. "How are your hands?" Aleisha asked. "They're fine. I think I go tomorrow to get the stitches out," he said. "That's good. I was wondering if you were going to start drawing again," she said. He looked at her, "What do you mean?" "Your artwork. You haven't drawn anything since you got home from the hospital," she said. "I didn't know I could draw," Nick said, trying to look surprised. "Oh yeah, you're really good too. I love your art," she said, smiling at him. "Do I have some drawings here?" he asked. "Yeah, you have a sketch pad somewhere. I'll see if I can find it after we eat," she offered. "Thanks," he said, "I think this is done." Aleisha walked over and looked at it, "Yeah, it is." She took it off the burner and finished what she was doing. "You wanna go get Bri? We're ready to eat," she said. "OK," Nick said, leaving the room and heading to the office. He walked up to the door, but stopped before going in. He could hear Brian talking to someone. "Come in Nick," Brian called. Nick walked in, "How'd you know it was me?" Brian pointed to Angel sitting in the floor by the desk. "She always wags her tail when it's you," he said. "Oh," Nick said, smiling, "Dinner's ready." "OK," Brian said, turning off his computer. He walked around the desk and followed Nick back into the kitchen. Aleisha had set the table already, and was waiting on them. They sat down and quietly started the meal. Brian noticed that Nick closed his eyes for a moment before he began filling his plate. Nick saw him looking at him, "I was praying." "Oh," Brian said, looking around the table. "Didn't you used to do that?" Nick asked. Brian looked over at him again, "Do what?" "Pray before you ate," Nick said. "Yeah, I did. You remember that?" he asked. Nick nodded his head, "Small things are starting to come back." Aleisha stared at him, "Really? How long has that been happening?" "A few days now," Nick answered, seeing the concern in her eyes. "That's great Nick. Maybe you'll remember everything before to long, and we can get whoever did this to you," Brian said. Nick laughed, "Maybe." Aleisha shifted uncomfortably in her seat, before taking a long drink from her glass. "So why'd you stop?" Nick asked. "Stop what?" Brian said, lost on the conversation. "Praying," Nick said. "Oh, I don't know. I guess I got out of the habit," he answered. "Oh," Nick said, sounding disappointed. Brian caught the emotion in his voice, "I guess now's as good a time as any to get back in the habit." Nick smiled as Brian reached for his and Aleisha's hands. He said a quick prayer over the food, then looked up. Nick could feel the tension in Aleisha's hand as he held it. As soon as the prayer was over she got up, "I'll be back in a minute." And with that she was out of the room. Nick and Brian glanced at each other, then went back to their meal. Aleisha ran to the nearest bathroom and locked the door. She wanted to scream, but knew she couldn't. She was angry at Nick. He seemed to be remembering all the right things to bring Brian back to God, and she hated him for it. Brian was easier to control when he wasn't praying, and she liked it that way. She took a few deep breaths to calm herself down. She wanted to hurt Nick, and she knew she couldn't, not without it looking like some sort of accident. She'd have to think about that for a while, plan something that she couldn't possibly be blamed for. Aleisha smiled, taking on the new challenge. She would get rid of Nick once and for all. She took one more calming breath before opening the door and returning to the kitchen. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A.J. quietly walked down the hall. He looked around to make sure no one could see him, then he darted into Leighanne's room. He closed the door and went to work. She had gone into town a few times over the last few days, and he wanted to know what she'd gotten. He looked under the bed, nothing. He got up and walked over to the closet, opening it up and searching through it. In his zest to find something, he didn't hear the door open. "Alex, you lose something?" Leighanne asked. A.J. jumped and swung around, looking like a deer caught in the headlights of a speeding car. "Um, I was....um," he stammered. Leighanne put her hand on her hip, "Well?" A.J. frantically looked around, reaching for some sort of excuse to be there. "I was wondering if you brought that purple top that Sarah likes. I was gonna see what designer it was," he said. Leighanne stared at him for a moment, "No, I didn't bring it, but it's Versachi. You could've just asked me though." "I know. Sorry about that," he said, walking past her and over to the door, "Thanks," he said, leaving the room. Leighanne stood there looking at the empty doorway, "Looking for a top my ass." She walked over and shut the door, locking it. She went to her hiding place to make sure everything was still there. It was. She breathed a sigh of relief, making a mental note to tell Nick about A.J.'s little investigation when they could talk. Leighanne put everything away then left the room. She wanted to be where ever A.J. was. Knowing now that she couldn't let him out of her sight. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Aleisha walked back into the kitchen and sat down. "You alright?" Brian asked, concerned. "Yeah, just had the sudden urge to pee," she said. Nick laughed. "Oh, well, OK," Brian said, a smile on his face. They finished the meal, and Aleisha was clearing the table. Brian and Nick were talking about watching movies later. Nick got up, just as Aleisha was walking over to grab his plate. They collided, throwing Nick off balance. Nick reached for the table, as Aleisha tried to grab his arm. They both missed and Nick hit the floor, hard. Brian shot up from his chair and was at Nick's side in an instant, "Nick, man, you OK?" "Nick, I'm so sorry," Aleisha said. She really didn't mean to do that, but she couldn't have planned it better. Nick was holding his side, his face contorted in pain. Brian reached to help him up, but Nick waved him off, "Just let me lay here a second." "Nick, you think you need to go see the doc?" Brian asked. He shook his head, "I'll be alright." Brian watched as Nick lay there, taking a few deep breaths before lifting his hand up, for Brian's help. He slowly pulled Nick up to a sitting position, Nick letting out a cry of pain in the process. "Man, maybe we should take you and let them check you out," Brian said. "Bri, I'm alright. My ribs were already broken, there's not much more damage I could do to them," Nick said, offering a weak smile. "Brian, take him out to the couch, and I'll look and see if he tore his stitches," Aleisha instructed. Nick really wasn't up for that, but he didn't have much of a choice. Brian helped him up and took him into the living room. She walked over and pulled the coffee table over, sitting on it in front of him. "Let's get your shirt off," she said, reaching over to unbutton it. Nick reached up and did it himself, although she had to help him take it off. "Damn," Brian said, looking at Nick's side. He already had a nice sized bruise forming over the old one, and a couple of the stitches were pulled. Aleisha looked at them, running her finger over the pulled stitches. Nick flinched. "Sorry," she said, looking up at him. He looked at her, "Your hands are cold." She went back to looking at his side for a moment, then sat up. "I think it'll be alright. You said you were going to get the stitches out tomorrow right?" she asked. "Yeah, in the morning," Nick answered. "Well, just have the doc check you out then, but I think you just bruised yourself," Aleisha said. "Thanks," Nick said, pulling his shirt back on, with her help. "No problem," she said, looking into his eyes, "I really am sorry." "It's OK, it was an accident," Nick said, getting up, "I think I'm gonna go lay down for a while." "Alright man," Brian said, watching Nick climb the stairs and go into his room. Nick closed his door and held his side. It was killing him, but he'd never let her know that. Weather it was an accident or not, he knew she was happy it happened. He could see it in her eyes. He went into the bathroom and found his pain pills, taking one. He stood there a moment, "Tracy?" She didn't appear, but Jade did. "Where's Tracy?" he asked. "She's with Leighanne," Jade answered. "Is she alright? Did something happen?" Nick asked, concerned. "No, she's fine. A.J. is just becoming a concern for us," she answered. Nick sighed heavily, "Are you guys any closer to finding out what her weakness is?" "Somewhat. We know it irritates her when you pray, so keep it up. Get Brian and everyone else into it too," she said. Nick smiled, "That I can do." "You gonna be OK?" Jade asked. Nick nodded his head, "Yeah, nothing a little pain pill won't cure." "Alright, we'll be close, but we can't interfere. Not yet," she said. "I understand, just let me know when you can," Nick said, making his way to the bed and laying down. "We will, get some rest," Jade said, putting her hand on Nick's shoulder. He nodded and closed his eyes, falling to sleep. Chapter 38 |