| Chapter 39 "Nick, wake up, honey," Lyn said, gently shaking him. Nick opened his eyes and looked at her, "What?" She smiled at him, "You have to be at Dr. Spencer's in a couple of hours." Nick was confused, the last thing he remembered was taking a pain pill after lunch, the day before. "Did I sleep all day?" he asked. "Yeah you did. We thought you could use it, so we let you," she answered. "Oh," he said, sitting up, and immediately wishing he hadn't. He let out a cry of pain and his hand went to his side. Lyn looked at him concerned, "Brian told me about your fall yesterday. Are you sure you're alright?" "It really hurts," he said, "Guess I'll have the doc check it out when we get there." "OK, do you need any help getting ready?" Lyn asked. "I think I can get it," Nick said, standing up slowly. He started unbuttoning his shirt, but couldn't pull it off. "Lyn, can you help me?" he asked. She helped him, seeing his bruised side. "Nick, that looks awful," she said. He looked at himself in the mirror, his side was completely black. "Damn, guess that old adage is right," he said. "What's that?" Lyn asked. "The bigger they are, the harder they fall," he said, smiling at her. She laughed, "I think so. Come on, I'll help you get your shower," she said, walking into the bathroom. Nick smiled, how could he turn down that offer? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Brian lay in bed staring at the ceiling. He was troubled about seeing Tara, and didn't sleep. Aleisha lay next to him, in peaceful slumber. Brian wished he knew what made her smile in her dreams like that. He sighed and went back to his thoughts. They had kept him awake all night, all the �what if's' and �maybe's'. He also wondered what Aleisha had been up to lately. She'd been taking a lot of trips into town for things they already had. Every time he thought to ask her about it, something else would come up, and it would leave his mind. He sighed heavily, thinking about what Lyn had told him the night before. He'd only prayed a couple of times since he came back with Aleisha. It wasn't that he didn't want to, not now anyway. At first he was so angry, he refused to even entertain the thought, but now, it was different. He wasn't so much angry, as he was ashamed. God had always been there for him, all of his life, and he felt awful for having turned his back on Him. Brian knew what Lyn had said was true, God was probably waiting to hear from him. It had just never seemed to be the right time, until now. Now he needed to know what was going on before he really did lose his mind. He turned over, his back to Aleisha, and closed his eyes. God, it's me. Please forgive me for not coming to you sooner. I've not really been myself lately, and I know that's no excuse, but it's the only one that makes sense. I can't explain why I did the things I did, I just ask that you would forgive me for doing them. I never wanted to hurt anyone, but I did. I hurt all the guys by leaving and making them worry. I hurt Nick by taking advantage of his friendship, and I hurt myself most of all. I will have the scars for the rest of my life to remind me of how stupid I was. God, I need help. I don't know what to do. Please let me know if Tara is coming back, or if I'm just losing my mind. I saw her yesterday, but only for a second. Why can't she just appear? I miss her so much, sometimes I feel like I can't take another breath without her. And what am I suppose to do about Aleisha? She's been a life saver for me, literally. And when she's around me there are no words to describe the happiness and love that I feel, but I'm beginning to wonder if any of it is real. Do I really feel that way, or is my mind just playing tricks with me? Am I with her because I do care about her, or because I just don't want to be alone? Please God, help me find the answers. Please. Aleisha put her arm around Brian's waist, pulling him from his prayer. He rolled over and looked at her, "Hey." "Hey, you alright? You seem troubled," she said. "I'll be OK. Just trying to sort out some things," he replied. "Anything I can help with?" she asked. "Not right now," he said, smiling at her. "OK, you know I'm here for you whenever," she said. "I know. Thanks," Brian said. She sat up, looking back at him, "I'll go start the coffee." "Leisha, I may just lay here for a little longer. I really didn't get much sleep last night," he said. She looked at him concerned, "Alright, I'll hold off making breakfast for a while." "Oh, Nick has a doctor's appointment today," Brian said, remembering. "I'm sure Lyn can take care of it," Aleisha said, "You get some rest." "OK, let them know why I'm not going," he said, rolling back over. "I will," she said, getting up and going to the shower. Brian waited until he heard the water running before he continued his prayer. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Nick and Lyn were on their way to the doctor's office when Nick's cell phone rang. "Hello," he said. "Nick, it's me. Where are you right now?" Leighanne asked. "Um, I'm on my way to the doctor's office, why?" he asked. "I need to get you the stuff before A.J. finds it," she said, "I don't trust him at all. I caught him in my room yesterday. Then yesterday afternoon I followed him into town. He met with her in a motel, and she was asking him if he'd found anything yet. Nick, you were right they are on to us." "OK, how do you want to do this?" he asked. "Can I drop it off, put it in your car or something?" she asked. "What's it in?" he asked. "A purple duffel bag," she answered. Nick laughed, "Let me guess, you borrowed that from Howie?" "Gee, how'd you guess," she said sarcastically. "Um, yeah that sounds good. You know Lyn's rental right?" Nick said. "Yes." "Alright, drop it in the back seat. I'll take it from there," he said. "OK, what about Lyn? Won't she be curious?" Leighanne asked. "I'll deal with it," he said. "Alright, I'll call you later," she said. "OK, talk to you then," Nick said, hanging up the phone. Lyn glanced over, "Who, and what was that about?" Nick flashed her a smile, "It's a secret." "A secret huh? What kind of secret?" she asked. "One that I can't tell you right now. You're just gonna have to trust me," he said, with all seriousness. "Why am I suddenly frightened by that?" she asked, glancing at him again. Nick looked down, not wanting to meet her eyes. He knew he couldn't tell her, not yet. Lyn pulled into the parking lot and turned the car off, looking over at him again, "Nick, you know you can tell me anything." He finally looked up at her, his blue eyes shining, "Lyn, I really want to, but I can't right now. Trust me that I will tell you as soon as I can, but don't press me on this, please." Now she really was frightened, but she knew him enough to know that whatever it was, he'd tell her when he was ready. "Alright, I won't say anything about it, until you're ready to talk," she said. He breathed a sigh of relief, "Thank you. I promise as soon as I can, I'll tell you." "Well, let's get inside," she said, opening the door. "Lyn, leave it unlocked. Someone is dropping off some stuff for me," he said. "I heard," she said, smiling at him. She left the car unlocked and took Nick's hand as they walked into the building. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Brian woke up and looked around. He had fallen to sleep not long after Aleisha left the room. He sat up and stretched, feeling better about things. He got out of bed and made his way downstairs. Aleisha was sitting in the living room reading a magazine. "Hey, you finally decided to get up," she said playfully. Brian smiled, "Yeah. Have Nick and Lyn left already?" "Yeah, bout an hour ago," she answered. "Oh, OK," he said, sitting down next to her, "Whatcha reading?" "101 ways to please your mate," she said, smiling at him. "Oh, let me see," he said, taking the magazine from her and reading through them. "Did it, done it, yes, yes, twice, been there, done that," he teased. Aleisha pulled the magazine away from him and smacked him with it, "Smart ass." Brian smiled, "Why thank you." Aleisha laughed at him, "You hungry?" "Yeah," he said. "Come on, I'll fix you something," she said, getting up. Brian followed her into the kitchen and watched as she made him a very late breakfast. "Leish, can I ask you something?" he said. "Sure," she said, handing him his plate. "Um, well, I was just wondering why you've been making so many trips into town lately," he said, taking a bite. Aleisha stared at him, she wasn't expecting that question from him. "Um well, I always seem to forget something we need. And I kinda like the drive. It's calming, and I use that time to think about things," she said. "Like what?" Brian asked. "Oh, just life in general, you know. Why do things happen, stuff like that," she said. "Oh," he said. "Bri, do you not want me to go?" she asked. "No, I was just wondering," he said, finishing his food. She smiled at him, "I'm sure that Nick will be at the doctor's for a while. You wanna take advantage of the alone time?" Brian raised his eyebrow at her, "And just what did you have in mind?" "If I told you, you wouldn't be surprised, now would you?" she said, getting up and taking his hand. He let her pull him to his feet and lead him out of the room, wondering what she was up to. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Dr. Spencer looked at the x-rays and frowned. Lyn and Nick sat there watching him. He had already taken Nick's stitches out, and after Nick had told him of his fall, and he saw the bruise on Nick's side, he had decided to take new x-rays. Nick was starting to get nervous, the look on the man's face wasn't comforting. Finally he turned to them, "Nick, you've managed to re-break every one of your ribs." "You can't be serious?" Nick asked, "From that one fall?" Dr. Spencer nodded his head, "See here. You can see where they were healing, and the new fractures," he said, pointing at the x-rays. Nick sighed, "I knew they hurt, but I had no idea I'd done that." Dr. Spencer walked over, "Nick, you have to be more careful. You very well could've hit your head in that fall, and things could've been much worse." "I understand, I'll be extra careful," Nick said, feeling like a five year old getting a lecture from his parents. "I'm gonna give you another re-fill on your pain medicine, and I want you back here in two weeks for a check up," the doctor said. "Alright," Nick said. The doctor handed him the script, "Janie will make your appointment for you." "Thanks," Nick said, getting up. He and Lyn walked out, making the appointment, then leaving the office. As they approached the car, Nick could see the duffel bag sitting in the back seat. Lyn noticed it too. "I guess you got your stuff," she said, smiling at him. "Yeah. Can we stop by the pharmacy? I think I only have a couple pills left," he said. "Sure," Lyn said, making the turn. She stopped at the pharmacy, running in and getting his medicine. Nick sat in the car, thinking about what he needed to do now to put his plan in motion. Lyn got back in the car, handing Nick the sack, and heading down the road. "Lyn when we get there, can you help me sneak this in?" Nick asked. "Oh so it's a secret from everyone huh?" she said. "Yeah, I don't want anyone to know that I have this, please," he said, dawning his famous puppy dog look. She laughed, "Yes, I'll help you." He smiled at her, "Thanks." Soon they were pulling up the drive. Nick was nervous about taking the bag into the house. If Aleisha caught them, and looked, it would all be over before it started. "I'll go in and make sure the coast is clear," Nick said. "K," Lyn said, taking the bag out of the car. Nick walked in and looked around. No one was downstairs. He looked up, seeing that Brian's bedroom door was shut. He quickly went out, letting her know it was OK to come in. They hurriedly ran upstairs and into his room, shutting the door. Lyn set the bag down on the bed and looked at him, "I guess you're gonna hide this now?" He smiled, "Yup. If you don't mind leaving for a few minutes." "Aww, you're hiding it from me too?" she whined. He stared at her, "Lyn I have to. I know you don't understand right now, but trust me, it's safer this way." "Safer? Nick are you in some sort of trouble?" she asked. He looked down, "Lyn please." She stood there for a moment, then walked toward the door. "Remember, not a word to anyone," he said. "I know," she said, leaving the room. Nick locked the door after her. He walked over and unzipped the bag, going through the contents. He smiled, everything he'd asked for was there. "Lee you are a miracle worker," he said. He zipped the bag back up, and looked for a good hiding place. He found one in the closet. "It's a good thing the guy that built this house was paranoid," Nick said, slipping the bag into the secret storage compartment in the back of the closet. He put his suitcase back in front of it, and arranged the clothes. Then he walked out into the hall, just as Brian came out of his room. Nick looked over at him, "Dude, what happened to you?" Brian was sweating, and his clothes and hair where a wreck. Brian smiled at him, "Aleisha." Nick groaned, "Man, I coulda went all day without that mental image." Brian laughed, "How was the doctor?" "OK, I re-broke all my ribs when I fell yesterday," Nick answered. Brian looked shocked, "No way!" "Yeah, got some more pain pills, so I'm good to go," Nick said. "Well, that's good. You up for a movie later?" Brian asked. "Yeah sure," Nick said. "OK, we'll be down in a while," Brian said, turning to go back into his room. "Don't hurt yourself," Nick said. Brian laughed as he went in and shut the door. Chapter 40 |