| Chapter 23 Tara awoke to the sound of Nick stirring in bed. She looked over to see him holding his head and looking around the room. She moved closer to him, taking his hand in hers, "Hey, you OK?" Nick looked at her, somewhat confused, "I think so. What happened?" Tara bit her lip, "Um I kinda overdid my homework a little." Nick slowly sat up and looked at her, "Huh?" Tara sighed, "Do you remember when you were in training and you and Lyn had that little �accident'?" "Yeah but what does that have to do with.....?" Nick started, then he put his hand over his mouth, "Oh no. You didn't?" Tara nodded, looking at the floor. Nick was trying not to laugh, but wasn't succeeding. "It's not funny, Nick. I thought I hurt you. I even had them come and check on you," Tara said. "Aww honey, you could never hurt me," Nick said, pulling her into a hug. "I could have," she said, "I felt so,...so...." "Frustrated?" Nick offered. She nodded, "Yeah, exactly. That should have never happened." Nick pulled her face up to look at him, "Tara, what you did was incredible. Don't beat yourself up over it. I'm fine, and to tell ya the truth, I wouldn't mind if you did it again," he smiled. Tara blushed and shook her head, "Only you would say that." Nick shrugged smiling at her, "Hey I liked it, what can I say?" Tara smiled, "It was pretty fun, wasn't it?" Nick leaned in and softly kissed her, "Extremely." She looked at him, "You're sure you're OK?" Nick nodded, "I'm fine, but I am a little hungry. What time is it?" "It's morning. You were out all night," she answered. "Oh, well I guess we can go get some breakfast," Nick said, standing up. Tara smiled at him and he looked down, realizing he was still naked. He grinned at her, "Honey, where are my boxers?" Tara pointed to a pile of clothes on the floor. Nick walked over and picked up his boxers to find that they had been ripped down one side. He held them up looking at her, "OK, now I should remember this shouldn't I?" Tara laughed, "You were to slow," she said, throwing him a new pair from the dresser. Nick put them on and grabbed a t-shirt as they headed out the door, "Oh yeah, we have got to do this again." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Brian rolled over and looked around. He sighed, realizing he was still in the hospital. He sat up, looking over to see Lyn asleep in the chair next to the bed. He smiled at her, loving the way she looked when she slept. She seemed to be in another world, where there were no worries. Her face was as peaceful as he'd ever seen it. Tracy slowly appeared next to him, so as not to scare him. "Morning," Brian whispered. "Morning, how are you feeling?" she asked. He shrugged, "OK I guess. I'm ready to get out of here and go home." Tracy smiled at him, "I'm sure you are." "Tracy, can I ask you something?" Brian asked. She nodded. "Um, well.... if I don't make it through this...." he started. "Brian, don't talk like that," Tracy said. He shook his head, "If I don't. Will you please take care of her? Make sure she meets someone she can share her life with. Make sure she's happy, please." "Brian, I can't promise..." Tracy started. Brain reached up and took her hand, "Please Tracy. I'm not saying that's gonna happen, but if it does, I need to know that you'll do this. I need to know that she'll find happiness and be OK." Tracy stared at him for a long time. "Please," Brian begged. She sighed, looking over at her sister, "I'll do my best Brian." He hugged her, "Thank you." Lyn looked over seeing the two hugging. She cleared her throat, "Sis, you're not moving in on my boyfriend now are ya?" Brian and Tracy both laughed. "No honey, he's all yours," Tracy said, as she vanished from the room. Lyn sat up, "I didn't mean to make you leave." Just then Dr. Skinner and Ted came through the door. "Who's leaving?" Ted asked as he walked in. Brian and Lyn glanced at one another. "I hope I am," Brian covered. Ted smiled at him, "Well actually you are." "Really? Great," Brian said. "I'll have the nurse come in and take the IV out and get your discharge papers ready," Dr. Skinner said, handing Brian a bag filled with papers. "What's this?" Brian asked, taking it. "This is some information about organ transplants I thought you might find helpful. My card is in there along with my pager number. If you have any questions at all, please call me," Dr. Skinner said. "Thank you," Lyn said, seeing that Brian seemed to be a little overwhelmed with the amount of papers in the bag. Dr. Skinner smiled, "You're welcome. Now I want to see you back in a couple of days. By then we should have you on the list, and I'll need to set you up with your beeper." Brian nodded, "OK." "Well, I'll leave you to get ready. The nurse should be in shortly," Dr. Skinner said. "Thanks," Brian said as he walked out the door. As soon as he was out of the room, Tracy reappeared. Ted smiled, "I thought maybe it was you Lyn was talking to." Tracy hugged him, "Yeah, can't be to careful ya know." Ted laughed, "I guess not." Lyn noticed Brian thumbing through the papers. "Bri, you don't have to look at all that right now. Why don't you wait until we get home?" she said. He looked up at her, "OK, do I have some clothes to change into?" "Yes," she said, going to the small closet and retrieving the bag she'd brought. Tracy disappeared again as a nurse came into the room. The three stifled their laughter as the nurse took out the IV and left the room. "Come on, let's get you changed so we can get out of here," Lyn said, taking Brian into the bathroom with her. Tracy reappeared again, looking over at Ted. "Is he gonna be alright?" Ted asked. Tracy shook her head, "I don't know. I'm only here for support, not to heal him." Ted sighed as his hopes fell a little more, "Oh." "Don't give up so easily. God does things in His own time," she said. Ted nodded, "I hope His time is soon, because I'm afraid he doesn't have long." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Howie, what is that smell?" Kira asked walking into the kitchen. Howie turned to face her, smiling, "That my dear is breakfast." Kira scrunched her nose, "Um honey, I'm really not feeling up to breakfast." Howie walked over to her, "Morning sickness again?" Kira nodded, "Yeah. The not so great thing about being pregnant." "Well, Kev and Kris are coming over for breakfast," he said. "Oh yeah, I forgot," she said, sitting down at the table. Just then the bell rang and Howie went to answer it, coming back a few minutes later with Kevin and Kristin in tow. "Morning Kira," Kevin said. "Morning," she smiled. "How are you feeling?" Kristin asked. "Pretty good considering that food is my enemy at the moment," Kira replied. "Oh morning sickness huh?" Kristin asked. Kira nodded, "I hope you guys don't mind if I skip out on breakfast." "Not at all," Kevin said, giving her a sympathetic smile. "Thanks," Kira said, getting up and kissing Howie on the cheek before leaving the room. Howie watched her leave, then turned back to the oven, taking his creation out and letting it cool for a moment. He turned to see Kevin and Kristin staring at him. "What?" he asked. "Nothing man, it's just that I've never seen you as happy as you are now," Kevin said. Howie smiled, "Oh that." Kristin laughed, "Oh that. You two are practically glowing, it's really adorable." Howie blushed, "Thanks. I don't think things could get any better if we tried." "Well that's good to hear," Kevin said, taking the plate Howie handed him. "Thanks for inviting us over," Kristin said, "Anytime I don't have to cook is well appreciated." "No problem," Howie said, sitting down with his own plate. "So, is there a reason for this, or did you just feel like getting up early and cooking?" Kevin asked. Howie smiled, "No, there is a reason I asked you guys over." "Oh and what would that be?" Kristin asked. Howie set his fork down and looked at the two, "Well, Kira and I have been talking, and we know the baby isn't due for some time yet. But we wanted to know if you guys would be her godparents?" Kevin and Kristin looked at one another and smiled. "Of course we will," Kristin said. "Yeah man, anything you guys need," Kevin said. Howie smiled, "Thanks, and I'm sure Kira thanks you to." "No we're honored that you would ask us," Kristin said, "It'll give us a chance to practice before we have our own." Howie looked over at Kevin, "Oh you guys planning on having one soon?" Kevin shook his head vigorously, "No, not anytime soon, but eventually." "That's cool," Howie said, continuing to eat. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Nick and Tara entered the kitchen just as the others were sitting down to eat. "Oh lookie here, it's sleeping beauty," Jered teased. Nick smiled, "Morning to you to." "I trust you're feeling well this morning?" Ephah asked. "Never felt better," Nick said, pulling Tara's chair out for her to sit down. Nick then went and fixed two plates, walking back to the table and setting Tara's down in front of her before he sat down next to her. She smiled at him as they began to eat. "So, no ill effects from last night?" Serenity asked. Nick looked at her, "Nope." "That's good," Evi said, "You gave us all a little scare." "Sorry," Nick said, taking another bite. Jered stopped eating and leaned his elbow on the table, "So Nick, wanna enlighten us on what happened?" Nick looked over at Tara and smiled at her, "Nope." "Oh come on. You guys were in there for hours," Jered whined. Nick looked directly into his eyes, "It's between us. Besides, you already know how it feels, you don't need me telling you." "Yeah but it's different with her," Jered said. "What do you mean?" Tara asked. Jered looked at the girls, "Tell her." Evi and Serenity looked at each other. "Tell me what?" Tara said, staring at them. "Because of your abilities you had already, you are stronger than any of us," Evi said. "The feelings you elicit in people are more intense than what we could ever do," Serenity said. "So, what difference does that make?" Tara said. "It makes a lot of difference," Serenity said, "Normally it would take two of us to do what you can with those like yourself and Nick." "And that makes a difference how?" Tara asked. "Because our kind have an alliance with their kind," Jered said, pointing to the girls. "They help us when we need it, and with your skills, we could have the advantage," he said. Tara sat her fork down slowly, trying not to let the panic she was feeling overcome her. Nick put his hand on her knee, lending his support. "So you're telling me that when I get trained you want to use me to seduce and then help turn those going through their training?" Tara asked. The three nodded. "You don't have a problem with that do you?" Jered asked, glaring at her. Tara shrugged, "Why should I? As long as I get to come home to Nick, I don't care." "And Nick, you don't have a problem with that?" Serenity asked. Nick looked over at her, "No, that's part of her job. Just like she said, as long as she gets to come back to me when she's done, why the hell should I care?" Jered glanced at the girls and smiled, "Good, glad to see you feel that way." Everyone continued with their meal. No one noticed that Ephah was looking from Jered and the girls to Nick and Tara. He had stayed out of the conversation, trying to read everyone's reaction. His conversation with Nick was ringing in his ears. There was something about them he couldn't put his finger on, but it intrigued him greatly. He decided that he would talk with Nick about it. The more he watched the more it became evident that something just wasn't right. Yes, he was definitely going to talk with Nick. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ted opened the door letting Lyn and Brian into the house. Lyn sat the bag Dr. Skinner had given Brian on the coffee table and took Brian's duffle bag into the bedroom. Brian walked over to the couch and sat down. Ted watched as Brian kicked his shoes off and pulled the bag over, pulling the papers out and looking through them. Lyn came back out of the bedroom. "Would you like to stay for lunch?" she asked. Ted shook his head, "No thanks, I need to be getting back." "Thanks for driving us home," Lyn said, hugging him. "You're welcome sweetie," Ted said, "Remember, you call if you need me, OK?" Lyn nodded, "I will." Ted walked over to Brian and looked at him, "I'm going, you take it easy alright?" "I will, thanks," Brian said, looking up at him. "If you have any questions, you can call me if you want," Ted said. Brian looked down at the papers in his hands, "OK, I'm sure I will." Ted smiled as he headed to the door. Lyn walked with him. "Honey, this hasn't hit him yet, and when it does it won't be easy for either one of you. If you need me just call, and I'll be here, OK?" he said. Lyn nodded, "I will." He hugged her once again before he made his way out of the house. Lyn shut the door and walked over to Brian. He seemed completely engrossed in the pamphlets and brochures. "Baby, do you need anything?" she asked. Brian looked up at her and smiled, reaching up and pulling her down next to him, "I have what I need right here." Lyn smiled, gently kissing his cheek. "Um will you read these with me?" Brian asked. Lyn nodded, "Of course I will." "I just want to know as much as possible before I call everyone," he said, looking down at the papers. Lyn caressed his cheek, "Honey, you don't have to call them today." "I know," he said, "But I'm not going to be able to put this off for very long. They'll know something is up." Lyn kissed him, pulling away and looking deep into his eyes. She could see his fear and concern. She traced his jaw line with her finger, pulling him in for another kiss. When they parted she grabbed a few of the brochures and leaned against the side of the couch. She pulled Brian down with her, letting him lean on her, then she opened the brochure and began reading to him. Chapter 24 |