| Chapter 18 Bob and Jane walked into their son's room, smiling at the scene before them. Diane was in bed with Nick, holding him, both asleep. Nick had his arm around her waist, his head resting on her chest. Bob reached over and took his wife's hand, "So cute." "Yeah they are," Jane agreed, looking over to see Leighanne and Brian talking quietly. "Good morning," Jane said softly. "Morning," Leighanne replied. "Did he have a bad night?" Bob asked, walking over to Brian's bed. "No ...not really,"Brian said, "We just got to talking bout stuff that happened during some of our concerts and he got upset. I don't think he thinks he'll ever sing again." Bob nodded, knowing his son probably did think that. Nick had always been easily discouraged, and this situation was no different. His insecurities always seemed to get the best of him, until he met Brian and now Diane. Brian had always gotten through to Nick when no one else could, and now it seemed as if Diane had taken on that role as well. Bob was thankful for it, he never was as close to Nick as he'd liked to have been and knew that no matter how hard he tried he never would be. Nick was always a loner, and never looked to him or Jane for anything. Even when he was young, he'd figure things out on his own, not wanting to bother them or receive help of any kind from them. That's why Bob was so surprised that Nick wanted them there. He assumed that when Nick saw them he'd ask them to leave, but he hadn't. He figured he had Brian and Diane to thank for that somehow. "Hey guys," Diane whispered, waking up to find them in the room. Bob turned around, "Morning." "It's still early isn't it?" she asked. "Yes hon, it's about six-thirty," Jane answered. "Why are you guys here so early?" she asked. "Well we felt bad about leaving yesterday afternoon, but after staying up all night, we were about to drop," Jane explained. "Don't worry about that. He knows you guys were tired," Diane said. "I know, but still," Jane said, sitting down next to the bed. Nick stirred in his sleep, letting out a small moan. Diane looked down at him, gently running her hand through his hair. Jane watched her with a smile. Nick moaned again, clutching Diane tighter. "Ouch," she said, trying to loosen Nick's hold on her. She could tell he was dreaming, his breathing coming in short gasps and his forehead becoming wet with sweat. Bob helped Diane slide out from under Nick's arm. She stood next to the bed, trying to wake Nick up. "Nick, wake up," she said, gently shaking him. He shifted in bed, moaning again. "Nickolas, wake up," Bob said. Suddenly Nick screamed and sat straight up in bed. He was gasping for air, sweat pouring down his face. His eyes were filled with fear and confusion, darting around the room. Diane sat on the edge of the bed and took his face in her hands, "Shh, it's alright. You had a bad dream." Nick stared at her for a moment, then closed his eyes, trying to calm himself down. Diane could feel him trembling under her touch, and pulled him into a hug, "It's OK baby, you're safe." Nick wrapped his arms around her, feeling that in her arms he really was safe. After a moment he pulled back. Diane looked at him a concerned expression on her face, "You wanna talk about it?" He shook his head. "But it was about the accident wasn't it?" Bob asked. Nick looked up at his dad and nodded, biting his lip. "Are you remembering what happened?" Diane asked, knowing that he had no memory of anything that happened after she woke him up on the plane, until he woke up in the tent. Nick sighed, shrugging his shoulders. Diane cupped his cheek with her hand, "It's OK ya know. All of us have nightmares about it." Nick pulled his notebook over: You do? She nodded, "Yes, we all do. Even Kevin, though he hates to admit it." Nick half smiled at that thought. "So you see, you aren't alone in this. You have five other people that you can share this with because we were there too. We understand what you're going through, OK? So anytime you want to talk about it, we're here for you, alright?" she said, smiling at him. Nick nodded, laying back down. "It's still a little while before breakfast, do you wanna go back to sleep?" she asked. He nodded, pulling on her hand. Diane laughed, "You want me to lay down with you?" He smiled, nodding. "Alright," she said, climbing back in bed and resuming their original position. "This better?" she asked. He nodded as he hugged her to him, closing his eyes and quickly drifting to sleep. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Kevin, A.J. and Howie walked into the room behind Leighanne. All four walked over to Brian's bed. "Did you get it?" Brian asked. "Yeah, they didn't have the one you picked out, but this one has all the same functions," Leighanne said. "Cool," Brian smiled, glancing over at Nick. He was still sleeping, having woke up to eat breakfast then laying back down. "Yeah, I'm thinking bout getting myself one, that thing is neat," Kevin said. A.J. laughed, "You just want it cause it's new and shiny." Kevin shrugged, "Yeah probably. I can't help it, I like all this new technology." Howie smiled, "We know Kev, we know." "Well show it to me, I wanna see," Brian said, holding his hands out. Leighanne pulled the little gizmo from the bag and handed it to her husband. "It runs on batteries, or you can plug it into the wall," she said. "Great," Brian said, handing it to Kevin, "Open it please." Kevin took it, tarring the plastic casing away and handing it back. "Did you get batteries?" Brian asked. "A shit load," A.J. replied, dumping his bag out on Brian's bed. "Wonder how long batteries will last in this thing?" Brian said, reading the booklet. "About a hundred hours," Leighanne answered. Brian looked at her. "We asked," she admitted. Brian handed it to Kevin who then put the batteries in. Brian looked over at Nick anxiously, "Man I wish he'd wake up already, I wanna give it to him." "I think you're worse than he is," Leighanne said laughing, "He loves to get presents and you love to give them." Brian smiled, "What are friends for, if not to give things to?" "What's that?" Diane asked, walking over. Brian grinned, "This is Nick's new way of communicating." "Wow, it looks cool," she said. "Yeah, so go wake him up so I can give it to him," Brian whined. Diane laughed, "Alright, hold your horses." She walked over to Nick, gently shaking him, "Nick, wake up." Nick slowly opened his eyes and looked at her. "Brian has something for you," she said. Nick sat up and looked over at his friend. Brian was grinning like the Cheshire Cat, holding something in his hand. He handed it to Kevin who brought it over and gave it to Nick. Nick looked at the object, turning it over in his hands. It wasn't any bigger than a cd jewel case and almost as thin. "Open it up," Brian said. Nick turned it around and found the small button to release it, gasping when it opened, revealing the smallest keyboard and screen he'd ever seen. It was like a mini lap top. "It does everything," Brian said as Nick turned it on. "It has an address book, and a word processor in it. You can type what you want to say instead of writing it. It even has like a pager, so you can get someone's attention if you need to," Brian went on. Nick grinned, finding that it had games on it as well. "Oh yeah, it has games too," Brian said. Nick held the tiny machine in his hands and typed with his thumbs, turning the screen around: Thank you! I love it! Brian smiled, "I knew you would." Diane watched Nick as he checked out all the features on the little machine, even playing a game or two before he and Brian were taken for their physical therapy. She laughed, hearing the pager go off on the little machine as the orderlies wheeled them down the hall. "He's already annoying Brian with it isn't he?" Leighanne asked with a smile. "Of course," Diane laughed. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Nick, cut it out already, geeze," Brian said, rather annoyed, "You're making me regret giving that thing to you." Nick grinned, typing: Sorry. "Yeah, right you are," Brian teased. They had been back from physical therapy for about an hour now, and Brian really wasn't in the mood to listen to the small machine any longer. Nick went back to the game he was playing on it, as someone walked into the room. "Hey doc," A.J. said. "Afternoon," the doctor replied, "I have some good news." Nick stopped playing his game and looked up. "Oh, what's that?" Bob asked. "I want to talk with each of you," indicating Brian and Nick, "about getting ready to leave here," he said. "Leave, as in go home?" Brian asked. "Yes. You both are doing well, and there's no need to keep you here when you can continue therapy at home. All we need to do is make sure you have what you need when you get there," the doctor said. Brian grinned, "You hear that Nick, we get to go home!" Nick smiled, but Diane noticed the look of disappointment in his eyes. "So what do we need to get?" Jackie asked. "Brian is going to require a lot of things. He needs a wheelchair accessible bathroom, complete with shower seat. He will have to have a vehicle that he can maneuver in and out of easily. I assume you have a two story house?" the doctor asked. "Yeah we do," Leighanne said. "And the bedrooms are upstairs?" he asked. She nodded. "He will need a bedroom set up for him on the lower level of the house. Also, he will need access to things such as light switches and the such. He'll be in a wheel chair for some time yet, so the house needs to be modified for that," he said. "We can do that," Jackie said, "I'll call Harold and get him started on it right away." "Thanks," Leighanne said. "Also, I've arranged for Brian's physical therapy to be done through the clinic at the hospital. Is that to far out of the way for you?" the doctor asked. "No not at all," Brian said. "Good, I'll be sending the clinic and your family doctor copies of your medical records. I've already been in touch with them, so they know to expect them," he said. "Thank you," Brian said. "What does Nick need?" Jane asked. The doctor looked at him for a moment and smiled. "I think he has everything he needs already," he said, glancing at Diane. She blushed as Nick smiled at her. "I want you to continue with your physical therapy for a while longer, and I've been in contact with the speech therapy clinic in Tampa. They have someone that also lives in Marathon and can come to you for your sessions," he said. There it was again, that flash of disappointment in Nick's eyes as he nodded. "Other than that, and getting a lot of rest, you have everything covered," he said, "As with Brian, I've been in contact with your family doctor, and will be sending him all your records." "When can we go?" Brian asked. The doctor smiled, "I want to take you both off the IV's and see how you do taking your medication orally. If you don't have any problems, and you get everything you need for your house, I'd say by this Friday." "That's wonderful," Howie's mom said. "What is today?" Brian asked, "All my days seem the same." Leighanne laughed, "It's Tuesday honey." Brian beamed, "I can't wait to go home and see Baylee. I've missed him so much!" "I know baby," Leighanne said, kissing her husbands cheek. Diane leaned close to Nick, whispering in his ear, "You don't want to leave do you?" He glanced at her and shook his head. "Why not?" she asked, still in a hushed tone. She knew no one was paying attention to their conversation, but she could tell by Nick's reaction that he didn't want anyone to know how he truly felt. I don't want a new teacher, he typed. Diane moved even closer to him, "I know you like Carter a lot, but maybe you'll like your new teacher too. You have to give it a chance Nick." I know, I just don't want to leave Brian and the guys either. I kinda got used to them being around, he typed. She touched his cheek, "You can still see them. Howie is close and we can go see Brian anytime you want. Plus we're working on getting everyone's computers set up so you guys can talk to each other." You are? he asked. She nodded, "Yeah, I knew you would have to have some way to talk to them." Nick smiled, Thank you. You think of everything. "Well I dunno bout that, but you're welcome just the same," she said. Nick looked back up in time to hear the doctor tell them he would send a nurse in to take out their IV's shortly, then he left the room. Bob walked over and placed his hand on Nick's shoulder, "I'll go call your brother and sisters and tell them the good news." "Ask them to go in and clean his house for him please," Jane said. Nick shook his head, I don't want them messing around in my house. Diane laughed, "What? Are you afraid they'll find something incriminating?" Nick bit his lip then nodded, Yes I am, very afraid. Chapter 19 |