Snow Lodge
Chapter 56
Kevin shifted uncomfortably in a chair beside Brian's bed as he watched his cousin sleep. The hateful words Brian had screamed at him when he refused to take him back to AJ's room still echoed in his head.
Kevin knew, however, that it would only have been worse if Brian had been there, and he might very well of been pushed over the edge by what was happening. Luckily, Shelly had been at hand when they got back to Brian's floor. She had been quick to help Kevin try to calm Brian, and when that hadn't worked, she had re-appeared with another sedative, knocking Brian out for the next few hours.
But now, it was about time for him to wake up, and Kevin wasn't looking forward to it one bit.
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Brian slowly came back to consciousness. He felt terrible, and had this awful feeling in his stomach that just wouldn't go away. As more of his senses returned, he remembered what had happened, and just why he was asleep.
The last thing he remembered was the sound of the alarm, and the doctors and nurses rushing into Alex's room as the elevator doors closed in front of him.
That memory made him fight hard to open his eyes. He needed to know what had happened. He needed to know AJ was okay�
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Kevin saw Brian's eyes flickering beneath his eyelids and quickly stood up, the metal chair legs scraping across the hard floor. He took one of Brian's hands and held it in his own, squeezing gently, trying to reassure his cousin he wasn't alone.
Brian felt Kevin's grip on his hand, and tried to squeeze back, only managing a slight increase in pressure due to his weakened state. It didn't matter though because Kevin still felt it.
"Brian. Come on cuz. Open your eyes for me."
Brian fought harder to wake up, a moan escaping his mouth as his eyelids fluttered.
"That's it. C'mon Bri."
Finally, after a few moments, Brian was able to open his eyes to be greeted with a tearful Kevin.
"K�Kev?" Brian croaked; his throat dry and raw from all the screaming he did earlier.
"Shh. Let me get you some water." Kevin reached over and poured Brian a glass of water from the pitcher on the bedside table.
Brian struggled to sit up, too many questions running through his head for him to concentrate enough to ask any one of them. Kevin felt Brian shift and turned back to him, helping him up and propping his cousin up with pillows.
"Kevin?" Brian spoke softly, still trying to sort his racing thoughts.
"Here you go Bri." Kevin urged Brian to drink the water, knowing full well what Brian was trying to ask.
Brian let Kevin lift the drink to his lips, sighing as he felt the cool water soothe his parched throat. He drank the entire glass, darting his tongue out to wet his lips before he spoke again.
"Kevin. What happened? Is Alex okay?"
Kevin paused for a moment, looking away from Brian.
Brian saw this and felt his eyes fill with tears.
"Kev. Please, just tell me. Is he alright?"
Kevin turned back around, grabbing Brian's hand and pulling him close.
"I don't know Bri. I honestly don't know. I brought you back here and you flipped out on me. God, it hurt so much. I knew you wanted to stay, I didn't want to go either, but you were going nuts, screaming and crying. I thought something bad was going to happen to you, so I got you back here. They had to knock you out again just to calm you down. I couldn't leave you, so I haven't been back up to ICU to check. Shelly has promised to let me know as soon as she hears anything, but Nick came down and told us that the doctors won't tell him anything either. He's staying with Howie."
Brian looked up, something in Kevin's tone of voice worrying him.
"Howie. Is he okay?"
Kevin sighed deeply. "Not really. Nick said he flipped out completely when the Doctors refused to tell him anything. They had to knock him out too. He's in the next room. But he should be up soon, they only gave him a mild sedative, just to calm him down."
"Jesus." Brian muttered.
"I know." Kevin replied. "This is like some nightmare I can't wake up from."
Brian watched as a single tear rolled down Kevin's cheek. Brian reached up a shaking hand and wrapped it around Kevin's back, pulling him closer. Kevin wrapped his arms around Brian, and the two men held each other as they cried.
"It'll be okay Kev. It's got to be okay." Brian whispered.
