| Chapter 7 The next few days went by in a blur for Brian. He slept most of the time, not wanting to deal with the sympathetic looks that his family and friends gave him. He knew they were just trying to help, but he really wanted everyone to just leave him alone. Jackie and Harold reluctantly had to go back home. They had an obligation to the foundation that couldn't be postponed. Lyn also had to fly home. She'd been in negotiations to take over another hospital, and she was needed at the board meetings. Nick stayed behind, hoping that with just him there, that Brian would open up. Nick was in the exercise room, working out. He'd woke up early and couldn't go back to sleep. He was lifting weights when Brian walked into the room, looking like he was half asleep. "What are you doing?" Brian asked. Nick laughed, "I'm exercising. You wanna join me?" Brian stood there and watched him for a few minutes, "Naw." "Oh come on, it'll be good for ya," Nick insisted. Brian wondered over to the body bag hanging from the ceiling. He looked around and found Tara's gloves in the corner. Nick watched as he picked them up and put one on, flexing his hand in it. "Bri, you want me to hold the bag for ya?" Nick asked. Brian just shrugged his shoulders and put the other glove on. Nick walked over and held the bag as Brian started punching away at it. Pretty soon, Brian was covered in sweat, and Nick was having a hard time hanging on to the bag. Brain was definitely stronger than he looked. "Bri, stop for a minute," Nick said. Brian stopped and looked at him, "What?" "Man, I can't hang on to that thing anymore," Nick said, walking over and sitting on the bench. Brian pulled the gloves off and sat down next to Nick. "So, what do you want to do today?" Nick asked. "I dunno. I guess I should go through some stuff," Brian said. "Bri, no one expects you to do that right now," Nick said. "What else am I gonna do? I'm tired of sleeping, and I just can't sit here and look at it. It hurts to much," Brian said, looking down at the floor. Nick looked at his friend, compassion in his eyes, "I'll go get a shower and help you." "Nick, you don't have to," Brian said. "I want to. I loved her too you know," Nick said. Brian looked up at him and half smiled, "OK." Brian watched as Nick left the room and went upstairs. When he was sure there was no danger of him coming back, Brian got up and went to the closet. He opened it up and dug around until he found what he was looking for. It was the backpack he'd gotten Tara for Christmas last year. He looked at it, the tags were still on it. He and Tara had planned to go hiking during their summer break but things happened, and well they never did. Brian closed the closet door, and took the backpack upstairs and into his room. He locked his door and opened it up. All the camping gear was there, sleeping bag, cooking pans, utensils, flash light, first aid kit, and a small tent. He unzipped the outer pockets and was surprised to find some maps. Brian looked them over. All the places were already marked. He smiled. Leave it to Tara to have everything planned already, he thought. Brian put everything back in the pack and slipped it under his bed. He walked into his bathroom and opened the medicine cabinet. He looked at several bottles until he found the one he wanted. It was the sleeping pills he'd been prescribed when he was on tour and had insomnia. He still had over half a bottle left. He smiled as a plan started to form. Nick knocked on the door, "Brian, why is the door locked?" Brian put the bottle back in the medicine cabinet and went to the door. He opened it, "What? I can't lock my own door?" Nick smiled, "I dunno man. Why would you? I mean it's just you and me here?" Brian smiled, "Sorry. Hey I'm gonna get a shower, then we can start, OK?" "Alright, I'll be downstairs," Nick said, turning and going towards the stairs. Brian shut the door and headed for the shower, Yeah, this may be easier than I thought. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Nick had just sat down on the couch and turned the TV on when the phone rang. "Hello," he said. "Hey Nick, how's he doing today?" Kevin asked. "OK, he seems a little better. He actually worked out some this morning," Nick answered. "Well, that sounds good," Kevin said. "Yeah, but he's still not really saying anything. Although, he want's to go through some things today, so I'm gonna help him," Nick said. "Don't you think it's a little early for him to be doing that?" Kevin asked. "I dunno man, but he wants to," Nick said. "Well, just don't let him over do it," Kevin said. "I won't, you know me. I'm never that serious, if things start getting to emotional I'll stop him and we'll do something else for a while," Nick said. "Alright. Listen, me and Howie talked about it, and we're gonna stay away for a few days. You know, let him have some time alone," Kevin said. "OK, if I need you I'll call," Nick said. "Right," Kevin said. "Talk to ya later man," Nick said. "K, later," Kevin said, and hung up. Nick hung the phone up and settled back into the couch. The phone rang again. Nick laughed, "Grand Central Station." "Nick, is it that bad there?" Lyn asked. "Hey baby. No, I just got off with Kevin," Nick said. "Well, I just wanted to call and see how things were," Lyn said. "OK, it's slow going," Nick said, "How are the meetings?" Lyn laughed, "Well they don't call them Board Meetings for nothing." Nick smiled, "Are they considering your offer?" "Yeah, but I think it's gonna take some convincing on my part. I'm not sure I'm cut out for this corporate takeover stuff," Lyn said. "Honey if anyone can do it you can. Besides, who wouldn't want to work for you?" Nick said. "Well, listen, I've gotta go. I'm meeting Uncle Ted for breakfast before today's meetings," Lyn said. "Oh, tell Ted I said hi," Nick said. "I will, I love you," Lyn said. "I love you too," Nick said. "Bye," Lyn said, hanging up the phone. "Was that Lyn?" Brian asked from the stairs. Nick jumped, not realizing he was there. "Yeah, she has another meeting this morning," Nick said. "Oh, you ready?" Brian asked. "Yeah, where do we start?" Nick asked. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Nick and Brian had worked all day, going through Tara's things and packing some of them up. Nick could tell that it was hard on Brian, trying to decide what to keep and what to put away. They had finally stopped for the day, realizing they had worked through lunch and it was approaching dinner time. "Hey, you wanna order a pizza and watch some movies?" Nick asked. "Sure," Brian said, plopping down on the couch, totally exhausted. "OK, I'll call it in, and you find some movies," Nick said, grabbing the phone. Brian walked over to the entertainment center and looked at his collection of movies. Finally he pulled out Monty Python's Life of Brian, and Quest for the Holy Grail. Nick hung up with the pizza place and saw what Brian had. "Oh man, we haven't watched those in like forever," he said. Brian smiled, "Yeah, it really does seem that way." Brian handed Nick the movies and went to the kitchen. He grabbed a couple of beers from the frig and went back to the living room, handing Nick one. "Thanks," Nick said, opening it and taking a drink. Brian sat down and waited for the pizza to arrive. Nick put the first movie in and was in hysterics in no time. Finally the pizza arrived and the two ate, finishing the first movie and putting the second in. Brian went back to the kitchen for the fifth time and got Nick another beer. He brought it back to him. "Man, I can't. I've already had to much, Lyn would kill me if she knew..," Nick said. "Well, what she doesn't know won't hurt her," Brian said smiling, "Come on man. You're not gonna make me drink by myself are you?" Nick looked at Brian for a moment, then took the beer from him. As the night went on, they watched more movies, and Brian kept Nick drinking. He was pretty drunk now, laughing at everything, and his speech was slurring. "Bri, I loove youu," Nick said. Brian laughed, "I know." "No, man, you, you don't understand. You're my bestest friend in the whoooolllleee world," Nick said. "I know man, you're mine too," Brian said, getting up and walking into the kitchen. He took out another beer and opened it up. He poured it into a glass and reached inside his pocket, pulling out the sleeping pills he'd had there all day. Brian opened two of the capsules and poured the contents into the glass, stirring it until it dissolved. He looked at the glass for a moment, having second thoughts, but then grabbed it and went back to the couch. "Ohhhhh Nooooo," Nick said, "I can't drink anymore." "Come on, let's do a toast," Brian said, handing Nick the glass, and picking up his first bottle of beer. "OK, just one, then no more," Nick said, taking the glass, and spilling some on the carpet. "Oops, I'm sorry," he said. "It's OK," Brian said. "What are we toasting?" Nick asked. Brian thought, "To Tara." "To Tara," Nick said, raising his glass and downing half of it. Nick set the glass down on the coffee table, "God, I'm gonna have a hell of a hang over tomorrow." Brian laughed, "Nick, you're getting soft on me. You used to could drink more than this." "Soft? I'm not soft," Nick said, taking the comment as a challenge. "Oh yeah, I bet you can't drink what's left in your glass," Brian said. "OK, that's a bet you're about to lose," Nick said, taking the glass and drinking every last drop. "Well I gotta hand it to ya Nick. Maybe I was wrong," Brian said. "You're damn right you were wrong," Nick said, laughing. "So what movie do you want to watch next?" Brian asked. "I don't care man," Nick said, "Hey that's cool!" Brian looked at him confused, "What's cool?" Nick leaned over and looked at the chair next to the couch, "They're the same color!" Brian laughed, "Yeah, they have been since I bought them." Nick leaned back on the couch and grabbed his head, "Damn." "What?" Brian asked. "Dizzy," Nick said, yawning. "Well quit moving so fast then," Brian said, smiling. Nick laughed, then grabbed his glass and started to get up. His knees went out from under him, and Brian caught him before he hit the floor. He laid Nick back on the couch. "Man Bri, I'm sleepy," Nick said, handing Brian the glass he was holding. Brian set it on the coffee table, "Well, then go to sleep." Nick sat up, fighting the urge to close his eyes, "I don't want to." "Alright then, lets watch this one," Brian said, holding up a movie. "No, not that one," Nick said, "That one." Nick was pointing to a movie laying in the floor. Brian walked over and grabbed it, putting it in and starting it. He then sat down next to Nick on the couch. "Lyn loves this movie," Nick said through his yawns. "Yeah, Tara liked this one too," Brian said, his heart heavy. "Aww, Bri, I'm sorry," Nick said, reaching out to hug Brian. Brain caught him as he passed out. Brian laid Nick down on the couch, covering him with an afghan. Then he went upstairs and grabbed the backpack, his cell and his coat. He put his coat on as he came downstairs, passing by Nick again to make sure he was OK. "I'm sorry Nick, but I have to do this," he said as he patted Nick on the shoulder. Brian took a deep breath as he grabbed his keys and walked out of the house. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Kevin sleepily answered the phone, "Yeah." "Kev, it's me," Brian said. Kevin sat up in bed, "Brian? It's two in the morning, what's wrong?" "Listen, I need you go by the house," Brian said. "Brian, are you in your car?" Kevin asked, hearing the noise of the road over the phone. "Yeah, listen Kevin, this is important. You need to go to my house and check on Nick," Brian said. "What's wrong with Nick?" Kevin asked. Kristin sat up and looked at Kevin, wondering what was going on. Kevin gave her an �I don't have a clue' look. "Brian, what's wrong with Nick?" Kevin asked again. "I umm, well, I got him drunk and gave him some sleeping pills," Brian said, feeling guilty. "You what?! Brian, you know those two things don't mix! You could kill him doing that!" Kevin yelled. "No shit. That's why I'm calling you telling you to go check on him," Brian spat back. Kevin was out of bed and already half dressed, "OK, I'm going, but where are you going Brian?" "Just make sure Nick's OK. I'll call sometime," Brian said, hanging up the phone. "Brian? Damn it!" Kevin said, throwing the phone on the bed. Kristin looked at him, "What's going on?" "Brian drugged Nick and took off," Kevin said. "He what?" Kristin said, in shock. Kevin was putting his shoes on and walking out the bedroom door, "Call Howie, tell him to meet me at Brian's." Kristin reached for the phone as Kevin ran downstairs and out of the house. Chapter 8 |