| Chapter 5 "Bri?" Lyn said. "Mmm hmm," he mumbled. Lyn looked over at him, "You aren't going to sleep are you?" Brian laughed, "I was trying, yeah." "We should probably be getting back before they send out a search party or something," she said, raising up on her elbows. "Yeah, I guess so," he said, sitting up and trying to brush the sand off himself. Lyn stood up, doing the same, but not having much success. "Oh this is great, I've got sand in places I didn't know I had," Lyn griped. Brian laughed at her, "Well next time we'll remember to bring a blanket." "That doesn't help us now though. How are we gonna explain being covered head to toe in sand?" she asked. Brian bit his bottom lip for a second, thinking, "Oh crap, you're right. OK, let me think here." He looked out at the water, then smiled at her, "Care to go for a swim?" Lyn looked at him like he was nuts, "Bri, it may be summer, but the water is still cold." "Well we can take it for a second. We can say that things were getting to serious and to calm things down I pushed you in the water, and you grabbed me on the way in, so we both ended up wet," he said. Lyn shook her head and laughed, "You scare me, you know that right?" "Why?" he asked. "Because only you would think of something like that," she laughed. He grinned at her, "Yeah well, it's either that or the sand, which one you want?" Lyn smiled at him, taking his hand and racing towards the water. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Kevin got up to answer the knock on the door. He smiled when he saw Ted on the other side. "Evening," Kevin said, letting him in. "Evening. Sorry to come by so late, but I got held up at the hospital. I wanted to check and see how Brian was doing," Ted said, walking into the living room. He looked at the monitors, realizing Nick and Tara were back. "How long have they..?" he asked. "Since yesterday," Kevin answered, "They've had a rough time of it, but we seem to be making progress." "That's great. If I can do anything to help you let me know," Ted offered. Kevin smiled, "We will, thanks." Ted looked around, "Aren't we missing a couple people?" "Yeah, Bri and Lyn went for a walk quite a while ago. Normally I'd be worried by now, but I know this has to be rough on them. I'm sure they're still off talking somewhere," Kevin said. Just then Lyn and Brian came through the door, both soaking wet. "Jesus Bri, you really didn't have to do that," Lyn said, shaking water in his face. "Sorry," Brian laughed, "But you have to admit, things were just a little to serious out there." "Yeah, but pushing me in the ocean just to lighten the mood? I swear," she said, turning and heading to her room. She caught the sight of Ted in her peripheral vision and stopped, "Hey Uncle Ted, what brings you here?" "I came to check on Brian," he answered, giving her a skeptical look. "Oh, well, there he is, check away," she said, pointing at Brian, before continuing to her room. All eyes in the room were on Brian as he stood by the door, dripping from head to toe. "What?" he asked. "You pushed her in the ocean?" Kevin asked. "I had to, the conversation was getting way to serious," Brian said. "God Bri, she's not Nick. I can't believe you did that," Howie said. "So how'd you end up wet?" A.J. asked. Brian laughed, "She pulled me in with her. Guess she figured she shouldn't be the only one getting wet." Everyone laughed. "I'm going to get a shower, I'm freezing to death," Brian said, heading towards his room. "I need to examine you when you get out," Ted said. "Alright, I won't be long," Brian called as he went into his room. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "I did such awful things, how can He ever forgive me?" Nick cried. Jade put her hand on his shoulder, "He already has Nick. The moment you asked, it was done. You just need to forgive yourself now." "I don't think I can. You weren't there, you didn't see what I did," he said. "I'm willing to listen. It may help if you tell what happened," she prompted. Nick shook his head, "I can't. It's to much." Jade looked at him with compassion in her eyes. He had been crying non stop for hours now, not able to calm down enough to sleep. The horror of what he'd done, looming over him. She knew it would be hard for him to forgive himself for it. "Nick, why don't you start by telling me what happened when they took you. What did they do to make you lose hope?" she asked. Nick turned and looked out the window, letting his tears fall down his cheeks. "They kept me chained to the bed, much like I was when I woke up here. They kept me drugged, and they beat me. Then they would make me heal myself, just to keep me weak. The entire time Jered and Ephah were constantly asking me where my God was. Why wasn't He saving me from all the torture they were putting me through? I guess after a while I started wondering the same thing. The only one that was halfway nice to me was Evi. I started to trust her, but in the end, she was the one that did it," Nick cried. "What did she do?" Jade asked, moving closer to Nick and putting her arm around his shoulders. He sobbed for a long time before he answered her. "She raped me," he said in barely a whisper, "Jered and Ephah watched while she did it. The entire time they kept telling me that it was my fault it was happening. That all I had to do was give in and it would stop. When it was over I just lost all hope. I gave in, and let them take me." Jade pulled him into a tight hug and let him weep on her shoulder. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry I was so weak. I should've been stronger, but I wasn't," Nick cried. "Shhh, It's alright. You found your way back, that's all that matters now," she soothed. Jade looked over as Gideon entered the room. "Why don't we make you sleep for a while?" he asked. Nick was beyond words, he just nodded in response. "We'll talk more in the morning after you've rested," Jade said, as Nick pulled away from the hug and lay back in the bed. He sniffed, wiping his face as best he could with his sleeve. Jade smiled at him, then placed her hand over his eyes. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Brian walked out of the bathroom to find Ted and Lyn in his room, quietly talking. "Hey guys," he said, still drying his hair with the towel. Ted looked over at him, "Come have a seat and we'll get this over with." "OK," Brian said, looking at them both before walking over and sitting down on the bed. Ted went about checking his vitals. "How's your exhaustion? Is it any better?" he asked. "Yeah some. I still get tired easily, but I think it's getting better," Brian answered. "Hmm," Ted said, as he listened to Brian's heart. "Something wrong?" Brian asked, not liking the sound of that. "Your heart rate is elevated," Ted replied. "Oh, it's probably from us running around on the beach," Brian said. "Maybe," he said, pulling out the cuff to take Brian's blood pressure. Lyn sat on the opposite side of the bed. She smiled at Brian as Ted took his blood pressure. Ted pulled the blood pressure cuff off Brian's arm and sighed. Brian looked at him, "You're starting to make me nervous here." Ted smiled, "Sorry, I don't mean to. Your blood pressure is a little high. I'd like to take a blood sample and get it checked out." "Um, do you really have to?" Brian asked, feeling his stomach do flip flops at the mention of him taking blood. "I think I should, just to be safe," Ted said, digging in his bag. Brian glanced at Lyn, then back at Ted, "Um, I guess this would be a good time to mention my huge fear of needles?" Lyn and Ted both laughed at him, then realized he wasn't kidding by the look on his face. "Brian, you've been in the hospital how many times now, and your still afraid of needles?" Lyn asked. He sighed, "I know it's stupid, but I am. Usually when I'm in the hospital, I'm to out of it to pay much attention, but when I'm having lab work done, I....um...I" "You what?" Ted asked. Brian looked down at the bedspread, "I usually pass out." Lyn and Ted looked at each other. "Brian, I really do need to do this. You know I wouldn't if I didn't think it necessary," Ted said. "I know," Brian sighed, "I'm just warning ya, that's all." Ted laughed, "Well, thanks for that. Now let's get started, why don't you go ahead and lay down." Brian swallowed hard, then lay down on the bed, watching Ted with nervous eyes as he got the syringe ready. "Bri, why don't you look at me instead," Lyn suggested. Brian looked over at her, his face already pale, "I'm sorry, I know this is childish." Lyn shook her head, "Everyone has a fear of something. It's alright." Ted tied the elastic band around Brian's upper arm, then waited for a vein to appear. Lyn took Brian's other hand in hers. Brian squeezed it, nervously anticipating what Ted was about to do. "Alright Brian, you're gonna feel a little prick," Ted said, as he inserted the needle. Brian flinched, looking at Lyn with fear in his eyes. "It's alright," she told him, noticing his face getting paler by the second. "Almost done," Ted said. "Damn it," Brian mumbled under his breath as he rapidly blinked his eyes, trying to keep from passing out. Lyn smiled at him, "It's alright Bri." "OK, done," Ted said, pulling the needle out and placing the cap on it. He put a cotton ball over the needle hole, "Hold your arm up a second," he told him. Brian raised him arm, looking over at Ted, and seeing the syringe full of his blood. "Oh God," he mumbled, then promptly passed out. Lyn and Ted glanced at one another, then down at Brian. "I thought he was gonna make it," Ted said, shaking his head as he put his things away. "Yeah, I did to," Lyn said, running her thumb over the back of his hand that she was still holding. Ted watched her for a second, then cleared his throat, "Honey, did you two ever have that talk?" Lyn looked up at him, "Yes." "And?" he prompted. "We're working on it," she said, not wanting to go into the issue at the moment. Ted stared at her for a moment, "You know you can talk to me anytime right?" Lyn nodded, "Yes, and thank you, but this is something we have to do on our own." Ted sat down in the chair, waiting for Brian to come to, "I just want you to be happy, that's all." "I know that, that's all I want to," she said. "I saw that Nick and Tara are back. Have you gotten to talk with him?" he asked. She shook her head no, "We can't right now. They want him to deal with what he went through first." "I see," Ted said, "And Tara to?" "Yeah, they both went through a lot, they have a tremendous amount of healing to do," she said. "And what you two are doing isn't going to hinder that?" Ted asked. Lyn looked like a deer caught in headlights, "I don't... um.." "Honey, it doesn't take a genus to figure out what's going on between you two. The way you look at one another alone gives it away. I'm not angry with you, but I do want to make sure this is what you want," Ted said. "It is," she said quietly. "And Brian feels the same?" Ted asked. She nodded. Ted sighed, "So what about Nick and Tara?" "We're going to tell them as soon as we can. We couldn't hide it from them if we wanted to," she said. "True, with the abilities those two have, no you couldn't," he said, "But this is really what you want? You're willing to give Nick up for Brian and take the consequences that come with that?" "Yes I am," Lyn said, "I've loved him for a long time. Longer than I care to admit. He's my best friend, and he makes me happy." Ted sighed, looking from Brian to Lyn. "You know that whatever you do, I will always love you. I'll support you no matter what," he said. She smiled at him, "Thank you, that means a lot to me." Brian moaned and opened his eyes, looking around. Lyn smiled at him, "Hey, glad to have you back," she laughed. "Sorry," Brian said, slowly sitting up and holding his head. "It's alright, happens to the best of them," Ted said, "You feeling alright now?" Brian nodded, "A little queasy, but I'll be OK." Ted put his hand on his shoulder, "OK, I'll call in the morning when I get the results. It's probably nothing, but better safe than sorry." "Yeah, thanks," Brian said, getting up and walking with Ted and Lyn out to the living room. Kevin glanced over, noticing the band-aid on Brian's arm and how pale he still was. "Bri, you didn't pass out again did you?" he asked, teasing. "Bite me Kev," Brain said, feeling his face flush with embarrassment. Everyone laughed. "Hey, I don't make fun of you're phobias," Brian said. "Yes you do Rok, all the time," A.J. laughed. Brian smiled, "Oh yeah, I guess I do." "Goodnight all," Ted said from the door. "Night," they all called. Ted pulled Lyn into a hug, "I mean it, you call if you need to talk alright?" She nodded, "I will, see you tomorrow." Ted smiled at her, then turned and left. Chapter 6 |