�Please leave a message at the beep��
Beep
�Hey, this is Albert. I was calling for Leslie. Um� to check up on her. Uh� if either of her parents gets this, could you call me back at 817-555-7741? I need to get a hold of her as soon as possible. Thanks.�
Beep
*
After sleeping for another eight hours, darkness again had fallen when Leslie opened her eyes. She was only slightly surprised to see all three members of her family sitting around her room in various states of consciousness, her mom grasping onto her right hand. The moment she stirred, her mom immediately returned to life.
�Leslie, oh sweetie, I�m so glad you�re awake. How are you feeling?� Charlotte asked as her husband and son woke up and moved towards Leslie�s bed.
Not sure how to respond or if she should even try, Leslie simply blinked and squeezed her mom�s hand lightly.
�What happened?� Charlie asked carefully as his mom began to tear up again. �Was it really a car accident?�
Silence enshrouded the family as Leslie looked from person to person afraid to leave her eyes on any one person for too long and let them see that she didn�t care about anything anymore.
�Where did you go?� Bryan asked carefully. �Why did you have to go and you couldn�t tell us? We would have taken you.�
�No you wouldn�t have,� Leslie replied, no emotion in her voice.
�What? We��
�I had unfinished business that I had to attend to by myself.�
�So you disappear for a week and show back up bleeding to death! Is that your unfinished business?� Charlotte yelled.
�No. That was an accident.�
�So it was a car accident,� Charlie cut in, wanting so badly to believe that someone hadn�t purposely done this.
�There was an accident.�
�See? I knew that asshole doctor didn�t know what the hell he was talking about!� Bryan exclaimed.
�But why won�t you tell us where you went? Why you left?� Charlotte begged.
�Mom, go home. Get some sleep. I�m back home and I�m safe,� Leslie replied, an impending migraine slipping into her head at the hysteria of her mother�s declarations. �I�m not leaving. I promise.�
�I�m not leaving,� Charlotte declared stubbornly.
�Honey, she needs rest. There�s no use staying here. We�ll come back first thing in the morning,� Bryan said, pulling his wife out of her chair. He reached over and kissed Leslie on the forehead. �I love you.�
Leslie closed her eyes and when she opened them, her family was gone, replaced by the fair-haired Dr. Ryan.
�I see my favorite patient has woken up again,� he declared. �Have any more stories to tell me this time around?�
�I don�t know who the hell you are, but I already told you what happened,� she expressed bitingly. �Why do you care anyway? You can�t do anything about it.�
As he took her blood pressure, he replied, �Oh but I can. You�re a minor and if someone causes bodily harm to a minor, it�s my duty to report them and have them arrested.�
�I told you it was a car accident.�
Dr. Ryan picked up her left arm and pointed to the whelts that had formed from A.J.�s hands. �Then where�d the handprints come from?�
�Get the fuck away from me,� she spat, ripping her arm from his grasp.
�Sorry sunshine. I�m your doctor. Plus how could I give up my favorite patient?� He smiled down at her.
�How did a smart-ass like you become a doctor?�
He grinned. �My parents paid my teachers off. I wanted to be an F.B.I. agent.�
�What the fuck are you talking about?� she yelled in disbelief.
�See? You don�t believe me when I lie either. Go back to sleep. No drugs tonight. They make you a little bitchy.�
~
Nick woke up in a cold sweat, gasping for breath and thrashing around in his bed.
�What is it?� Kevin asked, immediately coming to life at the sudden noise.
As Nick composed himself and caught his breath, Kevin witnessed a change in his blue eyes. Once wild and full of life, they suddenly transformed into lifeless and blank.
�It all happened again,� he muttered.
�What all happened again?�
�A.J. and Angel. Me screwing up and panicking. I just� I just thought she�d taken too much. After what I�d done� I�m such an idiot,� he muttered, covering his face with his hands. �And now she�s gone.�
�Nick, you can�t blame your��
He immediately came alive. �Then who do I blame? This all happened because I overreacted. Because I was fucked up. The one person who made me forget that my life was over - who understood what I was going through� I almost got her killed. Who do I blame but myself? And now she�s gone. I don�t know how to find her or even where to start looking. I� I just� it�s over. Brian�s gone. Angel�s gone��
Kevin looked at him, unsure what to say to relieve the man�s distress. Leaning back in his chair, the envelope in his back pocket crumpled, reminding him of his final promise.
�If it helps Nick, I�m still here. And Howie. And even A.J. And maybe we�re not going through everything you are, but each one of us is going through something.� He hesitated before pulling the long envelope from his back pocket and handing it to him. �She left this for you. She told me to give it to you after we got you to a hospital.�
Nick stared at the envelope in his hand before looking back at Kevin, who immediately stood up.
�I�ll leave you to read it,� he replied looking out the window where the first rays of dawn were appearing. �I�ll be back in a few hours.�
As he headed towards the door, he glanced back at Nick, who had turned his gaze to the window as well. A sad smile crossed his face and then he left to get a few hours of sleep now that his duties to Angel had been done.
Nick watched as the sun tried to rise, not sure if he wanted it to succeed in its endeavor. As soon as it made a dent in the early morning clouds that seemed to promise inevitable rain, he returned his attention to the envelope. His heart raced at the thought of what might be in there, what she might have to say now that she was gone.
Eventually his fear was overcome by his desperate curiosity and he pulled open the envelope letting the contents fall across his chest. With shaking hands, he unfolded the letter and tried to contain his emotions as he read.
Nick,
You�re asleep right now and hopefully peaceful. I didn�t have
the nerve to tell you I was leaving. With one simple word of protest
from you, I would have stayed and never left your side. But I need
to go home, simply so my family knows that I�m still alive. I left a week
ago without telling anyone why or where I was going. It was the only way.
So now I must go. Because it is the only way.
When you get this, you should be in a hospital getting better. I
should be in a similar situation, just further away. If we�re meant to be
brought back together, we�ll find each other, but I can�t risk putting you
through more of this. I�ll never forgive myself for getting you hurt so
badly I came to help a friend and did the complete opposite.
I wish I could stay. I want to be your everything. I�ve never felt
real until I met you and although tragedy brought us together� well, it
seemed all too right. I need you more than oxygen right now, but I can�t
allow my needs to get you hurt. Remember me even when I�m far away.
Nick, promise me you�ll stay strong. Get better. Move on. Don�t
try to find me. I would destroy you. I feel as if I�ve already started. If I
knew that I could be in your life and not hurt you, I would stay, but it�s
obvious that this isn�t the case. You need your friends and not me to come
between you. Don�t blame A.J. He didn�t have control in the circumstances.
Trust fate. Things that are meant to be happen in time no matter how
many or what types of obstacles fall in the way.
Always,
Angel
Unsure of the cryptic underlying message, Nick leaned back in confusion. She had told him she was brought here to help him, but that she had just gotten him hurt. Everything contradicted what was said before. Remember her and move on? It was right for them to be together, but she couldn�t be in his life?
Nick folded the letter and set it on a table beside his bed. As he settled back in hopes of falling back to sleep, he was slightly confused but not all that worried. He had this convincing feeling that she wouldn�t have left him a letter if she didn�t expect to see him again.
*
�Hi, may I speak to Albert please?� Charlie asked the unfamiliar voice that picked up the other end of the line.
�This is Albert.�
�Hey, I�m Leslie�s brother Charlie.�
�Oh hey. How is she?�
�In the hospital. How did you know she was back home? Or hurt?� Charlie inquired.
Albert paused, unsure of how much he should reveal. Deciding he knew too little in the first place, he told the truth. �I was the one who picked her up from the airport and brought her home.�
�You knew where she was?� he asked in disbelief.
�No, no. I still don�t know where she was.� It wasn�t a total lie. He didn�t know where in Kentucky she�d been. �She called me Thursday afternoon and asked for me to pick her up, so I did.�
�And you didn�t bother to tell my parents? She runs away from home and you don�t bother to tell them you had contact with her?!�
�She told me not to��
�And you listened to her?� Charlie interrupted.
�I was afraid if I didn�t, she�d leave again� or not come home at all,� Albert defended himself.
He received no answer.
�Which hospital? I need to see her,� he tried.
�Wesleyan. Maybe you can get more out of her than we can.�
~
Leslie had never felt so nauseated in her life. An incomprehensible amount of worry had settled in her stomach, eating away at her internal organs like maggots feasting on a large carcass. (AN: Forgive me. It�s past 1 a.m. and I�m morbid.) Here it was Saturday, two days after she�d left Kevin at the airport, and she hadn�t kept her promise to call him. Now she couldn�t remember where she�d put his number and he was probably worried too. And now that the anesthesia and painkillers had worn away, every thought led to Nick.
What parts of her that weren�t being devoured by worry and the ever-present pain contained regret. She regretted leaving that cryptic letter for Nick. It was no explanation; the letter made no sense unless it was read while under the guidance of some insanity beyond her, a superior power leading you. She hadn�t lied when she�d said she meant every word of it; that was just proof of the paradoxical condition her mind was in.
She shouldn�t have left. She should have gone. She should have joined him in that shower (AN: Oh yea). She should have left the damned door open so the dye fumes wouldn�t have been so thick. She shouldn�t have let him find her again.
�But I didn�t have much choice, did I?� she asked the empty room.
�Choice in what?� a familiar voice replied as its owner walked through the door, a teddy bear in his hands.
Leslie looked up at Albert in surprise before gesturing towards the stuffed animal.
�The present is for when I piss you off,� he informed her sheepishly, �because I will before I leave. I can almost guarantee it. And before you ask, your brother told me you were here.� He proceeded to walk into the bright sunlit room, slid into the chair next to her bed, and placed the toy next to her.
She glared at him. �You talked to my brother?�
�Told ya I�d make you mad,� he grinned. �He told me you were here, but don�t worry. All I said is that I had picked you up at the airport and had brought you home. I didn�t have a clue where you�d been.�
Leslie let out a sigh and turned her gaze to the now familiar pattern of the ceiling panels.
�And I believe this belongs to you.� He pulled a small piece of paper out of his pocket. �I found it in my front seat after I took you home.�
Albert placed it in her right hand when she made no movement to take it from him. He wished she�d say something, so the silence wouldn�t push out his confession - the real reason she�d get angry.
�You called it, didn�t you?� she whispered.
He looked at her, his eyes wide.
�I thought he could tell me what happened. How I could help you.�
�What did he say?�
�He asked me a lot of questions��
�What did he say?� she demanded quietly.
He paused, trying to replay the conversation back in his head.
�That he didn�t know what happened, that I�d have to get the story from you. I was supposed to give the number back and to tell you to call him when you felt better.�
Leslie�s hope dropped when no information of Nick�s condition was mentioned.
�Is that it?�
�I think so� wait, something about keeping his promises.�
Leslie took in a deep breath and held it for a few seconds despite the excruciating pain in her ribs.
�Thank you Albert,� she muttered, releasing the air.
�You mean, you�re not mad?�
�No, at least he�s not worrying about if I got home or not.�
�Who is he anyway?� he asked, hoping she wouldn�t notice the question and would slip him an actually answer.
�A friend of a friend.�
�Yea, that�s what he said�� he sighed, disappointed.
Leslie glanced at the clock. �Albert, I don�t want you running into my parents and they�re going to be here soon��
He got the hint. �Get better� and maybe you can tell me what happened sometime.�
She nodded as he left the room, sad that he was so concerned for someone so ungrateful for it. Taking one last look at the bear, she opened the drawer of the table next to her and stuffed it, the phone number stuck beneath its ribbon, out of sight.
Confident that she was the only one worrying, she settled back down and returned to studying the ceiling.