| Chapter 21 Nick slowly opened his eyes and rolled over. He blinked several times, trying to adjust his eyes to the dim room. He pushed himself up on his elbows and looked around, slowly realizing he was in his bedroom. He sat up, seeing his bag laying next to his closet and his shoes sitting in the floor next to his dresser. He ran his hand through his hair, trying to remember how he got there. The last clear thing he did remember was wanting to get off the plane before they even took off. Nick pushed the comforter off him and swung his legs over the edge of the bed. He saw his little computer sitting on the night stand and grabbed it as he stood up. He could hear laughter coming from downstairs, and made his way out of his room. He stayed close to the wall, keeping a hand on it in case his right leg gave out on him as it often did. He made it to the top of the stairs, seeing everyone in the kitchen cooking dinner. They were laughing and joking around with Diane like they'd known her all their lives. Nick smiled, sitting down on the top step. He wanted to watch for a few moments, loving the way his family had embraced Diane so quickly. He leaned his head on the railing and listened to their conversation. Aaron and Bob were sitting at the table, watching the girls in the kitchen. "We had to go shopping, Nick never keeps any food here," B.J. said. Leslie laughed, "I don't see how he lives on just pizza. I swear we threw away like twelve empty boxes." "So Nick's not to tidy huh?" Diane asked. The entire family burst out laughing. "Honey, tidy isn't a word used to describe him, no. More like really messy," Jane laughed. "Oh?" Diane asked, beginning to wonder what she'd gotten herself into. "Yeah, I don't know how many housekeepers he's gone through now," Bob said. Diane looked at him confused. "They won't stay, always say its to much work to clean up after him," Aaron said. "Oh, well ..um OK," Diane said, going back to cutting the vegetables for a salad. "Don't worry about it," Jane said, "We'll get someone to come in and do that." Diane shook her head, "Why? If I'm staying here, I can do it." "You don't know what you're asking for," Angel warned, smiling. Diane shrugged her shoulders, "It can't be that bad, all we have to do is pick up after ourselves, how hard is that?" Again the family laughed. "OK sweetie, but if you find its to much, just let us know and we'll get you some help," Bob said. Diane sat the salad on the table, glancing at Aaron as she did. He was biting his lower lip, much like Nick did when he was worried or something was on his mind. She smiled at him, "What is it?" He sighed, looking up at her, "Um could you tell us what really happened out there?" "Didn't your parents tell you?" she asked. "Yeah, but ... I wanna hear it from you. They didn't tell us details, and I ... I wanna know what happened to my brother," Aaron said. Nick watched as Diane's entire body seemed to slump. She sat down in a chair across from Aaron and looked at Jane and Bob. They both nodded, and she took a shaky breath. Everyone sat down, waiting for her to start. "I uh, I really don't know where to start," she said. "How did you find him?" Leslie asked. Diane looked down at her hands on the table, not wanting to look at anyone. She was to afraid she'd cry if she did. "Well, after we got Brian out, he told us that Nick ...when the plane broke apart ...somehow he got sucked out. Brian tried to hang on to him, but he couldn't... and so we spread out and started searching between the two parts of the plane," she said. Nick's heart was in his throat. He could see the sadness in Diane's face, and this was the first time he'd heard the story. Howie had told him that she'd saved his life, but never went into detail. And when they all told their families at the hospital, they had left out much of what really happened, not wanting to upset anyone. "Howie found him," she went on in a shaky voice, "His clothes were torn and he had cuts and bruises everywhere. He was .... laying face down in his own blood.." she said, wiping away the tears that had started a steady stream down her face. "When we turned him over....." she squinted her eyes shut, seeing the entire scene play out in her mind, "...his lips were blue. He ... his forehead was black and he was bleeding so bad. We couldn't get a heartbeat and he wasn't breathing." "Jesus," Angel said under her breath. The whole family was in tears now, not wanting to, but needing to hear the rest. "Kevin and I did CPR for what seemed like an eternity. I-I just couldn't give up.... I promised him that I'd take care of him ...and I ..." Diane put her hands over her face, letting herself cry for a moment before going on, " I don't know how long it was, but we finally got a heartbeat, and he started breathing on his own. Kevin and I cleaned him up the best we could, and I stitched his forehead. It was two days before he even started trying to wake up, and then ...." "What?" Aaron asked. "Then he started having seizures," she answered, looking up at him, "I can't tell you how scared I was for him... and then when he did wake up and couldn't talk," she shook her head, "I just knew I had to be strong for him. He was so scared and confused and I ...." Diane looked up, seeing Nick sitting on the stairs. He smiled at her through his tears, as she got up and went to him. She sat next to him on the stairs and faced him, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you." Nick shook his head and wiped her tears away. Then he opened his computer: I didn't know. Thank you. She smiled at him, their eyes locking for a moment, conveying much more than they ever could with words. "Nick honey, are you hungry?" Jane asked. He looked over and nodded, slowly getting up and finishing his journey down the stairs. Aaron quickly threw his arms around his older brother, hugging him tight, "I missed you so much." Nick returned the hug, wishing he would tell Aaron not to look so scared, that he was alright. One by one his sisters hugged him and cried on his shoulder. When Nick finally made it to the table and sat down he typed: I love you guys. Don't cry, I'm OK. Of course everyone just cried more when they read it. Diane fixed Nick's plate for him, sitting next to him to help if he needed it. About halfway through dinner the family finally started acting like themselves again. Jane got Aaron talking about his upcoming promotional tour for his new cd, and everyone listened intently. Nick looked over at Diane and smiled, glancing at his brother and rolling his eyes. Diane laughed, holding Nick's glass as he took a drink. B.J. watched them, amazed at how they obviously didn't need words to communicate. Diane just seemed to know what Nick wanted without him having to ask. Nick noticed her watching and flashed her a smile. B.J. smiled back, seeing for the first time in a long time actual happiness in Nick's face. Whatever worries she had about Diane being there faded away in that moment. If this girl made her brother happy, especially in the situation he was in now, then who was she to question it, in fact she was in awe of it. Everyone finished dinner and the girls went about cleaning the kitchen as Nick, Aaron and Bob sat in the living room watching TV. Diane came in handing Nick his medicine. "What are those for?" Aaron asked. "For his seizures," Diane answered as Nick took the pills. "They help to control them, but don't exactly stop them," she went on. "So you still have them?" Aaron asked. Nick nodded. "He always will," Bob said. Aaron stared at his brother with compassion and sadness in his face. Nick looked up at Diane, then over to Aaron. "Aaron, it's just something Nick's gonna have to live with from now on. It doesn't mean that he's not the same, it just means that he has to be careful about certain things," she said. "Like what?" Aaron asked. "Well, like getting overly excited or upset, that could trigger one," she said. "Oh, um .. Do they hurt?" he asked. Nick shook his head: I don't remember them. Only when I have a bad one, then my .. Nick looked at Diane pointing to his arm, not being able to recall the word he wanted to type. "Muscles?" she asked. He nodded: muscles are sore. "Oh," Aaron said, feeling awful for his brother. Nick looked around the room and back into the kitchen: Misha? Diane looked confused, "Who's Misha?" "Oh that's Nick's new puppy," Aaron said. "You have a puppy?" Diane asked. Nick nodded, smiling. "You do like dogs don't you?" Leslie asked. "Yeah, I used to have one when I was younger," Diane answered. Aaron walked over to the patio doors and opened them, yelling for the dog. Nick beamed when the furry creature came bounding into the house, running around greeting everyone. She finally spotted Nick and jumped into his lap, licking his chin, her tail wagging a mile a minute. "Aww, how cute. She's a pug right?" Diane asked. "Yeah," Angel said. Everyone smiled watching Nick giggling as the puppy tried to lick every inch of his face. Suddenly Misha stopped and looked at Nick, whining. "Aw, what's wrong Mish?" Leslie asked. Misha moved off Nick's lap back down to the floor, pawing at his leg and whining even more. Diane watched the little dog, wondering what she was doing, then glanced up at Nick. He was looking at Misha with that familiar look on his face that she knew to well. "Shit," she said, taking Nick's hand and helping him lie down on the couch he was sitting on. "What's wrong?" B.J. asked. "He's about to have a seizure," Diane answered, "Aaron can you hold Misha?" Aaron walked over and pulled the dog away from Nick, holding her. "B.J. get a wet wash cloth and a glass of water," Diane instructed. B.J. headed for the kitchen, Leslie going with her. Diane quickly let go of Nick's hand as his body went limp. "Oh God," Aaron said, as Nick started convulsing. "I know it's hard to see," Jane said, "But this is going to happen. We all need to be strong for Nick." "He can't see us upset when he wakes up, we need to be encouraging him, and telling him everything's OK," Bob added. Diane smiled to herself, remembering the first seizure the both of them saw and how they where just as frightened as Aaron and the girls are now. After a few minutes Nick's seizure subsided. Diane took the cloth from B.J. and wiped his face, calmly talking to him. Nick slowly opened his eyes and looked around. "Hey," Diane said, smiling at him when he looked at her. He questioned her with his eyes. "Yes, you had a seizure, but it wasn't a bad one," she said. Nick sighed, nodding. "Aaron let Misha go," Diane said, grabbing the puppy when she came over to the couch. Nick reached out and pet her. "You want her up there with you?" Diane asked. He nodded, smiling when the puppy lay down next to him, licking his hand. "What the hell just happened?" Aaron asked in a whisper. Diane smiled at him, "I think Misha can tell when he's about to have a seizure." "Yeah, I read about that somewhere, people with epilepsy use them," Angel said. "But she wasn't trained to do that," Leslie said. "Some dogs just do it naturally," Diane said, turning her attention back to Nick, "You feel like sitting up?" He nodded, taking her hand and sitting back up. She held the glass of water for him as he took a few swallows. Nick pointed to his computer and Diane handed it to him: Sorry. didn't mean to scare you. "It's OK Nick, "Aaron said. "Yeah, now we know what to do when this happens," B.J. said, with a smile. Nick nodded, going back to petting Misha. "Well it's getting late, we should probably go," Bob said. "Yeah, you guys need your rest," Jane said, kissing the top of Nick's head. "We'll call tomorrow afternoon, see how things are," Bob said. "You don't have far to drive do you?" Diane asked. "No hon, we have a house about a mile up the beach. The phone number is on the refrigerator if you need us," Jane said. Diane smiled at her, "Thanks." Everyone said their goodnights to Nick and Diane and filed out the door. Once they left, Diane sat in front of Nick and stared at him, "You really OK?" He nodded. "Do you want to go lay down?" she asked. He shook his head: Not tired. "OK, well you can come watch me unpack the rest of my things if you want," she said with a grin. Nick smiled, letting her pull him off the couch and following her upstairs. "Your sisters helped me with most of it before we fixed dinner," she said, walking into the room. Nick sat down on the bed, pulling a box over and looking in it. He glanced around, seeing only a few boxes. This is all your stuff? he asked. "Yeah, I had some furniture, but I let Cindy keep it. Mostly its clothes," she said, grabbing some empty hangers, "Here you hand me the clothes and I'll hang them up." Nick smiled, as they finished one box and he pulled another over. He laughed, holding up a black lace teddy. "Give me that," Diane said, taking it from him and throwing it in a dresser drawer, all the while her face turning nine shades of red. Nick ignored her though, going back to digging through the box he had. He pulled out some picture frames, looking at them. One was of a young Diane and Nick assumed her parents. The other was a group of girls in what looked like a hotel room. Nick pointed to the picture. Diane took them from him and he could see a flash of sadness in her face. "That's my mom and dad," she said, smiling down at the photo. Nick pointed to the other, hoping it held happier memories for her. "These are my friends I met in the fan club," she said, "They're so great. They've helped me through a lot." Our fan club? Nick asked. "Yeah yours you silly," she teased. He laughed, watching as she placed the photos on her dresser. He leaned back against the pillows, sliding his feet under the satin comforter, watching as Diane finished unpacking the last box. It still amazed him that she was here, and there was so much he wanted to tell her, show her. He yawned, sliding further down in the bed, happy to be home and happy she was here with him. "Well I think I'm .... done," Diane said, turning around to see Nick asleep in her bed. He was clutching a pillow, his body curled around it. It had to be the cutest thing she'd ever seen. She quietly placed the boxes in a pile in the corner and grabbed her pajamas, heading into the bathroom. She changed, coming back out to see Misha trying to climb in bed with Nick. "Oh no, I love you little girl, but you are not sleeping with us," she said. Misha whined at her, giving her a pout that looked remarkably like Nick's. She laughed, "No wonder he likes this breed." Diane took one of the empty boxes and placed it in the floor on Nick's side of the bed. She then grabbed a towel from the bathroom and put it in the box, "There you go, your own bed." Misha crawled in, making herself at home. Diane made a quick trip downstairs, turning off the lights and making sure the doors were locked and the alarm was set. When she was satisfied she hadn't missed anything, she went back upstairs. She looked at Nick once more before turning off the light and walking around the bed. She carefully pulled the pillow from his grasp, and crawled into bed. Nick immediately reached for her in his sleep, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her to him. Diane smiled, loving how safe she felt in his arms, how welcome his family had made her feel. She looked around the moonlit room and sighed, truly feeling that she was home. Chapter 22 |