| Chapter 44 Aleisha jerked awake looking around. She had heard something that pulled her from her dreams. She looked over seeing Brian asleep next to her. Wondering what time it was, she glanced at the clock, 5:30 a.m. She started to lay her head down, when she heard it again. A muffled coughing sound, coming from Nick's room. Aleisha quietly got up and went to investigate. She walked out into the hall and over to Nick's door. Carefully she turned the knob and opened it, peering in. Angel was in bed with him. She looked over and whined at Aleisha. This concerned her, because usually Angel would growl at her, not whine. She walked into the room and over to the side of the bed. Nick was curled up, hugging a pillow. Even in the darkness of the room, Aleisha could tell that he was sweating. She turned the small light on next to the bed, taking a better look. Nick had chill bumps and was shivering a little. She grabbed the blanket that had been kicked off the bed and covered him with it. Feeling of his forehead, she knew he had a fever. And then he coughed in his sleep. It was a deep croupy cough, leaving him breathless afterward. Aleisha sat there, listening to him breath, heavy labored breaths. She got up and almost ran into Brian's room. "Brian wake up," she said, shaking him mercilessly. Brian jerked awake and sat up, looking around confused, "What? What is it?" "It's Nick, he's really sick," she said, not waiting for him to get out of bed before turning around and heading out of the room. Brian flew out of bed and followed her into his room, making his way to the side of the bed and checking on him. "Damn it. Leish, go get Lyn up," he instructed. "What's wrong with him?" she asked. "I think he's coming down with pneumonia again," Brian answered. Aleisha shot a concerned glace toward Nick as she headed out of the room to get Lyn. "Nick, wake up man," Brian said, gently shaking him. Nick coughed, sending chills down Brian's back. "Nick, wake up," he said again, shaking him more forcefully. Nick's eyes fluttered open and he focused in on Brian, "What's going on?" he asked in a weak voice. "Nick, your sick. We need to take you to the hospital," Brian answered. "No, I don't wanna go to the...." Nick started, then fell into a coughing fit. Brian went into the bathroom and came out with a small cup of water, handing it to him. "You're going," he said, looking at Nick sternly. Nick drank the water greedily, his mouth feeling like someone had shoved a wad of cotton in it. Lyn came into the room, followed by Aleisha. She took one look at him and knew exactly what was wrong. "Nick, how long have you not been feeling well?" she asked, sitting on the side of the bed, next to Angel. "Just last night, when I went to bed," he answered. Lyn looked at Brian, "We need to take him..." "Already planning on it," he said, getting up. "Let's all get our clothes on, and I'll pull the car up to the door," he said. Nick watched as Aleisha followed him out of the room. "I'll be back in a minute," Lyn said, heading to her own room to get dressed. Nick sighed and looked at Angel, "Tracy?" Tracy and Jade appeared on opposite sides of the bed. Nick looked at them questionly. "We thought it best to give you something, for a reason to stay here," Jade said. "But did you have to give me this? A cold wouldn't have sufficed?" Nick asked, not happy about his illness. "This is better," Tracy said, "Don't worry, it won't be that bad." Nick laughed, then coughed, "Yeah, that's what you say." She looked at him, compassionately, disappearing as Lyn re-entered the room. "Nick, let's get some warm clothes on you, OK?" Nick watched as she looked through his closet, finding a heavy sweat shirt. She also grabbed a fresh t-shirt for him. "This'll do," she said, handing him the shirts. Nick sat up and swung his legs over the side of the bed to the floor. He pealed off the t-shirt he'd been sleeping in, pulling the fresh one on as Aleisha came into the room. "You need any help?" she asked. "Yeah, grab his shoes will ya?" Lyn said, helping Nick pull the sweat shirt on. Aleisha found Nick's shoes and walked over. She and Lyn put them on his feet. Nick was amused at how they both felt the need to dress him, like he couldn't do it himself? He smiled at them as they got up and looked at him. "Think you can walk down the stairs?" Lyn asked. "I'm pretty sure I can," he said, standing up, and realizing just how weak he really was. He swayed a little and both girls grabbed him by the arms, steading him. "Thanks," he said, sheepishly, as another coughing spell hit him. The girls stood there, holding him steady as he coughed. Nick reached over and held his side, reminding himself to ask Tracy and Jade why they felt the need to inflict him with pneumonia when his ribs weren't even healed yet. When his coughing subsided and he caught his breath, Lyn looked at him, "You ready?" Nick nodded his head, and slowly they made it out of the room and down the stairs. Brian came in, just as they'd made it to the door. Lyn was helping Nick put his coat on. "Man it's freezing out there," Brian said, running his hands over his arms, trying to warm up. Aleisha ran and grabbed a blanket from one of the closets, so Nick could stay warm in the car. "Well, lets go," Brian said, walking with Nick out to the car and helping him get in. Lyn got in the back with him, taking the blanket Aleisha handed her and spreading it out over Nick, as he lay down in the back seat. "All set back there?" Brian asked, as he pulled the car into gear. "Yeah," Lyn answered. Brian pulled down the drive, heading to the hospital. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Leighanne walked out of her room, being met in the hall by A.J. "You sure he's gonna be there this early?" A.J. asked. "Yeah, I talked to him yesterday. He'll be there," she answered. A.J. followed her down the stairs and out the door. "I'll drive," he said, heading for his rental. "Yeah, since I don't have a car anymore," she said, teasing him. A.J. knew she was teasing, but he still carried a lot of guilt over what he'd done. Leighanne looked at him, "Alex, you know I'm kidding." "I know, but I still feel really bad about it," he said, as they pulled out of the drive and onto the road. "Don't. I'm fine, and I forgive you. Now you need to forgive yourself," she said. He glanced at her, "That's a lot easier said than done." She nodded, looking out the window as they headed into town. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Nick lay in the emergency room, wondering when they were gonna get done with him. All he wanted to do was go to sleep, but every time he'd nod off, someone would wake him up, wanting to do some kind of test. He was really starting to get annoyed. "Lyn, when are they gonna be done?" he asked, for the tenth time. "Soon, I think," she said. That had been her answer for the last half hour. Nick rolled his eyes, and looked out into the hallway. He could see Brian and Aleisha standing outside the window. He studied Aleisha's face, seeing the genuine worry in it. He sighed, almost feeling sorry for her, and guilty for what he was doing to her. "Mr. Carter, we're gonna move you to a room now," a young nurse said. Nick nodded, thankful he was finally gonna get some sleep. The orderlies came and helped him over onto the gurney for the ride to his new bed. He fingered the oxygen mask they had on him, and wondered just how long of a stay he was in for this time. As the orderlies took Nick into the room and got him settled, Dr. Spencer walked up. "Hey doc, how's Nick?" Brian asked. "He's got pneumonia, but I think we caught it pretty early. I've ordered some strong antibiotics for him, and we'll keep him on the oxygen for a while. I think he'll be feeling better by tomorrow," the doctor answered. "Good, we can stay with him right?" Lyn asked. Dr. Spencer smiled at her, "You're going to anyway, wether I say yes or no." Lyn blushed, laughing a little, "Well yeah. I just thought it would be nice to ask." The doctor laughed, and turned to go down the hall, "Just don't tire him out." "We won't," Brian called back, winking at Lyn. She smiled as they all walked into the room. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "OK, now pull the voices off, and let's focus on the background noise," Leighanne instructed. The studio tech did as she asked, getting an interesting humming noise. "Is there some way to focus in on that frequency, clean it up a bit?" A.J. asked. "Yeah," the tech said, punching several buttons on his computer. A.J. and Leighanne watched, amazed at how this kid, barely out of high school could do the most intricate things with his computer. They were sitting in the studio, the computer plugged into the sound board, modifying Nick's recording. "What the hell?" the tech asked, hearing something out of the buzzing. "That's it. Focus in on that," A.J. said. The tech punched a flurry of buttons, bringing the sound into the foreground, and clarifying it. The tech stopped the playback, punched a few more buttons, then grinned at them, "Listen and behold." He hit the play button, and the most beautiful song any of them had ever heard came over the speakers. Leighanne watched as A.J.'s and the tech's eyes started to cloud over, and they seemed to be in some sort of trance. She quickly reached over, feeling some of the mesmerizing affects herself, and turned the sound off. "Guys?" she said, looking at them. They stared at her blankly. "A.J.!" she yelled, slapping him across the face. He blinked his eyes several times, bringing his hand up to hold his stinging cheek, "What the hell just happened?" Leighanne pointed to the tech, still in a daze, "That's what happened." A.J. got out of his chair and walked over to the tech. "Dude, hey, snap out of it," he said, shaking him. The tech blinked his eyes rapidly and looked at them confused. "Don't ask," A.J. said, sitting down next to the young man. "We need you to put this on cd, in layers, just like you pulled them off, until you get to this," Leighanne said, "And we also need you to program these to accept everything but that frequency." She was holding several sets of hearing aids. A.J. looked at Leighanne, suddenly realizing what she and Nick were up to. The tech looked at them, "OK, but it's gonna cost ya." "Whatever man, just don't listen to it," A.J. warned. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Nick sat on the beach looking over the ocean. He was happy he was back in his place, rather than Brian's. He waited for someone to show up, knowing he wasn't there just to enjoy the scenery. Jade appeared next to him. He smiled at her, "Tracy busy?" Jade laughed, "She's with Lee and A.J." "They alright?" he asked. She nodded, "They're getting things done." "Good," Nick said, "The sooner the better." Jade nodded, looking out over the ocean. Nick wanted to ask her so many things, he didn't know where to start. She looked at him and smiled, "Just pick one." Nick looked down and blushed a little, "Well, Aleisha. I'm starting to feel bad about what we're doing, what I'm doing to her. Is there any good in her at all?" Jade thought for a moment, "Nick, there is some good in every being, even the most evil. The problem is that when they get to the point that she's at, it's hard to find it. It's been buried so deep within her, that almost nothing could make it surface." Nick sighed, scooping up a handful of sand and letting it slowly drift between his fingers. "So is there no hope at all, of like, getting through to her?" he asked. "I'm not saying there's no hope. There is always hope, but it would be very difficult," she answered. Nick thought about that for a while. Jade sat patiently, waiting for his next question. "Jade, when we die, do we all become angels?" he asked. She looked at him, wondering where that particular question came from. "Well, it's a little hard to explain. No not everyone does, only a chosen few are allowed to come back and work with us," she said. He looked at her confused, "What do you mean, with us? Aren't you all angels?" "Humans call us all angels, but there are differences. Tara and Tracy were allowed to come back and work with us. They aren't angels in the sense that Gideon and I are," she said, seeing his expression become even more confused. "Nick, when a human dies, they are brought to heaven. They meet with their loved ones that have passed before them, and then they are brought to the Father to be judged," she said. "Judged?" he asked. Jade nodded her head, "Everyone has their life played before them. The Father looks for a time when they accepted Jesus into their heart, and then he looks for what they did with their life, how they lived. For a chosen few, they are given the choice to stay in heaven with their loved ones, or to return and work with us." "So Tara and Tracy chose to come back?" Nick asked. "Yes they did. They felt that they could still help those left on earth," she said. "So if they aren't angels, what are they?" Nick asked. "We have a name for them, but you would never understand it in your language," Jade said. "You guys have your own language?" Nick asked. She nodded. "So what are you?" he asked. Jade smiled, "I am an angel, as you humans like to call us. I was around for the beginning of the earth, and I'll be around for it's fall, just as Gideon was." Nick was fascinated by all the information she was giving him, he needed to know this, and he was happy she shared it with him. Jade smiled at him, seeing the gratefulness in his eyes, "Nick, why are you asking this?" "It's something I needed to know," he said. She looked at him skeptically, "Why?" "I have another question," he said, changing the subject. "Ask," she said. "If Tara was allowed to come back and work with you, why is it that she only appears and then disappears? Is something wrong?" Nick asked. Jade thought for a moment, working out how to explain it to him in words he would understand. "Nick, this is where the complicated part comes in. When Tara died, she was given a wonderful place in heaven. Her spirit was weak because of what she had done," she said. "You mean saving Lee?" Nick said. "Yes. She was to stay there and heal until the Father gave her the strength she would need to come back. The problem is she left before He did that. Her strength isn't what it needs to be for her to effectively come back," Jade explained. "What can you do to help her?" Nick asked. "Gideon is searching for her now. When he finds her, he can give her some of his, to help her," she said. Nick looked out over the waves, "I hope he finds her soon." Jade smiled, "I do too." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Brian sat in Nick's room watching him sleep. He looked incredibly peaceful, and he wondered what he was dreaming about. Lyn had called Ted, telling him of Nick's illness. In turn Ted had called and talked to Dr. Spencer, giving him vital information on Nick's treatment before, and things he needed to watch out for. Kevin and Kristin had arrived not long after Brian had called them. A.J. and Leighanne came in next, followed by Howie and Kira. A.J. had noticed the look Aleisha gave him when he showed up with Leighanne. He had winked at her, smiling, hoping she took it as him getting cosey with her to gain information. Aleisha watched them, but seemed to have taken it that way, and after a while, ignored them altogether. Nick stirred a little in bed, and everyone waited for him to open his eyes. He did, turning his head to look at Lyn who was sitting next to him. Then he slowly looked around the room, acknowledging everyone there. When he looked at Aleisha, he smiled underneath the oxygen mask, causing her to blush. He sat up a little in bed, pulling the mask off, "Guys, we gotta stop meeting like this." Brian laughed, "Well, if you'd get better we would." "Oh yeah, like I purposely got sick just so I could hang out at your house all the time, please," Nick said, teasing. "Not my fault you like me so much," Brian shot back, glad that Nick was bantering with him. "Yeah right," Nick said, starting to laugh, but coughing instead. He put the mask back on and caught his breath after a few minutes. "So how long am I gonna be in here?" he asked. "As long as it takes for you to get better," Kevin said, giving him that fatherly look he got sometimes. Nick sighed, "So who's up for cards?" A.J. jumped up, "Man, you said the wrong thing. I'm so gonna kick your butt." Nick smiled, A.J. thought of himself as the king of card games. "Bring it on man," Nick jeered. Leighanne got up and stretched, "I'm gonna go get lunch. Ya'll get your orders together." Everyone went about writing down what they wanted and handing the scraps of paper to her. She walked over to Nick and hugged him, "We got it," she whispered in his ear. He smiled at her as she pulled away and left with Kira to retrieve everyone's orders. Now if he could just get out of the hospital, everything would be ready. Chapter 45 |