| Chapter 4 Kevin sat in the chair next to Brian's bed, watching him sleep. It was morning, the sun was shining through the window, and into Kevin's face. He got up and moved the chair a bit, then sat back down, trying not to wake the others. Nick and Lyn were asleep in a chair, as was A.J. Howie had stayed with Kira in Leighanne's room, along with Kristin. Kevin gingerly touched his lip. It was still swollen and sore. He couldn't believe that Brian could've done that to him, but given the circumstances, he couldn't rule anything out. Brian's entire world revolved around Tara, and vice versa. For him to lose her now....well, Kevin just couldn't imagine the pain Brian was going through. Brian stirred a little in bed, then opened his eyes slowly, blinking them to adjust to the light. Kevin got up and stood next to him, "Bri?" Brian looked at him, but only for a second. He turned his head away from Kevin and stared out the window. "Brian, please look at me," Kevin said. "What's going on?" A.J. asked, rubbing his eyes. "Brian's awake," Kevin said. A.J. got up and walked to the other side of the bed, blocking Brian's view out the window. "What's wrong with him?" A.J. asked, waving his hand in front of Brian's face, and getting no reaction. He swung his hand down like he was going to hit Brian, he didn't even flinch. "I don't know, but I'm gonna go get the doctor," Kevin said, turning and leaving the room. As Kevin went out the door, Nick and Lyn both woke up. Nick straightened up in the chair and watched as A.J. tried to get some reaction from Brian. "Bone, what are you doing?" Nick asked. A.J. looked up at him, "He's awake, but it's like he's in his own little world." Nick got up and walked over, followed by Lyn. "Brian, look at me man," Nick said, reaching down and pulling Brian's face over. He looked into Brian's eyes, and found nothing there. There was no hint of recognition, no feeling behind them whatsoever. Lyn touched Brian's cheek, "Did Kev go to get the doctor?" "Yeah," A.J. said. "Brian, please don't do this," Nick said, still looking in his eyes. Nick let go of Brian's face, and he turned his head back to stare out the window. A.J. looked at Nick and Lyn, "I think he's lost it." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Leighanne was sitting in bed. She hadn't gone back to sleep after the last feeding, her mind was to troubled. She looked around the room. Gary was in the chair next to the bed, sound asleep. Howie and Kira were curled up in the chair across the room, and Kristin wasn't there. She just couldn't believe that Tara was gone, and it was because of her. Leighanne wiped her tears away as Gary looked up at her. "Honey, what's wrong?" he asked. "Gary, it's all my fault," she said. Gary sat up and looked at her, "Anne, what happened was not your fault. You have to believe that." "I can't. If it wasn't for me, Tara would still be here," she said. "Anne, if it wasn't for Tara, I would've lost you and the baby. This is no one's fault," Gary said, taking her hand in his. Leighanne stared at him for a long time, "I just feel so guilty." "I know," Gary said, "So do I." "You do?" she asked. "Yeah, I mean here I am. I have my wife and my daughter, and Brian just lost the one person that meant the world to him. Of course I feel guilty," Gary said. "I wonder how he's doing?" Leighanne said. "I can go find out," Gary said, getting up. She smiled at him, "I love you." Gary bent down and kissed her on the forehead, "I love you to mamma. I'll be back in a few." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The doctor was in checking on Brian. Everyone was waiting out in the hall. Kristin was there with Kevin, having come up after she woke. She couldn't believe what his face looked like. Gary came down the hall towards them. "Hey daddy," A.J. said, smiling at him. "Hey, we were wondering how Brian's doing?" Gary asked. Everyone's faces fell a little. "Not to good," Kevin said. "Damn, what happened to your face?" Gary said. "Brian," Nick answered for him. "I knew he had to be sedated, but I didn't know he did that," Gary said. "Yeah, it's OK," Kevin said. "So is he awake yet?" Gary asked. "Yeah, but he's not acknowledging that anyone's around," Lyn said. "What do you mean?" Gary asked. "It's like he's moved into his own little world. His eyes are open, but nobody's home," A.J. said. "Bone!" Nick said. "What? It's true," A.J. said. Just then the doctor came out. "Doc?" Kevin said. "I'm going to give him a little while to come out of it on his own, but if he doesn't by this afternoon I'll have to admit him for psychiatric treatment," the doctor said. "God, what else can go wrong?" Kristin said. "Go in and talk to him. Who knows, maybe you can get through to him," the doctor suggested. Everyone turned to go into the room, as the doctor walked down the hall. They filed into the room slowly. No one really knew where to start, or what to say. Gary went in with them for a little while, then excused himself to go back to Leighanne. Nick was sitting on the edge of the bed, telling Brian every joke he could possibly think of, and getting absolutely no response. The doctor thought it best to leave the restraints on for now, not exactly sure that if he did come out of it, what his state of mind would be. Nick looked over at Kevin, "Man, I don't think this is working." "Well, if you actually said something that was funny, it might," A.J. said from across the room. "Oh shut up," Nick said, getting up and letting Lyn sit down and try for a while. Just then a knock came at the door. Gary poked his head in, "Hey, is he doing any better?" "No," Kevin said. Gary opened the door, and wheeled Leighanne in. "They released us, but I wanted to come up and see him before we left," she said. Kevin walked up to her and helped her out of the chair. She was holding her little girl in her arms. Kevin started playing with the baby, "Lee, she's got your smile." Leighanne looked over at Lyn, "Do you mind if I try?" Lyn got up, "No go ahead." Leighanne walked over and looked at Brian, he was still staring out the window, oblivious to the others in the room. "Now, this just isn't right," she said, undoing the restraints on his arms. "Lee, the doc said to leave them on," Nick said. She just ignored him, and reached for the baby. Kevin handed her over, and Leighanne sat down on the bed. "Brian, it's me. I have someone I want you to meet," she said. Brian just lay there, not looking at her. Leighanne leaned forward, and pulled Brian's face towards her and the baby. "Brian, you know I hate it when you don't look at me when I'm talking to you," she said, smiling. "Brian, I want you to meet my daughter. Her name is Tara Gail. I wanted to name her after Tara if it's alright with you?" Leighanne said. Brian's eyes slowly focused in on the baby. Leighanne looked over at Kevin, who was standing next to the bed, "Kev, raise the bed up some." He did. Now Brian was eye to eye with Leighanne. She stared at him for a moment, knowing he was hearing her. "Brian, do you want to hold her?" she asked. Brian blinked his eyes a few times and looked up at her. "You can hold her if you want," Leighanne said. Brian looked down at the child, then reached out for her. Everyone watched in amazement as Leighanne handed the little girl over. Brian looked at the child, studying her face. She had fair skin, and grey/blue eyes, the kind that could stare a hole right through a person. She had a little bit of blonde hair, and Leighanne's smile. "She's beautiful," Brian said. Leighanne smiled, "Yeah, she is. So, Brian, is it OK?" He looked at her, "What?" "Is it OK to name her after Tara?" Leighanne asked. Brian's eyes filled with tears as he looked back down at the child, "Yeah, I think Tara would've liked that." Brian looked up at everyone in the room, "Hi." They all breathed a sigh of relief. "Brian, can we get you anything?" Kevin asked. Brian looked up at his cousin, "Oh Kev, I'm sorry!" Kevin held his hand up, "It's OK, don't worry about it." The doctor and nurse came back in the room, surprised to see Brian sitting up and holding the baby. "I see someone got through," the doctor said, walking up to the bed. "Yeah, it's amazing at the power babies have," Leighanne said. The doctor laughed, "Yes, it is. Mr. Littrell, how are you feeling?" Brian looked up at him, "OK." "Do you remember what happened?" the doctor asked. Brian closed his eyes for a second, "Yes. I'm sorry I attacked you." "It's quite alright. Can everyone step out for a few minutes?" the doctor said. Brian handed the baby over to Leighanne, "Lee?" "Yeah?" she asked. "Thank you," Brian said. She smiled at him, "We'll be outside." Brian nodded his head and watched as everyone left the room. The doctor sat down on the side of the bed, looking at Brian, "You certainly have a lot of friends that care a great deal about you." "Yeah," Brian said. "Brian, tell me how you really feel," the doctor said. "Like someone just ripped my heart in two," Brian replied. "Son, you're gonna feel that for a while. This is something that wasn't expected, and it's gonna take a lot of time to move on from. I'd like to prescribe some anti-depressants for you," the doctor said, "Just to get you over the initial stress and emotion of it all." Brian stared at the man, "OK." "Alright, I'll have the nurse start the paper work to get you released, and have the pharmacy send the prescription up," the doctor said, standing up. "Doc, I know you did your best with Tara. Thanks for trying," Brian said. The doctor just smiled at him, then turned and left the room. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The doctor came out of the room, and walked up to Kevin, "I'm gonna release him." "Good, I know he'll be happy to leave," Kevin said. "I'm prescribing some anti-depressants for him, make sure he takes them," the doctor said. "We will," Nick said. They all shook the man's hand and watched as he headed down the hall. "OK guys, let's get everything together," Lyn said. They all looked at her. "What are we doing?" A.J. asked. "I've arranged to have Tara's body flown back on my jet. We'll all take the other. I'm sure Brian want's to go home," she said. "OK, I'll head to the house and get all of our stuff," Nick said. "We'll go and help," Howie said, holding Kira's hand. "Guys, I wish we could go too, but I'm not suppose to travel for a while," Leighanne said. "It's OK, I'm sure he'll understand," Kevin said. "Well, let's go, by the time we go get the stuff and get back here, he should be released," Nick said. "K, we'll see you guys in a while," Howie said, following Nick down the hall. "Anne, let's go in and tell Brian bye," Gary said. "OK," she said, as they walked into his room. Kevin looked over at Lyn, "I've gotta call Jackie and Harold." Kristin reached out and grabbed his hand, "I'll go with ya." Kevin smiled, "Thanks." Lyn looked over at A.J., "Well let's go in and help Brian get ready." A.J. looked over at her, "I have a feeling, this is gonna be one long flight." "Yeah, it is," Lyn said, as they walked into the room. Chapter 5 |